call or click today. >>> following up on jim acosta's report that you just saw, we're seeing the teae red hot anger on the left. but do renewed allegations of racism within the movement cross an ugly line? let's get right to our strategy session. joining us, our cnn political contributor, the republican strategist, mary matalin, and cnn political contributor, the democratic strategist, donna brazile. guys, thanks very much for coming in. i want to follow up, and i'll start with you, donna, on congressman andre carson of indi indiana. some very, very controversial, explosive words he said the other day. listen to this and then we'll discuss. >> some of them in congress right now of this tea party movement would love to see you and me, i'm sorry, chairman, hanging on a tree. >> all right. in case our viewers didn't hear that properly, "some of them in congress, in this tea party movement right now would love to see you and me, i'm sorry, chairman, hanging on a tree." donna, did he go way too far? >> his remarks tell us what's wrong with our political discourse today. there's no questio

jim acosta has the story lines for that. also this hour, my interviews with two very different members of congress republican joe walsh who is boycotting the president's speech and democrat maxine waters who is invoicesing her own skepticism. we will hear from her in about 15 minutes. >>> aeeight republicans on trad and two candidates trading the most punches. jim acosta has the highlights in los angeles. this is rick perry first presidential debate. how did he do? >> reporter: he felt like the republican party pinata. he was. the other candidates on the stage did their best to take a whack at the new gop front-runner but rick perry showed he can hit back. rick perry and mitt romney stood side-by-side at the reagan debate close enough for the fur to fly. first on the question of which governor created more jobs. >> michael dukakis created jobs than you did. >> jumping into the mix was a newly aggressive jon huntsman. >> i hate to rain on the parade of the great lone star governor but as governor of utah we were the number on

. >> jim acosta, hopeful supporters still only heard one thing, he didn't say no. any reason to believe that he's reconsidering now? >> yeah, the buzz is exceptional, kyra. yes, there is reason to think that he is reconsidering for a governor who is known for his new jersey brand of straight talk. chris christie never really came out and said last night whether or not he's running for president. unlike what he has done in the past. he sounded very much like a candidate in a speech at the reagan presidential library out in california. the new jersey governor accused the president of dividing the country in order to win re-election. he took a settled dig at rick perry when a woman in the audience asked christie on his views of giving in-state tuition to children of illegal immigrants. christie said not heartless to oppose that policy. twice last night, three time physical you count the woman from new jersey who said, hey y want you it run for president. he was asked whether he is reconsidering his repeated statements that he is not running. one woman got very emotion

jim acosta, cnn, washington. >>> the former u.s. president george w.bush has gone online in china and so far it seems quite a bit hit. neil bush signed on to the mike crowe blogging service. he's gotten tens of thousands of followers. he wants to keep the posts nonpolitical. he's nine years younger than his brother. >> join us for the next edition of "world business today." it's 2:00 p.m. in london, 9:00 p.m. in new york. we've got more job numbers coming out of the u.s. if you want to drop us a line, keep in touch by our facebook payment. go to facebook.com daum slsface >>> the company's been blending tea since back in 1831, but when it tried to tweak its famous earl grey last year it faced a bash lash. cnn's jim bound asked twinings, why change a good thing. >> yes, we talk to our consumers about what they like and what they drink and consumers tell us they wanted a more refreshing lighter tasting earl grey, so we did extensive research of more blends. we find that the new blend we just launched is different from the blend we have. it's the same tea

jim acosta, wrapping it up for us. he joins us from orlando with more. hey, jim.od morning, alina. you know, since the arrival of rick perry in his race for the white house, the debates have been basically a free for all on the texas govern are and last night's debate was no different. and it's possible that perry is starting to show some signs of wear and tear. >> governor perry -- >> reporter: it may have felt like that to rick perry, for the section governor, almost a game of one against eight. >> an argument i can't follow. >> on the perry-backed texas law that offers fund to illegal immigrants. >> that doesn't make sense to me, and that kind of magnet -- that kind of magnet draws people into this country. >> and rick santorum with the overhead smash. >> why should they be given i treatment as an illegal in this country? i would say he is soft on illegal immigration. >> i don't think you have a heart. >> reporter: the gop front-runners defense of the law drew jeers but also boos from the crowd. >> this was a state issue. texans voted on it and i still support

