. >> as gop presidential hopefuls prepare for the iowa caucuses, mitt romney is trying to explain a way a moment from the debate as new to gingrich tries to -- as newt gingrich tries to keep his lead in the polls. >> the first boats are weeks away in their republican -- a first of votes are just weeks away. with just three weeks away before the iowa caucuses, new to gingrich and mitt romney have become the candidates to beat. >> if you look at newt-romney, they were four of the $700 billion bailout. >> the rest of the field as trying to make the case that the two front-runners are not conservative enough. >> if we took that oath of office seriously in washington, we would get rid of 80% of the government. >> a new poll shows gingrich with a double-digit lead over romney in south carolina and florida. his challenge now is to preserve his rapid rise. >> the only reason you did not become a career politician is you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. >> while romney is shaking off criticism -- >> a $10,000 debt? >> over the high-stakes bet he threw down. >> she came up and gave me a kiss and sa

. >> gop presidential hopefuls stumping hard days before the first primary contest. latest on the campaign trail. >> how the community college of baltimore county is helping residents to learn a job skill. >> a few showers popping up on the radar. will the time of the rain -- we will time out the rain. >> there is a crash northbound on the harrisburg expressway and will check for delays. >> congress leaves town for the holiday. i am kate amara in washington. >> the investigation continues in the murder of a man outside the towson town center. a live report is coming up. >> welcome to winter -- almost. how long before it feels like

the gop presidential hopefuls will be absent from the ballot in one state on super >> it is a look at the 7-day forecast. we will have cold temperatures in the morning around 29 to start. we will be in the 50's in the afternoon with plenty sunshine. the next chance for rain will be tuesday. i feel like we look like a holiday performance tonight. >> we should take a picture. >> that is it for >> this is an editorial from president and general manager dan joerres. >> he calls himself the voice of reason. all this called ron smith a friend. he spent most of his life with the wbal family. first is a tv news anchor between 1973 and 1980. after a brief break from broadcasting working as a stockbroker, he returned to wbal in radio in 1985. he began a new career as a talk- show host. he had no problem taking on both political parties. he succeeded by staying on top of local and national politics and politicians. he stood firm on his principles even if the listeners did not agree. as a former marine, many assumed he would support the war in iraq. he did not. he brought laws it -- logic and rea

. >>> well, gop presidential hopeful ron paul abruptly ended a cnn interview after being expwd controversial news -- asked about controversial news letters publicked in his name in the 1980s and '90s. here's his response. >> do you know? >> i don't know what you're talking about. it was published for 10 years. so if that was one percent i talked about gold stocks, i think you're confused on that. >> one of the comments was a statement from 1992 which said order was only restored in l.a. when it came time for the blacks to pick up their welfare checks. he said he was not aware of what was in the news letter until a decade after they were released. >>> tonight newt gingrich is lowering expectations in iowa. let's start with gingrich changing his tune a little bit. >> reporter: he may be. it was two weeks ago newt gingrich was soaring. since then he has come back to earth. iowa is 12 days away. so a couple hours ago this is what the former house speaker said about his chances in iowa. >> my goal is to be in the top three or four. i'd love to win, but to be in the top three or four. >> reporter:

as gop presidential hopefuls make the most of the final few weeks before the iowa caucus cusses. newt gingrich took his campaign to new york. the most recent republican front-runner reached out for some bright light, big city report. nbc's brian mooar reports. >> reporter: newt gingrich is on a role in iowa and new hampshire, but he spent the day in new york, hoarding the support of donald trump. >> i think one of the differences between my party and the other party is we actually go to people who know how to create jobs. >> it was a great honor to have newt up here. it's amazing how well he's doing. >> reporter: the former speaker is cultivating a tea party hour base that grew stronger over the weekend when herman cain dropped out which spells trouble for mitt romney. >> this translates politically on being out of step with the electorate on fundamental ideological grounds. >> reporter: in a new ad gingrich echoes ronald reagan. >> working together, i know we can rebuild america. >> reporter: ron paul is taking a very different tone. >> what's up with these story politicians. no

