ari fleischer, thanks, cornell belcher as well. "crime and punishment."mer penn state football coach jerry sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing this morning. that means we did not hear from his alleged victims of sexual molestation. but two of his accusers' attorneys are speaking out. we'll talk to them ahead. >>> later, pressure piling up on attorney general eric holder over the failed gun running operation fast and furious. some democrats say it's a manufactured scandal. we talked to one democrat and see what is he talking them. we're keeping them honest, ahead. [ male announcer ] does your prescription medication give you the burden of constipation? turn to senokot-s tablets. senokot-s has a natural vegetable laxative ingredient plus the comfort of a stool softener for gentle, overnight relief of occasional constipation. go to senokot-s.com for savings. >>> in "crime and punishment" tonight, a surprise move in the case of former penn state coach jerry sandusky. prosecutors were ready to put witnesses on the stand today. we talked about it

joining me ari fleischer, press secretary during the george w. bush administration.low him on twitter @arifleischer. also with us democratic strategist and obama 2012 pollster, cornell belcher. you look at these polls. do the voting public care about whether or not a candidate goes negative? >> well, this is one of the conflicts among voters, the contradictions. all the voters talk about how they hate negative ads and they hate negative campaigning and how it turns them off. truth of the matter is we know very well it moves voters. if you have a valid and authentic attack line or strong contrast with your opponent and you put money behind that in television advertising and you keep pushing that message, eventually it does burn in and it does make an impact. what you have to do is you have to pause those voters from moving to your opponent. mitt romney has to attack newt gingrich because he has to get in the way of those voters of the republican core electorate out there, he has to get in the way of them coalescing around gingrich. if they coalesce around him, the rac

let's continue our strategy session with ari fleischer, former white house press sec torre to george ush and paul begala. ari, what do you think? a lot of pundits out there including me suggested he could win in iowa on january 3rd. >> i disagree with everything he says about foreign policy. i find him dangerous isolationist. having said that, what ron paul does is rev up his base in a way nobody else can do. his base is capped and that's his problem. i don't think he's going to do anywhere above 20, 25% iowa. he only got it 10% four years ago. but he can get to that number because there is a group of people who feel the way he feels and he has energized them, but within that limited group, he is a powerful force. >> a lot of supporters, that matters in iowa. >> it does. he's been at this a long time. he has been consistent, which a few of the rest have been. that libertarian strain in the republican party is powerful strong and growing. on this question of iran, i don't think it hurts congressman paul as much. there is a sister soldier moment here, a chance for republicans to stand u

ari fleischer, thanks, cornell belcher as well.nn state football coach jerry sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing this morning. that means we did not hear from his alleged victims of sexual molestati molestation. >>> later, pressure piling up on attorney general eric holder over the gun running operation fast and furious. some democrats say it's a manufactured scandal. my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. for the efficient absorption my body needs. when you're a sports photographer, things can get out of control pretty quickly. so i like control in the rest of my life... especially my finances. that's why i have slate, with blueprint. i can make a plan to pay off big stuff faster... or avoid interest on everyday things. that saves me money. with slate from chase, i'm always in control. financially, anyway. get sla

. >> joining us now along with ari fleischer and eric erickson. gloria, looked like quite an interview there. as the congressman said, it's not the first time he's faced questions about all of this, but when you spoke to him today, he still doesn't seem quite ready to answer them obviously, did he? >> well, there seems to be a bit after conflict. on the one hand he says that he read them on occasion. and then on the other hand he said that he did not read the most incendiary ones. so it's really unclear what kind of editorial relationship, if any, ron paul had with this report that beared his name. he says that it's irrelevant. that was 22 years ago. he clearly doesn't want to talk about it. honestly, that's the kind of scrutiny you have to ex inspect if you're the front runner in a presidential race. >> it's politics, no question. eric to that point some people are hearing about this for the first time, these questions are not new. they don't seem to have much on his presidential hopes until now. why not previously? >> well, because no one took h

