we talk to romney surrogate john sununu and gingrich supporter bob walker. >>> debates, presidential politics, and an unpopular congress with anita dunn and tom davis. >>> and the future of the mailman with postmaster general patrick donahue. >>> i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." >>> there was a boxing match here in washington last night, but the real punches were thrown in des moines. >> let's be candid. the only reason you didn't become a career politician is you lost to teddy kennedy in 1994. >> the last thing bibbyi netanyu needs to have is not just a person who is an historian but also someone who is running for president of the united states stand up and say things that create extraordinary tumult in his neighborhood. >> if you want a difference, michele bachmann is the difference. >> if freddie mac is bailed out by a bailout, so i think, newt, you got some of our taxpayer money. >> if you will cheat on your wife, if you will cheat on your spouse, then why wouldn't you cheat on your business partner or why wouldn't you cheat on anybody for that matter? >> back

former governor john sununu will be here, too, later. he's leading the romney charge against newt gingrich. we'll get the inside scoop on why romney is making this strategy and making this pivot. >>> first a look ahead at the president's schedule today. he's got a hanukkah reception. but i think you're going to see a lot of push on his version of the payroll tax compromise. you're watching "the daily rundown." have >>> if the payroll tax cut is attached to a whole bunch of extraneous issues not related to making sure that the american people's taxes don't go up on january 1st, then it's not something that i'm going to accept. >> the president threatening to veto any bill to extend the payroll tax holiday if it's tied to any other legislation, the key being about that keystone pipeline. speaker boehner said that's a fight republicans are willing to have. two former senators, blanche lincoln of arkansas and john sununu of new hampshire. okay, we have the pressure of christmas on this wonderful body that is the united states congress. senat

today top romney surrogates john sununu and jim town hit on his record, saying, he has a habit of saying outrageous things and doesn't really care about conservative principles. and last night new jersey governor chris christie took a not-so-subtle dig at the thrice married former speaker's personal life, saying romney is a father and husband who won't embarrass america. mitt sics the dogs on newt after at the top of the show tonight. here's another potential problem for newt? and why haven't we heard much from that class of '94? you know, those republicans who rode into office under newt gingrich? they're awfully silent as their one-time leader surges in the polls. what do they know that most voters don't? >>> then, president obama's fighting off those republican charges that he's an appeaser, an appeaser. listen to the president talk tough at his news conference today. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether i engage in appeasement. or whoever's left out there, ask them about that. >> well, that's pretty somber. let's t

. >> republican senator -- and a former new hampshire governor john sununu. what happened to ronald reagan's 11th commandment and thou shall not speak ill of another republican? >> i sort of applaud newt -- i think it is an object -- evitable -- he is using surrogate, but you have sunu and othersry to takeim down. newt has a trendous vulnerabilities and romney will try to exploithem. >> charles, what is going on? >> neewt says his only opponent is obama. that is not true. of the main opponent is the media. the reason why he was so popular and early debates is he took on every question, every moderator. he is on rocket ride and we will see if he can sustain himself with out having an apollo 13 moment. >> lby? >> he will take " high road until the numbers are going do. he will get in there and mix it up with mitt romney if he has to. not only -- romney y even put out aa commercial that took a h hit at newt gingrich because of his iticism of the paaul ryan planned. >> richard n nixon came back from a political bone yard. why not new gingrich? >> he could. what w

. >> that was former million for governor john sununu. what happened to run on reagan's 11th command, you shall not speak ill of a fellow republican? >> i think it is inevitable that mitt romney -- he is using surrogates, not doing it himself. newt has tremendous vulnerabilities, and romney will try to exploit them. >> charles, what is going on? >> new gingrich said his main opponent is a >> , but that is not true. the main opponent is the media. the reason why he was so popular in the debates, he took on every moderator. he is on a rocket ride -- can he sustain himself without having an apollo 13 moment? >> taking the high road, his numbers are to go down. mixing it up with mitt romney, he has to. romney even put out a commercial that it's ok hit at newt gingrich because of the criticism of a paul ryan plan. >> richard nixon came back of the political boneyard, why not newt gingrich? >> he could. you have seen an explosion and public of what you heard in private, from republicans who know him and don't love him. it is across the board. t

i'm very pleased and honored to have john sununu's support and his outspoken effort in my behalf. >> thank you. >> thank you so much. >> the newspaper has invited all the major presidential candidates to the board. they plan to make an endorsement in the presidential race two weeks before the iowa caucuses. >> throughout my military career, i pride myself on being not as tough as i thought. the work you can do to let a senior leader head down the wrong road, if you're thinking, you know, you really need to take another look at this. we need to look at this from this perspective, because people's lives are at stake, or we have an obligation and duty to be good stewards of the resources that the public in process with. -- interests us with. heads are going up and down and you say, i think have a different perspective. >> marsha anderson on her career as the highest ranking african- american female in the american army. sunday night. .