we continue with gop presidential hopeful, former speaker of the house, newt gingrich.go back to a couple of issues. you said on your website that you look forward to the the opportunity of setting the record straight. i want to make sure i give you that opportunity in this hour. healthcare man date and opposition to hillary care, which you supported. >> and i stayed with it for a good while. heritage foundation was the first ones to figure out you couldn't to it because it means government has so much control over your life and such a great reason to define healthcare that they destroy the system. i ultimately said they were right. >> at what point did you say the heritage plan time and time again. >> we tried to find a a formula you ought to buy insurance or post aborne or something. our biggest problem is people who have money and refuse to buy insurance and then refuse to pay their hospital bills. in every community this is a substantial amount offer responsibility. that's what we were wrestle with. how do you get bills paid for. i was never for a man date without a

the gop presidential hopefuls are refering up. this is newt gingrich's campaign. it's a pretty big roadblock. torre what's the latest on this? >> reporter: it's hard to believe iowa is just 8 days away , but this is the perfect time to start basically zeroing in on the recent polls. specifically this one out of iowa. i want to take a closer look. what you're going to notice ron paul mitt romney and newt gingrich are essentially in a virtual tie. i want to talk a little bit about ron paul. he is a diehard supporter in the state of iowa. people who will go out and vote on the coldest night. he's got a strong organization there, and then if you look at romney and gingrich one percentage point is separating them. so clearly this is going to be a battle. what's really interesting about todayes only one candidate is out campaigning. the rest of them are maybe celebrating the holidays with family and friends. but i'm talking about rick santorum who is pulling in the single digits here. he's out pheasant hunting. but as you can tell he's not alone. he's with some big time

today we begin with an entire state of mind as gop presidential hopefuls make the most of their final few weeks before the iowa caucuses former house speaker newt gingrich took his campaign to new york. in addition to drumming up funds for his surging campaign, the most recent republican front-runner reached out for some bright light, big city report. nbc's brian mooar has more. >> reporter: newt gingrich is on a roll in iowa and new hampshire, but he spent the day in new york. courting the support of donald trump. >> i think up with of the differences between my party and the other party is we actually go to people who know how to create jobs. >> it was a great honor to have newt up here. it's amazing how well he's doing. >> reporter: the former speaker is cultivating a tea party power base that only grew stronger over the weekend when herman cain dropped out, which spells trouble for mitt romney. >> this translates politically into being out of step with the electorate on fundamental ideological grounds. if you're conservative, you're looking for conservative, and you don't think mi

most of the gop presidential hopefuls are campaigning for votes as many are still undecided. polls show a tight race for the lead between ron paul and mitt romney as the former frontrunner has dropped. >> caucus goers excited about newt gingrich are no longer so. >> the super pac is launching an ad telling people not to believe the recent attacks. the federal government has nearly reached its borrowing limit again. the white house plans to request another $1.20 trillion in borrowing authority this friday. the increase is necessary because the government will be within $100 billion of its current limit by then. congress and the administration agreed to raise the limit by $2.10 trillion within hours of potential defaults. the powerful jackpot will likely need to borrow money ever again. we are still waiting to find out who won the $125 million jackpot on christmas eve. it was purchased at wesley's restaurant at exactly 3:13 on saturday. no one recognizes the man featured in the surveillance video at the maryland lottery says the winner has yet to come forward. we are just minut

gop presidential hopeful herman cain heads back home to atlanta today. weekend to reassess his campaign. cain's expected to announce whether he'll move forward in his bid for the white house by monday. >>> a young boy turned away from a private school in pennsylvania because he's hiv-positive. the 13-year-old is suing milton hershey school for discrimination after it refused his enrollment because of his status last february. it's a residential academy aimed at helping students from low-income families. the school says it made the right legal decision under the law. >>> the salvation army's red kettle bell-ringers are under fire. the lesbian and gay community is calling for a boycott, urging people to skip their holiday donations. they say the organization discriminates against the gay community because it supports the belief that marriage consists of one man and one woman. a salvation army representative says the organization and the gay community are enter goineveo come to an agreement on the topic. >>> 72 waters under water. that's what it will take f

second thoughts for gop presidential hopeful herman cain. >> we are reassessing and re-evaluating. >>in talking to cnn political correspondent jim acosta. cain says he will decide whether to move forward for his bid for the white house in a few days. >>> a man once named national sheriff of the year is behind bars this morning. 68-year-old patrick sullivan jr. is accused of dealing meth in return for sex. he's being held on $500,000 bail in a colorado jail. it gets more ironic here. sullivan is sitting in a jail that's named after him. >>> in money news, investors cheered on wall street after central banks made a move to support the global economy and contain the eurozone crisis. all three major indexes closed up more than 4%. the dow's 490-point gain is the largest this year. >>> in sports, it's not quite business as usual for the nba, but it's a start. today, arenas are unlocking their doors, allowing players to take part in voluntary workouts. this after a tentative deal was reached to end the lockout last week. the regular season expected to begin on christmas day. >>> let's get a

