hi, everyone. i'm tamron hol. a warning from rick strumz. no matter what happens today in south carolina, he will not end his campaign. he says this race will go on for a long time. mitt romney and newt gingrich were supposed to show up at the same time at separate campaign events at tommy's ham house. they wanted to change their appearance time. both candidates packed the restaurant as they waited to see what would happen. it was a game of chicken at the hen house, romney appeared to blink, showing up 45 minutes earlier to greet his fans and taking off before newt arrived. >> i have a question. where is mitt? i thought he was going to stay and maybe we would have la little debate here this morning. >> also under pressure to release his tax returns romney put the heat on gingrich to release documents of his own

from his time at freddie mac. >> i would like to see what he sold freddie mac. we have washington insiders talking about freddie mac, what he said, what advise he gave them. >> nbc's craig melvin joins us live from columbia, south carolina. it's not raining anymore, craig. but you had a lot of people concerned about the turnout related to the showers. we heard a short time ago there's a tornado warning in effect. what impact is that having, if any on the vote today? >> the tornado watch was in effect for some of the midland counties. that's a center part of south carolina here. does not appear to be having a great deal of an effect on turnout at all. we're hearing that turnout has been either a little higher than expected or a lot higher than expected. 445,000. that was the number of primary voters that showed up in 2008. far shy of the record in 2008.

organizers for the republican party here in the states say they're expecting turntout to be somewhere between 450, 475,000 primary voters. turnout, pretty good right now. especially in the upstate, that's where newt gingrich is going to see a great deal of support, greenville county. the upstate part of south carolina. that's where more of the evangelical voters are. i talked to lindsey graham a short time ago. ran into him at the starbucks here in downtown columbia. i asked him what do you think? who do you think will pull this thing out? and senator graham said my money is on newt. and that is what we are hearing from a lot of the gop establishment. the question no longer whether newt gingrich is going to win this thing in south carolina, but by how much. a number of voters we talked to shared their stories as well.

take a look. >> mitt romney. i think he's the best candidate that they have. and we need someone with his qualifications. >> newt is going to be able to lead our country this the right direction. >> so again, 2100 precincts here in south carolina. slightly here i. let's bring in the political panel. erica hill. and rick santorum supporter. also with us. jimmy williams also from south carolina. thank you for joining us. i'm going to start off with you. i don't know if this is right. i'll ask you. was it true last week you said

gingrich and perry should drop out of this race before the primary? >> isn't it sad that only 50% of of the people i told o to get out got out? >> okay. you are good at the spin. but you wanted gingrich out. >> i hear the 50% in my head. i was an english major. >> you can only do the pr sent on taxes that mitt romney pays. we'll have ourselves a game here. here you go with gingrich in the race. senator lindsay graham saying gingrich is going to win this. polling showing that he may well pull off an upset. will he? >> well, i think of myself as a bob hope conservative. >> what does that mean? >> i'm here at nbc. it means middle america. middle america is not looking for an ideologue. middle america is looking for something that they can somehow relate to. it's my belief that santorum is that guy. the ranking democrats. >> even with his social views

you believe rick santorum is middle america? >> it's infinitely more in keeping than the social views of the president or the people who work here at nbc or manhattan. our friends have social views that are very liberal. he's a solid man. he's a family man. >> why isn't he doing better in south carolina? >> first, it's almost funny how beginning rich, he gives the crowd, i mean, the fact that he opened up the debate attacking john king was hilarious. here was a perfectly -- >> but i don't think you're answering my question because before the debate with the hilarious opening, rick santorum was not ahead in the polls. why not? >> again, it's about winning the nomination. it's not about winning the polls. >> how do you win the

nomination? >> i think he's a steady eddie. try this one, try that one. the question, is who will win? i'm not saying, of course, he will win, but i think there's something -- america is looking for somebody steady. steady hand. i think a lot of people are afraid that gingrich is too volatile. so they're worried about him. >> jimmy, you are from the south, like myself being from texas. eric has assumed because we live in new york that we only have liberal friends. nevertheless, here you have newt gingrich ahead. he could pull off an upset. do you believe that will stay true through the night? >> yeah, i think gingrich is going to win absolutely. i just posted -- listen, it's an issue of credibility in south carolina. what we do not like in south carolina, "a" are called carpet baggers. we don't like people who come down to south carolina and say one thing but have done another. >> who is doing that? is that a reference to mitt romney or does that apply to all of them? >> that would very much be the former progressive gop governor of massachusetts who was

