i said, yeah, bob dole. bob dole, okay, yeah, sure. i said, now go over there, just worry about security, just say that it's cleared that you're going to see bill katz and you're going to see, you know, taggert. so off he went. so then i called the secretaries over there, i said we've got a guy over there with a big box, he's going to make a great big contribution to bob. [laughter] and so in he went. [laughter] and then i didn't answer the phone to bob or bill or anybody in the dole office for about three days. [laughter] i tell you how we got things done. right in the middle of the grain harvest, the federal grain inspection service had a wonderful idea, we're going to change the criteria by which the grain truck goes over the scales. at any rate, what a stupid thing to do. l but at any rate, that was their new criteria, and they had stopped the kansas harvest, boom. well, by that time i thought i was somebody, i was a member of congress, so basically, i decided, well, we've got to put a stop to this. and i knew that the meeting was

he shot up like a rocket, now on the escalator down. >> we have bob dole endorsing romney in an ad thistalster. how much of an impact does this endorsement have and is it a snub against dole's former partner in congress? >> no. i don't think so. i don't think bob dole is going to sway a lot of republican voters. this is sort of the endorsement game, mitt romney has been rolling out a lot of prominent endorsements lately. some more important than others. nikki haley, the governor in south carolina probably cares a lot of weight in that primary. christine o'donnell, the former senate candidate in delaware, whose most famous ad declared she wasn't a witch. bob dole more in the later camp than the former. >> you talked about thinking that you think -- seeing gingrich's support plummeting the next couple of weeks. why is that? >> we've seen this throughout the race. we see somebody shoot up like a rocket and then their polls begin to decline because voters don't like them as the anti-romney voter. this happened to michele bachmann, it happened to rick perry, herman cain, they all had moment

so, for bob dole to choose romney over his legislative partner he when gingrich was the speaker and dole was the senate majority leader in washington, is a bit after backhand to the former speaker and just the kind of thing that mitt romney absolutely loves. >> harris: he we should say they're making news outside of the state of iowa, but there are candidates within the state and we'll follow them, too, as they make updates as well. they don't call you campaign carl for nothing. thank you very much, we appreciate it. >> american history in motion. on this day, the very last american troops are out of iraq. this was the scene just before midnight as the final u.s. convoy rolled across the iraq border into kuwait. the low key ending very different from the beginning, nearly nine years ago. the u.s. invading iraq with what was billed shock and awe, toppling the now dead dictator, saddam hussein and paving the way for the birth of iraq's new democratic government, the cost heavy. nearly 4500 american lives and well more than 100,000 iraqi lives lost as well. and some of our troops leaving a

of support. >> what do you make of the letter that bob dole wrote to rush limbaugh to say lay off ofcain, he's conservative enough. do you buy that from bob? >> it's probably the last person i would have wanted to write a letter for me. i think there are a lot of folks that tend to think that maybe john mccain's race is like bob dole's race. that it's the guy who's the next in line. he's the inevitable choice and we'll give it to him and then it won't work. >> today the editor of the conservative website red state wrote that any republican who backs romney or gingrich has gone insane. the republican party has gone insane. for the better part of the last three years, the republican party has exercised itself into a frenzy over the need to repeal obama care. the individual mandate and t.a.r.p. draw the ire of scores of primary voters. and our two front runners for president? they both support an individual mandate and they both supported t.a.r.p. i want everyone to make sure they understand everyone -- even rick santorum are still to the race. and sarah palin isn't ready to endorse any

condition's special coverage of new year's eve. >>> if anyone knows how to win the eyee caucuses it is bob dolee noted the former senator did it twice in '88 and '96. this week dole's calling prominent iowa republicans and urging them to support mitt romney. when we heard about it, we asked him to give us a call as well. we spoke a little bit ago. you knew personally a lot of people in the field. you those back mitt romney over, for instance, newt gingrich. do you think some of the wrap on the former speaker has been he's not tempermentlely suited to be president? do you agree with that? >> well, i tried to work with newt -- worked with newt for ten years. we had our good times and our bad times. i think some of newt's statements he's forgotten that congress is composed of a house and a senate, and the senators had a lot to do with welfare reform and nafta and and cutting taxes, reagan tax cuts. it wasn't just a one-man show in the house of representatives. but you know, newt is newt. and it's sometimes his way or the highway. >> so, the other person that i know you know at least somewhat in th