. >>> back here at home, in decision 2012, gop presidential hopefuls are in des moines, iowa, tonight for another debate. many experts believe newt gingrich will face attacks from the other candidates as they try to shake up the race just 24 days before the iowa caucus. brian moore reports. >> reporter: with 20 more days before the iowa caucuses, newt gingrich is surging. mitt romney is playing catch-up. the other candidates are struggling to stay on their feet. >> we need a leader who understands who our friends are. >> reporter: the candidates are running out of time to make a difference. rick perry made a big controversial splash with his latest ad. >> gays can serve openly in the military. but our kids can't openly celebrate christmas. >> reporter: but he suffered another oops moment in an interview with the des moines register. he forgot the name of supreme court justice sonia sotomayor. >> it was -- >> sonya sotomayor? >> sotomayor. >> reporter: as front-runner, gingrich is in the cross hairs. >> there's a real sense in our family what it means to be an army family. what it mean

gop presidential hopeful ron paul is bristling at reporters out on the campaign trail. gloria borzer in iowa. she kept asking him about controversial newsletter published in his name. those containing racially charged comments. [ no audio ] >> talk to people like you. >> and then he kind of just walks away. we don't have the sound for some reason. in any case, another controversial comment included in this statement from 1992 in which ron paul said order was only restored in la when it came time for blacks to pick up their welfare checks. so what do you think about all of this? even though we didn't have the sound, should ron paul be held accountable for the things said a long time ago in his name and were his questions out of line. he said he didn't even know what was in the newsletter until a decade after they were released. he doesn't believe it anymore. send your comments to mail bag at wusa9.com. >>> rising from the ashes, students will be going back to their former school after the holidays. fire destroyed the school one year ago. but now that the damage is repair

. >>> gop presidential hopeful newt gingrich celebrated christmas in d.c. and is speaking out for the first time about his campaign's failure to make the primary ballot in virginia. it's a story you saw first on news 4 at 6:00. the republican party announced that gingrich required to obtain the required signatures to make the ballot. his campaign manager blamed it on the state's cumbersome process whchlt we caug process. when we caught up with gingrich at the basilica where his wife was singing, he took the blame. >> it was our fault. we hope to launch a write-in campaign. we believe virginiians have the right to choose and shouldn't have only two candidates to choose from. we plan to launch a write-in campaign. >> i understand that's not allowed in the primary. >> well, we need to fix that. >> rick perry also failed to make the ballot, which means that mitt romney and ron paul will be the only two on the ballot. >>> president obama spent a quiet afternoon at the beach house and then went to a military base to attend church services. the obamas spent the ho

that the moves were legal but unusual >>newt gingrich is widening his lead over the other gop presidential hopefuls york yesterday to meet with donald trump holds 33% of support in iowa according to the latest washington post-abc news poll that is well ahead of his closest rivals mitt romney and [ male announcer ] tom's discovering that living healthy can be fun. see? he's taking his vitamins. new one a day vitacraves plus omega-3 dha is a complete multivitamin for adults. plus an excellent source of omega-3 dha in a great tasting gummy. one a day gummies for grown-ups. is tomorrow. u.s. service members who survived the assault are sharing what that day was like here is jim mendoza with that report >>when the japanese attacked pearl harbor this man was a marine based aboard the uss san francisco >>there were tremendous amounts of explosions and then smoke a little bit later on the fire on top of the water >>this man was a 19 year-old navy pharmacist's he comforted the dead and dying >>there was so much destruction in such a short period of time there's no glory there >>the japanese sneak attack kil

that means gop presidential hopefuls will be in full campaign mode until then. ron paul has been performing well in the iowa polls and has a strong base of loyal supporters there that could help deliver a win next week, but there are still many undecided republicans and other candidates are looking to grab their votes. use, newt gingrich launched a 40 city bus tour. mitt romny has a bus tour of his own and is airing a new ad in iowa. >> i'm go organize do something to government, make it simpler, smaller -- >> michelle bachman, no intentions of slowing down. the winner in iowa will likely get a boost in donations and that candidate will need it. president obama is on track to raise about $200 million by year's end and $750 million before election day. the only republican candidate not campaigns in iowa is john huntsman. he he is concentrating all of his efforts in new hampshire. but he is far behind in the poll. new hampshire holds its primary week after iowa. a lot could change between now and then. >> >> a recent study in "usa today" shows more americans are r

