timid certainly won't defeat barack obama. >> you have to be a moderate to be able to win the election, had new hampshire settled for george h.w. bush, ronald reagan would never have been president. it's so funny because iowa, bush won iowa. but reagan won new hampshire. >> million dollar man, rick santorum kicks up more support in the newest poll and more money after banking the bucks in the first 24 hours after his iowa near win. can he keep it up? plus, a new era dawning at the pentagon, barack obama becomes the first president to go to the pentagon briefing room to announce dramatic cuts in defense. >> yes, the tide of war is receding but the question this strategy answers is what kind of military will we need long after the wars of the last decade are over? and today we're fortunate to be

moving forward from a position of strength. >> good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in new hampshire. in our daily fix, is newt gingrich on a come kaz zee mission to defeat romney. chris cillizza is managing editor of post politics.com. what should be the watching going forward? >> i do think newt gingrich bears watching, andrea, because he's stated -- if you watched his concession speech i guess after the iowa caucuses, he made very clear two things, one, he's quite supportive of rick santorum and the campaign he ran in iowa. and two, he's not happy with mitt romney. you played the ad that he's up -- that's a very soft negative ad against mitt romney but if it's a sign of things to come, i do think a double barrelled attack from gingrich and santorum against mitt romney, it may not hoble romney

in new hampshire where his numbers could drop 15 points and he could still win. but it could make romney's winning strategy a little bit more complicated. the question is if newt doesn't think he could win, is he willing to do or say whatever it takes to keep it from romney? i find that to be a fascinating dynamic. >> is he a suicide mission? what about rick santorum, i was with him watching him in a town hall meeting, packed crowd, the money is coming in. he's getting his rigid, answers are still too long but it's the kind of thing new hampshire voters seem to like, detailed policy that comes from all of his 16 years in congress. at the same time, can his record withstand closer scrutiny? >> the key there andrea, you noted the positive of santorum's record, 16 years in the house

and senate. the negative is he spend 16 years in the house and senate which means he did lots of things that could be mined by opposition researchers for negatives. look, the reality is, is that everyone who spent that time in public office has a few votes that they regret and rick santorum peaked so late in iowa, that i think a lot of people who voted for him didn't know that much about it other than they didn't want to vote for romney he looked like the most viable alternative. new hampshire, south carolina, florida, people are going to get more educated about rick santorum and the people doing the educating, the most well funded groups are romney affiliated groups at least at the moment. and that's a problem i think for rick santorum. >> thank you, chris, we'll talk to you later. i spoke with the senator briefly in the big crowd in new hampshire, a packed town hall too discuss his opportunity to try to capitalize on what momentum he did have coming out

of iowa. >> all of a sudden the money is coming in. i hear you raised $1 million. >> things are going well. and pretty good crowd for a place that doesn't like conservatives i'm told. thank you very much. >> how do you like the interaction here? you seem to be enjoying yourself. >> i could have gone for three hours but don't want to bore -- >> you almost did. >> was it that long? i don't know, i'll take questions all night. the more people know the better -- >> thank you for coming to new hampshire. >> i'm not bypassing, we're going to fight everywhere. >> what do you say that this is home turf for mitt romney? and for jon huntsman too. but as you know, the expectations came and expectations are not high here and we're told we can't compete here. we're going to prove them wrong. >> mitt romney is of course hoping to improve on his narrow win with a big victory here next tuesday and his campaign is taking nothing for granted, rolling out of series of

surrogates. thank you so much, senator for being with us. >> it's great to be here. >> romney is in such a command gs position. what about the expectations game and the fact he's gone on to south carolina. is he so confident about his success in new hampshire that he can afford to spend two days in south carolina? >> he'll be back in new hampshire by tomorrow afternoon, late afternoon. he had a great rally in salem, you can see the enthusiasm there. he's working hard, not taking new hampshire for granted and that's very important because these last days leading up to january 10th matter. >> the point that the suffolk university daily tracking poll, which daily tracking polls are notoriously imprecise, we don't count on them. and we have our maris poll coming out tomorrow night. he didn't get a bounce from iowa. >> the reality was he was so far