bush in 1988 took the pledge part except for bob dole. bob dole won in iowa and was the likely nominee until during the new hampshire debate dupont offered him the pledge and said the rest of us up may this written commitment up to raise taxes and will you. bob dole reacted as if he was a vampire and somebody cross state -- tossed across into his lap. it did not work well for him. bush won the primaries. bush was then losing 17 points to michael dukakis until he said "read my lips, no new taxes." that was going well until in 1990, the two sportsmen in the world told him it would be okay to raise taxes in the believe that. he raised taxes and they're away and other was quite successful presidency. he lost in 1992 because he raised taxes. there were other things going on. he he pushed iraq out of kuwait in did not get stop occupying the place for a decade. he had a very successful presidency with one hole at the bottom of the boat. then in 1994, because the republicans watched bush win by taking the pledge and lose when he broke the pledge,

romney got the endorsement of former republican presidential nominee bob dole. earlier this week romney won the backing of south carolina governor nikki haley. >> and the southwest is bracing for a major snowstorm tomorrow. dangerous holiday travel conditions are expected across much of region. the forecast calls for up to 18 inches of snow. we're keeping an eye on it in the cnn weather center and update you throughout the day. i'll be back one hour from now with all things politics. just two weeks away until the iowa caucus and mitt romney picks up two endorsements in the last 24 hours. can the evangelical conservatives find a way to back him as the republican nominee. lenny mcalister and danielle bellton are my bests. hope you can join us at 4:00 eastern hour. "your money" starts right after this. 3 grilled combinations all under $20. like our maine lobster with peppercorn sirloin, or our new bacon-wrapped shrimp with blue cheese sirloin for $14.99. i'm john mazany and i sea food differently.

he essentially attack bob dole and john boehner. he attacked his enemies. i ran into johnson -- george stephanopoulos and he said, "this is funny stuff, is it not?" i said no. eight years later, they did the funniest sketch of any president. he is running around, making hillary's lunch. jay leno said, "how am i going to follow this guy?" i was at a southy breakfast. mitt romney walks in. as with the last campaign. -- of this was the last campaign. the massachusetts supreme court had issued a decision directing the legislature to legalize same-sex marriage. mitt romney walked in and did not want to address the think it yet. he said, i believe marriage is between -- i am a mormon, so i believe marriage is between a man and a one and a woman and a woman. the place a cracked up. you would not hear him do that joe today. >> joe biden still speaks that way. >> i will be the devil's advocate on that. i think these guys are still funny. but we used it against them. >> rick perry has been funny about his mistakes. he has, to me, sean some humor -- shown some humor.

bob dole endorses mitt romney. i've run for president myself. had the deep honor of finishing first in the iowa caucuses. i have many friends in the state, some of them have even called me president of iowa. and why these two particularly big? i think the polls we told you two-thirds of iowa admit they're open to changing their minds. if you wake up this morning and read your biggest newspaper is supporting that mitt romney might take a second look. >> certainly, bob dole. he is mayor, the president of iowa. >> dave: if that region he's big, in iowa and kansas. >> clayton: if two-thirds of the fox are undecided there a lot of the ads are probably carrying weight with them in iowa, which are blanketed across the state and the stump speeches that the candidates are doing, and including on the local newscast. ripping newt gingrich and ron paul yesterday calling newt gingrich the granddaddy of ear marks. take a listen. >> i would suggest that ear marks, it's a plague, it's a plague on congress and two of my opponents that i highly respect, newt ging