this debate, it is possible it is probably probable that the audience picked up noon, candy. >> jim acosta in orlando tonight. thanks so much, jim. >>> former texas congressman dick armey is a key leader in the tea party mom. . give us your overall impression how you think tonight went. >> of course, as an activist in this movement nope as the tea party movement, grassroots activism for constitutional -- on government, my biggest impression that was it was so interesting that our folks had framed the narrative and debate for the previous election and they pretty well have captured the narrative on this election. virtually everybody on the same is playing out of the song book. the government is too big, too sloppy, time thor fearing, too wasteful and too much of a bound on the private sector of the economy and we have got to bring down the size of government. the reform of tax code reflect truth county of government and make it a more equitiablable ta code. >> play you the new member of the bunch, the former governor of new mexico did get into step, the tea party movement talking about the

jim acosta in los angeles. thank, jim.don't forget, monday, cnn with the tea party express along with other groups will host a debate in tampa, florida. tune in for the cnn tea party republican debate monday at 8:00 p.m. eastern right here on cnn. >>> time to go cross country for stories our affiliates are covering. in lincoln, rhode island, a security camera records a road rage attack. police say this man followed an elderly driver into a parking lot after they were involved in some kind of traffic incident. he punched, pulls, and kicks the side mirrors before getting back in his own car where a young child is waiting. police are trying to finds the guy. >>> here's a happy reunion. this woman is thanking two missouri state western football players for saving her grandson. she accidently locked him in a car on a very hot day. the players started banging on a win zoe with a hammer. >> the lady came before we could help. she said there's a baby stuck in the car. >> he took one swoop or hit with a hammer and it busted. >>> in

texas governor and gop presidential candidate rick perry speaks at cpac. >>> let's check in with jim acostave in orlando. jim? >> reporter: well, kira, speaking of rick perry he might be a little saddle sore after that rough ride at last night's gop debate. we'll have a look at the debate in a few moments. >>> and i'm tom foreman here in washington, d.c. we're going to follow up on what some of those candidates said last night with the thing they fear most. our truth squad has been at work. we're going to throw some of your comments on the griddle and see how they cook at the top of the hour. >>> and i'm brianna keilar at the white house where president obama is about to announce sweeping changes to president bush's no child left behind initiative effectively ending the former president's signature education policy. we'll be live around that at 10:15 eastern. >>> guys, thanks so much. also coming up, a view of last night' s debate from a former inside. one time press secretary for president bush and now cnn contributor ari fleischer joining me live. isturizing loti. the natural oatmeal form

cnn's jim acosta is here with the story. after they leave administrations. >> it does, you've heard of kiss and tell books. dick cheney is doing a little more than kissing in this book, he's throwing sop serious punches, and you know he basically says that he got and the bush administration got most of what they wanted to do right during their eight years in office but one of the things that came up during the bush administration is the case made for war in iraq and you remember, t.j. that speech that president bush gave where he said that there was intelligence indicating that saddam hussein was trying to get uranium in africa. condoleezza rice eventually said you know what? maybe we shouldn't have said it that way. in his book dick cheney says we shouldn't have apologized for that and he says in his book that condoleezza rice tearfully, he puts it, admitted to him that dick cheney was right and condoleezza rice gave an interview to reuters in the

jim acosta has been following this for us very closely. jim, give us a sense of what happened last night. >> this started as a heavyweight fight between mitt romney and rick perry. then after a while, some of the other contenders found ways to climb in and in the end it was perry taking most of the punches. >> how will we convince senior citizens that social security and medicare need to be changed and get their vote? >> reporter: the first question may have been on social security but it was really about rick perry who once called the program is ponzi scheme. >> it has been called a ponzi scheme by many people long before me, but no one's had the courage to stand up and say, here is how we're going to reform it -- >> reporter: but as perry tried to turn down the heat, mitt romney cranked it up. >> the question is, do you still believe social security should be ended as a federal program as you did six months ago when your book came out or return to the states? do you want to retreat -- >> we'll need to have a conversation. >> let's finish

