including newt gingerich. s seems to be climbing in the polls. >>> at 12 minutes past the hour, a lot of places, beautiful, beautiful spots around the world. we can only name seven to be the seven natural wonderers of the world. you're looking at one of them. pretty impressive, right? see how you are with the other six when we come back. ♪ do you believe in magic? [ male announcer ] there's just something about werther's caramel that makes a chocolate so smooth and creamy, you don't just taste it, you feel it. ♪ magic [ male announcer ] werther's original caramel chocolate. what comfort tastes like. that's why i take doctor recommended colace capsules. [ male announcer ] for certain medical conditions where straining should be avoided, colace softens the stool for effective relief from occasional constipation. go to colacecapsules.com for savings. >>> all right pap quarter past the hour. >> what are you got going on? >> we have delays. we have all kinds of delays that are going to pop up. expect delays in new

. >>> for the first time, newt gingerich is leading a poll. gingerich surged from 12% to 23%. herman cain is third and ron paul is fourth. now gingerich is getting added scrutiny since riding in the polls. he is explaining a sweetheart deal he received from a top mortgage company. his firm made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million from freddie mac. the company, along with fannie mae are widely blamed for the housing issues. >> we had many clients who asked our strategic advice and we provided strategic advice. we did no lobbying of any kind, period. >> gingerich says he has gained valuable experience working with freddie mac. he says he knows a great deal with washington and that may be a good thing. >>> a grand jury indicted 27-year-old christopher didi with shooting a man in hawaii. he's accused of shooting a man outside a mcdonald's restaurant after an early morning fight. didi was in high protect iing. >>> police arrested stephan christian yesterday. his alleged victim came forward recently and claims assaults between 1993 and 1997. christian worked at baldwin elementary

gingerich has attacked in the past.our cnn political contributor and democratic strategist maria cardona as well as republican national strategist lenny mcallister. i had a political guest suggests to me earlier today that newt has peaked too early. would you agree with that? >> well i think, again, it all depends on the voters, t.j. and that has been the bottom line for this topsy turvy primary process. for the ee least republican strategist, romney has been and continues to be the front-runner and the presumed nominee. evangelical conservative voters have never been enamored with him and they have been looking desperately for the anti-romney candidate. right now, newt is -- it's newt's turn because everybody has seemed to rise and fall by whatever it is they do or don't do and say or don't say. now it's newt's turn. the issue with newt is that he has a huge record that could be scrutinized and that's what we're seeing now. >> lenny, if we all agree that mitt romney has been the one that hasn't been rising or falling.

if it comes between gingerich and romney in a debate, gingerich would win that.e's going to deal with the turbulent water a lot better than the other three predecessors that were towards the top of the polls just a couple months ago. >> maria, do you agree with that? >> well, i don't -- no, i don't think so. because the issue is with newt is that -- and we saw this. when he first came into the race, he has two issues for him. one of them is discipline. he is very undisciplined. and he is very -- it's difficult, very difficult for him to stay on message. and the other one, and i think this is counterintuitive, is that he is actually too moderate for the primary process. and that has really come up to haunt him, as well. the first time that he started to run this time around, he came out and the first thing he said about paul ryan's plan was that it was right wing social engineering, social engineering. so i think on another issue, the mandate for health care, the individual mandates, he was for that, as well. >> but hey -- >> and at one point he was for cap and tr

newt gingerich, he has been in the news a lot lately. to the top of the polls, had a surge there and now many analysts give him credit for a strong performance in this week's debate, but are questioning an apparent gamble he took on the issue of immigration. >> and i'm prepared to take the heat for saying, let's be humane and enforcing the law without giving them citizenship, but by finding a way to create legality so that they are not separated from their -- >> governor -- >> let me bring in lenny and maria. that's the short version there, but cnn contributor maria cordona is with us from orlando this morning and lenny mccall sister, republican strategist, as well. we're going to get to newt, of course. but as we always do here, i need to ask you guys what your political highlight of the week was. s what was it for you, maria? >> as you said, talking about newt, it's newt gingerich's rooid rise, but to me, it was also mitt romney's lies. >> are you rhyming this morning, as well, lenny? >> no. i'm going a little math today. abr plus iowa