bob dole. bob dole is a man who talks in bursts. one-liners. never talks for more than about two and a half minutes. so his negotiators, we want to give up anything in order for those answers to be on the -- never more than two and a half minutes want. so, of course, against the oakland he could talk for two and a half hours on any given question. so in order to get that plan also wanted a town hall thing. in order, they swapped. their negotiators walked. dole got what he wanted which was sort answers all the debates in exchange for clemens people getting what clinton wanted, which was a town hall debate for the first time. and everything, everything about what the size of the holding rooms are, everything about it is initiated. >> including the moderator. >> absolutely. >> and as you posit, that may be why they ended up with a single moderator because they could not agree on anybody other than you. >> this is not false modesty. it is just the truth. a couple of times i ended up moderating debates because they could not agree on anybody else. t

that is the case from bob dole the senator from kansas. he was the majority leader back in the '90s and nominee back in 1996. he has won the iowa caucuses twice. one of the few that can claim to have done that. it comes in the face of essentially a legislative partner with newt gingrich back in the '90s. he was the speaker back in 1994 and 1996 when bob dole was in charge of the senate. now, he casted his support behind romney. it comes on the same day as des moines register's endorsement. this is the largest newspaper. generally considered to be more left leaning than right leaning. it's not a conservative newspaper and it's endorsement means more in democratic races than republican ones but here what they said. wisdom and judgment. he stands out especially among candidates in the top tier. gingrich would alienate rather than unite. with both of these endorsements today it becomes a look back at newt gingrich's time in the history as speaker of the house. it hasn't been put forth favorably by either the des moines register or bob dole. >>

in 1998 they picked bob dole over george h.w. bush and mr.onto become the republican nominee and win the presidency. iowa's track record at the picking the nominee is at best spotty. joining me now is steve kornacki, news editor. we pay a lot of attention to the election. we must. it's our duty. it's the first. i want to look at a caucusgoer and the kind of questions they are getting now. here is someone who will be at the caucus asking newt gingrich a question about president obama. >> according to the constitution, those that are running for office must be a citizen of the united states. why is mr. obama not have to prove his citizenship as he's going to a& these other countries besides leading our country? let me answer this. i thought you were going to ask if donald trump had citizenship. >> no. no chance. no chance. >> all i can report is the state of hawaii has certified that he was born there. this is one of the issues where, it's a fact. he is the president of the united states. on a factual level, citizenship is an issue. he is the p

in '88, bob dole again, george bush in 2000. only three have gone on to win the nomination. only one they endorsed won the white house, that would be george w. bush in 2000. >>> the latest iowa poll showing gingrich still in the lead. the race seems to be narrowing. perhaps his lead isn't as great as it once was. what's going on? >> emphasis on narrowing and fluctuating. you might add that, too. new american research shows newt gingrich 22%, romney 17, ron paul 17, texas governor rick perry at 13, michele bachmann at 7 and rick santorum at 7 for iowa. again, newt gingrich is on top. previously romney was on top. so these polls are fluctuating. will newt gingrich be able to maintain the lead ahead of the caucuses? we'll have to wait and see. fred. >> shannon travis in des moines, we'll check back with you. you want to join us sunday afternoon when we dedicate an hour to the presidential contenders in the 2012 election. >>> the occupy wall street movement is three-month-old today. it has spread far beyond a small park in lower man

that year and bob dole won the iowa caucuses that year as well. right on his heels in iowa, a very close second was pat buchanan. do you see -- in talking about the ron paul supporters, do you see any echoes of the support pat got in iowa in the ron paul candidacy this year? could his isolationism be appealing to the same block of iowa republicans? >> i think so. i think ron paul is on to something. there is an anger in the electorate. you see the same thing on the far left-hand side of the movement. people are angry throughout the political spectrum. and so i think it's easy to dismiss ron paul. i certainly agree with those who say he's not going to be the republican nominee for president, but i think he's on to something. pat buchanan was on to something. pat robinson was on to something. so you have to read these results as something more than who comes in first and second. you have to ask what are voters saying? what's the republican party saying? what are republican activists saying? and i think clearly a lot of them are upset. and isolationi