jim acosta watched it all and he joins us live from los angeles this morning. aid last night trting debate that he felt like the republican party pinata and because he was. rick perry and mitt romney stood side-by-side at the reagan debate close enough for the fur to fly. first on the question of which governor created more jobs. >> we created more jobs in the last three months in texas than he created in four years in massachusetts. >> texas is a great state. texas has zero income tax. texas has a right to work state. but governor perry doesn't believe he created those things. if he tried to say that, it would be like al gore saying he invented the internet. >> michael dukakis created jobs than you did. >> jumping into the mix was a newly aggressive jon huntsman. >> i hate to rain on the parade of the great lone star governor but as governor of utah we were the number one job creator in this country. >> reporter: the debate switched to the romney health care plan in massachusetts and its individual mandate that requires residents to have medical insurance. what

we have more on his plan and appearance in the west, jim acosta? jim? >> mitt romney has some urgency behind this effort today to put out this jobs plan. two new polls today show him behind in the polls by double digits to the new front-runner in the gop field, the governor of texas rick perry. so mitt romney went to nevada today with a very important mission, that is to say he is on the case when it comes to creating jobs and he not only put out a 59-point plan, he put out a 160 page book a few days getting the jobs speech, sort of a my jobs plan is bigger than your jobs plan and some of the stuff in this plan is tailor made to appeal to the tea party voters out there in the republican party, talking about ending obamacare and the president's health care law and lowering taxes but look at what mitt romney says he would do on day one of his administration if elected president, five executive orders, the first to end the national health care law that republicans call obamacare, he is also talking about issuing orders to cut red tape, in his administratio

cnn's jim acosta over at the debate site, the reagan presidential library. set the scene for us, jim. what's going on? >> reporter: wolf, it is fitting that this debate is happening about an hour's drive outside of hollywood. after a quick and relatively easy rise to the top of the gop pack, it is now show time for rick perry. >> how are you? >> reporter: texas governor rick perry might find himself in the middle of a wild west shootout at the gop debate with attacks coming from all sides. just this morning, gop strategist carl rove the -- taking aim at perry's -- >> i want to apologize for that technical problem we're having over there. let's just talk about what's going on. you heard the technology obviously was not working. let's set the scene for our viewers. it's a huge, huge challenge tonight for the front-runner rick perry. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. he has galloped to the head of this field in relatively short order. he just got into this race less than a month ago. and if you look at the latest polls, hooegs leading by double digits in almost e

jim acosta is covering perry's campaign in depth. he's joining us from richmond, virginia with the latest. >> wolf, the texas governor is not just running as a front-runn front-runner. he is running as a nominee and the rest of the world, all they could do is watch as rick rolls. >> governor of texas, rick perry. >> primaries, what primaries? rick perry is already running in virginia, a state that's much more crucial to the general election than to the republican nomination. >> i know it is time for a change in this country. when i'm talking about change, i'm not talking about the rhetoric of change. i'm talking about a record of change and i've got that record. >> perry gave two speeches in virginia. one to christian conservative students at liberty university, another to republicans in richmond. at both events, perry barely mentioned his competition. he's not even worried about his dinner date with donald trump. >> i got to think donald's got some advice for me. >> it seems as if you're already looking past the primaries and to the

jim acosta, live in the -- >> yes, i'm here. >> it said mark preston, but i see jim acosta.et's talk herman cain. >> there is a little bit of news here. herman cain will be meeting with donald trump on monday. meeting with the donald has become the latest sign of republican prowess. monday in new york. before that, he's on with ja jay leno and has a book coming out. he gave this extraordinary interview with wolf blitzer yesterday where he sort of laid into some of the other challengers in the field. first was asked what do you think about chris christie joined the field. didn't hold back. >> it's not insulting as much as it is a disservice to the american people. chris christie has said for a long time he wasn't interested in running for president. unfortunately, wolf, the media is trying to create a story by sucking chris christie into this race just like they tried to create a story of sucking rick perry into the race. >> there you go. he doesn't hold back. he talked about rick perry, saying at this point, he mightn because of the texas governor's stance on immigration. >>

