yes, it's mind and money wednesday for the gop with newt gingrich pontificating about brain science at the university of iowa within about an hour. and mitt romney pocking the cash at fraisers here in new york city. and as we know, gingrich's stance on science is somewhat controversial. particularly among some sections of the republican faithful. because he actually believes in it. yes, he believes evolution should be taught in schools. he is open to the idea of stem cell research. and of course, he has appeared in that ad with nancy pelosi on the reality of climate change. speaking of which, guess who has a new ad out against newt. >> together we can do this. >> yes, that would be mitt romney. former front-runner, there he

is, 17 points behind newt gingrich in the latest nbc national poll. begging the question what in the world is going on with the republican base? case in point, have a look at mitt romney's christmas card. there's mitt and anne with the grandkids, coordinated outfits. look at them. can you imagine a more eye dillic perfect family? solid, church going, prosperous, they're a republican dream. now compare that to professor gingrich who has had as many religious nominational movements as he has wives. three of each. he trades them in every so often. right now he's a catholic. is it an issue of electability? i don't think so. our latest poll shows mitt neck in neck with obama while gingrich loses to the president by 11 points. so what is it then? what is the basis problem with mitt romney? for much more, let's bring in our political panel. columnist for the bloomberg view and msnbc contributor and

democratic strategist, crystal ball. and i want to start with you, because we just got in a clip from a new york time interview. and mitt romney said some not so nice things about newt gingrich. >> zany is great in a campaign. it's great on talk radio. it's great in the print. it beats, makes for fun reading. but in materials of a president, we need a leader. and a leader needs to be someone who can bring americans together. >> zany. what does he mean by that? that doesn't sound too good to me from romney's perspective. attacking gingrich. >> well, their first instinct was to try to paint gingrich as the political insider versus romney, the outsired, anti-establishment candidate. and voters looked at that and said how long, mitt romney, have you been running for president again? i don't think so. now they've tried this zany erratic unstable line of attack. i have to tell you though, i think republican voters more or less know what they're getting with newt gingrich.

the best that romney can hope for in iowa in particular is for some of the other conservative candidates to take away enough of gingrich's lead that someone like ron paul could finish in first, rather than gingrich. >> we were looking at that magnificent christmas card. what is the problem here? why won't conservatives flock to a man who has been monogamous for 43 years, who served one company for 25 years, against a man who has not only had multiple affairs and multiple marriages burk has been highly inconsistent on the issues as well. >> well, a lot of them don't believe in family values as much as they claim they do. you have a party that has a lot of people who maybe behave a little differently than they would tell a pollster or tell their neighbors. so it is be so crazy that they're, it is be so crazy that they're going to respond to a candidate who has gone through confession. he is a catholic. these folks believe in

redemption even if they're not catholics. so i don't think that is as puzzling as his heresys. i think the answer to that is that his anger, his indignation, his invective, all of that covers and somehow obscures the fact that he isn't as conservative as he is trying to claim to be. >> but krystal, is this really about romney's mormonism? is it really that christian conservatives regard mormonism as a cult and look at what happened with his iowa political director yesterday where he described mormonism as a cult and was forced to resign. isn't that really the problem here? >> well, i think that is a piece of the problem. and frankly, i think romney could overcome being a mormon if he was a different candidate. the fact of the matter is he is a guy who doesn't relate well to people. he seems sort of odd and other. so when you add to that the fact that he has a religion that is

not in line with what the primary voter's religion is, it adds to the picture of someone that they can't relate to. but i think jonathan is right. the bigger problem is the fact that they don't see him as one of their own in terms being conservative. and that is the big issue. he gets something like 57% of iowa caucusgoers see gingrich is conservative and only about 29% see romney as conservative. that's the big issue. >> and they're right about that. you look at romney's record in massachusetts. >> he described himself as a progressive. >> he is not really all that conservative. and probably would not be as conservative as gingrich as president. i think what they're really responding to in newt gingrich right now is that he is expressing their contempt for the liberal media. remember, he attacks the moderator. >> and for barack obama. they want a snarling attack dog. the same people who have those