ahead in new hampshire and there is undecided voters so i expect it to close up toward the end. you don't generally win in new hampshire primary by the margins he's been ahead of. he'll have a victory here but certainly you'll see voters making up their mind at the last min u he'll get his voters to the polls and that matters. >> there's been a lot of criticism of the way he launched the campaign here, that is john mccain at his side and it was awkward and there were people coming up and asking questions, hostile questions. how does that happen? >> this is new hampshire. i was actually at that event and it was a great opportunity because mitt romney answered those questions on the economy so well. and he was able to answer those hard new hampshire questions and that's what we're known for here, vetting candidates. it allowed him to show his strength. >> let's show you a little bit

of that, because the people who were there i know you were there -- on the platform but people said it was not as big a crowd and not organized and didn't show the skill of the vaunted romney machine on the big launch the day after a victory in iowa. let's watch. >> would you refine your earlier statement from corporations are people to corporations are abusive people? >> let's get the facts. there are two places they can go -- hold on. it's my turn. you've had your turn, now it's my turn. >> why do you want to hold people who can't afford health insurance in massachusetts but now okay with increasing costs for everyone else? >> i'm chinese and american and love this country. i hear this degrading thing about china here and china there. it doesn't makemy feel good. >> the troops of out of iraq, do you intends to form a military alliance with iraq to avoid further conflicts in the area? >> it was not what you would

call a big campaign new hampshire launch. >> i have to tell you, he had the occupy people there. he answered their questions. and it shows you that the campaign is letting anyone in. it's a great town hall venue, not afraid to answer hard questions. i was with him this morning, you should have seen the enthusiasm he and senator mccain had. i think we've really got the enthusiasm on the ground that he needs to carry this to january 10th. newt gingrich has said he's going to go after mitt romney. this was newt gingrich today. >> as we spend this last weekend explaining what it was like to have a massachusetts moderate as govern governor, i think his support may melt after the millions he spent, he only got 25% in iowa. three out of four iowa republicans said no. i don't see him as much of a front-runner frankly. >> how does mitt romney become more of a national front-runner with this ceiling that he seems to have hit of 25% of the

support? >> i think what we need to look at, of all of the candidates in this field, he is the one candidate who is able to mount a national campaign and to go from state to state building. we've seen it here in new hampshire. that win in iowa, terrific, it was a small margin, still a win. in new hampshire, another victory we're hoping for on january 10th and going on to south carolina. when you think about a state like virginia, there's a lot of delegates at play and the only republican that's get on the ballot are mitt romney and ron paul. that will carry him to the nomination. >> is that the weakness of santorum that despite what he managed to do in iowa that he's not on the ballot in virginia and now has to figure out how to make this a national campaign? >> i think it's a very big hill to climb where he had what seems to be a one-state strategy and now he's back in new hampshire. he's been here before but hasn't been here in about a month. he has to put together what

happened in iowa, can he do it for a national campaign because mitt romney has been building this campaign for a while as you know. >> how happy are you that rick perry is at least through south carolina and possibly florida staying in the race and dividing the conservative opposition. >> i think it's great he's going to stay in because it's good to have him in the discussion. it will make the debates more important in terms of when you think about saturday night the debate coming up. >> and sunday morning. >> it makes it more vigorous, the more candidates are debating. >> and divides the opposition and makes it easier for romney to move ahead. thanks very much. >> appreciate it. >> draw mattic cutbacks in defense as a wave of bombings strike baghdad. we'll get reaction. plus the president's new fight with the senate over recess appointments. join me every monday for a live web chat between 2:15 and 2:45 eastern. we're live in manchester, new

hampshire, only on msnbc.

