that does it for us tonight. we'll see you again tomorrow where we'll be back in new york city. now it's time for "the last word with lawrence o'donnell." have a great night. breaking news, christine o'donnell has just endorsed a candidate for president of the united states. yes. that christine o'donnell. >> his ego is so enormous. >> his impact would be so horrifying that we would, in fact, basically lose our civilization. >> it's enormous even for a politician. >> i want to get to newt in a second. >> i hate to interrupt you. >> we have some breaking news, gentlemen, this afternoon. >> a terrible thing is happening. >> this is obviously a catastrophe. >> he's not going to moderate that debate december 27th. >> tragic news, indeed. >> he's fired himself. >> i think he fired himself, but god, god love donald trump. >> only two people are showing up. >> they all run away from him. >> this is clearly a catastrophe

for western democracy, isn't it? >> the circus act is over. >> the car at the circuses with all the clowns, it just lost its driver. >> silly season. >> it's very unfair. >> republicans are not happy with their choices. >> why do they like me? because a lot of people do like me. some don't. >> appreciate governor romney taking that position. >> give me a break. >> ask newt gingrich, i'm not at all concerned about it. >> somehow i don't -- i'm not buying it. >> we're not running negative ads at that point. >> newt has a ton of baggage. gingrich was fined $300,000 for ethics violations. >> i'm not going to say outrageous things. >> they want somebody who throws rhetorical bombs. >> electric magnetic pulse may be the greatest strategic threat we face. >> anybody painting newt gingrich out as some kind of messiah -- >> i would never say that. no, no. >> i can't handle it. 11 days after shocking the

world with the announcement he would moderate a republican presidential debate, donald trump shocked no one by admitting he wasn't going to do what he said he was going to do. after getting laughed off the air last night by bill o'reilly who seemed unconvinced to put it mildly that the trump debate would even take place after trump downgraded it to what he called a chat. trump took to youtube today to explain why he was dropping out. >> they want me to announce that i won't run as an independent candidate. i won't do that. if the republicans pick the wrong person, i would in fact seriously considering running. but because of the fact the republicans are upset and because of the fact i refuse to give up the possibility of running as an independent candidate, i decided to chances l the debate.

>> that's the always presidential looking youtube. as viewers of this program know, donald trump will never run for president, but he has obviously determined that he can use the lie that he might run for president as his excuse for bailing out on the debate that he, himself, had pathetically downgraded to what he called just a chat yesterday. an event that was going to be as humiliating for trump as it would have surely been for front-runner newt gingrich. if they both had actually shown up for that event. the gingrich campaign struggled today in what it hoped to be the first day of no negative campaigning. after romney and gingrich took shots at each other, last night in new hampshire, gingrich vowed to run a positive campaign and urged mitt romney to do the same. >> this morning i'll release a letter to my staff, to any consultants and to any surrogates we have, indicating that our determination to run a

positive campaign and also indicating should any super pac who is doing so in my name attack any of my friends who are running, that i would publicly disown them and urge people not to donate to them. >> it seems craig bergman did not get the gingrich memo until it was too late, hired last week as iowa's state director, but had to quit today after it was revealed he said this about mit romney's faith. "there's a national pastor on the mitt romney bandwagon. a lot of evangelicals believe god would give us four more years of obama just for the opportunity to expose the cult of mormon. there's a thousand pastors ready to do that." the gingrich campaign announced today bergman agreed to resign from the campaign because his comments were, quote, inconsistent with newt's 2012 pledge to run a positive and

solutions oriented campaign. bergman had made that statement, that controversial statement, the they before he was hired last week. mitt romney obviously didn't get newt gingrich's memo either. he told "washington post" this afternoon, "i think gingrich has shown a level of unreliability as a conservative leader. today when republicans were fighting for cap and trade and needed a leader to stand up against cap and trade, he did. he did that with nancy pelosi about global warming. when republicans took one of the most courageous votes i've seen in at least a decade to call for the reform of medicare under the paul ryan plan, he goes public and says this is a right wing social engineering plan. even today he called it suicide." a new nbc news/"wall street journal" poll tonight shows newt gingrich is the first candidate this campaign cycle to hit the 40% mark in our polling. among registered voters who say they would vote in the primary,

gingrich leads with 40%. that's 17 points ahead of mitt romney. ron paul is third with 9%. president obama leads all three in head to head matchups. romney polls two points behind president obama. gingrich polls a full 11 points behind the president. ron paul polls 13 points behind. but that poll was taken before tonight's breaking news that christine o'donnell, the only senate candidate in the last election who had to deny she was a witch, just minutes ago endorsed the sinking ship called the romney presidential campaign. >> in making my decision, i might be hurting some people, but i think infrastructure and executive experience are important. for that reason, i'm endorsing mitt romney. >> it is not yet known whether speaker gingrich has reached christine o'donnell to thank her for endorsing mitt romney.