newt gingerich has had his moment. we've had a number of candidates now who have had their moment in the sun, bachmann, perry, cain and now it's gingerich's turn. what's interesting about the gingerich rise is that his vote seems to come from the tea party wing which has always been uncomfortable and they've also a little bit been coming from romney. as his coalition might be slightly different than all of those other non-romney candidates that came before. but gingerich will have to see if he can hold his place at the top or near the top as the others have had, obviously, problems. >> is there concern about funding when it comes to newt gingerich? we saw the stumbles of his campaign early on. >> that's right. the gig question for -- one of the big questions for newt gingerich is discipline and organization. his organization is still being put together. he said he's had a lot of fund-raising recently as eve come to the top. strategists say there are a lot of newt gingerich lovers in the party who say basically when his

gingerich is on a three-day campaign swing in south carolina. for months, he refused to criticize his rival. yesterday, he said he's a lot more conservative than romney. gingerich has been talking about romney for switching positions on key issues like abortion. romney is coming under fire from democrats. a tv ad is airing in several key states calling romney, quote, an unparallel flip-flopper. >> i will preserve and protect a woman's right to choose. the right next step in the fight to preserve the sanity of life is see roe v. wade overturned. >> he was pro choice, then he's pro life. >> he flip-flops against just like he did on abortion, just like he did on independence. look, i was an independent during the time of reagan/bush. >> the pells are as trued today as the day he spoke them. >>> to the growing tension now over nato's weekend air strike on pakistani army to the afghanistan border. nato commanders suspect they were trick by the taliban into attacking the pakistani post. the nato troops apparently mistook the talibani post for a taliba

newt gingerich is leading in the polls. a fox news survey puts gingerich ahead of mitt romney.eginning rip surged from 12% to 23%. herman cain is third with 13%. and with his sudden success in the polls, gingerich is trying to explain a top deal he got from a mortgage company. his firm took $1.8 million from freddie mac. the company is widely blamed for the housing debacle. gingerich started receiving payments only a month after his own party forced him out of congress. >> we providing advice. it was no lobbying of any kind, period. >> gingerich says he has learned valuable experience working with freddie mac. he says he knows a good deal about washington and that may be a good thing. >>> president obama is on his way to bahli for a meeting with leaders. the president left australia two hours ago. he announced plans to send as many as 2,500 marines to norman, australia, and to protect american interests in asia. president obama is on a nine-day trip across the region. >>> new this morning, possible tornados tore through the carolinas and thousands are without power in louisiana

a fox news survey puts newt gingerich ahead of mitt romney by 1%. 22% for romney.n cain is third at 15%. ron paul fourth with 8%. >>> with his sudden success in the polls, gingerich is now getting added scrutiny. he is explaining what some call a sweetheart deal he received from a top mortgage company. his firm made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million from mortgage company freddie mac. gingerich started receiving payments only months after his own party forced him out of congress. >> and we provided strategic advice. we did no lobbying of any kind, period. >> gingerich said says he has gained valuable experience working with freddie mac. he says he knows a great deal about washington and that may be a really good thing. >>> washington nationals catcher wilson ramos is speaking out for the first time since his kidnapping and rescue. and with the help of a translator, the 24-year-old says he is thankful for all the support and he is really to play ball. >> i'd like to say hello to all the fans. thank you for all the support that was given to me after what happened