one, bob dole won the iowa caucuses twice. a veteran here and much beloved. and two, mr. epresentatives when gingrich of the speaker of the house and he was the senate majority leader in '94 and '96. and when dole ran against bill clinton some of the toughest attacks on bob dole were when the bill clinton democratic national committee bashed bob dole for his association with newt gingrich. his endorsement of mitt romney today again a reference to gingrich's past which a lot of republicans feel is a big deal of baggage if he were to be the republican nominee. shannon? >> shannon: thank you, karl. while mitt romney was busy with chris wallace on "fox news sunday" newt gingrich and other gop hopefuls were making the round on the sunday talk shows. hi, steve. >> national frontrunner newt gingrich is hammering home his controversial plan and campaign that federal judges need to be held accountable for their decisions. his assault on the judiciary was triggered by a texas federal judge who blocked school prayer. >> is such an antiamerican dictatorship of speech that there is no

bob dole favors mitt romney. nicki hailey is -- haley is important because she's a tea party favorite. the des moines reg sterks largest paper in iowa endorses iowa. >> we thought he knew the issues better than he did four years ago. he goes to washington, focuses exclusively on how to bridge this great divide which is affecting washington. >> reporter: the des moines washington did not endorse romney four years ago, so this was a show of support the romney campaign hope also help with the iowa voters. >> the final week before christmas, the last chance for voters to connect before the first primary. so where are they hanging out? >> reporter: let's take a look at twopt front-runners. they are -- mitt romney is trying to shore up his spomplet knew the -- support. newt gingrich will be spending three days before christmas in the hawkeye state. >> joining us live from washington. thanks for that live report. >> one of the candidates spending time in iowa ahead of the christmas holiday is rick perry. while campaigni

if you remember bob dole was a genuine war hero, very reluctant to talk about it or even discuss his heroism. i think that generation doll, dole mccain. loot of americans been through war they are reluctant to tap into that for whatever reason. romney now is different. it's not a war thing. i do think he was raised a certain way. he was a consultant. very successful businessman and entrepreneur. i do think he is still struggling not to find his joyce voice. i think he has found his voice but to find that intersection with what americans think and feel and letting them in and seeing a window inside of him. susie tells a great story why doesn't he tell that? who knows? >> whoever the republics decide on. they are up against a very good campaigner. very eloquent speaker. and do you just see that grounded on eloquence. capturing emotion. he is all of that let's see if you are a dogged businessman who knows stocks and numbers and dutiful accountant that might be okay. in this environment at a time like this. that might be welcome. what do you say? >> it's a very very good point. i think th

bob dole at that time. surprisingly blue for a senator. >> yeah, i mean, i was surprised. i didn't know he did it about dole previously. so i guess he's settling scores on the two guys that finished in front of him in '96 when he ran. but yeah, he was -- he took on all comers. he went against the republicans and the democrats. so, yeah, he killed. >> he really did kill? i mean, we heard pretty good audience reaction there. >> that is -- it's completely genuine. the guy had the set of the night. and you know, i mean you could tell he's had extensive experience in public speaking. he held the crowd's attention and he genuinely killed. anybody else would have been happy to have that set. >> but luke, is it because a comedy club has very -- a very low bar for senators? >> yeah, there's also a very low bar for 80-year-old men in yellow blazers. so i mean, the combination of Ñ)r. >> yeah, i mean, i would think the audience is sitting there thinking like oh, boy, is this going to be painful and embarrassing and th