. >> reporter: gop presidential hopeful newt gingrich is turning up the heat in new hampshire. >> it will be an american campaign, not a republican campaign. >> reporter: he was running second in the state but gaining ground. he's forcing mitt romney to defend his home turf. >> he might hit the ground running, but not in the direction i'm going to go. >> reporter: he launched a new line of attack. >> why did he profit as freddie mac failed? >> reporter: he's challenging gingrich to give back consulting fees from freddie mac. >> he would like to give back all the money he's earned from bankrupting something. i bet he won't take the offer. >> reporter: they are hammering away at gingrich's record, too. >> newt gingrich doesn't have schedu skeletins in his closet, he's got a graveyard. >> gingrich is leading in south carolina and florida. romney hoped to have an early lock on the nomination. now, an epic battle that could stretch into june. on capitol hill, brian mooar, news 4. >>> wall street is taking a hit. new concerns about the european debt crisis sent stocks diving. the dow fell

presidential hopefuls are taking each other head on in what could be a big battle for the republican nomination. mitt romney is going after newt gingrich's past. brian mooar has the report. >> reporter: gop presidential hopeful newt gingrich is turning up the heat in new hampshire. >> it will be an american campaign, not a republican campaign. >> reporter: he is running second in the state but gaining ground. he's forcing mitt romney to defend his home turf. >> he might hit the ground running, but not in the direction i'm going to go. >> reporter: romney can't afford to lose new hampshire. >> why did he profit as freddie mac failed. >> reporter: give back $1.6 million in consulting fees from freddie mac. >> i bet you $10, not $10,000 he won't take the offer. >> newt gingrich, he hasn't got skeletins in his closet, he's got a graveyard in there. >> i think the front-runner. >> reporter: 22 days before the iowa caucuses. gingrich is leading there and south carolina and florida. romney hoped to have an early lock on the nomination. he's predicting an epic battle that could stretch into june. >>> mitt romney is trying to calm the outcry from the comment he made during the republican debate t

evening news with scott pelley, including what the numbers in the new cbs news poll mean for gop presidential hopeful newt gingrich. we'll have those stories plus so much more. we invite you to join us back here at 11:00. but for now, we'll take you to the cbs evening news in new york with scott pelley. we'll see you later. ,, >> pelley: tonight, inside syria. clarissa ward travels to meet syrian army defectors who refuse to fire on their own people. >> reporter: we left at night and were blindfolded in the backseat as the car twisted along back roads outside of damascus. >> pelley: the battle for iowa. our new poll tonight finds newt gingrich opening a wide lead. dean reynolds is there. in the investigation of a possible death by hazing, florida a&m defends itself but anna werner speaks to the victim's parents. and the final days. jim axelrod is with american soldiers as they get ready to leave iraq. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. dozens of bodies, some decapitated, others dismembered, have been dumped in the streets of one syri

the gop presidential hopeful is surging in the latest polls.ead. we're joined now by ron paul. live in manchester, new hampshire. congressman paul, good to see you. thank you for being with us. >> thank you for having me. >> nate silver at "new york times" ran the poll numbers through a formula that he used to predict a winner in iowa, according to his numbers, you're looking pretty good. 538 iowa projections show you at 52% chance of winning. mitt romney at 28%, rick perry at 7%. you think you have a chance of winning in iowa? >> the odds sound pretty good. i guess we certainly do have a chance. but i think we have a little bit of work to do. we still have a couple weeks and, so, i think we're in a good position and i'm really enjoying it because i think the american people have come around to believing that government is not our answer and my offer of the freedom philosophy is something that is very attractive. >> you actually want to close a lot of ofederal agencies and there is an interesting poll in the "des moines register" that i want to