pro-abortion, pro-gay marriage, pro-this, pro-obama health care. and now he's against all those things. we don't like fakes and frauds. if you come down and b.s. us, we're going to vote you out. gingrich sinned. he admitted his sin. he converted to roman catholism. people like like genuineness, if that's a word. >> you believe that's what he's portraying. earlier there was a christian conservative on who referred to the woman you just said as the former mistress. >> she is a former mistress. the people in south carolina have cheated on their wives and husbands. it makes you human. >> that's very interesting. it makes you human. >> mitt romney has nothing in common with if people in south

carolina. >> god will forgive sinners. it's nothing to say i should be the president of the united states. that's a different standard tochlt be fair, to gingrich, america is an incredibly forgiving nation, but this is a separate thing. it's one thing to say that this man is forgiving. you bet. if he's repented and he's sorry, he's forgiven. it's another thing to say make me the president of the united states. this is a deep character issue. he has not shown himself to be steady. he's shown himself to be incredibly volatile. he swings for the fences every time. he strikes out a lot. people are, you know, they're a little weary. i'm happy tomorrow is sunday so we can go to church. the bottom line is this is about the economy. from the information we have so far. the people of south carolina are not talking about social issues or redemption. they're talking about the economy where the average income is $30,000. we learned this week that mitt romney has money hidden in accounts -- i shouldn't say

hidden. put in investment accounts in the cayman islands. >> hidden in plain sight in the cayman islands. and that he pays 15% on the millions he brings in every year. >> ploms has run on his background in the private sector. that the argument didn't seem to take off. not according to polls in south carolina. but if you look at his style, the level of confidence, newt gingrich's defiance. when he's asked about the tax returns, compared to newt gingrich's response when he's asked about the facts, not trash. the facts that you cheated on your wives and your ex-wife is this is part of your final conversation. he gets mad at people for asking the question, and he turns it

around in a way that compared to mitt romney's response on a question he should have seen coming six years ago you would have to say that newt gingrich's response is masterful, and voters are responding to that. they think he's going to take the fight in a better way to barack obama. if you see mitt romney, hang on, hold on. maybe not win but do well. or eke out a win tonight. it will be because they place the economy as the number one issue. >> the reverend al sharpton is talking about the money that rick perry still has even though he's out of the race and the fact he was able to recruit big donors to give him, i believe in the first weeks $11 million. if he could convince the same donors to invest in newt gingrich. all the pundits who said this would be over, we thought we would be leaving around 9:00 p.m.

if gingrich wins he doesn't leap into florida. he goes to florida decently well. there's a problem in florida for newt gingrich. "a" he doesn't have as much money as romney. and "b" it's really expensive to run ads in the market. the state is very conservative. nst the panhandle where you find confederate flags are very different than conservatives in miami or in the middle of the state, orlando, which is the fastest growing part of the state. you have a diverse conservative base in florida. an expensive place to advertise. and romney is poll well. if he wins tonight, which i think he will. this is the writer who says jimmy claims newt is genuine and santorum holds mainstream social views. how high are you pundits?

unbelievable bs. that is one of the tweets that i have coming in. i'll let you get the last word. >> i'll tell you. not that high. as it turns out. >> well, your candidate is not that high, for sure. >> i'm smoking reality. that's what's in my pipe today. the fact of the matter is middle america resonates. rick santorum is in mainstream america. this is a guy, father of seven, solid. >> you still can't answer why he's not doing well, absolutely well in iowa. >> why aren't we doing well? >> i'm doing okay. >> but you're not polling well. i think at the end of the day, one question i can ask is people like ann coulter, rich larry of national review. glenn beck, people who are incredibly conservative don't like gingrich. now these are people who study this, they talk to people or whatever. i think that it's ultimately

about electability. as well as he's doing no, how will he do a month from now? that's what americans have to think about? that's the only reason my of these people would be far better than the current president. but in terms of electability. rick santorum is the man. at the end of the day that's what people are looking at. >> i respect your views. you still didn't answer the question. you did not. you did not. thank you. i appreciate it. thank you very much, jimmy. >> we'll have more on that coming up. what is the rate i've been paying? >> now gingrich is back on top. it's been one of the wildest weeks of the campaign. we'll take a look at the week and how it could impact the vote tonight. i'll talk with congresswoman debbie wasserman-schultz about

the president's strategy and mitt romney recently called out the congresswoman. her response to romney. and this man, actor robert redford slams republicans at the sundance film festival. we'll tell you what he compared the gop debates to. and join our conversation online. we would love to hear from you on this saturday. our twitter page is at news nation. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil but my nose is still runny.