. >> reporter: former governor john sununu led the charge. >> i don't think newt gingrich cares about conservative principles. newt gingrich cares about newt gingrich. >> reporter: gingrich again avoided going tit for tat. he cares about newt gingrich. >> i'm going to stay positive. i'm going to talk about how he solve the country's problems and i have one opponent -- barack obama. >> reporter: while in iowa for romney, christie turned an occupy wall street into his own attack on the president. >> you know what? we are used to dealing with jokers like this in new jersey all the time. their anger is rooted in the fact that they believe in this hope and change garbage. >> reporter: others had a common theme to attack the president's mideast policies. >> internationally, president obama adopted an appeasement strategy. >> consistently engaged in appeasement. >> appeasement. >> appeasement. >> reporter: the president had a ready response today. >> ask osama bin laden and the 22 out of 30 top al qaeda leaders who have been taken off the field whether i engage in appeasement. >> reporter: c

. >> republican senator tom coburn and former new hampshire -- john sununu. what happened to ronald reagan's command, thou shalt not speak ill of a fabric -- fellow republican? >> i applaud newt for trying to stay on a high road. he is using surrogates, not doing it himself. but you have sununu and others tried to taken down. newt has tremendous of vulnerabilities and romney will try to exploit them. >> charles? >> newt says his only opponent is obama. not exactly true. his main opponent is the media. part of the reason he was so popular in their early debates is he took on every question every moderator. he is on a rocket ride. we will see if he can sustain himself without having an apollo 13 moment. >> colby? >> he will take the high road until his numbers go down. he will make set up with mitt romney, if he has to. -- will mix it up with mitt romney, if he has to. romney put out a commercial that took a hit at newt because of his criticism of paul ryan's planned. >> richard nixon came back from the political boneyard, why not newt gingrich? >> he could. wh

mitt romney has unleashed his dogs, his surrogates, john sununu and jim talent to attack newt gingrich. if he doesn't do it himself, he's going to look like pawlenty, a guy that was a wuss when he's expected -- will this guy be a pawlenty this saturday night in that abc debate, john heilemann? >> we'll see, chris. i think the folks up in boston know the truth of what you're saying. i think they know that if this narrative is going to get changed and if they're going to hold newt back and break this momentum he has right now, it is going to have to be mitt romney that does it. >> thank you, john heilemann. geronimo! remember rick perry? he's so desperate to get his campaign back on track he's attacking gays and lesbians. i think it's pretty shameful strategy. by the way, mr. perry, governor, there are nine members of the supreme court, not eight. i wonder if you could pass a citizenship test right now. you're watching "hardball" only you're watching "hardball" only on msnbc. it'll cause cavities, bad breath. patients will try and deal with it by drinking water. water will work for a few

one surrogate for governor romney, the former governor of new hampshire, john sununu said today of gingrich that his mind isn't so hot and that his commitment is terrible. so, in response, the top supporter for the gingrich campaign in iowa said all the romney attacks are a load of crap. diane? >> this is more than just gloves off. jake, thanks to you. i'm going to bring in "gma" co-anchor george stephanopoulos. so, george what are mitt romney's advisers saying to him tonight to get him pumped for tomorrow? >> reporter: this is your moment. every nominee has a fight on your hands. you have the fight right now. gingrich has come out of nowhere. you have to stop that momentum. but you have to do it in a way so you don't appear rattled. he's going to draw distinctions on policy, not on personality or temperament. >> he wants to do this? >> reporter: oh, yeah, oh, yeah. absolutely. you want the fight. you want to be able to beat someone who's had a head of steam. now, the challenge -- >> on the other hand. >> reporter: newt has to do something different than he's done in the past. he's never re

and john sununu, not what you want in a commander in chief, and senator tom coburn "lacks character traits last person i would vote for. and a man who worked for going republic side god helps us if gingrich is elected president. as disparages as these remarks aring they are not having any effect, are they? >>guest: well, i don't. when he is attacked and he is attacked by people inside the beltway. he has an opportunity with those outside the beltway to show that he is not the beltway guy everyone says he is. because everyone inside the beltway is attacking him but it draws some concern this you have people who have been in the trenches with you who do not support you. >> it appears the grass roots voters don't care what they say about about going in. he is interesting. funny, a good debater. maybe that will win the nomination? >>guest: he has been able to show contrast and he has been able to make the most of it. and, again, he gets to say he is not the establish president guy, not the insider that everyone says. because people on the inside don't like him. so, he can take the attacks and