jim acosta in virginia. thank you very much. >>> and for the latest political news, you know the spot -- cnnpolitics.com. at 23 minutes past the hour, here's your chance to choose the news. text 22360 for the story you want to see. you can text one for china's invisible work force. not everybody in china is benefiting from the country's massive economic growth. get an inside look at living conditions for some of china's migrant worker. also, you can text two for border tours. want to witness the harsh realities of the u.s.-mexican border? it's as simple as buying a ticket for an upclose look of your own. and you can text three for the bathroom wars. why not go to the bathroom in style? an online contest is rating america's best restrooms. again, you can vote by texting 22360. text one for china's invisible workers. two for border tours. three for the best flood. the winning story airs next hour. >>> if you are looking for social security to help pay the bills when you retire, will the money be there? find ou

jim acosta, part of the best political team on television, is live from the political desk in washingtont said no, but he didn't necessarily say that last night in his speech. >> reporter: that is exactly right, fredricka. everybody is looking at that speech last night saying, hmm, maybe chris christie hasn't made up his mind yet, even though he repeatedly said he is not running for president. he appeared to leave the door open ever so slightly by telling those at the reagan library that, you know, he's very flattered by all of the pleas that he get into this race. he doesn't feel it in his heart in terms of having that fiery passionate jump into the race for president, but one woman last night who made this impassioned plea to him, really implored him to run for president, and here's what he had to say. >> do it for my daughter. do it for our grandchildren. do it for -- our sons. please, sir, don't -- we need you. your country needs you to run for president. >> it's extraordinarily flattering, but by the same token, that heartfelt message you gave me is also not a reason for me to do it

that's personal pricing. >>> jim acosta joining us from orlando.ion kicking off this debate. what should we watch for? >> well, you know, people get really mad at us when we say this race for the republican nomination has come down to two men. mitt romney and rick perry, but i'm sorry, there is another poll out today that basically indicates this race is down to two candidates. this is a quinnipiac poll that came out just today about the race in florida right now and the florida race is important not only because this will be a critical primary here, but also because we need to know what these voters are saying in this critical state for the general election as well. just to give you a sense of where the race is right now, before this debate, take a look at this poll. it shows rick perry is leading mitt romney 28 to 22%. that probably is not a big surprise to people given a lot of the national polls we've seen recently, but if you look at the poll for the president, the president's approval rating in florida is bismal. 39% approving. he's very vuln

let to go cnn's jim acosta. he is taking a closer look at what's going on.out? >> after turning in a shaky debate performance, getting spoofed on saturday night live, you would think rick perry was in serious trouble will our new cnn/orc poll indicates, you would be wrong. >> our best days are ahead of us. >> the beltway establishment stuck a fork in rick perry last week and called him texas toast. this week it might be nonstick rick. there may be slicker candidates and there may be smoother debaters but i know what i believe in. and i'm going to stand on that belief every day. i will guide this country with a deep, deep rudder. >> perry sometimes rudderless performance had little effect on the latest cnn/orc poll which finds the texas governor out front. some in the country are cutting him some slack. >> i think it is way to early to know or to issue, to pronounce last rites over one performance. >> herald an cain! >> as the results from two nonbinding straw poll among activists in florida and michigan reveal, the republicans are shopping for alternatives.

jim acosta, my thanks to you and more on rick perry.f the spotlight. here he is debating last year during his reelection bid in texas. >> it really wears me out we've got two people on the stage here that want to tear texas down when the fact is everybody understands this is a state you want to live in. we want to come here. this state is growing by 1,000 people a day and it's not because we're overtaxing them, regulating, or litigating them. this is the place to be, the land of opportunity. >> okay. and we're going to talk to someone who has been covering governor perry for years and years. we'll see how he thinks he'll do tonight. >>> but still ahead, his daughter is convicted of murder, serving time inside an italian prison, but amanda knox's father hoping she will soon go free as the court looks at some of that evidence. i'll speak with him live. >>> also, the 911 call from the deadly shooting at the ihop in carson city, nevada. you can hear the shots in the background of the call. and it comes as we learn which national guard membe

