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ingredients for life. >> with just 24 days to go before the first ballots are cast in the 2012 presidential race, tonight's gathering in iowa was critical. >> republican presidential hopefuls debated but did anyone hit a home run tonight? that is the question. in des moines, with all the details. >> knut gingrich came into tonight's debate with a bull's eye on his back but he ended up throwing the first punches. mit was given the chance to boil it down. he seemed her plesmed at first but then rattled off a few policy differences and zeroed in on what he sees at the key issue for voters. >> the real difference i believe is background. i spent my life in the private

sector. i understand how the economy works. >> but going rich was prepared with a zinger. >> you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. you would have been a 17-year career politician by now if you would have won. >> that was probably the best thing i could have done for the job i'm seeking. here's michele bachmann who would love to steal the conservative vote. >> if you look at newt romney they were for the $700 billion bailout. >> it's important that you be accurate when you say those things. >> romney found himself once again under fire for his health care law. >> i read your first book and you said that your mandate in massachusetts, which should be the model for the country i know it came out of the reprint of the book. >> romney was so confident that perry was wrong, hi challenged him to a wager. asked later how marital

infidelity factored in all of the candidates agreed character counts when electing a president. but for going rich who has been married three times, the answer was more personal. >> i've made mistakes at times. i've had to go to god for forgiveness. people have to measure who i am now. >> mitt romney needed a game-changing moment to stop knut gingrich's surge. >> we should point out that former utah governor and presidential hopeful john huntsman was not included because he wasn't polling high enough in iowa to be included. >> of course tonight's republican debate in iowa and the shape of the g.o.p. h field will dominate this week. politico's john harris has a preview of tomorrow morning's show. >> here with me now, host of abc's this week. >> knut gingrich has been getting a lot of sharp reaction from the conservative

commentary people like charles george will, peggy noonan saying very sharp things about him and his leadership style so far hasn't affected his rise. how much are you anticipating a newt backlash? that's something interesting for everybody to watch and the nods are coming out as everybody is predicted they would. so it's not just the so called true conservatives having issues with knut gingrich and his flip flopping record but it's also the establishment republicans who have watched this dynamic play out over the last several months of everybody trying to go for everybody but mit and then ending up with knut gingrich who many believe may be a flawed candidate. so i think on all sides of the republican divide there are anxieties about this. >> always like to ask you, question from an international perspective. knut gingrich obviously a familiar figure on the american stage for decades. do you think he's known

overseas? and what would be the reaction to a knut gingrich nomination if he is the republican nomination? >> i think he's known, probably not massively known but known from his time as speaker, from the government shutdown back in the mid 90s and also for some of the positions he's taken. he was one of the loud voices during the whole so-called ground zero mosque, the whole issue of islam in this country which had ripple effects. now in the last several days and weeks there have been ideas moot about who might be a new secretary of state. one was john bolton. he is viewed with great alarm around the world because he has a confrontational approach, including in some of these tricky situations for instance between iran and the united states. so i think people would be looking at this with a certain amount of alarm wondering in precisely what direction foreign policy would go.

>> your show on sunday, what are you tackling? >> this precise issue of newt and mitt romney. we're going to talk about the debate we're going to have on george and die an and the rest of our abc news team who are going to join us from iowa having conducted the debate late into the night. and we're going to have our great roundtables dissect what happened on stage, what is going on in the race, whether this newt boomlet is a boomlet or a major surge that will play out. what it will do to the race, what it will do the chances of the republicans actually being able to mount a strong competition against president obama. and we're going to talk about all of that. we'll bring in some of the economy because very, very important things happening in europe with the euro zone trying to rescue the whole euro and trying with at this time geithner who has been over there not having a swags which rebounds negatively on the u.s.

economy. >> good luck to you and all your colleagues with this weekend's debate. thanks. we'll watch on sunday. >> thank you. and watch saturday night. >> and you can watch right here on abc 7 tomorrow at 10:00. >> turning now to local politics. this past week both jack and leslie johnson were sentenced in a federal corruption probe. a sudge handed down a seven-year sentence his wife seaved a one-year sentence. >> as she and her entourage arrived in court today leslie johnson did her best to avoid cameras. in court she stood front and center and asked for mercy in a strong voice she apologized for her now famous caught on tape actions last november as she sought to hide her husband's bribe money from the f.b.i. agents knocking at her door. >> what do you want me to do with this money?

>> put it in your panties and walk out of the house. >> for most people outside of the johnson's corner, that was the first time they had heard her voice. she told the court she is ashamed of what she did and that it was a one-time laps of judgment and that she was so busy being a working mother she had no idea that her husband was raking in hundreds of thousands of dollars extorted from developors the first time she spoke publicly. her many supporters in court today it rings true. >> she's a very nice person. i'm a member of her church and she's a very sprittull person. >> i don't think she probably knew all along like they're saying. >> pointing to the video and audio evidence to the contrary the judge said she had to know about the dirty money jack was collecting. he said, you are not an innocent spouse. and sentenced her to 12 months plus one day in federal prison.

prosecutors call it just. johnson's supporters call it too much. >> they have lost so much. and that's punishment enough. >> during the sentencing hearing we also heard from leslie johnson for the first time why she insisted on being sworn in even after her arrest. she said she did not want to be defined by that single act of stuffing the money in her underwear. and as for why she continued to serve she said she was motivated by a desire to serve the people of the sixth district. >> and still ahead, right here after breast reconstruction surgery. why breast cancer surgery patients are opting not to have the procedure. >> first it was valentine's day, now new year's eve. rating the new star-studded flick. >> quiet and dry for the

overnight hours. a cold sunday ahead. but are you ready for a nice warmup? the forecast [ female announcer ] at verizonfios.com you can choose your channel package. ♪ ♪ you can choose your own internetedpeeds. ♪ ♪ you can even choose to chat with a live person. ♪ now youan choose tto ve $35 a month foosfios tv, intnet and phonone for just $79.99 a month plus get a $300 vizon visa prepaid card with a 2 year agreement.em bu hurry, offer ends soon only at verizonfios.com. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v.