ari fleischer, thanks.er as well. >>> former penn state football coach jerry sandusky waived his right to a preliminary hearing this morning. that means we did not hear from his alleged victims of sexual molestation, but two of his are. >>> gun operation fast and furious, some say it's a manufactured scandal. we're "keeping them honest" ahead. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. >>> in crime and punishment tonight, a surprise move in the case against former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky. now, prosecutors were ready to put witnesses on the stand today. we talked about it a lot last night including some of the young men who say sandusky sexually abused them when they were children, but they didn't get a chance to testify. sandusky waived his right

but as ari fleischer says, this is not the message the republican party wants to be sending. but i'll tell you this, i was at a ron paul event earlier in the day. it was a full house, and the message that resonates here is the message of anti-washington, anti-big government, anti-debt, anti-deficit, anti-establishment, and it works with voters who are angry about the economy. so there is a real connection here with the voters in iowa. >> it will be interesting where the ads go from here and what happens over the next several days. i wish we had more time to talk about it. appreciate your time. thanks so much. and let us know what you think at home as well. we're on facebook, on google. add us to your circle so you can follow me on twitter. i'll be tweeting tonight. >>> up next, though, ten days until your taxes go up and this guy here and his house republicans are getting thrown under the bus by other republicans. we have the inside scoop on this and what the politics could mean for your paycheck. >>> and later, a deadly discovery. how to turn bird flu into a potential terror

but as ari fleischer says, this is not the message the republican party wants to be sending. but i'll tell you this, i was at a ron paul event earlier. it was a full house and the message that resonates here is a message of anti-washington, anti-big government, anti-debt, anti-deficit, anti-establishment and it works with voters who are angry about the economy, so there is a real connection here with the voters in iowa. >> i'll be interested to see where the ads go from here and certainly what happens. i wish we had pore time to talk about it. appreciate your time, erick, ari and gloria. let us know what you think at home, as well. add us to your circle. follow me on twitter. up next, ten days until your taxes go up and this guy here, and house republicans are getting thrown under the bus by other republicans. got the inside scoop on this and what the politics could mean for your paycheck. >>> later, a deadly discovery. how to turn bird flu into a potential terrorist people killer. why that's got the scientific, the medical and national security community on edge. first thoug

we'll ask republican strategist john mclaughlin and ari fleischer to look into their crystal balls. >us parents. a growing number of children are overweight or obese, and their parents don't even know it. how is this possible? we'll talk about it, straight ahead. >>> and they now know what caused that giant wall of water to slam into japan in march. the anatomy of a deadly tsunami is ahead on "american morning." >>> it's 39 minutes past the hour. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. >>> welcome back to "american morning." 42 minutes past the hour. >>> a few months ago newt gingrich was considered dead in the water. experts said he didn't stand a chance after his, much of his staff walked out on him, but now he's leading in iowa. the first state to vote? a perfect time for a chat with donald trump. right

here to talk about it tonight paul begala and former bush white house secretary ari fleischer. e start with you. everyone thinks they lost the optics on this tax cut issue. what do you think went wrong here for them? >> what i think went wrong is house republican's put perceptions first. they tried to do something long term. it's why the tea party got elected to change the way washington does business. my message to the president and harry reid is congratulations. you're now governing in two-month increments. what a wonderful way to lead a country. that's what they did for us. they mistook for for a town where you could do it for a year long. politically it didn't work. >> you have to agree, ari, that a lot of people who have been paying attention on both sides of the aisle say, look, the optics in the end were the house republicans look like they weren't going to allow this tax cut to happen. and that's a core issue for them. >> no, republicans passed a measure that cut taxes for one year. it was the senate that didn't let that happen. i don't think there's any dispute about th

ari fleischer says it's a joke. >> presidential politics should be about things that are serious. they should not gravitate to the most entertainment level and that's what it will be if you put a third party showman like donald trump as a moderator. >> so the talk back question for you today, why do some republicans feel the need to kiss donald trump's ring? facebook.com/carolcnn. i'll read your comments later this hour. >> it's interesting, because he was discredited when the white house correspondents association, the president slammed him for all this misinformation. you and i both interviewed hip. he doesn't have a lot of credibility on the issues he's presented. it's fascinating that he is still such a viable, important part of the republican campaign. >> well, i think the thing is he appeals to a very small segment of the republican party. that would be the conservative tea party people, and that's who newt gingrich really needs in order to win the primary. >> all right. thank you, carol. we'll see how it goes. first, saving the euro. how it could throw a wrench into our fra