jim acosta has a preview. >> reporter: texas governor rick perry is ditched the cowboy boots for thenning shoes staying far ahead of the republican pack. latest cnn/orc poll finds perry way out in front with 30%. nearest rival, mitt romney at 18%. with the rest of the field looking to play catch up, the cnn tea party debate in florida could be a social security smackdown in a state where the program is crucial to seniors. >> it is a ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today you're paying in to a program that's going to be there. >> reporter: after perry doubled down on the call for an overhaul of social security at the last debate, romney pounced. >> the governor says, look, states ought to be able to opt out of social security. our nominee has to be committed not abolishing social security. >> reporter: michele bachmann piled on. >> what i think is america needs to keep its promise to senior citizens. i talk with them all the time. i love senior citizens. >> you usually don't start a campaign setting grandma's hair on fire but that's what rick perry did when he

jim acosta, thank you very much, taking jabs at one another, in addition to the president, rick perryhome because here new video, firefighters fighting these massive wildfires in the state of texas, thousands are realizing that everything they know burning to the ground. we'll take you there to texas live. >>> also we are monitoring the situation in nevada, remember, police say someone opened fire during breakfast rush. we're getting word two members of the military in uniform were shot and killed. back in a second. [ indistinct talking on radio ] [ tires screech ] [ crying ] [ applause ] [ laughs ] [ tires screech ] [ male announcer ] your life will have to flash by even faster. autodrive brakes on the cadillac srx activate after rain is detected to help improve braking performance. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. >>> i know a lot of you have been tweeting about me asking on this. we're working on getting more details on the deadly shooting that happened today, happened this morning in nevada. so far a man reportedly entered this i-hop strant in carson city, nevada

jim acosta joins me now. jim, a lot happening today.see whether rick perry can keep that lead. whether mitt romney is really going to sort of try and take a piece out of him and what happens to michele bachmann in this. she seems to have been losing some traction? >> right. the debate comes as not every candidate in the gop is on the tea party bus. one candidate is in the driver's seat, rick perry, and others trying to get onboard. texas governor rick perry has ditched his cowboy boots for running shoes staying far ahead of the republican pack. the latest cnn orc poll finds perry out in front with 30%. nearest rival mitt romney at 18%. with the rest of the field looking to play catch-up, the cnn tea party debate in florida could be a social security smackdown in a state where the program is crucial to seniors. >> it is a ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you paying into a program that's going to be there. >> reporter: after perry doubled down on his call for an overall of social security at the last debate

jim acosta tracking it all live in washington.oh, boy. my bet is, the field is the field, and there are politicians who run for president and there are politicians who run for publicity, or run for, perhaps, the next election cycle, and that might be what we're looking at last night. carol, for a governor known for his new jersey brand of straight talk, chris christie never really came out and said he was not running for president last night and sounded very much like a candidate at the reagan presidential library. accusing the president of divi e dividing the country to win re-election. and asking about christie's views of giving money to illegal immigrants. he said he wasn't heartless to oppose that policy and twice asked whether he was reconsidering his repeated statements that he is not running for president. one woman got very emotional imploring christie to run. christie seemed to say, sorry. it is just not his time. >> do it for my daughter. do it for our grandchildren. do it for our sons. please, sir, don't -- we need you.

. >>> let's goat jim acosta with the latest news. jim, we know more new poll numbers are out.t, whose opinion i have here. what should the white ous do? panic. >>> dpakt exactly. that's talking about james carville there. let's hang on to that. let's have the viewers stick around to hear about that. that's a doozy. in the meantime, we had the cnn tea party debate a few days ago. we wanted to know what is basically the tea party having in terms of an effect on the republican party right now. it appears that the republican party has been infused with some pretty conservative believes. take a look at the poll numbers from cnn orc. looking at the divide. really in the republican party right now. asking republicans, are you an active member or supporter of the tea party movement. yes 49%, no, 51%. a lot of republicans involved with the tea party movement now. what has it done to the believes of the republicans? if you look at are you conservative, what are your political views as a republican versus a tea party heb, it is pretty striking. wanted to look at individual issues, such a

cnn's jim acosta has more. >> wolf, if the president and the congress can't agree on the timinging, the can they agree on a jobs bill. on twitter, it is dub and could easily be called a jobs fail. >> it is coincidental. 24 hours after the white house laughed off suggests it was trying to big foot a debate by having the president give a job speech to congress. >> whatever the competing opportunities on television are whether it's the wildlife channel or the cooking channel or i wish i could say that -- >> it took only hours to give in to speaker john boehner's demands to move the speech to the next night. >> wednesday seemed to be the best option. when that was not available or seemed to be a problem, thursday was fine with us. >> the white house blamed it all on the media. >> you guys love this stuff. >> not to mention for the republicans, running for president. >> now, does this show me a little insecurity on the part of the president? >> when it's easier for the president, it could be a sign washington's wheels have come off. >> i think in the beginning there was one wheel coming off