>> medical story all women need to see. the issue of breast rewhich struction fror breast cancer patients is in the news this week with celebrity host giuliana rancic announcing she's having the procedure. >> new research shows that most women are skipping the surgery even though reconstruction can improve a woman's self-image

and body image as well. >> for 5-year-old laura scott finding a lump in her breast last year was shocking. she has no family history of breast cancer and has always been healthy and active. >> i discovered it myself by doing a self-breast exam which was a bit unusual because i admit i did not do them very regularly at all. >> further testing revealed the mother of two had stage one invastive breast cancer. she had chemotherapy, a double mast ecty and then reconstructive surgery >> as a woman your breasts don't define but but they're part of you. >> but a just released study find only one third have breast reconstruction after mast esket mies. patients at teaching hospitals are more likely and women with insurance are three times more

likely to opt for the surgery. >> i believe this is something a woman should be able to decide for herself. >> georgetown university hospital breast surgeon shawna willy says about 85% of her patients have breast reconstruction. but some simply don't want any unnecessary surgeries even when it's been shown to improve self-esteem and body image. >> i do have six scheduled this week. two are in women who decide i had they don't want reconstruction. it's one aspect that she can control. >> she said she made the right choice but believes every woman has to make that decision for herself. >> it's your own body and you want to have those options to be able to make for yourself. >> and dr. willy says that it's important for patients to know that reconstruction will not interfere with their treatment.

>> still to come, the star-studded movies to end the year. is it worth your money? coming up. >> but first sunny and chilly trend continues. s [ male announcer ] citank's new app for ipad makes it easy for anne to view her finances from anywhere. like gate d12 for the next three hours. citibank for ipad. easier banki. standard at citibank.

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up. outdoors on our camera here, clear skies. and the skies will remain clear for tonight, allowing our temperatures to fall into the 20s. 47 degrees the high temperature for today, near average. it's 34 at the airport where the wind chill factor of 28 degrees it's 27 this hour. they had wind gusts of 20 miles an hour over the past hour or so. but the winds are going to subside as they move through. 36 degrees currently at george washington university. temperatures across the area range from the 23 degrees in frederick all the way to 30 in winchester. the real cold air still off to the north and west of us. this is where wind chill factors are in the teens this hour. chicago even though it's 26 degrees feels like 16. feels like 11 in detroit. you can see closer to the coast temperatures and wind chill

factors not quite as extreme. it's going to be cold tomorrow. the temperature change about 6 degrees colder. but look off toward the west, minneapolis 10 degrees warmer once this area of high pressure moves off the coast. winds will return out of the south and west will allow our temperatures to warm. back into the 50s. our skies have cleared right now. earlier in the morning we had the clouds associated with the cold front now well off the coast. our skies remain clear, sunny day for tomorrow. it's going to look warmer outside than it is. and the sunshine will stick around on monday and tuesday. nighttime lows rebound from the 20s into the upper 30s to around 40 degrees. for tonight 22 to 30 for overnight lows. daytime highs for tomorrow will be around 40 to 45 with the wind chill factor more like 37, 38 degrees. it's going to be chilly for the football game come tomorrow.

don't forget, the sun will set around 4:45. this is the shortest time of the year in terms of daylight. toward the end of the month our days will start to get longer. very slightly longer. >> 55 degrees on thursday and friday. the real increase in time will come in january and february. >> all right. looking forward to that. >> thanks steve. >> it is the 2011 version of love actually talking about the new movie, new year's eve. >> contains a gal axeie of stars. of course, the question is is it any good? back in

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>> there's a new comedy out. if you name any star, they're probably in it. >> arch reveals the holiday film new year's eve. >> it's the biggest night of my career. >> all these people have come from all over the world tonight just to be here. >> hillary starts things off with the responsibility of ensuring the time's square ball drops at the stroke of 2012. >> and off we go with a dozen stories. including katherine's lover's spat. >> a december-may friendship or more between michelle fifle and zack efron. >> i want to go to time's square tonight. >> teen age abigail brezz lynn's move to loosen the apron strings.

plus halle berry, robert deniro, on and on and stories that conclude at the stroke of new year's eve. not an oscar winner. but a possible date night. for couples who haven't been out of the house in a couple months. 2-1/2 stars. best bet, the descendents, the muppets, and my week with maryland. >> and arch says if you're looking for a rental to watch at home, hit summer movie the help is out on dvd. >> that was a great move eafment we'll be right back with the fi [ screaming ] [ zapping ] there goes aynene's car. oh, man. there goes dwayne's house. whoa! whoa! and there goes dwayne. man, that thing does not like dwayne. [ male announcer ] state farm's got you covered.