our military will be leaner but the world must know the united states will maintain military superiority with forces that are agil and ready for the full range of con ting ghencies and threats. >> becoming first president to go the pentagon briefing room to announce cutback. wyoming senator john barrosso, thanks for being with us, happy

new year to you. >> and to you andrea, thank you. >> as we look forward to the big defense cuts, do you think the president has the right strategy in downsizing the military along with the budget cuts we know are coming down the road from capitol hill? >> well, i'm going to want to look at the specific details, as we know, the number one role and responsibility of the united states is our national defense. so i want to make sure we still have a strong national defense but as they talked about in morning on "morning joe", the biggest threat financially to our nation is health care costs and medicare and medicaid and i believe that the president's health care law is making that worse and will lead us to bankruptcy. as even the chairman of the joint chief of staff, the biggest threat is that of the debt that is killing us. we need to make sure we're spending wisely all across the board. military is part of it.

entitlements is a bigger part, andrea. >> we have military cuts being announced at the same time as we have a new wave of bombings in iraq. does that concern you that the withdrawal from iraq has been followed by a terrible month of bombings and now a wave again since yesterday of new suicide attacks? >> it does bother me quite a bit, andrea. and the reason is that the president has ignored the advice of his military advisers, which was to keep for 10 to 15,000 troops in iraq instead -- >> he didn't have that option, the iraqis wouldn't agree to it, senator. >> i believe that they would have agreed had the president actually pushed on that and mallky would have agreed to the structure of force agreement. we could have done that and could have kept those. that was the advice of the military advisers what the president said, however, i'm going to keep a campaign promise instead of what's in the best

interest. i think it was a error on the part of the president. >> the president of the white house believes it is in the best interest of the united states to get out of iraq. we're here in new hampshire where mitt romney has a prohibitive lead slipping in the tracking poll but nothing that would jeopardize a demanding victory in new hampshire. does that make him basically the nominee? >> whoever -- it's still going to be spirited debates and discussions and whoever the nominee of the republican party is, andrea, that person is going to have full support across the country because right now only 20% of the american people believe the country is headed in the right direction. the president inherited a bad situation and he has made it worse. it's his policies making it harder for small biszs to create jobs and hurting our economy. we need to get people back to work. we need to focus on jobs and a republican nominee whoever he may happen to be is going to do

that. >> who are you going to support and why haven't you endorsed yet? >> i have not endorsed anyone, i'm going to support the republican nominee and whoever that is, that person will focus on jobs and economy and debt and spending -- >> what is it about mitt romney -- if mitt romney is so far ahead, and has the organization, has the money, what is it about mitt romney that has not brought you into his camp? >> i haven't come out actively supporting any one of the candidates, there are a number of candidate in the race. i will support the nominee of the republican party, whoever he may happen to be. that's somebody who is actually going to be able to carry the debate in front of the american people to know that we need pros spert and growth in this country. we're focus on jobs and that's the way -- that is the way you get success in the american

dream, not by cutting up the pie into smaller and smaller pieces as this president wants to do but growing it so more and more people are working and contributing. that's the way we deal with part of our national debt, getting spending under control, more taxpayers and more people working. >> there's another fight, there's the payroll tax fight between the republicans in the senate and white house. there's been a long history of recess appointments. what's the problem with president obama's appointment and do you agree with massachusetts senator scott brown who supports it or do you agree with some of the other republican senators who criticize it? >> i believe this is an abuse of power by the president. it's running rough shod over the constitution. we are not in recess. we are meeting every three days in the senate so this isn't time -- >> the meetings are less than a

minute. you're meeting for anybody 30 seconds to a minute to gavel down. isn't that -- >> you know this is something that bob bird had put into place with harry reid supporting and barack obama supporting to block george w. bush from making appointments in his administration. so if the president believes he is above the law and above the american people, i think this looks like just a chicago style politics of paying off your friends and your contributors and we're seeing that with unions and contributors and see it also with -- >> what are you going to do about it? >> we're going to use -- the president has just put his finger in the eye of the american people and said that he is above the law. and republicans will meet and use every alternative to prevent this from happening again with this president. >> thank you very much, senator

barrasso from wyoming from washington today. can rick santorum raise enough money for the big states still to come? that's next here live from new hampshire. [ male announcer ] feeling like a shadow of your former self? c'mon, michael! get in the game! [ male announcer ] don't have the hops for hoops with your buddies? lost your appetite for romance? and your mood is on its way down. you might not just be getting older. you might have a treatable condition called low testosterone or low t. millions of men, forty-five or older, may have low t. so talk to your doctor about low t. hey, michael! [ male announcer ] and step out of the shadows. hi! how are you? [ male announcer ] learn more at isitlowt.com. [ laughs ] hey! let's get a recap, merv. [ merv ] thanks, other merv. mr. clean magic eraser extra power was three times faster on permanent marker. elsewhere against dirt, it was a sweep, with scuffed sports equipment... had it coming. grungy phones... oh! super dirty! and grimy car rims... wow! that really works! ...all taking losses.