the latest comes from former gop presidential nominee bob dole. dole announced his choice in an advertisement in today's des moines register. he says he's the best candidate suited to beat president obama in 2012. dole's public backing comes a day after the des moines paper announced its support for romney. the state's largest newspaper says the former massachusetts governor is the most qualified candidate competing in the caucuses. >>> the conservative christian group the family leader is expected to release its endorsement in the next 24 hours. cnn political reporter shannon travis joins us from des moines. any word on who the family leader will be supporting? >> reporter: yeah, fred. no firm word on who the family lead will endorse yet or whether it will endorse. it is important to note that sources tell me they're deadlocked now between four candidates essentially. michele bachmann, rick perry, rick santorum and newt gingrich. they have been that way for a few weeks now. we reported on this a few weeks ago. my sources tell me that's essentiall

jonathan, the minute i heard him say that all i heard in my head was bob dole, 1988. my record. that was an upset, angry newt gingrich. >> here it is the friday before the caucuses on tuesday. he is not talking about issues, not talking about differences between he and mitt romney on the economy and jobs. he is focused on process. he has let these ads get under his skin so much that he is consumed by them tan's stopping him from driving any coherent message at a moment where he desperately needs to draw a contrast with romney. >> these caucuses are much about a process of elimination i think for these caucus goers as they are sort of an affirmation and in our poll we asked who is unacceptable as a nominee among likely caucus goers? at the top this wasn't a surprise. ron paul 41% said unacceptable. newt gingrich was next at 35%. perry, 24%. romney 21%. santorum 22% on that number. the gingrich number at 35%. just has the feeling you're sitting there going whoa. he may be in the middle of a freefall. >> it's true. we all came into this. he had a head of steam and we tho

he came in third place behind bob dole and robertson. he's hoping to do the same for romney. romney sat down with mark halperin, who asked the former massachusetts governor about david axelrod's theory that campaigns are like an mri of the so soul. >> i'm not sure we fully understood who barack obama was before he became the president of the united states. i think we are still learning that. i also think a campaign is an mri of the economy and the incumbent. the president will try to kill our nominee, brutalize them, destroy their life and record. what he can't hide, despite all the money, he can't hide his record and the fact he's been president at a time americans suffered and he hasn't turned the economy around. >> mark halperin is going to join us on set at the top of the hour and talk about his interview with mitt romney. >> you are going to have to change for that. >>> ron paul's surge in the iowa polls. his support continues to rise drawing huge crowds. he addressed the skepticism surrounding his campaign last night. >> anybody notice the polls have changed? [ cheers a

bush, and bush was the nominee. '96 bob dole won iowa and bob dole won the nomination. erbert walker bush won the nomination. 1980, it was george herbert walker bush winning the iowa caucuses but reagan won the nomination. so iowa by this count, joy ann, 2 for 5. what do you make of it? >> bill clinton didn't win the iowa caucuses in 1992 either. so i don't think that that's necessarily the reason that iowa is starting to look like an anachronistic choice to be the first. i think what erin said is more important. this is a very unrepresentative group of voters. and it's also a form of voting that is not representative of the rest of the country. so i think, particularly in the republican party, however, it's a chance for the evangelical wing of the party to be heard, because they are just so dominant. and, again, is that going to help them with independents going forward? would the person who can win that group of voters be the most electable? probably not. >> erin, i'm glad that joy-ann brought it up, because this year it seems like the evangelical community has not coa

one was in in north carolina, bob dole a big name. in iowa. >> we can call it three good days in a row for mitt romney. >> okay. momentum. >> any candidate's going to take that. we see him gaining momentum. we also see newt gingrich starting to lose momentum. so interesting. once he became the front-runner, he has been absolutely battered by attacks in iowa. he's being outspent 8- on tv. his campaign -- 8-1 on tv. his campaign does not have the money to respond to the attack ads. romney is being built up a bit. it's changing the momentum going into the holidays. >> all newt gingrich, the type of attacks -- most people aren't in iowa and seeing what they're being bombarded with, frankly. what things are they going after newt gingrich on, the same things we saw on the debates a few nights ago? >> the one you can narrow it down to is hypocrisy. newt gingrich says he's for things that hee not for. says that he is an outsider when he, in fact, is a washington lobbyist. so on a host of issues and really his lifestyle, they're saying he is g