we do have this statement from the romney campaign just in. "christine o'donnell has been a leader in the conservative movement for many years. christine o'donnell recognizes excessive government threatens us now and threatens future generations and i am pleased to have her on my team." joining me now, "washington post" opinion writer, msnbc political analyst and senior "last word" trump correspondent, jonathan capehart. also msnbc analyst steve schmidt, former senior adviser to mccain/palin campaign, senior strategist in bush/cheney '04 campaign and managed schwarzenegger's 2006 re-election campaign. thank you for joining me on this night of serious breaking news. steve, christine o'donnell finally announced. >> we shouldn't be making it this easy for you. i think, you know, the serious side of it is that's a senate seat that republicans should

hold. but for her nomination, mike castle would have been the republican united states senator from delaware. there's an important lesson, i think, for republicans out there, sharron angle in nevada, christine o'donnell in delaware. those are races we would have won, but for nominating people who are totally and utterly unqualified for the offices they were running for. >> jonathan capehart, when do you expect the first mitt romney arm around christine o'donnell photo op? >> probably in mitt romney's mind when he's president of the united states and she's on a rope line. that statement from mitt romney's campaign read just like a hostage note. i mean, he needs to say that because christine o'donnell, i mean, she got the nomination because tea party folks in delaware wrapped their arms around her because they got upset that the establishment and the republican organization was moving toward mike castle. so the fact that mitt romney is lunging toward christine o'donnell and heaping lots of

false praise on her saying that he's very worried about a key number that i don't know if you have a kyron for it in the nbc news poll, the number of people who believe mitt romney is a conservative. there aren't nearly enough of them to help him get the nomination. he's somewhere around 20-something percent. that's bad for something who's supposed to be the nominee for the republican party in 2012. >> well, with the christine o'donnell endorsement, the number of republicans who think mitt romney is a nut has gone up by some small percentage, no doubt. steve schmidt, the 11 day national nightmare of the republican party, the trump debate, is now officially over. trump had a really tough time with you wise men of the republican party who criticized the concept of the a donald trump moderated debate. i want you to listen to what donald trump had to say about you. let's listen. >> managed john mccain's campaign four years ago.

he says this about you. he says "for 3 1/2 years a lot of people who should have known better have been complicit in kowtowing to a republican whack pack in which trump is a leading member. the result is a diminished republican brand that appears unhealthy to millions of americans who are looking for an alternative to the status quo." >> i can only say this, look. steve schmidt is a lightweight. he is a guy who did a horrible job running john mccain's campaign. you just said john mccain's. john mccain lost. he did a horrible job running. i watch him on your show, and i don't even know how he gets on your show. i'm sure the ratings are very bad as he speaks. >> he's an msnbc contributor now. he's been on my show in the past. not now. >> he's a lightweight. total lightweight. >> he's a smart guy, steve schmidt. >> i don't know if he's a smart guy. >> i'm telling you -- he's a smart guy. >> a lightweight or a smart guy. i leave it to you. >> well, i, you know, listen,

he's obviously -- he's very upset. he's very upset. you know, it's no small achievement to be the head of the republican whack pack in 2011. and i think he's done it. i think the party escaped a bullet here by having him participate in this debate to moderate it. the public relations disaster. when you look at this nbc poll out today, lawrence, you see very clearly the president is enormously vulnerable on the economy. when we have the front-runner talking about the biggest threat being electromagnetic pulses and the donald trump show over here. this is hurting the republican brand and hurting republican party's chances to take the white house in 2012. >> jonathan, there's no regular on this show who is closer to donald trump than you. you've actually spoken to him at least on the phone. so today's development, he started to crumble yesterday when he reduced the whole thing to a chat. >> to a chat. >> telling barbara walters it's going to be a chat.