right wing truly nasty comments on your website, martin, and on the bottom. why are these people so mean and nasty? they responded. >> does that mean the republican party could well nominate a man who is unelectable in the general election? they want a man who is a bomb throw as nasty as john says. what about the rest of the electorate when it comes to november? >> frankly, i think whether they nol night mitt romney or newt gingrich, they are nominating someone who is fundamentally unelectable because of the positions they've already been forced to take in this primary. and a lot of democrats are doing the happy dance that we might have newt gingrich because he has all this baggage. i don't know that it is that clear cut that mitt romney is that much better of a general election candidate. if you were to design a candidate who was fundamentally out of touch with the mood of the country, you would pick someone who was a plutocrat, a

child of privilege, that is mitt romney. he has stayed steady at 20 to 25% during this primary. if he stays steady at where he is right now head to head with the president in the general election, he loses. >> he could easily win though. >> do you think so? >> oh, yes. i think gingrich could win, too. in our system, any time a major party nominates a candidate, they get a mantle of respectability. no matter what their background is. and they are suddenly elevated. and this will be a competitive race. >> the moirt surrounds them, supports them and resources them. >> i'm not saying they'll beat obama. but the idea that either one of them is unelectable i would reject. >> can i throw one thing into the blix? first, it will be a competitive race. when you think that all that the president has to do to win is hold the states that he and john kerry both won and pick up florida where he leads both romney and gingrich. and you throw in that they've taken positions that are so far outside the main stream.

the classic example was earl on in the debates when they were asked the question. would you accept 10-1 spending cuts to revenue increases, and they all raised their hands. they are so out of line with where the american public is that i think it will be a very hard lift for republicans to win this. >> today we've got this lecture that newt is giving, of course, on the subject of brain science. and mitt romney is chasing money. isn't that the wrong way around? shouldn't newt be focusing on money and romney trying to win people's minds? i don't understand this. >> a great point. newt is very undisciplined. and i think he is so full of himself that he thinks he doesn't have to campaign. he is that one appearance a day. that's not the way to win a long bruising primary struggle. i would still give the edge to romney. even when we get into march, way fewer than half the delegates will have been selected. you've got big states like new york, pennsylvania, california, where mitt romney could end up

doing quite well. he has shepherded his resources. he still has a lot of money. and he is disciplined in a long campaign that pays off. so far in this race, neither money nor time on the ground has made a lick of difference. >> they haven't started voting yet. >> but so far it is shocking. you can see why gingrich would say i don't need to spend much time in iowa. it hasn't been necessary for my poll results. the one other thing this brain science he's doing, it is not a fluke. he has been from the beginning focusing on alzheimer's research. he is courting the senior citizen vote will. >> is there a subject that newt gingrich doesn't know something about? he appears to be able to lecture on everything from the moon to science to history. >> i think there are some topics that he seem to have known about but conveniently forgotten. some of what he used to know. >> also, it is the most fac i le, sideo intellectual garbage,

you can't call it scholarship. you have to go back to his phd diser station to the belgian congo. >> if anything, it would be all rigorous or intellectually worthy. >> thank you very much for joining us. next, more reindeer games being played by republicans in washington. stay with us. >> you think maybe they don't want to vote on it because the republican senators are kind of embarrassed or ashamed, what's in that bill? the markets never stop moving. of course, neither do i. solution? td ameritrade mobile trader. i can enter trades on the run. even futures and 4x. complex options, done. [ cellphone rings ] thank you. live streaming audio. advanced charts. look at that. all right here. wherever "here" happens to be. mobile trading from td ameritrade. number one in online equity trades.

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harry reid and senate democrats are headed to the white house to meet with the president on passing a pay roll tax cut extension.

there were some fire work on the floor of the senate today after the house passed a republican measure to extend the tax holiday that loaded it with cuts and jobless benefits and approval of the controversial key stone pipeline project. with the government shut down looming, things turned nasty between two men who were supposed to be the leaders of that dysfunctional body. >> i think that everyone can see very clearly that my friends on the other side of the aisle obviously want to have the government shut down. >> if the majority leader is convinced that the house passed bill is doa, why doesn't he talk to the speaker about how we might craft a bill that can pass both the republican house and a democratic senate? and quit wasting our time here in the senate scoring points. the government shutdown is two days away. >> congressman peter welsh is a democrat from the vermont and the chief deputy whip. he joins us live from capitol hill. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> what do you think voters should think when they see that