they're on equal footing and newt gingerich does well in debates.newt gingrich and dumps all over the president and has substantive things to say and he's found a way to look good. is this conservative element of the electorate, which is not ready to go for romney, migrates from one candidate to the other, each one seems to collapse upon receiving the favor. now newt will have that i say his moment and we'll see how he deals with that and how it affects his chances. >> chris: i was going to say newt gingerich left office in 1998 and voters have forgotten or may not know his who is the, positive and negative. >> there's a question. one of the things that has been said is he has all that baggage but it has been fully aired so the press isn't at interested in bringing it up and people to some extent know about it. he's been doing a lot since then. there's probable baggage we don't know. the tiffany bill came out in the beginning of the race and did a lot of damage. in the last debate they asked what he did for freddie mac. that hasn't been fully answer

cain's lost has been newt gingerich's gain. the former house speaker is now in first place in many polls. he attempted to fend off that he is soft on immigration. >> at least one of them is running around saying i want amnesty for 11 million people. that's totally false. >> on wednesday he told a radio station he was better positioned to be the republican romney. >> i don't claim to be the perfect candidate. i claim to be a lot more conservative than mitt romney and a lot more electable than anybody else. >> gingerich has opened five more offices here in south carolina. he's beefing up his staff, holding fund-raisers here on hilton island this morning. it's a far cry from this summer when his campaign was nearly broke, when all of his top staffers quit at once. he says now he's planning on making a real steal for this state. jeff and erica. >> i'll take it from here nancy. thank you. >>> joining us now is john dickerson. let's start off with these latest accusations of a 13-year affair. his attorney's statement was a little dif

but a new poll out this morning shows that newt gingerich is making a move.e voters could easily change their minds between now and january. >>> but before we get to that, some target employees want the company to rethink its plans to open the store on black friday at midnight. >> they say that will take too many workers away from their families for thanksgiving day and jim axlerot has more. >> the giant retailer, target, has a plan to get a jump on the competition this holiday season. target is starting its black friday earlier than ever, at midnight on thanksgiving night. target employee seth coleman would have to report to work at 11:00 p.m. on thanksgiving. too early for him. >> all americans should be able to spend the day with their loved ones. >> coleman has 190,000 signatures to minneapolis monday. >> it's grown exponentially. it's absolutely exploded. target's human resources director says target workers should understand it's a matter of staying competitive. >> our guests have expressed that they would prefer to kick off their holiday shopping exper

. >>> politics now, a stumble by herman cain and a surge in the poll of newt gingerich. cnn poll of likely republican voters finds statistical ties between mitt romney and newt gingerich. yesterday, cain struggled to answer a question on libya during an interview with the milwaukee sentinel. >> so you agree with president obama on libya, or not? >> okay. libya. president obama supported the uprising, correct? president obama called for the removal of gadhafi. i just want to make sure we're talking about the same thing before i say yes, i agree or no, i didn't agree. i do not agree with the way he handled it for the following reason. no, that's a different one. i've got to go back. let's see. i've got all this stuff twirling around in my head. >> cain says he paused to gather his thoughts. meanwhile, the boyfriend of one of the accusers has come forward. cain says he never met sharon bialek. the boyfriend says that is not true. >>> the u.s. supreme court has agreed to conduct a thorough review of president obama's health care plan with a ruling to come by mid summer. the

. >>> and newt gingerich, he has a point. the former house speaker is four points behind romney in the republican nomination. but when you take into account the survey area, gingerich is basically all tied. a new cbs poll indicates three points between the battle for the top spot between cain, romney and gingerich. >> there's this funny thing about democracy which is you have competition. it might be easier for me if i didn't. but i do have competition and i will face other people who will do well. >> republicans haven't made up their minds. nearly one-fifth of them say they're still unskied when it comes to which candidate they're backing. >> i think the american people are looking, asking questions, thinking about it and i think it will stay wide open until january. >> while cain is up there at the top, the sexual harassment allegations appears to be affecting him. tonight, all candidates face off on a stage regarding foreign policy and national security. the candidates are hangel against in a week and a half. >> paul, you