told o'reilly it was going it be a chat. bill o'reilly couldn't keep a straight face, asking trump if he was going to show up for his own debate. >> yesterday i felt a tremor yesterday morning during our editorial board meeting. around 10:35 i sent an e-mail to mr. trump's executive assistant asking would it be possible for the two of us to talk. after he did "the view" and talked about how his debate was going to be a chat, i called him and i asked him, pointblank, is there any possibility that you won't do this considering you only have two people showing up and also the amount of criticism that there is? and i should have realized and understood that he was giving me a dry run for the argument that he would use more than 24 hours later to pull out of the debate. and that was there are people within the republican party who say they would participate in the debate if i pulled out -- if i didn't -- if i pulled away from my threat to run as an independent for president.

and he said that there was no way he would give that up. that's one of the rationales he used in his pulling out of the newsmax debate on the 27th. >> and steve, he continues to tell a lie that the equal time rule prevents him from saying he's going to run for president. the equal time rule only applies when you filed candidacy papers which he would not have to do until "the apprentice" run was done. he could say, i'm going to run for president and have no effect whatsoever. can the party leave trump behind? he's going to continue to lie about, maybe i'll run for president. all this lying will be, i'm going to run as an independent. does that mean the republican party can cut the cord from this nut? >> i think it's important the republican party cut the cord from, as you rightly described, this nut. i mean, look, the country is $15 trillion in debt. we are engaged in hostilities in afghanistan. troops are leaving iraq. it's a dangerous world. there are serious issues

confronting the country. and the fact that we have spent so much time, you know, in this clown show is terrible, i think, not just for the republican party, but for politics in general, for our political system and it's one of the things that's fueling the cynicism and the sense that the country's on the wrong track with so many americans. >> and steve, i just want you to know, lightweight is the most complimentary negative that trump has ever used. it's usually much, much, much worse than that. jonathan capehart and steve schmidt, a smart guy, thank you both very much for joining me tonight. >> thanks, lawrence. the trump debate madness is really finally over. the 11 days after idiocy and constant lying by donald trump from the debate announcement to the debate cancelation is in tonight's "rewrite." it's all there in a few minutes. newt gingrich says he's changed. yesterday he even signed a pledge saying that he's changed. and can now stay faithful to his wife.

the woman who's known newt gingrich longer than any of his wives, his sister, candace gingrich, joins me next to explain why there's absolutely nothing her brother can say to get her to vote for him for president. cuban ca jun raw seafood pizza parlor french fondue tex-mex fro-yo tapas puck chinese takeout taco truck free range chicken pancake stack baked alaska 5% cash back. right now, get 5% cash back at restaurants. it pays to discover.

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money isn't gingrich's narrative. he's the infidelity guy. his problem is oaths. he could flaunt his wealth all he likes. what he can't do is promise to be america's president for richer and poorer, and definitely not in sickness and in health, without evoking images of president gingrich getting bored with us and messing around with a younger country behind our back.

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newt gingrich's new commanding lead in the nbc news/"wall street journal" poll is not the only change in his life. that is if you believe newt gingrich. >> how are you different than you were when you were speaker? >> oh, i think i'm much more mature than i was when i was speaker. >> the man who in 1997 started the coup that made newt gingrich

resign from the speakership and house of representatives thinks gingrich has changed, too. >> he's been out of government for a long time. he's matured as a person. he's reattached himself to his faith. the coup started in my office. obviously the guy doesn't hold grudges. i think he's leveled out as a person. all of us, even his worst critics would say newt is a guy that can really hold a room, a very smart fellow. >> senator lindsey graham stopped short of endorsing newt gingrich. and yesterday newt gingrich actually signed his name to a pledge that he has changed. he signed the controversial family leaders pledge that had been submitted to republican presidential candidates months ago in iowa. in the pledge, gingrich affirms, "my strong support of the mission of the family leader by solemnly vowing to defend and strengthen the family through the following actions i would take as president of the united

states. defending marriage. as president i will vigorously enforce the defense of marriage act which was enacted under my leadership as speaker of the house. i will support sending a federal constitutional amendment defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman to the states for ratification." and in the most interesting component of the pledge, newt gingrich said, "i also pledge to uphold the institution of marriage through personal fidelity to my spouse and respect for the marital bonds of others." joining me now, a woman who has known newt gingrich longer than any of his wives, his sister, candace gingrich-jones. thanks for joining me tonight, candace. >> thanks for having me on, lawrence. >> there is this dispute as happens sometimes in the evolution of pronunciations. i saw you discuss this with rachel last week.