that's what the gop presidential hopefuls are probably asking themselves after it was announced that donald will moderate a debate on december 2 efth -- 27th. i know it is like having a second christmas, an evil second christmas. the event/sideshow is spoarnsed by news max who chief exec says the readers in the grassroots really love trump. they may not agree on everything, but they don't see him as owned by the washington establishment, the media establishment. one person who clearly doesn't love trump is the guy with the daughters whose campaign already announced he won't be in the debate with a spokesman telling the business insider lol. we look forward to watch mitt and newt suck up to the donald with a big bowl of popcorn. 1k3* will trump endorse one of the candidate 1234*z he is what -- here is what he told brett bier. >> after the debate. i think it would be inappropriate before the debate. sometime after the debate i will probably endorse somebody, yes. >> he was on the left. the thing on the right was florida. meanwhile, "red eye" is endorsing this fellow. >> dana, is trump

the gop presidential hopefuls are making a mad dash to the finish line with the iowa caucuses four days away. nbc's peter alexander is in des moines. good morning. >> reporter: tamron good morning to you. we want to put up the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll shows mitt romney and ron paul basically neck in neck, followed by rick santorum and a jumble of everybody else. with four days to go until the iowa caucuses, front-runner mitt romney before another large crowd wednesday night, aimed to nail down his support. focusing his closing argument on patriotic values. >> we want to instill in our kids a confidence in the future. if i become your president, i will do everything in my power to restore those principles, not to transform america into something new. >> reporter: romney was defeated in iowa four years ago by former arkansas governor mike huckabee, who united conservatives behind his campaign, but romney is benefiting from a sharply divided conservative field. the latest republican to emerge, rick santorum, who spent more time in iowa than anyone else, believes his succe

a reminder for you now, six of the nation's top gop presidential hopefuls will participate in a special gop forum hosted by mike huckabee. bachmann, gingrich, paul, perry, romney and santorum, tonight beginning at 8:00 p.m. eastern time right here on fox news channel. >> i'll definitely check that out. >> absolutely. >> fox news learning that some lawmakers investigate the solyndra loan scandal are thinking about suing the white house. the white house says it has turned over more than enough documents on the matter but after calling the most recent question is, some of the 23078ings on the panel are thinking of slapping them with a violation. if that does not work they could end up filing a civil suit. >> a budget bat that will could cost american families big bucks next year. now, president obama is urging congress to find a solution to the payroll tax cut extension before it runs out. peter doocy with the latest from. some members broke rank saying there is no wear they going to go for that almost in invitelements are reformed thirst. >> to address entitlement reform we shouldn't be e

. >>> the gop presidential hopefuls have one last should the to face off before the iowa caucus. a preview of tonight's debate. >>> and hundreds of home owners promise a tax credit for going green. it could be years before the government pays up. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices... in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum... we can empower more people to innovate... putting momentum behind our economy. and we can reduce the deficit... with more than thirty billion dollars paid by america's wireless companies. it's simple -- more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone. you can choose your channel package. ♪ you can choose your own internet speeds. ♪ you can even choose to chat with a live person. ♪ now you can choose to save $35 a month for fios tv, internet and phone for just $79.99 a month, plus get a $300 verizon visa prepaid card with a 2 year agreement. but hurry, offer ends soon only at verizonfios.com. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006

. >>> as the gop presidential hopefuls look toward iowa, newt gingrich is looking at a big lead. 33% say they are backing gingrich. mitt romney is trailing with 20%. ron paul at 17%. john huntsman, holding on with just 1%. >>> the man known around the country as joe the plumber wants to be known as joe the congressman. rose to fame in 2008 after challenging barack obama on a small business tax plan. >>> former penn state assistant football coach was arrested today. now there are ten alleged victims on record. police went to sandusky's home in state college, pennsylvania, where some of the alleged abuse took place in a basement bedroom. two new accusers were questioned by a grand jury. both victims said they med him through the sandusky charity. one accuser claims he was assaulted in 1997, when he was 10 years old. the other says the incident happened in 2004, when he was 11 or 12. sandusky's lawyer complained about the way today's arrest was handled. >> this is going to be all over the country again, and we're talking about a fair trial, when jerry sandusky would have turned himself

gop presidential hopefuls are spending the holiday trying to round up voters before the first many theion iowa caucuses on tuesday. right now mitt romney leads the pack with ron paul close behind. and the surging rick santorum in third. >>> two decades ago the district was ravaged by a violent crime. by this year this year's murder rate will hit a 50-year low. >> reporter: district of columbia was once known to be among the most violent cities in the country. with hundreds of people losing their lives every year. so far this year there's been 108 killings. that's the smallest number in decades. >> when i started here in 1990, the two things that used to really bother me is we were known as the murder capital of the world and the city of unsolved homicides. our detectives and our police officers have done an amazing job in turning that around. we are no longer either one of those things. >> reporter: police say murders are down 18%. that's the lowest in 48 years. of the 108 killings, 62 have been solved. but the overall homicide closure rate is 94%. that's one of the best in the country