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welcome back now. the week started with jon huntsman dropping out. can you believe that's how we started the week? and it ended with gingrich back

on top. what happened in the middle is sheer political insanity. joining me now is michael smerconish. and also iowa conservative radio talk show host and newt gingrich supporter. thank you gentlemen for joining us. >> hey, tamron. thank you. >> michael, i got to tell you t other day we were thinking, i guess it was friday. i was saying was it monday that huntsman dropped out? this week has been incredible. how would you describe it? the same way. i always say if politics were a ball, meaning a sporting ball, that it would be a football. because it's so unpredictable in what direction it's about to bounce. i will always look back at the last couple of days as the best evidence of what i've been trying to say. >> let me play for us the announcement from huntsman and what we saw at the latter part of the week, governor rick perry getting out of the race. let's play it. >> today i am suspending my campaign for the presidency.

i believe it's now time to unite around the candidate best equipped to defeat barack obama. despite our differences and the space between us on some of the issues. i believe that candidate is governor mitt romney. >> today i am suspending my campaign and endorsing newt gingrich for president of the united states. >> so steve, less about huntsman but more about perry. is that the reason we're seeing a new surge from newt gingrich in south carolina. we know that per was at the bottom. >> if you look at mitt romney's polling numbers before he got jon huntsman's endorsement and after, there seems to be a trentrend and i thought rick perry made a very smart political play. he came in as the governor of

texas with $20 million, $30 million. he flamed out as a candidate. he was looking to go home from texas with a tail tuck pd between his legs, and he threw whatever political weight he had had left behind gingrich rather than finish in first place. so he can say you brought me into the race to stop mitt romney's coronation. and i was able to help do that at the end. >> speaking of romney on tuesday, he made the statement he believes he pays around 15%. let's play along with that. >> it's probably closer to the 15% rate. because my last ten years i've -- my income comes overwhelmingly from investments. >> what do you make of that statement? his answer has gotten no better. michael? >> i don't begrudge him for

paying a 15% tax rate if that's appropriate for his earning capacity. and he certainly seems like a straight arrow. i would be shocked to find there's anything nefarious that goes on. but it fosters this narrative of mitt romney being the other. meaning not one of us. kind of ironic. so often the critics of the president try to portray him as not one of us. this exotic exotic background in roots and so forth. it reminds me of the wager, the attempt at a 10,000 bet. who in the world -- i always make wagers. it just furthers this caricature of mitt romney as just being a guy who as hard as he tries, he may wear the bass pro fishing shirt, but he's really not one of us, and i think that's a great explanation as why there's been such a reluctance in the gop to embrace him. he wins with 25% or 30 pblgt of

the vote. 70% of the folks, they're not for him. >> before i transition to newt gingrich's moment of the debate. i do want to follow up on this 15%. no one begrudges. but as of late i'm reading a lot of articles, what people are saying on the blogs. now there's a narrative of, is he hiding something? and it's. the suspicion that started to seep in. once the cayman island aspect came out. and people are saying, yes, i know it's legal that he pays 15%, but, is he hiding something? but steve i want to transition to you because you are a newt gingrich supporter. and that moment on thursday when he was asked about his ex-wife. you and i talking about it. let's play that clip quickly. >> to take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary, a significant question in the presidential campaign is as

close to despicable as anything i can imagine. every personal friend i have who knew us in that period says the story was false. we offered several of them to abc to prove it was false. they weren't interested. >> jimmy williams says that newt is genuine and that is why south carolina is supporting him, despite the ex-wife, and the other things that are side bar at this point. >> this really ties into what michael just said. he is electable. when he was asked about abortion in the debate. he gave one of the most egregiously false boldface lying answers about his record i've ever heard. but to mitt's credit. he did it almost sociopathically. notice how he stutters, how he stammers, how he looks weak. that totally undercuts myth's

argument for his candidacy. it doesn't matter what you believe if you can't win. he has a simple question about who he is and does he resonate with the average american. it undercuts his narrative he's middle east the most electable. he takes on the media. >> i love when you editorialize. just give your honest opinion. >> can i say something about that? >> yes. that was total show. total schtick. he should have sent chocolates and flowers for asking the question first. and if folks want to humor themselves on this saturday afternoon. they should pull up from youtube the way that newt answered the same question on the "today show" that morning.

and that afternoon. it was a very measured, very reasoned, very appropriate newt gingrich. he was lying in wait for that answer. it's exactly what the crowd wants. they want a huge list. that's what they're getting in newt. they say it's so offensive. that was the question of the day. and the reporter had every right to ask it. >> he knew it was coming. you guys just to find a champion. i completely agree. >> oh, steve. >> i know michael will come back at the end of the hour. here's the deal. we want to hear from you. which candidate had the worst week. he wanted her to accept that open marriage, and it turns out he didn't win iowa after all. vote in our poll. for gingrich, text the number one to 622639. for romney, text the number 2.