jim acosta is picking up for us. jim?ey are going soft on israel and would like to use it as a wedge to crack open a block that usually sides with democrats. >> when republicans celebrated last week's special election victory in a heavily jewish and normally democratic congressional district in new york. >> voters in new york sure got the message. >> rick perry was also cheering. he, like many republicans, saw a golden opportunity. the prospect attracting millions of jewish voters. who may be questioning the president's handling of israel. >> there is elas tisity. there are those who think that there are missteps, hasn't shown enough warmth toward israel. >> using tough talk for this week's palestinian attempt to seek statehood. at the united nations general assembly. in an ad to the wall street journal perry wrote, errors by the obama administration have encouraged the palestinians to take backward steps away from peace. the gop front runner is no stranger to israel. >> many i hope most americans realize that there's a p

jim acosta thank you as always. 11:00 eastern time, time to hand it over to suzanne malveaux. all yours. >> thanks. >>> live news today at 11:00. i'm suzanne malveaux. the 1st of september. amazing video you're about to see. ethnic kurds were holding a peace rally, when dozens of young men en masse apparently hijacked that rally. this set off a confrontation with police and kurds are the minority and they've been out on the streets protesting because many are angry the turkish military have been attacking their villages. president obama is moving his big speech on jobs from next wednesday to next thursday night. john boehner turned down the president's request to address congress wednesday. why? it would be hard. >>> winds whipping 25 miles per hour are spreading west of dallas ft. worth. some 39 homes have been destroyed. 125 families are being forced out of their homes and we have just learned some evacuation orders have been lifted with at least half the fire now contained. >> it's ugly. it's real ugly. it keeps flaring up, the wind is crazy. >> the smoke was so see. you ha

jim acosta is following that from washington. >> reporter: koorm. that's right.exas governor perry is the gop front runner and is expected to talk about the issue, the palestinian statehood request. down the street from the united nations and a day before the president is supposed to speak to the u.n. general assembly and this is interesting politics that we will be watching on several fronts. one is that the texas governor is slamming this process that is about to get underway up at the u.n. in which the palestinians may get a vote on statehood. it is a vote that the united states is expected to block. the obama administration is basically going to side with israel on that question, and that's going to be a messy situation for the obama administration, but the fact that this process is underway is really giving some red meat to the republicans. rick perry coming to manhattan and giving remarks. a portion of which we obtained here at cnn. he is expected to say in a few moments we are indignant that certain middle east earn leaders have discarded the principal of

jim acosta, part of the best political team on television, is live from washington. very good one for him. are we really seeing a shift in the republican horse race? >> reporter: you remember those headlines that came out after the thursday debate -- texas toast. straw polls you just mentioned over the weekend, rick perry didn't do so well in those straw polls. there was even a not-so-flattering skit on saturd"saturday night live" tha showed governor perry falling asleep at a podium on "snl." you would think that would all combine and add up to a new national poll that shows rick perry falling out of his front-runner status. well, you would be wrong. the latest cnn/orc poll, rick perry still comfortably in the lead right now if you take sarah palin out of the race, rick perry at 30%, mitt romney 22%. newt gingrich, 11%. herman cain, 9%, ron paul, 7%. this is interesting in that conventional wisdom after thursday night's debate was that rick perry might have done himself some mortal harm but if you look at this new cnn/orc poll he's still very much the front-runner in

jim acosta, part of the best political team on television from the political desk in washington. fight's now over the primary calendar. >> yeah. i mean this is sort of a war between the states, if you will. as you remember, yesterday we reported that florida is expected to move up its primary date to january 31st and folks at home may be scratching their heads and wondering why does this matter to me? well, it matters a great deal because the entire primary and caucus calendar, because of this one action, could be thrown completely up into the air. earlier this morning south carolina, which has one of those coveted spots from the republican party to have one of those primary dates in february, they were having a meeting earlier this morning trying to decide whether or not they would try to leapfrog florida and go earlier than florida. the danger in all of this is that all of these states, because they're all trying to leapfrog each other, would somehow push their primary and caucus dates to around christmas and new year's which would really compress the calendar. i mean we're tal