kind of childless bickering on the floor of the senate with 14 million americans out of work, with poverty at record levels, and with the government shutdown. about 48 hours away. >> our 9% approval rating is about to plummet. we're going to be below the margin of error. the bottom line here is pretty straightforward. should we have a pay roll tax cut extended in this tough economic time? something that will put $1,000 in the pocket of every average american? and the american people, i think, and economists know the answer is yes. it makes sense to do now. basically you have a situation where president obama and the majority of democrats, the vast majority support it. and mr. boehner and mr. mcconnell oppose it but they cannot say that directly. so what they're could go is loading up, what they're doing is loading up the bill to get their side to vote for something other than the tax cut in effect with the hopes that they'll kill it all together. that's the question. >> president obama is threatening to veto the bill

because of the provision approving this controversial pipeline. are you, sir, comfortable with that, the risk of letting the pay roll tax holiday expire over this pipeline issue? >> well, the answer to that is, yes. i am. i think, here's why. >> you would be happy for that to happen in order to prevent the key stone pipeline from going forward? >> no, i would not be happy at all. but what is loaded on the bill is not just the key stone pipeline. it is other extraneous things like cutting back on unemployment benefits. it is making medicare beneficiaries pay more for the medicare benefits. it is putting in controversial and really kind of silly thing like cannot use your food stamps in a strip club. so this bill has been loaded up. not just with the key stone pipeline issue but with all kinds of other provisions, rather than have us in a straightforward way, put on the floor the question of whether you do or don't want to have a pay roll tax cut extension.

with a way to pay for it. that's the question. we've gotten into this habit on congress of loading things up as a diversion. and it takes away accountability for the american people are entitled to have. so i think a straight up or down vote on the pay roll tax extension is something the democrats and republicans should support. if you're for it, fine. defend your position. if you're against it, fine, defend your position. >> i didn't actually know that you could use food stamp in addition strip club. >> i don't think you can. >> speaker boehner says any tax on millionaires would hurt small business. but when he was asked today, which small business it might hurt, he couldn't name a single one. take a listen. >> i could rattle off a half a dozen names right here and now. i'm not privy to their tax returns but i've got a pretty good idea of coils. >> name a couple. >> i've got a handful of coil in my district, friends of mine, who run small businesses but

they're set up as a sub chapter s corporation and pay taxes personally. >> okay. so he says he knows six but he won't be specific. npr went to all the gop leaders in the house and senate and not one of them could name a single small business claiming they would be hurt by having millionaires pay just a little bit more in their taxes. if that's the case, exactly who is boehner trying to protect? >> it's an ideology. that's the problem. there is an ideology at work here that says that any taxes, no matter what, are bad taxes. any government no matter how good is bad government. and bottom line here, we've got to increase demand. the challenge we have in this country is that people have low wages, if they're lucky enough to have a job. and too many people are out of boring. the biggest challenge for businesses is having people who will buy their products. this is something that henry ford understood when he introduced the $5 wage back when

that was a big payday. >> this is a shameful moment though finally. we have a potential government shutdown literally hanging in front of us all. we've got ordinary people whose taxes may go up a thousand dollars a year immediately. i mean, what is your house doing? >> well, i'm with you on that. you won't get an argument. and i think what is the real challenge here in congress, is that we've got an ideologically driven group of people that don't look as problems as have to be solved. people need a job, they need better wages, businesses need customers. that means we've got to increase and boost demand any way we can. and having all of this side show fights where we're introducing and traand train just things. do you want to put it in as a crowbar to prevent us from moving ahead on something that all economyists pretty much acknowledge we need?

a continuation of a little bit of help for the average person? >> indeed. congressman peter welsh from verlt. thank you for joining us. coming you, the trump card is played in today's top lines. >> they want me to announce that i won't run as an independent candidate. and i won't do that. because if the republicans picked the wrong person, i would in fact seriously consider running. ♪