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i love this issue i hear all the time, the certain candidate is the most electable. what would give you that impression? when is that candidate ever run as a conservative and gotten any votes? never. so why would you assume he's the most electable? is it because he raises the most money? we're doing okay. >> we're doing okay. a million dollars to rick santorum in the last 24 hours after iowa. republicans who may be weary of a candidate that shares their conservative values may not be

perceived as the man to beat president obama though. you've been out traveling and we saw you last night. that was good town hall. he had a big crowd. new hampshire on a cold night, people crowding into auditorium of senator rec room and nursing home. >> what his supporters are saying he'll try to do a john mccain, stay in the room, the hot crowded room for two hours and talk to people about everything from mark hat field to the president of iraq. >> the fact is that new hampshire voters really like that, they want that interaction but does he have enough time? does he have have enough money once he gets out of new hampshire when he heads south to south carolina, he would have he v evangelical support then he goes into florida, does he have have the big bucks for florida? >> right now he does not. he did get the $1 million bump after iowa, the chief strategist said the money is coming in

strong. when you look where the tv money is being spent, where it does come in handy in florida, only has $22,000 on the air in new hampshire, all on cable. in south carolina, it's even less, $12,000. mitt romney and the super pack are pounding the heck out of people. >> the comparison is dra massic, $37,000 for new hampshire and compared to a million and a half for mitt romney and they have more coming. >> santorum and newt gingrich will counter, if mitt romney o could buy the love for people of new hampshire and south carolina he would have done it already. the reality is in a state like florida and other states where you cannot town hall your way into competition, it's going to be very important for rick santorum to show he can -- >> he'll be on "meet the press" on sunday and that could be a good venue if he manages to get

traction. >> he was one of those candidates all summer and fall people would say he does hand in strong debate performances but nobody thought it mattered because he wasn't seen as having a shot in iowa or here. >> now it matters. alex burns, thanks so much. >> he's part of a new hampshire republican dynasty, john sonunu, david gregory will moderate the final debate before the new hampshire primary, the facebook debate this sunday, 9:00 eastern on msnbc followed by a post debate analysis with chris yus live in new hampshire. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. pick your style off a salon wall? not in a million years.

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and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. topping the headlines right now on andrea mitchell reports, an egyptian prosecutor is demanding hosni mubarak be sentenced to death. he faces charges for killing protesters during last year's

arab spring and prosecutors calling for the security team to face the same sentence. in utah a drug raid turned deadly, one police officer was killed and five others wounded in the gun fight. the officers suffered from serious to critical injuries. only suspect is hospitalized and under police watch with nonlife threatening injuries. gabrielle giffords will attend a vigil marking the anniversary of the 2011 shooting that left six dead and 13 wounded. giffords has been going intensive therapy for the brain injury during the tragedy. joseph kennedy, the grandson of late robert f. kennedy is launching a exploratory committee preparing to run for barney frank's house seat. he is resigning from his prosecutor's job outside of boston. there's no bigger name in new hampshire politics than sonunu, his son, the former senator has not endorsed romney.