joining me now is ari fleischer, democratic strategist, cornell belcher. ari is the cain campaign to the point where it could do some damage to your party? >> oh, no. to the party? did bill clinton's affairs to damage to the democrat party? these things become individual damage. but the broader point here, anderson, and i say this as somebody who has been a fan of herman cain and who liked him by the same time i've been saying for months herman cain is not ready for the oval office. that's the more fundamental issue. none of us know what the truth of the he said, she said that is piling up is. herman cain on policy is not prepared to be the president of the united states. i've been saying that for months. so many ways this doesn't matter except where will the cain votes go if he does drop out. that matters a lot. >> cornell, do you believe he's doing damage to the other republicans in the race? >> i mean, i'll say a couple of things. one is, the whole idea that nothing was going on, it seems to be -- it's a stretch. every guy in america knows if you're text

ari fleischer and democratic strategist paul begala. thanks for joining us.l, let me start with you, december 20th, five days before christmas, are you surprised the way this is playing out the payroll tax cut debate? >> i think we've seen this coming all year. go back to the spring, republicans were flirting with the government shutdown. they wanted to shut down the government. in the summer they flirted with defaulting on the national debt, something we haven't done in 200 years. forgive me if i see a pattern here. there's pretty good evidence that the republicans seem to be willing to tank the economy in order to hurt the president politically. of course you tank the economy by hurting the middle class. i don't think it's going to work. i don't think it's good politics or economics but i think that's what they're doing. >> ari, i can't imagine you agree with all of that. before you respond, i want to play a clip of how senator mccain characterized the fight over the payroll tax extension on "the situation room" with wolf blitzer. take a listen. >>> it is h

play for conservative christians with our political panel, former bush administration secretary, ari fleischerr, and also hilary rosen, who happens to be in the white house briefing room tonight. ari, i know governor perry is going to the try the win over evangelical voters. what do you make on the kind of war on christmas argument he's now making? >> if you look at republican primaries, there's a history of candidates going to the state of iowa, particularly, and making an appeal on the basis of being christian. mike huckabee did that four years ago. we all remember the advertising he ran, where the window pane had a cross, it looked like a cross, some people said. and pat robertson ran a campaign focuses on the evangelical vote in iowa. there's a long history of them trying to play up the evangelical vote in iowa with cause cussgoers because of the evangelical vote there. >> hilary, you were at the white house christmas party tonight. what. >> do you make of governor perry's suggestions -- >> and there are christmas trees everywhere here at the white house, anderson. >> what do you make of t

. >> ari fleischer, rich galen, thanks very much. >> thank you. >>> coming up, breaking news in the florida&m hazing scandal. a newly released autopsy report paints a horrifying picture of what happened to that young man, drum major robert champion. paints a picture of his final moments. the death is ruled a homicide. we have details on that ahead. >>> and later, we remember christopher hitchens. brilliant, controversial, unapologetic to the end. i'll revisit a conversation we had in the midst of his cancer treatment. >>> "crime & punishment" tonight. new developments in the florida a&m marching band hazing death. death of drum major robert champion jr. is now a homicide. the medical examiner officially blaming hazing. the autopsy report released just today describes a beating so brutal it caused massive internal bleeding which killed the otherwise healthy 26-year-old less than an hour later. the report laid out the final minutes of champion's life, saying, and i quote, immediately after the hazing incident, he complained of thirst and fatigue. minutes later, he noted loss of vision and soo

. >> ari fleischer, rich galen, thanks very much. >> thank you. >>> coming up, breaking news in the floridaing scandal. a newly released autopsy report paints a horrifying picture of what happened to that young man, drum major robert champion. paints a picture of his final moments. the death is ruled a homicide. we have details on that ahead. >>> and later, we remember christopher hitchens. brilliant, controversial, unapologetic to the end. i'll revisit a conversation we had in the midst of his cancer treatment. [ sniffs ] i have a cold. [ sniffs ] i took dayquil 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! [ woman on radio, indistinct ]s. ♪ bum-bum ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ ♪ ai, ai, ai ♪ bum-bum ♪ bum-bum, bum-bum ♪ [ ice rattles rhythmically ] ♪ [ imitates guitar noise ] the redesigned, 8-passenger pilot. smarter thinking. from honda. but proven technologies