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two words. and i know your families agree. welcome home. welcome home! >> that was president obama delivering remarks to troops at ft. bragg in north carolina earlier this afternoon. as the war in iraq winds down, the president took the opportunity, not only to mark the end of the war but to pay tribute to servicemen and women who fought and died in the conflict. for more on this, let's go to kristen welker who is at the white house. nine years is an extraordinary am of time to be at war and today was an important day. not only for the troops but also the president who promised to bring these men and women home. and has followed up on that prols. >> that's right. good afternoon to you. today was a chance for president obama to say, look, this is full i fillment of a campaign promise. but this was about paying tribute to those who serve. the 1.5 million americans who serve the nearly 4,500 who gave

their lives, the tens of thousands who were wound during the nine-year iraq war. so president obama thanking them for their service, for their sacrifice and for their achievement. but not everyone, martin, was on the same page today. senator john mccain just recently was on the senate floor saying that he was criticizing the president for not leaving a few thousand troops in iraq to help train iraqi forces. so clearly right now, there is going to be a lot of focus on iraq. a lot of people look to have see if it does further destabilize. but the mood there when the president was speaking to those troops, you just played that moment where he said, welcome home four times of it is undeniable that those troops will mark today as a celebration. martin? >> i understand mr. mccain referred to the president's leadership on this, saying that history will judge him with scorn and disdain. but some will argue there was a bit of campaign rhetoric within the president's speech. he said that the most important lesson that we can take from the

military is not just military strategy. it is a lesson about our national character coming together. might that be a jab at the grid lock in washington? >> well, it certainly might be. and we've seen the president sort of try to put pressure on congress right now which is, you've just been reporting is deadlocked over the pay roll tax cut. he has tried to put pressure on them in a number of different ways through that countdown clock that we've seen. he's threatened to postpone his vacation. we heard some lines today, including one in which em, washington could learn something from you. essentially. he said that. so clearly, there were a few subtle jabs in there. you could make that argument. the pay roll tax fight, not far from anyone's mind. >> and speaking of that, i've just been handed a note regarding the first lady and the first family saying that mrs. obama and her daughters will depart for the family's annual holiday on friday. that the president won't be going with them. >> no mention of the president.

that's absolutely right. so the first lady, the first daughters will be leaving for hawaii. a big question mark still remains over when the president will leave. we haven't gotten any announcement. some of us here sort of trying to guess, trying to figure out exactly when he is going to leave. but he says he will not leave until there is a deal done on the pay roll tax cut. >> nbc's kristen welker at the white house. thank you for joining us. stay with us. >> as a symbol of moving in a different direction, i would like to restore your right to drink raw milk any time you want to drink it. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. yes.

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from donald the independent to a little black magic for mitt. got milk? >> they want me to announce that i won't run as an independent

candidate. if the republicans pick the wrong person, i would in fact seriously consider running. >> donald trump is a friend. my best friend. number one, best, greatest friend of all time. we race yachts, we trade mistresses. i call him trump card. he calls me cold beer. that said, the guy is a -- >> the foreign policy was that a athleticic. >> osama bin laden was a continuation of president bush's policy. he did not make a decision. >> most of the schools ought to get rid of the unionized janitors. >> newt is always great with math. he is coming up with great creative ideas. >> why is this man smiling? because his plan is working. brutally attack mitt romney and hope newt gingrich is his opponent. >> i think infrastructure and

executive experience -- for that reason i'm endorsing mitt romney. >> i provided strategic advice to large companies who did no lobbying of any kind. >> quit being politically correct here and call it for what it is. you're trying to influence people. you're getting paid for it. americans know that's lobbying. >> as a symbol of moving in a different direct, i would like to restore your right to drink raw milk any time you want to. >> okay. let's not waste any more time and get right to our panel. goldie taylor is ceo of the goldie taylor project. she joins us live from atlantic. and political analyst and georgetown university professor, michael eric dyson. goldie, if i can start with you and then get the professor's response. we heard in the intro rick santorum say that president obama doesn't deserve credit for the takedown of osama bin laden. what was your reaction to hearing this? and why are they so reluctant to give him any credit on that?

>> who is to say as a form he marine, when our commander-in-chief makes a strike against an enemy combatant abroad, i am prone to give him absolute credit. but the fact is, this cast republicans over the last several years have more than proven, if this president says the sky is blue, they will say pits purple and they don't care if the person people suffer as a consequence. you have to wonder who will climb out of clown car next. >> indeed. in the latest nbc poll prork if he issor dyson, "wall street journal," those asked listed the killing of bin laden as one of the president's accomplishments. the people see it, the people obviously see it. why do some still struggle to do. >> what does the president have to do? kill someone to get respect? oh, he did. >> he's killed over 20. >> this guy goes on vacation. there is a slaying in the aftermath. it is incredible that he gets no

