reaction on capitol hill, senator john thune is a republican from south dakota. >> as the leader pointed out the cbo update we got today is a reminder how important it is we focus like a laser on jobs and the economy. cbo is forecasting by the end of this year the unemployment rate will be back up to 8.9% and by the end of next year up to 9.2%. at the same time the leader mentioned we've got now a fourth year we're running over a trillion dollar deficit. that is the obama record on the economy. you've got higher fuel costs, higher health care costs, higher tuition costs, higher debt by 43% over what it was when he took office, chronic unemployment, massive amounts of debt. that is the obama economy. that's why it's so important, and we've repeated before, that republicans in the senate are ready to work with this president and with the democrats on pieces of legislation that will actually create jobs. if you look at how many bills passed the house of representatives, there are over 20 bills that have come over to the senate awaiting action. i offered an amendment to the current bill on t

that is what john thune said. play back the tape that means yes, i'll take it. >> and he is an interesting endorsement and surrogate for mitt romney because it was the vote value signs that were put up all over south dakota by the christian conservatives, plus the pastors on saturday supporting john thune. now, would these christian conservatives in south dakota, are they surprised by his endorsement of mitt romney when santorum is sitting out there? >> i can't wait to hear thune's explanation four years from now why he endorsed romney. >> that's right. >> the way santorum those runaway from his endorsement of romney four years ago. >> go right now to nbc's andrea mitch, who host "andrea mitchell reports" weekdays on msnbc. she is with republican congressman steve king who made a lot of news this year by deciding not make an endorsement for tonight's race. andrea i hand it over to you. >> thanks so much, rachel. good call, congressman king, too close to call, this tight -- three-way tie. what is your sense now? ar

among mitt romney's supporters is the south dakota senator john thune tomorrow he will become the thirdanking republic when he becomes the conference chair. senator thune is with us now in the senate rotunda. congratulations. >> thanks. we are looking forward to it. >> shepard: tonight this is mostly political thing. we heard chris wallace say a minute ago it's all politics. what is the politics of the republics will throw after the speech? >> well, we do expect this to be a campaign speech. most these state of the union speeches at least of late have been very much about how flying rhetoric. a lot of grandiose rhetoric but not much when it comes to follow-through. but republicans have said and we say this sincerely we are ready to work with the president. >> shepard: on what matters. >> on energy security. tax reform. regulatory reform. reducing spending. doing something about spending and debt. the president although he says all these nice things in his state of the union speeches very rarely follow through that's the one thing that republicans are going to be paying attention to. is

those numbers change and i think they're going to change in romney's favor. >> reporter: senator john thune so much for stopping by. we appreciate it. wolf, back to you. >> thanks very much, and thanks to senator thune as well. social media is abuzz right now. we'll check with ali velshi and see what the buzz is all about. you can tweet me, by the way, @wolfblitzer at cnn. i'll check any twitter to see what's going, when you think about what's happening in iowa. stay with us. you'll save 100 calories a day. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. and now get even more with splenda® essentials, the only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitamins in every packet. just another reason why you get more... when you sweeten with splenda®. ♪ you'd do that for me? really? yeah, i'd like that. who are you talking to? uh, it's jake from state farm. sounds like a really good deal. jake from state farm at three in the morning. who is this? it's jake from state farm. what are you wearing, jake from state farm? [ jake ] uh... khakis. she sounds hideous. well

senator john thune is a romney supporter.he senator is here live in only three minutes. >> he is somebody that electable and win this election in november 2012. it is an honor to be with you in iowa today to welcome our nominee of the republican party and the next president of the united states, mitt romney. >> thank you. [ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 ys -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. r science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the l

john thune on the hill. here's what we've done for our viewers at home.his is your money and it is all about your money. it shows the amount of money the government takes in every year. our bills are higher than that. we're spending $3.6 trillion a year. you add it onto the national debt at $15.2 trillion. in september of this year, that number will go even higher. almost $16 trillion. these numbers are extraordinary. they blow your mind and make your head spin. how do you understand this? we've taken the eight zeroes away on this map to simplify it for a family at homemaking say $26,000 every year. what does it mean to that family? well, if you were to take the government's argument for how they're going about paying their bills based on revenues and debt they owe, that family making $26,000 a year, would spend $10,000 more every year, up to $36,000, a difference here of $12,000 every year that you would need to increase your credit limit, your credit line, just to pay your own bills. and that's if you had a starting point, like the u.s. government has t

but there's so many, john thune, if this guy -- i'm ahead of myself. let's stop talking about romney winning this thing. is this a rock meeting a hard place or whatever? because an unmovable force meeting an unstoppable object. here's a guy who's had a ceiling because the evangelicals don't like him. they don't think he's one of them. he's a moderate, he's lds, all that. whatever the factors are, he seems to be stuck at 23%, romney, nationwide and here in iowa. at the same time, they want a winner. so people are somewhat coalescing about him, somewhat. in the crowd we saw today. you're demurring here? he can break that 23? >> i'm demurring a little bit. talking to the romney people out there, they're genuinely worried that rick santorum will somehow be able to consolidate all those evangelicals which could get him above the 23%, 24%, 25% ceiling that romney had. i talked to one guy out there wearing a romney sticker, and i said, tell my why you're for mitt romney. and he said, well, i'm not 100% for mitt romney, but he does seem to be a sane guy. >> th