you pronounce the last name differently than your brother does. >> i do. in pennsylvania the hard "ch" of the last name is pronounced as a "k." german, pennsylvania dutch background. and newt i think spent a lot of his time in georgia and folks there were saying gingrich and never corrected them. >> he just went with the local's choice on that one. >> yeah. yeah. i would think so. and just a little point. i actually don't know him longer than all of his wives. he was actually married and had a kid before i was even born. so almost as long. >> i thought you were closer in age than that. okay. that's a very helpful clarification. he just signed a pledge yesterday saying not only he would behave himself, as a husband in the traditional confines of what we all understand that to mean, but he will respect the marital bonds of others. that would be others except his sister. >> yes. it's a little, you know,

disappointing to think that, you know, he has affirmed this pledge, that others signed this pledge to strengthen families, but yet they're leaving out all of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered families in the country. >> and you will apparently not be working for your brother's re-election. or election. he's not been elected before. >> right. i have never worked on a campaign and i sincerely doubt anything would change between now and anytime in the future for me to be working. >> you did favor president obama's election last time and will be working for his re-election or supporting his re-election this time? >> absolutely. i don't think there is, you know, any, any discussion that needs to be had, you know, specifically about, you know, lgbt issues and issues of equality. between president obama and anyone who happens to win the gop nomination. >> how often do you see newt? >> you know, every now and then.

a few times a year. >> and how uncomfortable is it for you to discuss the personal elements of your relationship with your brother publicly like this? >> well, you know, it was a decision at first, you know, to do it. what i saw was a real opportunity i think to educate, you know, all of america about the realities of, you know, what an american family does look like. you know, our family is not that different from a lot of others, you know, folks who have differing opinions, struggling over difficult issues. you know, we just happen to have the magnifying glass over our family. >> and any possibilities of you being able to pick out a visitor's bedroom in the white house if he ever gets there? >> i don't think that day is going to come, lawrence. i'm not even going to consider that. >> you're not going to entertain hypotheticals. just like newt. candace gingrich-jones, thank you for joining us tonight.

>> thanks for having me on, lawrence. coming up, will the republican house of representatives actually go on vacation and do nothing to stop a tax increase on january 1st? i'll have an exclusive interview with house democratic whip sten hoyer. and the campaign season's king of opposition research happens to be a college student. he watches endless hours of c-span video to find old clips of candidates saying stuff they wish we would all forget. mitt romney's worst enemy joins me later. to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint

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house democratic whip steny hoyer joins me next to tell us if the republican house of representatives is really going to leave washington for the holidays and allow a big tax increase to hit working people on january 1st. and all 11 days of donald trump's madness and lies about his debate will be compressed into tonight's "rewrite." ♪ ♪ it's nice to be here ♪

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to the gulf of mexico to the bill, the white house issued a formal veto threat letter to the house of representatives. "if the president were presented with hr 3630, he would veto the bill." that made the vote tonight an academic exercise, especially since the bill didn't come close to getting a veto-proof two-thirds majority in the house. joining me now is congressman steny hoyer of maryland, the house democratic whip. congressman hoyer, why did the democrats vote against this bill overwhelmingly today? >> because this was not a real bill, lawrence, in the sense that the president indicated he would veto it. the leader in the senate, the majority leader said it couldn't pass and wouldn't pass the senate. we have 72 hours to go before the government shuts down. we have 18 days, approximately, left to go until the end of the

year. we need to stop playing politics and pretense and get down to doing things that both parties can pass. frankly, what we did today is one of the reasons this has been the least productive congress in which i've served in 30 years. and statistically, the fewest number of bills signed by a president. we had many more bills signed when we took over the majority and george bush was president by a factor of 100% more. the fact is that we voted against it because we need to get to the business on a bill that can, in fact, pay us, can make sure that the people don't lose their unemployment insurance, make sure the taxes don't go up for working americans on their payroll taxes and make sure that docs are compensated to make sure they're available for seniors getting their medical services. all those are critically important for us to pass by the end of the year. the republicans know that, but they chose to in effect stick