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[ man ] whoops, forgot one... [ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. newt gingrich calls himself, quote, the only practical conservative vote. people in south carolina have fewer than five hours to cast their ballot. will they agree with him? we'll check in with the correspondent covering the campaign. plus, a romney win in south carolina would make him the gop nominee. do you agree with that? it's our news nation gut check. [ kate ] many women may not be properly absorbing the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. is another way to look at the bean. another way that reveals the lighter,

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♪ ♪ ♪ one too many... [ male announcer ] it's time to reclaim your garage. the all-new passat. the 2012 motor trend car of the year. ♪ seek your way and go here's what the "news nation" is following right now. >> newt gingrich. he's the person that's going to be able to lead our country in the right direction.

>> carolina crunch time. south carolina voters have less than five hours to hit the poll. will gingrich's gain lead to a meltdown for mitt romney? and game on, president obama goes on the defensive in a new ad. and fight for florida. after south carolina, you know it, the battle turns to the sunshine state. with the primary just ten days away, i will talk with republican congressman from that state to get his thoughts on how things are shaping up. and snowy blast. a weekend snowstorm blankets the northeast, creating dangerous travel conditions and a lot of airport delays. the big question today, can the surging newt gingrich pull off a victory over the sliding mitt romney in south carolina? this is the latest poll by clemson university. gingrich is polling ahead of romney among likely voters. but a huge number, 20% of those responding are claiming they're still undecided.

and newt gingrich has two more campaign events scheduled for today before the polls close. ron mott is in columbia, south carolina. so we saw the morning start off, ron, with again newt gingrich doing trash talking. mocking mitt romney for not showing up. i think it was tommy's ham house they were supposed to have the event. >> reporter: right, a country ham house. there was this ham showdown. we've heard all the the names. ham-gate. mitt romney showed up before speaker gingrich. i asked how this was scheduled. he said the gingrich folks confirmed their meeting yesterday. apparently the romney team got word of it. they decided to go before gingrich got there. they brought a bus load of supporters there. it was quite the scene this morning. when you look at how the race is finishing, it's really -- compared to how we started a week and a half ago. mitt romney was flying high.

newt gingrich came here really limping. it seems that it has reversed in a lot of ways. mitt romney had some tough debates here this week, some uneven answers on releasing his tax returns. by contrast, newt gingrich had two wonderful debates here. he's flying high, and this morning he made fun of mitt romney here at this country ham house by saying the food here is good. don't think they serve clam chowder here. everything will be wide open as they head to florida after south carolina today. >> we spoke with our craig melvin at the top of the hour. thank you, ron. >> reporter: you bet. >> and in a thursday debate mitt romney said it does not matter who wins the republican nomination because all of the

candidates would be a better president than president obama. the president's first campaign ads hit the airways on friday. they defend the president's records, but republicans claim it shows a campaign that is panicked. >> secretive oil billionaires attacking president obama with ads fact checkers are say not based on facts. >> and joining us now, congresswoman debbie wasserman-schultz. congresswoman, thank you so much for your time. >> hi, tamron. >> before we start about the president and the strategy, i'm so intrigued about what's going on between you and mitt romney. after new hampshire you said the victory for mitt romney wasn't really a victory. it's basically his second home. and he was at an event. i want to play what he had to say regarding you and defending the president's record. let's play it. >> the president only got 80% last night.