jim acosta is covering the race to unseat perry. shall we say it is a race indeed. >> it absolutely is, wolf, and the only thing missing from the campaign trail this week, michael buffer. the professional wrestler master of ceremonies, who's known for his battle cry, let's get ready to rumble. it's the main event for the gop comes down to rick perry versus mitt romney, stand back. >> just yesterday, that jobs legacy in massachusetts got even worse. >> in iowa, perry is laying into romney's health care plan, pointing to this study from a conservative think tank that concluded the program has cost the state 18,000 jobs. a finding romney aides call deeply flawed. >> it kills toos many jobs and gets between you and your doctor. doesn't make any difference whether it's passed in massachusetts or washington, d.c. it is bad medicine and needs to be stopped. >> his campaign is holding up this gallup poll. the poll found 40% of independents say the remark will hurt him in a general election. >> social security is not a ponzi scheme. social s

jim acosta has highlights from the first-ever cnn tea party debate. >>> how will you convince seniorare need to be changed and get their vote. >> reporter: the first question may have been social security but it was about a ponzi scheme. >> it has been called a ponzi scheme by many people before me. no one's had the courage to stand up and say "here is how we're going to reform it." >> reporter: as perry tried to turn down the heat, mitt romney cranked it up. >> the question is, do you still believe that shsz should be ended as a federal program as but six months ago when your book came out and returned to the states? >> i think we ought to have a conversation -- >> we're having that now, governor. >> yes, sir, let me finish the conversation. >> reporter: what teed up what might have been the one-liner of the night. >> i'm not particular he worry good governor perry and governor romney frightening the american people when president obama scares them every single day. tliep wasn't the only flashpoint. asked whether the lone star governor was responsible for jobs created in his state,

jim acosta is in tampa. did perry lose any ground last night? >> you know, that remains to be seen, kyra. this all started as a heavyweight fight between mitt romney and rick perry. the texas governor was taking most of the abuse. >> how will you convince senior citizens that social security and medicare need to be changed? and get their vote? >> the first question may have been on social security, but it was really about rick perry, who once called the program a ponzi scheme. >> it has been called a ponzi scheme by many people long before me. but no one's had the courage to stand up and say, here is how we're going to reform it. >> reporter: but as perry tried to turn down the heat, mitt romney cranked it up. >> but the question is, do you still believe that social security should be ended as a federal program as you did six months ago when your book came out and return to the states? or do you want -- >> i think we ought to have a conversation -- >> we're having that right now, governor. we're running for president. >> reporter: that teed up w

cnn's jim acosta is watching all this unfold. social security. it will be a key issue tonight.ght. the social security administration says, wolf, that the program is solvent for 25 years. this issue more than any other will have the republicans wrestling each other tonight. >> reporter: if rick perry have their way in the tea party debarkt he will be saddled with the issue that was once call the third rail in politics. social security. >> a ponzi scheme to tell our kids that are 25 or 30 years old today, you pay into a program that will be there. >> the governor says, look, states ought to be able to opt out of social security. our nominee has to be someone who isn't committed to abolishing social security. >> reporter: romney was referring to perry's book in which he argue, social security should have been set up to allow worker to make their choice about whether to participate. as we know from experience, individuals would have done better on their own. the problem for romney, he has his own book in which he compares the program to a criminal operation, saying, the american p

a close advisor told jim acosta -- >>> time now let's talk more politics.f blitzer in washington with new poll numbers, but let's begin with florida. what's going on? >> the republicans in florida may be shaking up the schedule right now the earliest contest in iowa, new hampshire, they're supposed to begin in early february, but florida now says apparently, they're going to meet on friday. they want to move up their primary to the end of january. january 31st. if they do that, it would be a violation of rnc rules. they'd lose a lot of delegates at the convention over the summer, but it would force iowa, new hampshire, south carolina to move up, so instead of the balloting beginning in early february, it might have to begin in early january. so, it's going to step on our vacations at the end of the year. christmas, new year's. we'll see if florida actually goes ahead, but they want to move their schedule up to january 31st so the other four states will have to move theirs up. iowa, new hampshire, nevada, south carolina, the rules say they must go first, so