kind of respect for this. the response of the republicans has been to really spite their-the cut off their noses to spite their faces. this is very play book they've deployed to secure their days as foreign experts. and now in material of foreign policy, obama has been brilliant. in fact, some could argue that he has been much more brilliant in foreign policy than he has been allowed to exercise at home domestically. so the very notion that he has been a success there would deny the narrative that they put forth that this president is weak in security, weak on foreign policy, has no notion about how america should operate in the world. when in fact he has restored honor and dignity to the american name and he has taken care of some of the greatest threats to our own borders. >> not according to rick santorum, he hasn't. i want to bring up the subject of ron paul for a moment of he has been front runner newt gingrich. he's got an organization in place. he could play the spoiler in new hampshire and iowa possibly.

>> you know, i've been saying nor months that ron paul had a real chance in iowa of upsetting the entire field. he has the money. he has the organization. he has the supporters. even mitt romney said that every time he steps foot in iowa, the only thing he sees is people with ron paul signs. that's meaningful where word of mouth and key influence and networks really mean something, when you have a county by county organization. that is something herman cain failed to do. something newt gingrich failed to do. something that mitt romney has failed to do. it seems to me that ron paul has the best and strongest organization and i wouldn't be a bit surprised if he came away with winning iowa and upset the entire field. it would put the republicans back on their heels and have them reorganizing for new hampshire, florida, and south carolina. and some of the other early states. i do think that ron paul has a real shot at iowa. >> absolutely. a question to both of you. you know there's a debate ahead tomorrow. professor dyson first. what do you expect? do you expect mitt and all the

others to go after the new front runner newt? or do you think that they're going to retain this cordial that they claim to want to continue? >> no, i think they have to go after newt. the time is shrinking for them to be able to isolate him as the front-runner and to make hay out of his personal life. but also his well established legitimate conservative. they have to erode that. ron paul is a real threat here. he is not to be slept on. any guy with two first names has a chance of administration you laugh. so the reality is they have to go after newt gingrich and look for ron paul to be the spoiler. to come up on the blind side and really take over. >> goldie, very quickly is that correct your view? >> that is my view. i think the professor is absolutely dead on. >> michael eric dyson and goldie taylor, thank you for joining us. next, newt as speaker and why some republicans are castillo a bit wshy washy on the man.

>> i would have a hard time finding someone high felt was more intelligent, smarter than newt gingrich. i've never seen a guy who could think outside the box as well as he can. a big thinker. but you know, like all big thinkers, they have got some great ideas and then they have some other ideas. >> and he's had a few of those? ? >> oh, yeah. progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain... two pills can last all day. ♪ the pioneers. the aviators.

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we are just 20 days from the iowa caucuses. and republican front-runner newt gingrich is in the hawkeye state today preparing to talk brain science at the university of iowa. of course, the professor will be looking ahead to schooling his rivals in thursday night's 17th republican debate. we know likes to cast mitt romney as a want a bepolitician. ron paul as a clueless softy on nasty security. what about newt's failings? was not he chased out of office

by his own party? no, no, you see it was his brave fighters whose energy had waned as mr. gingrich said just this week. >>y stepped down? sure. i had run out of the ability to convince my members to be reformers. they were burned out. they were exhausted. we had had four straight years of doing everything and they were too tired. and i was not willing to stay and be a politician. >> they were both in the house of representatives and i am happy to say that he is here. good afternoon. >> hi. how are you? >> newt gingrich said as you just heard him that he left congress because he wouldn't be a quote normal politician. is that how you describe the situation? >> no, no. but that's newt. he is always blaming others. blaming his caucus for his leaving. the caucus was going to throw him out so he resigned. >> so you're suggesting that this historian, professor of history, isn't so smart when it come to history. not so accurate. >>, no not at all.