. >> days left for the gop presidential hopefuls. >> how a couple bay area cities will crack down on law brakeer this is new year's eve. >> and terrell owens asking the 49ers to give them a chance. is the team listening? we'll have the answer coming up. >>> welcome back. yes, it's a foggy morning. that's the golden gate bridge tucked behind the fog. hopefully you can see them a little bit later. >>> the government will pay almost $18 million to the family that lost four members when a fighter jet crashed into their san diego home in 2008. the ruling coming three years to the day that he buried the wife and two daughters. mechanical failure along with bad decision making caused the crash. he does not harbor ill will. they disciplined 1 nebraska members for the errors. >> federal investigators are trying to figure out what caused an aborted takeoffer. southwest mechanics also checked out the planes. the airline says the plane will not return to service nb the problem is inpointed. this morning the republican presidential race is in flux in iowa. the newest candidate to suddenly become

this is just the latest in the series of attacks leveled at the crops of gop presidential hopefuls onue. you may have seen last week michele bachmann confronted by an 8-year-old boy who says his mom is gay and doesn't need fixing, and just yesterday a gay vietnam vet asked if he would support the effort to legal eye gay marriage. >> no, actually i think in a -- i think at the time the constitution was written, it was pretty clear that marriage is between a man and a woman, and i don't believe the supreme court has changed that you got to get on fox news right notice. >> oh, i guess the question was too hot. >> sir, good to have you on with me this morning. thanks for your time. >> thank you, tom. >> let's talk more about this, romney responding to your questions by saying he doesn't think when the constitution was written, it was written believing that marriage was between a man and a woman. i also want to point out that when the constitution was written, women doesn't have the right to votes, blacks were considered second-class citizens, not full human beings. how did you think this

. >>> a gop presidential hopeful picks up a prize endorsement. i'm jennifer davis in washington. i will have a campaign wrap-up as the candidates head into the final stretch before the iowa caucuses. >>> and it can go a long way toward easing congestion in northern virginia. we'll tell you about the legislation that will force more workers at the marc center to use public transportation. state farm. this is jessica. hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm. >> the gop white house hopefuls wrapped up their last debate. they're back on the campaign trail focusing on january's iowa caucuses. jennifer davis has the campai

the embattleed gop presidential hopeful will make an announcement on saturday on the future of his candidacy. he would not elaborate further today and is expected to talk to his wife the first time today since the woman came out and said she had a 13-year affair with him. >>> november 's jobs report appears to be a positive one. or is it? the unemployment rate fell to the lowest level in more than 2 1/2 years and included in that number, people who gave up the job hunt and are no longer countedas unemployed. here's more. >> reporter: the nation's unemployment rate is and as concern's about europe's debt sparks market volatility, appears the u.s. might be heading to a recovery. unemployment in november fell to 8.6%. the private sector added 140,000 jobs last month and while the government shed 20,000 jobs, the count i have still adding to the workforce. taken at face value, the drop in the unemployment rate is good news for the economy and behind the headline number, there is a troubling statistic. according to the report, 315,000 americans left the workforce and that means they gave up looki

. >>> now to decision 2012 where virginia's republican party says two gop presidential hopefuls have failed the make the state's primary ballot. during certification both texas governor rick perry and newt gingrich fell short of the minimum 10,000 signatures required from registered voters. that number must also include 400 signatures from reach of the state's 11 districts. perry's campaign says it will review the facts to see if an appeal is warranted. gingrich has not yet commented. meanwhile mitt romney and ron paul will be on the ballot. virginia's primary falls on march 6th, super tuesday. >>> donald trump is no longer republican. the real estate mogul formally changed his voter registration unaffiliated yesterday. he tells nbc news the switch of party affiliation allows him to keep his options open for a possible presidential run in 2012 as an independent candidate. trump has said that if he doesn't approve of the republican candidate chosen to oppose president barack obama he would consider entering the race. >>> cuba is releasing 2900 prisoners, but a man from potomac, maryla