it feels funny to be in new hampshire with you in washington. we have to fix this. >> i'll be home on saturday through the primary. looking forward to it and it's a great time to be there. >> well, it's a great time to be here. when you come home, are you going to be giving mitt romney the big endorsement? >> i'm not going to endorse any candidate in this campaign. for the last year or so i've been doing a weekly column for the boston globe and write about finance and technology but i wanted to write about the candidates and the process, it would be -- it doesn't make any sense for me to get involved in anyone's campaign. >> what do you feel about the dynamic here now? you've seen mitt romney with the commanding lead with the money and organization and there was the awkward rollout with john mccain, a lot of reporters were very critical of the way that was laid out. and just the response that

romney seems to be having as he faces these individual retail political moments. >> he does fine in retail politics, in fact, he does very well. but it doesn't matter what the national press things of the endorsement, i think what john mccain coming out for mitt romney did was got the voters focused on what's happening in new hampshire, rather than focusing on the aftermath of the iowa caucuses, i think in that sense it was a good tactic. there's no question, you've got three candidates, who have positioned themselves as more conservative alternatives to mitt romney. ron paul, newt gingrich and rick santorum, all of them are polling probably at or above 10%. santorum certainly has momentum coming out of iowa and they want to define this as a two-person race between them and mitt romney. that's going to be the challenge in the next week. >> how lucky is mitt romney that

perry decided to go to south carolina and stay in the race and divide the conservative opposition? >> i think that's a good point. in your last segment you touched on a couple of big obstacles for those candidates that want to define it as a two-person race. you have ron paul who's can campaigned before, he's getting at least 10% and he's going to stay in the race and you have rick perry, suddenly announcing he's coming back in south carolina. so even if newt gingrich or rick santorum were to surge in the next few days, it's going to be hard for them to argue that it's a true two-person race going into south carolina. but that's really their challen challenge. >> how vulnerable is rick santorum to the criticism of earmarks and some of the things he did legislatively when he was in the senate. that seems to be the big message coming from the romney team and gingrich team against him. >> look, no one is perfect. and senator santorum will explain his role in the senate,

his work in the senate and his priorities like mitt romney has to deal with people -- republicans' dissatisfaction with the romney health care bill in massachusetts, just like newt gingrich has to deal with issues with his leadership style, his very provocative nature. all of these things have got to be on the table and people have to have a thick skin. i think it was pointed out maybe by mitt romney yesterday, if you think that the debate and in the attacks at times in the primary are tough, wait until the general election because president obama is going to have hundreds of millions of dollars. their target is a billion dollars to spend in the general election. so you've got to be tough as a republican candidate whether you're rick santorum or anyone else. >> the union leader of the newspaper you know well front page editorial today says the lesson from iowa conservative republicans and like minded

independents in new hampshire and elsewhere better rally around their one strongest candidate or face the real prospect of having barack obama walk all over former massachusetts governor mitt romney. a union leader says that one conservative. the strongest one is newt gingrich. >> two points there. first, this is not joe mcquaide's first rodeo, he endorsed candidates before and he knows how the new hampshire voters think. over the next week he's going to raise the issues or raise the points that he thinks will help his candidate, newt gingrich the most. the second is he understands like you pointed out, the real objective, the strategic objective here should be to try to make this a two-person race between mitt romney, who's likely to win new hampshire, although nothing is certain, and a someone who positioned themselves as a more conservative alternative. >> briefly, what do i think

about gingrich seems to be laying out, which is like a kamikaze mission against mitt romney? >> well, you know, that may be exciting or interesting or entertaining to newt, but frankly if you're rick santorum who just delivered quite a performance in iowa, he's clearly on the upswing, although we don't know how high he can possibly go, rick has to believe that he should be the one trying to position themselves as the alternative to romney. and you have newt whose numbers have been going down nationally in iowa and new hampshire over the last few weeks who is talking about aligning himself with santorum. santorum frankly is going to take votes away from newt first. that's -- because he's positioning himself as a stronger conservative candidate. so you know, that's really not going to help anyone. it may satisfy for the former speaker but i don't think it's really a very wise tactic.