their fingers in the eye of the president of the united states and put extraneous items in the bill that have nothing to do with any of the three items i've just mentioned but have to do with items that they know the president has said he's not for and would veto. that's not the way to get business done. that's not the way to come to agreement. it's simply the way to make political points and that's not very fruitful or productive at this late date. what wasn't fruitful before this, but certainly not fruitful at this late date. >> congressman hoyer, do you see any way for the republicans and democrats to come together on how to pay for the bill, to pay for the elements they agree on? >> yes, i do. and i think we must do that. obviously from a democrat's perspective and in the senate where we have the opportunity to put something on the floor, the democrats in the senate have continuously offered a small percentage surtax on those with a net income of $1 million or

more. we could easily pay for what is needed here with a small percentage, less than 3%, or in that neighborhood, surtax on the wealthiest in our nation. the republicans have consistently opposed that contribution to this effort by our wealthiest citizens. but nevertheless, i am sure that we can arrive and pay for the bills if we come together and sit down. lawrence, as you know, with respect to the first two continuing resolutions to keep government going, with respect to the debt limit extension to keep our country able to pay its bills, and with respect to the last appropriation bill that we did, which we called a mini bus, republicans said, hey, can you give us some votes? we can't get there without votes from the democratic side. and we gave them those votes. we talked. we came to compromise.

we came to an agreement. and we did that. this time they didn't call me. this time they weren't interested in compromise. they were interested in simply making their political point. >> congressman hoyer, you served in the house of representatives with the man who is now leading the polls in the republican campaign for the presidency. you've worked with a speaker gingrich. can you imagine working with a president gingrich? >> you know, the american public continues to send us the message that we ought to come together, we ought to come to agreement and we ought to responsibly lead this country in a bipartisan fashion. i don't know of anybody that i've served with who has promoted exactly the opposite message. division, wedge issues, not coming to consensus, but going a policy of politics rather than of agreement. so it's hard for me to believe that a nation that wants to see us come together and work

together would support, frankly, one of the most divisive figures we've had in american politics over the last three or four decades. >> and do you think that's the way newt gingrich would be seen if he was the republican nominee, and if so, wouldn't that make him exactly who president obama should want to run against if he wants to have an easier time winning than running against mitt romney? >> lawrence, i think -- i happen to believe that barack obama's going to be re-elected. i think he's shown a lot of courage in leading this country. in the deepest economic recession that almost anybody alive in america today has experienced. so i think he's going to be re-elected. when he's compared with the alternative, whoever that alternative is. i think, frankly, newt gingrich will be a particularly vulnerable nominee if he, in fact, is the nominee, because of his past history of dividing, of

creating wedge issues, of creating confrontation, which i don't think the country wants. this president has reached out across the aisle to try to come to bipartisan agreement. very frankly, he hasn't had much success. i think we all have to admit that. it takes two to tango. very frankly, i think when mitch mcconnell says at the beginning of this year that my principle objective is the defeat of barack obama, it clearly says to the american public and, therefore, i'm not going to cooperate with him, to make him look successful. of course, in the process of obama's not looking successful as a result of republican obstructionism, the country doesn't succeed. that's the real loser, the people of america, the people looking for jobs, the people who want to see us pass a jobs piece of legislation which creates jobs and grows the economy. >> congressman steny hoyer, thanks for joining us tonight. good luck with your annual christmas ritual of trying to get the republicans to do the

right thing. >> we'll keep trying. thanks a lot, lawrence. >> thank you. and now the humiliation of donald trump as a debate moderator is complete. we'll show you the insanity that was the donald trump debate from start to finish in tonight's "rewrite." and the most feared man in the republican presidential campaign is a 22-year-old college student. why? he's been watching c-span and posting clips to his youtube page. clips the republican candidates were hoping you would never see. the republican presidential candidate's worst nightmare will join me later. top v neck 3 piece suit dance wear bolo snakeskin boots sequin costume under things stiletto heels skinny jeans houndstooth snuggie pork pie hat oshkosh socks 5% cash back. right now get 5% cash back at department stores. it pays to discover.