. >> ari fleischer, rich galen, thanks very much.iscussion. >> thank you. >>> coming up, breaking news in the florida a&m hazing scandal. a newly released autopsy report paints a horrifying picture of what happened to that young man, drum major robert champion. paints a picture of his final moments. the death is ruled a homicide. we have details on that ahead. >>> and later, we remember christopher hitchens. brilliant, controversial, unapologetic to the end. i'll revisit a conversation we had in the midst of his cancer treatment. nyquil: you know i relieve coughs, sneezing, fevers? tylenol: me, too. and nasal congestion. nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. for the eff

joining us now is ari fleischer. also democratic strategist and obama 2012 pollster cornell belcher. is the cain campaign getting to where it could do damage to your party? >> oh, no. i mean to the party? bill clinton's fares do damage to the democratic party? did what john edwards do do damage to the democratic party? this comes to individual damage. the broader point and i say this as a naern is a fan of herman cain but i've been saying for months, herman cain is not ready for the oval office. nobody knows the truth of these he says she says things. but herman cain on policy not prepared to be president of the united states. i've been saying that for months. so in so many way this is doesn't matter other than which way will he go if he does drop out. >> cornell, do you believe he's doing damage to the other republicans in the race? >> i'll say a couple things. one is the whole idea that nothing is going on seems to be a stretch. i mean every guy in america knows if you're texting and calling a woman at 4:00 in the

bush press secretary ari fleischer, follow him on twitter, and also democratic strategist paul begalagood evening, gentlemen. thanks for joining us. paul, let me start with you. december 20th, five days before christmas, are you surprised at the way this is all playing out, this payroll tax cut debate? >> you know, i think we've seen this coming all year. if you go back to the spring, the republicans were flirting with a government shutdown. they wanted to shut down the government. and then in the summer they flirted with twaudefaulting on national debt. and now in the winter, they apparently want to kill the president's middle-class tax cut to force a tax increase on 160 million middle-class americans. forgive me if i see a pattern here. i think there's pretty good evidence now that the republicans seem to be willing to tank the economy in order to hurt the president politically. and of course, you tank the economy by hurting the middle class. i don't think it's going to work. i don't think it's good politics or good economics, but i think that's what they're doing. >> ari, i can't i

ari fleischer who told americans to watch what they say after 9/11 has his own company, cnn contributorvising the rnc for the 2012 presidential campaign. jessica lynch, army private captured by iraqi forces and rescued by u.s. special forces from iraqi hospital later said the hospital treated her well. she wasn't the hero described in the original press reports. quote, they used me to symbolize all this stuff. it's wrong. i don't know why they filmed my rescue. since her captivity she's had 21 surgeries, now with a 4-year-old daughter and received her college diploma. she hopes to be a teacher. ken poll laac was bible for libl hawks and at brookings institution and was recently quoted in "the new york times" as an expert on iraq. scooter libby, a convicted per jur perjurier is vice president of hudson unit. doug fith is advising rick perry on foreign policy. paul bremer, disbanded the iraqi army, moved to vermont where he now paints landscapes of new england scenes. you can buy his artwork. what do my guests know they didn't know before the iraq war? i habe a cohd. yeah, i toog nyguil b

on that point, this is when ari fleischer said during the conference call.n't like playing defense. when it comes to flip flopping barack obama is the king of flip flopping, you can offer that to anybody. what he's talking about is the promise to cult the deficit in half, the stimulus that would lower unemployment, keep it below 8%. guantanamo, that was really important to the people on the left went unfilled. you can just put out the facts and let people decide. >> i think that is right. where i would disagree with ari on some of that, some of them are flip-flops and some of them are just failures. the argument you want to make about obama is he wasn't up to the job, he's got eve got in over his head. he failed to live up to the expectations he set for himself. he said if he didn't get the economy set he it would be a one-term experience. it's if you disagree with obama it must be for bad motives. yesterday in a big speech in kansas president obama basically lied when he said there are billionaires out there paying 1% tax rate which the white house later co