>> john sununu, come on up. >> we'll see you in a couple days. mitt romney has an overwhelming lead in new hampshire, but so far he is benefitting from that divided conservative field now evangelicals are calling a texas summit trying to unify behind one challenger. will it be newt gingrich or rick perry? todd, it feels funny being here with you being up there. >> coming up soon. >> we'll see you sunday. you know new hampshire so well. we want to ask you how you see this thing shaping up and whether you think santorum can play well here in new hampshire? >> there are obviously conservative voters with whom he would have common ground and whom he could appeal. you really still do have to make governor romney not necessarily prohibitive but the strong favorite.

it's his neighboring state, had a house there for years, campaigned there before. he's a very much in sync with new hampshire, the truth is, it's all very interesting what's happened in the past 72 hours but in some fundamental way this does still remain a one-man race because mitt romney has more money, more organization and more staying power and more stamina than anyone else in the race and what's happened all year long is a demonstration of the party's reluctance to accept him despite those advantages. i think it will be fascinating to see what happens but you still have to make him the presumptive favorite to win the nomination at the end of the day. >> in fact, there's a new cnn poll in new hampshire here which says that the most likely people think that the most likely to beat barack obama is mitt romney by 65%, only 9% think it's newt gingrich and 8% think it's ron paul, only 5% think it's rick santor santorum. >> polls have shown that governor romney is the most

likely to beat president obama. and i think the obama campaign has made it pretty clear that governor romney is the person they are most potentially worried about. they've made that clear by the attacks they've already launched on him. >> we should point out that that cnn poll was taken before the iowa results were in. so we could see a shift in that, we'll be looking at our nbc news maris poll coming out tomorrow afternoon and we'll figure out if there has been some shift. when you look back at john mccain, you remember the days of the straight talk express. how ouk ward was it to see him be the wing man for mitt romney knowing how deep the rivalry goes. >> the distaste was so intense years ago. i remember being with mccain in 2006 when his 2008 campaign was just going through and he was at boston college and luke russert was there, a student today. the romney campaign was so upset

that he came to show up in the backyard, the romney team was calling administration, when do i get to come talk at boston college? they just don't like each other. the other thing that was very clear yesterday, senator mccain is recycling the same jokes from four years ago, eight years ago, didn't appear to his best advantage and he's showing in a way the fact that this is not his first trip to the fair. i think endorsements can be overrated. obviously it probably helps governor romney to have mccain support. mccain does retain a special relationship with new hampshire. the voters have a special affection for him and what they meant to him in the past. >> todd, thank you, see you sunday. >> glad to be here. >> up next, the secret meetings that reshape mitt romney's image and strategy. a look at the new cover next in manchest

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i'm tamron hall, coming up on "news nation." the showdown over the president's recess appointment of richard cordray as chief consumer watchdog, some say it is his boldest move yet calling the president quote, new obama, who is more likely to challenge republicans. today the white house is not backing down to conservatives who say the appointment is unconstitutional. plus, a texas girl is deported. the only problem, it was by mistake, her family is heart broken. we'll have the details on that story and the latest out of new hampshire where it is do or die time for jon huntsman. his senior adviser will join me live. mitt romney is trying to win the nomination by following the playbook of his former bitter rival john mccain. lose your tie and loosen up as mccain join team romney here

yesterday and told chuck todd he is ready to put his past disagreements with romney to rest. >> there's a lot of emotion associated in a campaign. you invest yourself into it. but at the same time, at the end of that, you want to do what's best for the country. it was clearly what's best for the country in my view a long time ago for governor romney and i to develop a good relationship. and we have a good relationship. >> romney's makeover is the title of the new article in the new issue of "national journal" ron fournier wrote the article and is coming directly from a santorum appearance. we first met in the statehouse in little rock in 1992. you were the ap lead correspondent covering a little known southern governor named bill clinton. >> you were gently elbowing me out of the way. >> not i, i wouldn't have done that. you were the top dog. i wouldn't have done that.