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it was 11 long days ago the republican candidates for president were hit with a crisis like no other. in the history of presidential campaigning. >> we are just confirming that donald trump will moderate a republican debate on december 27th in des moines, iowa. joining us by phone is donald trump. thank you so much for joining us, mr. trump. >> absolutely. my honor. >> so we got word, actually "the new york times" put out the note that it was official you would be moderating this debate december 27th. you're toing doing it, why? >> i was asked to do it by a number of people including some of my friends that are republicans and strong republicans. i thought it would certainly be a little change of pace for donald trump. so i'll do something that i've never done before.

this is what you should be doing, not me. i'll do something that i've never done before and give it a shot. we'll see how it is. i think i have lot of good questions to ask. i feel very strongly about the country. we'll see how that turns out. it could be the last debate before the primary in iowa. >> ron paul, the only anti-war and anti-torture republican candidate is now the most eloquent anti-trump candidate. he issued this statement in response to the announcement that donald trump would moderate a republican presidential candidate's debate. "the selection of a reality television personality to host a presidential debate that voters nationwide will be watching is is beneath the office of the presidency and flies in the face of that office's history and dignity. to be sure, mr. trump's participation will contribute to an unwanted circus-like atmosphere." >> i'm not going to kiss his ring and not going to kiss any other part of his anatomy. this is exactly what is wrong with politics.

it's show business over substance. if he had any courage at all, he would be running for president of the united states of america as opposed to manipulating the process from the outside. >> look, ron paul has zero chance. zero of getting elected. or getting the nomination. he'll do okay in iowa and after iowa he'll fade into oblivion. so ron paul, frankly some of these people aren't there, huntsman is another one. he called my office. i don't know if you know this. wanted a meeting. i didn't give it to him. maybe i should have. i didn't give it to him. he wanted to come up and see me. i see him at a debate saying, unlike you people, i didn't go and see donald trump. so he's a mormon. i'm sure he wouldn't lie about it. i'll tell you, it will get great ratings. we're going to have a real debate. you read about a huntsman who's upset or ron paul who's never going to win anything. but you don't read about the thousands of people that want it. i mean, most people want it. i heard stephen king was on -- these are the three people. i have to tell you. they're hacks.

we'll get the highest ratings of the debates because of the controversies. >> i'm not participating in that. >> his infusing himself into the dialogue really dumbs down and makes less consequential the very important issues we must be discussing to get this country back on its feet again. >> have you started through what this might be like? >> i assume it's like "the apprentice" presidency. if you're afraid to debate the donald trump, people are going to say, you want me to believe you could debate barack obama but you're afraid to show up with donald trump? i think, it strikes me as kind of a very weak position. i don't know why people would do that. >> on your left is senator santorum and former speaker gingrich. others i guess still could join in. what are you going to do if it's just those two? >> well, we'll see. this is a newsmax debate. i know a lot of the moderators. some are wonderful, some aren't. i know the issues better than

the moderators that i can tell you. every issue better than the moderators. >> today a week after he was invited to participate in the donald trump debate, rick perry's brain unfroze long enough to decide to decline tha invitation. a bachmann campaign spokesperson confirmed to nbc tonight bachmann will not participate either. >> i do get ratings. we would have the biggest ratings. >> absolutely. >> i get the ratings. a lot of people would watch. you know, this is a newsmax debate. we may just do a chat. newt and i may just do a chat. >> what do you mean by that? >> we may just talk about the world and about the economy and maybe it will be interesting to people. >> are you still going to have debates with just two candidates? >> we may have a chat. i may chat with newt for an hour. i think it will do well. everyone says he'll have the highest ratings if we do it. >> newt gingrich is showing up and santorum's showing up. are you going to show up to this debate? is it going to happen? >> i am going to show up. maybe we'll just have a chat.

we might just discuss the world and discuss it with ourselves. maybe we'll just do a chat. newt and i will talk about what has to be done. >> you're going to ignore santorum, say, hey, get out of here? >> he'll be there. he's not doing great in the polls. >> no, but he's nice enough to show up. you have to ask him a few questions. >> you're right. he's been very nice and very gracious. i would absolutely have him there. >> mark, i hate to interrupt you. i have about four people in my ear telling me that we've been able to confirm donald trump is out. he's fired himself. he's not going to moderate that debate december 27th. >> i've decided to cancel the debate. i don't want to waste a lot of newt's time or rick santorum's time or donald trump's time. the republicans now have very worried i'm going to run as an independent and i certainly have looked at it. i even in my new book that just came out, i disclosed in the financial disclosure my net worth and cash and assets and lots of other things.