so i feel sorry for debbie wasserman-schultz. she's got to stand up for the president's record. and it's bad. >> he reiterated a similar comment in south carolina. why is he so focused on you? >> that's a good question. i think we've been able to throughout the early primary process, you know, put him back on his heels because he's out of touch with middle class and working families. he continues to refuse to come clean about his own financial record. why won't he release his tax returns. he won't be honest and forthright about what his real role at bain capital was, which which outsourced jobs to other countries and deliberately bankrupted companies. when you have a record as unacceptable as his is, it's not surprising to lash out at the person who is pointing that out. tamron, even the middle class republicans now are upset and are leaving mitt romney here in

south carolina because at the end of the day you just want your candidates to be forthright and honest. >> and it's interesting. i was having a conversation with a viewer of msnbc just recently. and they were saying mitt romney might be able to in the there's no way that newt gingrich could gravitate anywhere near the center. so i'll have to ask you, is there a so-called dream candidate, since everyone seems to say the president would love to run against mitt romney, or does it matter at this point? >> it really doesn't matter. we've watched through the entire republican primary all of the candidates engaged in this circular firing squad. they've been obsessed with trying to out right wing each other. so at the end of the day, whether it's mitt romney who is

simply continuing to play by a different set of rules, not release his tax returns, not be forthright about his true job was or newt gingrich, who continues to really go after the president when his own record certainly isn't one that anyone could write home about. the republican peefield is dramatically out of step with the needs of working families who president obama is fighting for so they can be successful, too. the republican field is fighting to keep people who are already doing well. >> i want to play a few of the cl clips from thursday's debate. some of the criticism regarding the president. i'm intrigued what you have to say about the tone especially. >> because he has to bow to the most extreme members of the environmental movement, he turns down the keystone pipeline, which would bring energy and jobs to america. this president is the biggest impediment to job growth in this

country, and we have to replace barack obama to get america working again. >> we have unemployment rate two and a half times, those who are college educated, and feel that no party cares about. you have the democratic party and barack obama and all he wants to do is make them more dependent. gives them more food stamps, more medicaid. >> why is president obama being for young people allowed to stay on their parent's insurance until 26? because he can't get jobs for them to go out and buy their own insurance. >> you have words like the president bowing down. the notion of food stamps and even with gingrich, people not being able to be independent enough to move out of their family's house because of the president. how soon will we see the re-election campaign really aggressively tout the successes of the president's resumé from health care, even though the republicans say they want to repeal it. you can now keep your child on your insurance. when will we see an aggressive push of the things the

president's base really want to have him sell? >> tamron, those clips wow showed weren't the most outrageous things that the republican presidential candidates said about president obama. and we are out there focused on -- well, president obama is making sure he can continue to be president, championing getting the jobs turned around. we were bleeding 750,000 jobs a month when he took office. but president obama promised change when he campaigned for the presidency. the kind of change he brought us was rescuing the american automobile industry and making sure we save those 1.4 million jobs. making sure, as he promised, brought our troops home from the war in iraq, which he did at the end of december after promising that he would end that war. making sure that we could provide affordable quality health care to all americans, including the two and a half million young people who no longer have to worry about whether they can get health insurance because they can stay on their parent's insurance, or breast cancer survivors like me.

the 47 million americans who live with a preexisting condition. thanks to the affordable care act, that gave them the no longer. barack obama has promised change. he delivered change. he made sure that we brought this country from the precipice of economic disaster to beginning to turn this economy around. he's going continue to fight hard for working families why we watch the republican field try out right wing each other. by continuing to tout an economy record that was one in which he devastated communities like those in south carolina when he was ceo of bain capital. there's a dramatic contrast. i think at the end of the day americans will reelect barack obama because they want to go in the direction he is going. >> congressmthank you so much.

>> we're ready for you to come down. >> there's a lot going on today. here's some things in our special south carolina primary edition of things we thought you should know. the former first lady of south carolina says she won't support newt gingrich. jenny stanford divorced mark sanford after he cheated in 2009. claims by his ex-wife that he wanted an open marriage will affect his chances of winning the primary. >> i think that actually seeing one of his wives speaking about him in an unflattering manner has got to have an impact in some respect. it calls into question his character. >> actor robert redford slams republicans at the opening of the sundance film festival. and a slew of other gop debates. a mushroom cloud of ego hovering over everybody. [ snoring ] [ thunder crashes ] [ snoring ] [ male announcer ] vicks nyquil cold and flu. the nighttime, sniffling, sneezing, coughing,