michele bachmann, newt gingerich, rick perry and rick santorum. herman cain and ron paul were not on their list. they kicked them off the list of considerations. they had concerns about whether herman cain has his bona fide in terms of foreign policy expertise and ron paul, some things that he has about libertarian leadings and state rights. >> we're hearing from romney about this. are they concerned at all? >> yeah, absolutely. i reached out to them and said, hey, i've learned about this secret meeting to try and have an anti-romney candidate. they said they say, you know what? governor romney is going to run a 50-state campaign. he's going to run in iowa and new hampshire and beyond. they beat back any claims that he's a flip-flopper. they say he's been totally consistent. that's what the romney campaign is doing. they didn't seems to me to be taking this all that seriously. he's up in the polls. just got a major endorsement from john thune of south carolina. >> the polls we have seen, i assume you're talking about some national ones. is he poll

now, gingerich spoke about the cain incident, the cain controversy yesterday. take a listen to what he said out in jk usa. >> he is a good friend, we've been together a long time. i think he has to slow down, take a deep breath. if you've never before been hit by the entire national press core, it's a very disorienting experience. and i think he probably wasn't prepared for it and i think now he has to sit down and sort it out. >> some of the other candidates for the gop nominations saying the same thing, supporting cain, but at the same time, maybe saying he wasn't prepared for this, wasn't ready to handle this situation, t.j. >> has this scandal been going on long enough, a number of days for us to get an understanding or any kind of a handle on how this might affect him in the polls which he's been at the top of for a little while now? >> yeah. well, there is one brand new poll. abc news in a washington poll. this was conducted monday through thursday after the controversy hit. there's herman cain pretty much where he's been the last couple of weeks. this is

news resurveyed some participants in this latest poll and found perry is free falling while newt gingerich is suddenly on the rise. herman cain's sexual harassment allegations haven't hurt, but certainly have not helped. mitt romney has seen a bump, but not a breakout. what you're seeing consistently is that romney is having a lot of trouble getting much beyond a quarter of if republican vote. you still feel there's an opening for another republican candidate. >> and that leaves no ray of hope for michele bachmann whose polling adds 4%. >> the voters have not made up their minds. this is wide open. >> which may be true, but isn't good news for any of the republican candidates. brian moore, nbc news, washington. >>> elsewhere, it was a tumultuous weekend of confrontationes and arrests for several protesters in several cities across the country. in oregon, more than 50 were arrest arrested. protesters are vowing to relocate within the city later today. >>> in colorado, four people were arrested as authorities took down an illegal encampment. eviction notices are piling up in oakland as prote

>> considering that newt gingerich acknowledged that because of his love of country, i'm not sure he'st ultimately, in the short-term, rick perry, neither newt gingerich plans to benefit in the short-term and herman cain by this scandal and herm yab cain drops out. in the long run, mitt romney shows himself to be the only adult in this rather dysfunctional field, he seems to be the one who will benefit in the long run. >> will? >> i don't know if there are any winners, kyra. but the loser, potentially witness stand, has to be herman cain. although no poll s that yet. these are still vague allegations on what is a heart crime to define, sexual ra harassment. that being said, herman cain has proven to be his worst enemy over and over and over, this issue, to abortion issues to whether or not china has nuclear weapons. herman cain is his own worst enemy. there's nothing other than their words to suggest that's true. >> patricia. >> obviously, herman cain has the most to lose here. and when he talks about this being some sort of a smear campaign, my answer is, of course it's a smear campai

if the primary was held today, 42% said they would vote for romney. 14% favor ron paul and newt gingerich and 9% favor jon huntsman. >>> mitt romney begins airing his first television ad today in new hampshire. the white house calls it dece deceitful and confidence. i am confident that we can steer ourselves out. we need a rescue plan for the middle class. we need to provide relief for homeowners. if we keep talking about the economy, we're going to lose. >> the white house says the problem is that when the president says if we keep talking about the economy we're going to lose, he's mocking and quoting an aide to the cain campaign. that was his opponent back then. the ad never acknowledged the ad was quote ago campaign adviser. >>> a ten-hour stand off at a colorado air force base near denver is over. an airman with a handgun had barricaded himself in a building at schreiver air force base. the gunman walked out last night. there were no injuries reported. >>> police in houston shot a man and wounded him, as well, with a gun near a park where anti-war wall street protesters were camped.