i'm looking at it if the republicans choose the wrong candidate which is a possibility and in the economy continues to be bad, which i think it will be, because we have incompetent leadership. as you know, we would have done very well. we would have gotten great ratings. i think it would have been a very exciting debate and important debate. >> the 11 day republican party crisis ended today with trump as always lying. i showed you last night how he had rewritten what i called the not yet canceled debate into merely a chat. trump today realized there is greater publicity value for him in continuing to lie about the possibility of running for president than there is in moderating a chat with newt gingrich and rick santorum two nights after christmas. so the liar will continue his book tour and continue to lie about the possibility of running for president because no one wants to talk about the blather that's in trump's book and trump obviously hand read his own book. so he doesn't know how to talk about the book. trump will continue to lie about

running for president in order to promote his television show. and the most gullible performers at fox news will continue to nod worshiply as trump continues lying. and viewers of this program will continue as they always have to contentedly ignore the vulgarian's big lie because they know he will never run for president because he is just smart enough to know that he would lose and he is definitely smart enough to know that he cannot afford to run for president. donald's dark secret is that although he was born rich, he has managed to maintain a rich lifestyle, he will never, ever be even close to rich enough to finance a presidential campaign. and jon huntsman was right about donald, he doesn't have the courage to run and he never will. little spoiled donald trump was born rich, but he was definitely not born to run.

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i think the old, you know, standby definitions of who votes for which party have been blown away in this campaign. i think people recognize i'm not a partisan republican, that i'm someone who is moderate and my views are progressive and so they're going to vote for me regardless of the party label. >> not a partisan republican. progressive. that is how mitt romney won the governor's race in the state of massachusetts in 2002.

the romney campaign has been hoping that we'd all forget about that. that video surfaced today and provoked this response from the perry campaign. "it's no surprise that mitt romney would have described himself as having progressive views. a quick look at his record shows that he pursued plenty of progressive policies as governor." the romney campaign offered this defense to that video. "the very last thing the democrats want to do is run against mitt romney. that's why they're focused on his campaign and not on the economy. the democrats are continuing their campaign of deception in their strategy to kill romney." joining me now, the man who posted that video of old mitt romney contradicting the position of new mitt romney. andrew kaczynski. thanks for joining me tonight. >> great to be here. >> how long have you been working for the democratic party and team obama? >> it's funny, i'm actually a republican. >> a what? excuse me. mitt romney just said it's democrats who are trying to kill him with this stuff.

>> i thought that was -- i thought it was kind of funny. >> so you're in college here in new york city. >> i am. i go to school out at st. johns in queens. >> what made you start digging this stuff up? >> it's a funny story how i first got started. i remember there's that candidate -- there was the election to refill anthony weiner's seat between david wepren and bob turner. i found a funny video of david weperen doing a funny dance and put it online and got 20,000 views. after that i realized i could have an influence over the process. >> i want to listen to something you found about newt gingrich in 2005 talking about the individual mandate and health care. let's listen to that. >> whatever the appropriate income level is, you ought to have either a -- you ought to either have health insurance or you ought to oppose the bond. we have no way in this society to have a free approach if

you're well off economically to say we'll cheat our neighbors. >> that is stronger, as strong at least, or stronger than anything mitt romney's ever said about the individual mandate. we're all kind of familiar with the mitt romney stuff on this, but this is deadly for gingrich. so you're taking out whatever you find, wherever you find it. >> i kind of look at a bunch of sources. youtube, google videos. obviously c-span. and even aol videos is kind of cool. but i really just kind of go looking for things that i think people want to see. you know, if you're a public figure, if you said something in the public sphere, like gingrich did, the people have the right to know how your positions evolved and changed over the years. >> all right. do you have time after the show to meet with the producers of this show? because, you know, they didn't find that gingrich video talking about the individual mandate. i would have loved to find that. >> yeah, of course. >> yeah. okay. great. andrew kaczynski, student at st. johns university and the worst things that's happened to the republican candidates so far this year. thanks for joining u