and i served with newt when i was in the house for 12 years and then went to the senate for eastbound years and watched him from across the hall in the capitol. and you know, after i left, he was fined $300,000 by the house ethics committee, sanctioned by the ethics committee for ethical violations. first time ever for a speaker of the house. but the thing that i brought something with me. because the thing i've always kept about newt that i think is something that just disqualifies him -- >> is this your memo from gingrich's office in 1990? >> it is. >> when he was not yet speaker and he advised republican candidates to describe democrats using some of these words and i'll quote them to you to save you the bother. anti-family, anti-flag, have you got more? >> oh, yes. this is signed by newt. it says for those that say i want to talk like newt, he says, here's the lang you should use. and we've poll tested them. when you describe your opponents, call them sick, pathetic, use lie, betray,

traitors, corrupt, shame, disgrace -- >> radical? >> it is unbelievable. people ask, where has this rancid ugliness and partisanship come from in american politics. well, i'll tell you. this is a fair part of it. right from the has not of newt gingrich saying to politicians in his party, when you want to describe your opponents, use language like traitor, sick, pathetic. it is just disqualifying in my judgment for newt gingrich and it is bizarre that he is now leading the polls on the republican side. >> but isn't that the point, sir? that's what republican voters want. they want a man who is going to describe the democrats and indeed, the incumbent president as sick, that a thigt, radical, traitor. that's what they want. >> i hope not. this country is in very serious trouble. and in my judgment, needs at this point serious leadership. and my hope is that president obama will run for re-election. i'm going to support him. i hope the republican there's choose a candidate who is

serious about issues and has some ideas about the direction of the country. you listen to these debates, martin. i don't see one idea among all those candidates. in most cases, they are petty and silly. it is like a small carnival in a small town. they have a little side show going but nothing much of value there. >> mitt romney has been hitting gingrich pretty hard as an unreliable leader. can he make that stick when we know that romney romney has so many problems with consistency himself? >> well, they both have changed their opinions on so many different issues. but you know, what is happening on the republican side is they have to go over and thread through the eye of the needle on the far right side on the extreme right and the republican party in order to win primaries, in order to be nominated. and in my judgment, it has put them in a position where it will be very hard for them to appeal to main stream american voters. this country has a very strong center. a political center.

and doesn't respond well to those on the far extremes. >> former senator byron, it is a pleasure to have you on. >> good to be with you. when we come back, will a democrat in the senate break ranks and support mr. boehner's bill? first, hampton pearson is here with the cnbc market wrap. >> with a little less than 15 minutes left in the trading day week running out of words in the lexicon to say not so great in terms of how that have the markets are doing. the dow down 130. the s&p down almost 14 points. and the nasdaq down a little over 41 points. that's it from cnbc. first in business worldwide. luck? i don't trade on luck. i trade on fundamentals. analysis. information. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis: that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual.

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the republican bill to extend the pay roll tax holiday passed the house and is now headed to the senate. where you guessed it, it is expected to die.

the grid lock on capitol hill will come as no surprise to anyone who has been paying attention to this version of the do nothing congress. the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll found only 1%, programs the now infamous 1%, think this current group is one of the best. while get this. 76% consider it to be one of the worst ever. senator manchin is a democrat from west virginia and he joins us now. good afternoon. >> good afternoon. >> will you vote with republicans on this measure and how will that help the 55,000 unemployed residents of your state? >> well, we're not sure yet how the bill will come to us. i can tell you it did pass from the house. martin, my biggest concern has been social security. first time, franklin roosevelt, our great president, basically put social security in place as a partnership between employers and employees. when we retire we would have something. he even went so far to say those

darn politicians won't be able to touch this. i've put it to where it is a legal responsibility and a legal obligation that we will pay. it is your money. now all of a sudden last year we took 2% discount. most of the people in my state don't even know they received it help or not, but i want to continue to help. i want to look at tax credits or anything else they would like to look at but i'm concerned about social security. the first thing that i've seen in the bill that came over from the how is that said it would be extended only for one year and it would take 67 votes to extend it. that's very appealing because now we we know we can stop, it stop raiding social security and i think my people in west virginia are very concerned about social security, what we're doing to it. >> sounds like you're going to go with that bill. >> we're looking at it very hard, and, you know, the other thing is the excel pipeline. you know, in west virginia, makes a lot of common sense to us, do we buy oil from our friends or enemy? and -- and that oil is going to be produced in canada and that

oil is either going to flow from north to south or east to west g. it goes east to west, it goes to the pacific, gets loaded on the ship and taken to other countries such as china. if not, we continue to buy oil from countries that we basically don't have a good relationship and doesn't use that money to help us. they use it to hinder us and to hurt us. >> but doesn't it make sense, sir, that anything like a pipeline of this length should be thoroughly investigated? there are plenty of environmental experts who talk about a disturbing consequence as a result of doing this. i mean, surely this requires the time that the president has suggested. >> sure. >> that it deserves. >> and i understand they have been going through the time period. i understand in nebraska, i've talked to the senators there. i understand from mike joh ha ns that they made the adjustment to the routing so i'm sure these are all taken into consideration but we should have a policy that we're working with canada to bring that oil to america. that's all i'm saying. it makes all of the sense in the world, but the biggest concern i have is the social security.