the survey showed mitt romney, newt gingerich, herman cain and ron paul within three percentage points of each other. the iowa caucuses are scheduled for january 3rd and the new hampshire primaries are one week later. >>> in michigan, a poll of likely voters showed president obama would lose that state to mitt romney in the re-election campaign. the poll shows romney defeating the president there 46 to 41 with 13% undecided. romney was born in detroit and lived in michigan until he went to college. the very same poll had the president leading newt gingrich 45 to 40%, 15% undecided and crushing herman cain 50 to 36%. 14% undecided there. the president won the state of michigan back in 2008. >>> today, the oklahoma state university community will gather to remember the lives of two basketball coaches killed in a plane crash. women's coach curt bud ki and assistant mer randa ser no were on their way to watch recruits when their plane crashed into a hillside in arkansas. the pilot, a university alumnus and his wife, were also killed. a memorial service will be held for all four victims at

the survey showed mitt romney, newt gingerich, herman cain and ron paul within three percentage pointsother. the iowa caucuses are scheduled for january 3rd with the new hampshire primaries a week later. >>> a new poll in the state of michigan has romney defeating president obama in that state next november. the poll shows romney defeating the president in a hypothetical election, 46 to 41%. with 13% undecided. romney was born in detroit and lived in michigan until he went to college. the same poll had the president leading newt gingrich 45 to 40%, 15% saying they're undecided. apparently crushing herman cain 50 to 36% with 14% saying they're undecided. the president won the state of michigan back in 2008. >>> a midwest utility company whose board of directors included republican herman cain paid $10.5 million to settle claims it failed to adequately protect its employees' retirement funds. employees of aquill la incorporated accused the company in a 2004 lawsuit pressured the employees to buy company stock and making it difficult to sell their company shares. a spokesman for the presi

cain has another big event scheduled today, a one-on-one debate with newt gingerich. >>> we're at nine minutes past the hour now. pakistan is reportedly trying to hide its nukes from american eyes. so they're moving warheads around the country in the back of delivery vans? no armor, no military convoy? this information coming to us from an article in the atlantic magazine. one of the authors of that report spoke with our anderson cooper about the fears now. >> he was seen repeatedly that the pakistani military are penetrated by people who are sympathetic. when you're, for instance, moving weapons from one place to another, which is how the pakistanis hide them from, among others, the americans, if you have someone inside who is going to tell you, at so-and-so hour on so-and-so road, there is a truck with missile material, with material that can be used for a dirty bomb, then you've got a real problem. >> the problem people worry about is that too many people right now seem to know where those vans are. >>> also coming up, it was really a story that captured the country this week. and a

add to all of that newt gingerich tied for second place in the polls. >> mike viqueira, thank you. >>cued washington nationals catcher wilson ramos two days after he was kidnapped. the abduction is the first known kidnapping of a major league baseball player and it brings a renewed focus on worsening violent crime in venezuela. >>> a ceremony today marks the 10th anniversary of a crash of flight 597. it crashed into a neighborhood in queens, new york, killing 580 people. it happened right after september 11th, but the crash was blamed on pilot error. >>> the media is being allowed into japan's nuclear damaged power plant for the first time since the disaster last ma. reporters, wearing full body gear, say there were still walls piled in rubble from where the building's walls crumbled. >> let's get another check of the weather from bill karins. >> it's cold out there. i have to ask mom, where is your flannel pajamas? >> i don't have them. >> you don't even wear them? whose idea was it? >> all of ours. >> you figured you would get on tv if you wore the flannel pajamas? now, what we need