. >>> outrage in the arab world over controversial comments by gop presidential hopeful newt gingrich. he called the palestinians an invented people. he made the remark during an interview on the jewish channel on u.s. cable stations. >> i believe the jewish people have the right to have a state. i believe the commitments that were made at the time -- remember, there was no palestine as a state. it was part of the ottoman empire. i think we had an invented palestinian people who are in fact arabs and are part of the arab community. >> gingrich's campaign is trying to do some damage control. they released this statement saying gingrich supports a negotiated pea agreement between israel and the palestinians. the statement adds however to understand what is being proposed and negotiated you have to understand decades of conflict history. that from the campaign statement. >>> a top palestinian peace negotiator is firing back. >> i believe this is a very, very wrong statement. this is a racist statement and we condemn it with the strongest possible term and such statements is really inciti

. >> gop presidential hopefuls are campaigning hard and explaining why they believe they are the best candidate to take on president obama in 2012. newt beginning has solidified his lead at frontrunner at this time. according to a survey, 38% said they would support gingrich. romney is holding steady in second place, 28%, and ron paul has 12% in third. and join us to give us some insight as to where things currently stand in new hampshire, south carolina, florida, republican strategist, john, and a democratic pollster also. good to see you. >> thank you. >> let's look at iowa caucuses, and this is the time poll that came out. gingrich in iowa, 33. 20 for romney. paul is doing pretty well, 17. romney up in new hampshire, 35. 26 gingrich, 17 paul. will the attacks that are inevitably coming tomorrow in the debate and then thursday right here at the fox debate, how big an impact are they going to have maybe moving the poll numbers? >> i this i it's hard now because you only have 24 days and you have christmas and new year's over this interval. remember four years ago romney was doing wel

and gop presidential hopefuls are spending the holiday trying to be round up votes before the first many the nation iowa caucuses on tuesday. right now mitt romney leads the pack with ron paul close behind and a surging rick santorum in third. >>> and we're also following breaking news this morning out of northeast washington. that's where police are looking for the gunman who shot a man and a woman. the shots rang out overnight on queens chapel road. both the victims were rushed to the hospital. there was no word on their conditions at this point. we will of course, continue to bring you the details as they become available to us. despite that shooting the district is on pace to end the year with its lowest murder total in nearly 50 years. news 4's darcy spencer has more on the stats. >> reporter: the district of columbia was once known as the murder capital. hundreds of people lost their lives to violence ere year. many of those cases were not solved. but this year it's different. so far there have been 108 killings that's the smallest number in decades. >> our detectives and our polic

. >> this narrows the crowd field of gop presidential hopefuls. >> i don't think people have really settled down in a final way to decide who they are going to support in the nomination process. >> now the scramble is on to win over herman cain supporters. abc news, washington. >>> the candidates only have one month to go before the first caucuses again in iowa on january 3rd. this story, the herman cain story, has prompted quite a discussion on our facebook page. they say if the allegations are true, it says a lot about him to wait until now to think about what hurts his family. steve says he should have toughed it out. he's exactly the type of candidate this country needs right now. go to our facebook page to join in on the conversation. >> first class mail may not be as special as it sounds. tomorrow the u.s. postal service plans to propose eliminating what it calls overnight standards to save money. if approved, first class mail would take two to five days instead of one to three days. and in southern california tens of thousands of homes are still without power. utility crews are doing

." >>> updating some of our top stories, ron paul's fellow gop presidential hopefuls blasting the texas sits atop the iowa polls. former speaker newt gingrich even saying he wouldn't vote for paul against president obama. >>> rescuers saving three mines from a tennessee mine after a drill rig caught fire about 800 feet underground. and two new studies blasting the controversial drug avistin. it lost approval for treating breast cancer and researchers say it does not improve survival for most ovarian cancer patient patients. on this day in 1908, the most destructive earthquake in european history leveled three cities in southern italy. the 7.5 magnitude shock spark add devastating tsunami that sent 40-foot waves crashing over coastal towns and cities and struck at 5:00 o'clock in the morning without warning. the disaster killed 100,000 people and destroyed 90% of the buildings in sicily. a town on the italian mainland. to make matters worse, smaller tremors continued to bring down buildings and kill rescuers days later. many survivors relocated to the united states, but a great quake str