that's it in a nutshell. >> you've expressed frustration recently with what you call the lack of leadership from the president. have you told him this personally, and if you have or if you haven't, what do you want him to do? what can he do when he's dealing with a congress that is opposed to him on everything? >> well, basically from leadership, i was a governor and i knew that i had a legislative body that you had to work with. you had to really work with everybody and bring them together understanding where we're going in this country. why don't we have meaningful tax reform? why hasn't the president stepped forward on the bowles/simpson, the only bipartisan that we have a plan arc template of a plan that basically we could put in bill form and move this country and jump start this economy like never seen before? that takes leadership from the top. we can't do it from where we are. we're trying, i can assure you. there are 45 senators that want this to happen. there are more than 100 in the

congress that want that to happen, and they are about split evenly between democrats and republicans, but, martin, unless you have leadership that will embrace it, this was his own committee. this was his own commission, and it's still bipartisan and growing. we just need some leadership to put real tax reforms. >> but you're also a strong supporter of the so-called no labels initiative in congress. >> most certainly. >> which was set up over a year ago to promote bipartisanship and break the gridlock. >> absolutely. >> in one of the most divided congresses we've ever seen, can you point to a single accomplishment in a year? can you explain why only a handful of your colleagues on capitol hill have joined your effort? i mean, you point at the president, but look at reaction of your colleagues in the house. >> i would agree with you on that. i'm -- i can't defend anybody's position. i know that i was sent from west virginia to bring common sense values, the things that worked in west virginia. i became governor in 2005. we had six straight years of record surpluses in the most

difficult recession that the rest of the country is still going through. we were able to have three straight years of credit rating increases. we weren't everything to everybody. didn't let anybody off, took care of our children and our seniors and veterans. we set our priorities around our values. it wasn't that difficult. we're fighting wars right now in afghanistan and pakistan. $1 trillion or more has been spent. come back to america and rebuild america. >> indeed. >> that's all we've been saying, and i can tell you, in west virginia, you help us build a road, a bridge or a school, we won't blow it up, and we burn it down. we'll be very grateful and no labels -- martin, no labels has basically said one simple one i signed on to. no budget, no pay. if we can't get our job done, don't pay us. >> senator joe manchin from west virginia. i have to say you're a lone voice of reasonableness but thank you for trying. >> i'm trying, martin. thank you so much. >> and a final note. republican front-runner newt gingrich had only been on stage in iowa a bu brief minutes when

protesters interrupted his speech slated to be on the topic of quote, brain science. the scene continued for several minutes with the former speaker standing at podium. gingrich finally proceeded with his remarks calling the opposition that confronted him, quote, irrational. take a listen. >> first, i know -- >> mr. gingrich, we are here to protest your speech today. >> mr. gingrich, were here to protest your speech today. >> we object to your callous an arrogant attitude towards poverty and poor people. the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing.

it's time now to clear the air and ever since he shot to the top of the republican race for the white house, i've been trying to figure out which historical figure newt gingrich most resembles. from the first century one might be tempted to call him a modern day st. augustin. mr. gingrich would probably like the comparison, especially since augustin's best known work is his book of confessions. in terms of literature it's possible to see newt gingrich as

shakespeare's king lehr, a man of immense wealth who descends into madness after succumbing to flattery and brings only tragedy to all that he touches. as one character says of lehr and might now be said of gingrich, the prince of darkness is a gentleman. but when you study newt gingrich's writings it quickly becomes apparent that he's a perfect combination of religiousocity and insanity. just recently he tried to stir up fears that islamic sharia law was about to be imposed on every corner of the world. sharia law, he says, is a mortal threat to the survival of freedom in the united states and the world as we know it. but at the same time as offering a pessimistic and foreboding view of our future on earth, he seems completely optimistic about what may be happening elsewhere in the universe. in his book to renew america, published in 1995, gingrich says honeymoons in space will be the vogue by 2020.