let's go to jim acosta with details.was sort of a social security smackdown. this might be the rumble in the jobs jungle. earlier this morning, rick perry put out a web video accusing the president of being president zero in his words or in the words of this video. it shows, it's really sort of a slickly put together video. shows these barren warehouses that have been shut down and so forth and it's playing on my iphone right here. very small. but in the middle of this video, the ad refers to president obama as president zero while what's interesting about this is that it didn't take long for the romney campaign to come out with this e blast to reporters covering the campaign referring to governor perry as governor sub zero and referring to the fact that in the last month, the unemployment rate in texas went up. this is a key part of the romney campaign's offensive against perry to say this texas miracle that the governor of texas likes to talk about when it comes to employment is not what it's cracked up to be. that's g

jim acosta is here working this story for us. why are so many people fixated right now on governor christie? >> wolf, perhaps it's due to some of the renewed hand wringing over the gop field or perhaps it's because chris christie continues to give speeches as he is tonight at the reagan presidential library. whatever it is, there are new signs the governor may be changing his mind about running for president. >> welcome back to "the view" the vice president of the united states, joe biden. >> reporter: it's safe to say the chris christie craze has shifted into overdrive when the ladies on the talk show ""the view" are asking vice president joe biden his view on the new jersey governor. >> christy is a good guy. new jersey is a big, important state. he's at the top of his game right now. >> reporter: if the game is who can generate the most speculation, christy is winning, despite repeatedly telling audiences he's not running. take last week. >> it's got to be something that you and your family really believes is not only the righ

let's bring in jim acosta. he's got the latest details. >> wolf, as rick perry attacked the president's handling of israel this week, he walked into the mind field that is the struggle for pes in the middle east. after rick perry accused president obama of purr seeing a policy of appeasement in the middle east at a news conference, he turned the podium over to a conservative israeli politician. who's as blount spoken as the texas governor. >> i want to thank governor perry for taking a bold stand on the issue, writing down and saying what you believe. that's what we need today. we need people who support justice. people who support commitment. and we need leadership. >> as deputy speaker of israel, he is not only against this week's palestinian attempt for state hood at the united nati s nations. he's against a palestinian state altogether. >> to my perspective, it's unacceptable. there's a place for one state under israel. >> naturally, reporters asked perry if he share it is same view. >> i do support a two-s

here is cnn's jim acosta. >> well, rick perry may be saddle sore after the rough ride he had at the goput the question is whether the front-runner the horse race did more than throw a shoe. >> senator santorum -- >> reporter: republicans looking for reviews of rick perry's performance at the google sponsored gop debate can go right to the search engine. close to disqualifying two hours cried the weekly standard, and a really bad debate griped the tea party nation, shovel ready tweeted one columnist with the washington post. >> he's for obama care and now he is against it. >> reporter: when perry mistakingly claimed that mitt romney had supported the health care law, the governor barely responded. just as damaging was the past support of the governor's college support of illegal immigrants after rick santorum piled on. >> i would say he is soft on illegal immigration. >> and perry seemed to question their compassion and not the best way to win over the party's anti-illegal immigration activists. >> i don't think that you have a heart. it is a state issue and texans voted on it, and i sti

. >> our jim acosta is live in washington. rter: this is a big question about the tea party. you know, we may end up seeing the republicans getting rick perry instead of mitt romney because of the tea party and may see a key democratic constituency namely the african-american community getting revved up about this election because of the tea party. will the tea party make or break the republicans in their quest to take back the white house? ♪ ♪ having a tea party across this land ♪ >> reporter: if president obama is trying to energize the democratic base look no further than the tea party which scored a big victory in the debt deal on capitol hill as liberals in congress hopping mad. >> as far as i'm concerned, the tea party can go straight to hell. >> reporter: as a series of town halls and job fairs in democratic districts, many of the congressional black caucus have accused tea party of kicking the poor and their zeal to cuts and government spending. asked about those comments later, andre carson defended his remarks to cnn.