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coming up at the top of the hour, a very special saturday show to mark the first in the south primary. will millionaire mitt -- off the professor? we have reporters in the state and the finest analyst i can find. >> next up for the presidential candidates, florida, where early voting is under way right now in the critical state. the primary is not until i should say january 3 1st. but mitt romney and the super pac supporting him have spent $73 million on ads. in fact, this ad where romney is praising his family and work ethic has already run in iowa and new hampshire. joining me now live is florida congressman. congressman, thank you for your time. >> it's good to be with you. >> so you are supporting mitt romney. let me talk to you about south carolina and how it may or may not set the stage for you state if he doesn't pull out a victory. you see the polls showing newt

gingrich closing the gap or ahead of romney. >> well, i think we're getting to the end of the nomination process. thank goodness. i think people have probably heard enough. but last week i made a decision to for for governor romney. if you look at all the the people with all the political rhetoric, what it boils down to is we want someone that can get our economy out of the ditch and provide some opportunity for our children and for the future, and somebody who has had elected executive experience. and when you go through them all, we have great candidates. south carolina and floridians and the rest of the nation will settle on mitt romney. >> i'm intrigue that had you think it's wrapping up. iowa went to rick santorum.

new hampshire went to governor romney. and today south carolina could go to newt gingrich. that would be the first time that all three -- the caucus and the two primaries went to a different candidate. why does that make you feel this is wrapping up? many people see that as being quite the opposite. rick santorum says win or lose, which it appears he probably won't eke out a victory. he says he's still in it. >> some people have left the race. i've served with them. they have wonderful people. we all share a very similar political philosophy. but when this boils down to who are we going to get to give our children and the future of america back you want somebody who has had some business experience. i think you just look at the romney experience. he's a self made man. he has the experience, not only as far as business -- i mean,

again if you're going to get unique experience, he has it taking businesses that were going down the tubes and making them work. you can't make everyone work in a free market society, but he did it. and then, again, and again, i love to hear the rhetoric and the debate and all the cliches. we need an elected executive. >> i think people will debate whether or not he's self made, but i'll move onto that and ask you this, does mitt romney need to release his tax returns, and how soon? he wants to wait until april. chris christie says he needs to do it now. what do you say? >> well, i think that's a nonissue. >> really? why? >> because, we know he has substantial income. we know he's made money. >> so why not release it? >> he can release them, i think, any time he feels it's appropriate. if he becomes the nominee, he should release them. he said he would in april.

and i feel pretty confident he'll be the nominee by then and he'll do that. but the issues i hear when i'm home. we had president obama come to florida this week, and he's desperate in florida trying to make it look like he's doing something, we have 10% unemployment in florida. people aren't interested in tax returns, they want the opportunity -- >> yeah, those people unemployed -- we're almost out of time. on the last point, you say people aren't interested. they are -- >> not one person are talking about tax returns. >> if they believe that the nominee is for the so called 1% who would greatly benefit from a 15% tax rate, that is a part of the narrative. it is a part of the have and the have not, and what kind of people would the president if it is mitt romney, who would he look out for? would he look out for the corporations that he refers to as people or would he look out for the people of south carolina who make an average income of $30,000 and many of the people i

have spoken with and spent time with in your state of florida, desperately trying to find work. they did not lose their jobs under the obama administration. they were out of work under the prior administration, which was president bush. >> you know, everything starts pretty close to home here. i look at newt gingrich, we have some fine people and they talk good political games. but again you start with the family and then you look at how people conduct themselves, then you look at business. and you look at have they run a business? have they gotten a business out of the ditch? >> congressman -- >> the other thing, do you have elected executive experience to get this country moving. >> i get your point. we'll see what they get. thank you so much, congressman. this monday, by the way, don't miss the nbc news presidential debate moderated by brian

williams live from the university of south carolina in tampa, 9:00 what's he looking for? i think he's looking for savings. ♪ i can't watch this anymore. stop! there's an easier way! we compare your progressive direct rate to other top companies so you get a great price. no more running around. ha ha ha! wouldn't you love to see the world through his eyes? i bet i look like the strongest man in the world. the best place to find a great deal. now, that's progressive. call or click today. but my nose is still runny. [ male announcer ] truth is, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition.

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syndicated radio talk show host michael smerconish. final thoughts, michael. >> tamron, we don't know who wins in south carolina. i think we no mitt romney will not win and win big. subsequently, this will go on for a while. it means the monday night debt bait, the nbc debate will matter significantly. and romney, in my view, becomes vulnerable only when the field narrows so there's one conservative against mitt romney. by the time we get to that point rgs he may have the thing sewn up. time for the "news nation" gut check. if romney wins the south carolina primary, is the race for the republican nomination over? that does it for this special saturday edition of "news nation." my colleague and my bff martin bashir is up nooex. [ male announcer ] the inspiring story

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