you've seen it all been everywhere, rick santorum seems to be getting some traction. >> he reminds me a little bit of bill clinton and i know he wouldn't be happy to handle. i saw this this mid december -- >> and the policy aspect of it. >> you start seeing him is taking his personal narrative and merging it with his political philosophy and explaining to voters not just what he wants to do but the kind of person he is and how that fits into his philosophy. with bill clinton we know that story. he talks about being raised among the coal fields and people like his grandfather who was a coal miner and took shots of whisky in the morning but as president he wants to help people like that. he's combining those two things in a very intimate way and smart way on the campaign trail. >> that is a contrast. that's a person who comes across as being very authentic. he is what he is. he gives politically incorrect

answers very often, not just on social controversial issues but when asked last night by a guy, new hampshire resident saying, what about the fact that members of congress can do insider trading legally and why don't we fix that and get rid of the cronyism and santorum says, if i don't believe in big government, if you want small government, do you want to create a police bure rattic network -- i'm para phasing -- that will come after these guys. that's not the answer that man wanted to hear but it was true to santorum's principles. that said, you've got this guy coming across as being the real deal. and then you've got mitt romney and you've exclusive reporting is all about a series of meetings where people former mccain advisers tell him, get rid of the tie, loosen up, take questions to people who aren't planted in the audience. does that make him too cammed? >> we both realize that mitt romney is probably going to win this primary, put a lot of work

in it. >> certainly here. >> it's possible, what could be shaping up depending on what happens on the right side of the ticket. we don't just have a moderate versus conservative but could have an authenticity primary. he does appear to be more authentic on the campaign trail than mitt romney. mitt romney's big problem, he flip flopped on issues and stiff and rather dull on the campaign trail. it will be interesting to see how that plays out. i don't see how mitt romney is not the nominee at the end of the day. >> something by the way which karl rove interestingly said by next week we'll know coming out of here and going forward, we'll know whether this is his -- >> if we don't know who is the single conservative who is challenging mitt romney coming out of south carolina, it will be over. the only thing that keeps it going longer somebody emerges out of the gingrich perry as

taking on mitt romney. >> i'll never elbow you again anywhere, any place. >> what political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours, that's next on "andrea mitchell reports", live from the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu.

which political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours. contributor and managing editor of post politics.com. we have big news on the economic front and the jobs report to be released tomorrow at 8:30 and the adp report and the first claims were pointing in a good direction. >> yes. at least i will speak for myself. i have been so focused on the republican race, but this is a very important day for 2012 too. we saw the november jobs report, 120,000 jobs created. the last month has been a good month politically for president

obama. we have seen the numbers bump up. another positive jobs report, 150,000 jobs create and unemployment drops a bit. it's not going to drop to 5% before the election, but trend lines matter. if the trend line is trending downward, that's going to be a nice moment for president obama as he tries to pick up steam in the first month of 2012. >> thanks very much. we will be looking for that tomorrow. as well as the poll coming out tomorrow as well. the best snapshot yet of the post iowa belts that. does it for us. stay with us tomorrow. we are live here in new hampshire with former governor john sununu who has endorsed mitt romney. online and on twitter@mitchell reports. what's next on "news nation"? >> great to see you. in the next hour, the showdown over president obama's

appointment as consumer watch dog. some are praising him saying it is his boldest move yet. what the white house is saying. the latest from new hampshire. senior adviser ben port and mitt romney is on the cover the time magazine from why don't they like me so you like me now? a texas girl is deported to south america. the only problem, it was a mistake. the heart breaking plea from her grandmother coming up on news nation. happybaby strives to make the best organic baby food. in a business like ours, personal connections are so important. we use our american express open gold card to further those connections. last year we took dozens of trips using membership rewards points to meet with farmers that grow our sweet potatoes and merchants that sell our product. vo: get the card built for business spending. call 1-800-now-open to find out how the gold card can serve your business.

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hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. developing news out of washington where the white house is standing its ground in a showdown with congressional republicans over the four recess appointments made by the president. republicans insist the senate is in recess and the president's appointments are unconstitutional. here's what the white house secretary said a short time ago.

>> our legal standing here, we are very confident. i defy you to find anything like even enough people to fill this room up on capitol hill if we were elected members of congress. you might find them in very warm places or snowy places having fund-raisers. you won't find them in capitol hill because they are in recess. >> you may recall this started with the president's high profile appointment in his visit to ohio of richard cordray to head the bureau. he followed up with recess appointments for three members of the national labor relations board. it could wind up in the courts. he had this to say earlier. >> have you hesitated or curbed or proceed more hesitantly than he might otherwise, given there could be challenges in the future? >> the answer to that question is no. with