you're seeing these attacks from mitt romney and surrogates, i think it was jim talon today and john sununuance and policy, but talking about his character, his leadership abilities, the chaos that engulfed the capitol when he was the speaker. they're hoping to bring that mean down. michele bachmann has officially said she's not not going to -- mr. trump only has mr. gingrich and mr. san storm. is this the uncrowning of the donald? he can't get everybody to the debate clearly because of him. does this take away a lot of perceived influence? >> sure. to get attention, santorum would go to the opening of a can. newt gingrich is going to this debate, because he believes donald trump will endorse him, and you know what? he probably is. >> bob shrum and jonathan capehart, thank you very much. >> thank you. >>> ahead karl rove launches a new attack on elizabeth warren. radio superstar michael bay is here to talk about warren's fight for fairness. >>> and you've been flooded with e-mails and tweets all day about my interview with this florida rep who sponsored a radical voter law. >> we have accou

former vermont governor john sununu said gingrich is more concerned with himself than conservative principles. former missouri senator jim talent said gingrich is not a reliable or trustworthy leader. not good. yesterday romney sent republican new jersey governor chris christie, the savior, to iowa. christie talked about what makes romney different from a candidate like newt gingrich. >> politicians can be taught to fake a lot of things. you can't fake that. this is someone who i've come to know has an extraordinary heart. he loves his wife. he loves his children. first and foremost when you look at these candidates say is this the kind of person who's always going to make me proud in the oval office? i'm never going to have to worry will embarrass america. that i'll never have to worry will do something that just will make me ashamed. he just won't. >> i just didn't know chris christie could be so sappy. chris christie was the guy republicans wanted to run against mitt romney in the election. he of course has been the media darling. he's one of the untouchables. now he's a romney endorser. b

. >> jim talent and john sununu on that conference show, it really shows you how much the romney campaign has had to switch gears. >> they can no longer step back and hope somebody else will do their work for them, that the candidates are going to carved up by themselves. they were saying it in mitt romney's name, that's nasty politics. it gets ugly, going to get uglier but that's exactly what works and that's the politics newt gingrich introduced us to back in '94 so it shouldn't be surprising this is how it's going to end. >> peter: hold on, dana, i want to ask the question why hasn't romney caught fire. he does believe he can market the family values identity. check out his new ad that's running in both iowa and new hampshire. >> i've been married to the same woman for 25, excuse me, i'll get in trouble, for 42 years. i've been in the same church my entire life. if i'm president of the united states, i will be true to my family, to my faith and to our country and i in never apologize for the united states of america. >> joining dana and me now is danny perkins, president of the family

. >> gingrich was described yesterday by untrustworthy by john sununu. a romney supporter has a new ad out genz gingrich. take a look. >> newt has a ton of baggage, like the fact gingrich was fined $300,000 for ethnics violations or he took $1.6 million from freddie mac just before it helped cause the economic meltdown. then there's the $37 million gingrich took from health care and industry groups. on the issues newt's been on all sides. >> even today romney told reporters he doesn't take responsibility for the super pac ad. which is it? does mitt attack him -- i'm sensing another little mitt flip. >> this is why campaigns have surrogates to go out there, you know, say the things you don't want your candidate to say so your candidate stays above the fray and stays positive if you will. i think what it will come down to tomorrow night on the stage and we've seen this movie play itself out before. if you want to go ahead with hard comments and at that tacks, romney has to show on the stage he can be just that tough with gingrich because that will not only

but some key surrogates like former new hampshire governor john sununu, coming out in a conference callat they knew. let me just tell you what sununu said, for example. he said that gingrich was self-serving, self-agrandizing and displayed irrational behavior when he was the speaker of the house. so they are not tiptoeing around newt gingrich anymore. the question i have is when will the candidate, if ever, will mitt romney himself take on newt gingrich's leadership when he was the speaker of the house. because that was very controversial. >> okay. and newt gingrich has been asked about what is behind his surge. he sat down with wolf blitzer yesterday and this is his take. >> can you taste this republican nomination right now? >> no, i think it's not -- look. remember, i was way down here and now i'm up here so i know you can go way back down here. we still have a lot of work to do. with the next four weeks in iowa, then a real rush in new hampshire. then on to south carolina. then on to florida and nevada. all those are within about a month. so i think if we have a little interview rig

former republican senator alan simpson, former republican senator john talent, john sununu coming out as not just for the other guy but explicitly against newt gingrich. as has current republican senator tom coburn who says newt gingrich is one of the last people he would ever vote for for president. it doesn't stop with the republican establishment. the far right shock jock radio host michael savage is offering newt gingrich $1 million if he'll drop out of the race. glenn beck has said if newt gingrich is the nominee he might vote for ron paul as a third party candidate. whether or not ron paul's running as a third party candidate, i guess. this all comes amid mixed signals, frankly, about the sustainability of newtmetum in the polls. new data showing ron paul virtually tied with newt gingrich for the lead in iowa. here's a worrisome figure for republicans in today's nbc/"wall street journal" poll when asked if they would vote for enthusiasm, newt gingrich gets 14% of voters, mitt romney down at 12%. president obama still way ahead of both of them at 25%. so people aren't exactly exc

that last gentleman you saw there, the former republican governor of new hampshire, john sununu, acting as a romney campaign surrogate. you know, by attacking mr. romney's only viable rival for the nomination right now, all of these guys are effectively acting as surrogates for mitt romney. the rise of newt gingrich is the first real stress test of the romney campaign. you think running against barack obama is going to be easier than running against newt gingrich? this is the romney campaign's first real test. the way they decided to handle it is by throwing everything in on their candidate of firm support of paul ryan and the paul ryan kill medicare budget. the romney campaign put out this ad today that makes it look like paul ryan is the guy running for president. they all about brag on mr. ryan's tight abs. their line of attack, while newt gingrich criticized paul ryan in his kill medicare plan, mitt romney stood with him. no, mr. romney, no, you didn't. here's the problem. it would be one thing if you were like mitt paul ryan, romney. you doing p-90x all the time, if you had been in

but we're also going to talk to two surrogates, former new hampshire governor john sununu and formerng respectively for both romney and newt gingrich and try to get at what really is right now the titanic battle, and it is between those two men. >> candy crowley, always good to see you. coming your way it about 15 minutes. i will see you again. "state of the union" right here. >>> alec baldwin tweeted all about how he was kicked off an american airlines plane. a day later, he shut down his twitter account. but he certainly had more to say and he said it last night on saturday night. stay with us. progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. [ male announcer ] a simple gesture can spark romance anytime. and when it does, men with erectile dysfunction can be more confident in their ability to be ready with cialis for daily use. cialis for daily use is a clinically proven low-dose tablet you tak

. >> he literally has to recognize -- he can't send john sununu to go out there and do his dirty work >> you're saying he has to be aggressive? >> he's got to tell people what newt gingrich is all about. he channels the anger and rage than republicans feel towards president obama better than anybody else in the field, but he can't win. you were saying it while we were talking before the segment, he's got to make that the central focus of this thing. who can beat barack obama? you look at the polls and it's clear newt gingrich can't and mitt romney's very competitive. >> that seems logical. your take on how mitt romney can turn it around and be the front-runner in two or three months now. >> similar to what steve said, i would boil it down to two things. number one, you've god to do something that he's been unwilling to do this entire year, which is to take the fight directly to his opponent, whether it's bachmann, perry, all of these others have had their 15 minutes of fame, and mitt just sort of stood back and let it all unfold. you're starting to see them do this now, i think, yeste

not helping romney about -- the only crazier thing, only zhangnier thing romney can do is try out john sununume gingrich for the tax increase in the '90s, but they did that, too. >> that will take us back to the '90s. i was there. i don't think anyone of us want to go back there. a press conference this came up, attacks on him as a faux conservative. here what happens newt gingrich had to say. >> for somebody to suggest that's not a conservative voting record, i mean, some point it becomes a joke. so the question is, after we are done with first wave of negativity, to people shrug it off and tell you more about the person than who runs the ad than it tells you about newt gingrich? you're a conservative activist in the state. is speaker gingrich a conservative? is he reliable. >> he's a conservative. >> governor romney's wrong. >> no, he's a conservative and i think the main thing is trying to beat president obama. both romney and gingrich are conservatives. >> okay. so when governor romney attacks as -- he's zany, an unreliable conservative. number one, do you agree? >> well, we're in heat of

mitt romney has unleashed his dogs, his surrogates, john sununu and jim talent to attack newt gingrich. if he doesn't do it himself, he's going to look like pawlenty, a guy that was a wuss when he's expected -- will this guy be a pawlenty this saturday night at this debate, john heilemann? >> we'll see, chris. i think the folks up in boston know the truth of what you're saying. i think they're knowing that if this narrative is going to get changed and if they're going to hold newt back and break this momentum that he has right now, it is going to have to be mitt romney that does it. i went to see romney this morning up in cedar rapids. he gave a very standard fine performance in a factory there, talking to a bunch of people, a town hall setting. there was only one moment where he singled out gingrich, which was on the question of the paul ryan entitlement reform plan, where he criticized him very mildly. but you could argue he was holding his fire until tomorrow night when the eyes of the world and particularly the eyes of iowa will be on him. we'll see. this will be a very, very big m