you're looking at mitt romney, that's john thune, senator from south dakota.might be doing last-minute stumping himself for his own campaign. >> time to get a status report. we've been traveling with the candidates for months now who covers the ron paul campaign for us and jamie who covers the bachmann campaign for his boy at some point in time, each one of your candidates -- the fun part is each one of your candidates has been ahead of the polls and then not so much it feels that he is no longer gaining ground. here's what he said. >> i've been pretty electable. i've been elected 12 times in my congressional district and that might be more propaganda than anything else. >> let's be realist being, he's never won before. >> his campaign points when you go head to head with president obama, ron paul seems to be there with president obama. he's saying he's the most consistent conservative and the more he meets with voters, the more they realize they may want him to be the representative as the gop nominee and that's why they're bringing rand paul today. >> what's

with me now republican senator john thune of south dakota. he's been out campaigning with mitt romney. he's his wingman. he's been introducing him. you've been all over the state. great to be here. >> great to be with you. >> the momentum is with rick santorum. mitt romney and his campaign tried to lower expectations. then he said he's going to win. now he says he didn't mean here in iowa. he meant win the nomination. >> right. >> can you clarify? >> i think that is -- i think that is what he meant. i think that the romney campaign knows this is a long campaign. they're prepared for that. they have the resources and the organization to go the distance. but i think here in iowa, a win can be translated lots of different ways. i think a win for governor romney is a strong finish. whether that's in the one spot, two spot or the three spot remains to be seen. but i would expect that rick santorum would do well. he's worked hard here and he has a following here. but based on the crowds' enthusiasm we've seen out on the trail, i think mitt romney w

i'm here with senator john thune of sandusky, the number three n incoming senate republican, if i'm correct chair of the senate conference committee. >> that's correct. >> reporter: that is correct. senator, we've all heard a lot about the themes of tonight and seen excerpts of the president's speech. what are you hoping to hear from president obama this evening? >> i think this is largely a campaign oriented speech. the president will talk largely about things he wants to talk about on the campaign this year, a political year. you will hear him talk about fairness, to us, code for class warfare and code for tax increases. the president will try and put the pressure on the congress and sort of distract and shift the blame for the way things are in the economy rather than taking the responsibility he has now after three years in office for the policies he's put in place. what we've seen is the obama record has been a failed one for the american workers and obvious obviously, we hope to hear him speak tonight, republicans, to say, we want to work with you on energy policy, we want to work wit

you can see senator john thune flouncing him and romney's wife ann and four out of their five son arem. he is for the most letting his superpac hammer opponents while he stays bob the fray going after president obama at a rally this morning, he kept up his attack. >> we haven't had a see this many jobs lost during their term since hoover. this is an american tragedy. i look at this president, realize that he just doesn't note what has to be done to get this country on track again. >> politico's playbook's mike allen is here himself with the politico briefing today. mike, you've been all over iowa. have you tracked the candidates. who has the feel, the momentum and let's talk about mitt romney and his campaign strategy. >> yeah, well the most happy, the most at ease is mitt romney. he's stable. he's always had a problem win tensity. people are not as excited about him. i got on the romney bus yesterday and went to rallies by him in council bluffs, iowa, and there were a lot of people but nothing like the excitement that there was at a ron paul rally. it's pretty nice when the candidate

you look at john thune. you look at some of the republican heavy hitters that are held in high esteem across the depth and breadth of the party. they're looking at mitt romney saying this is the person who is the plausible candidate, the electable candidate. pennsylvania is a state that republicans want to be competitive in. rick santorum lost that state by 18 points in 2006 and his candidacy for president would be a nonstarter there. i think all of that will start to become part of the fabric of the discussion. >> i would say that if this holds up mitt romney did 25% in '08. he is still there now. if he doesn't go higher than this tonight momentum would be on the side of santorum. if he can come out of here near there, get some more endorsements, because we don't know where a lot of them -- we don't know where herman cain and 9-9-9 may go. this could go a lot of funny ways if romney cannot decisively win tonight. >> what about rick perry's money? rick perry is going to have to smell the roses here pretty so

one of those caucus sites a short time ago as well as the republican senator from south dakota john thuneitt romney's behalf as well. the campaign here though they're also trying to flex its muscles in a unique way and the last week this is the only campaign that has campaigned both here and in new hampshire. overnight the candidate himself will stay here. the governor doing the morning talk shows. then he flies to new hampshire heading to south carolina just a day later and while there are other candidates who are doing that, mitt romney today announcing in an effort to sort of show his strength that he has his new ad buy in the state of florida. consider this, rachel. in that state 370,000 voters, 370,000 gop voters have already requested absentee ballots. that's more voters than voted in both new hampshire and in iowa in the caucus and primary in those states four years ago combined. >> nbc's peter alexander at romney headquarters tonight. that is stunning. thank you. appreciate it. >>> newt gingrich is making plans to fight back against what he says is an onslaught of negative ads aga

senator john thune from south dakota in back of him who has obviously endorsed romney.this going to play out tomorrow? will will and ed espinoza are standing by, also to weigh in on newt gingrich, hammering mitt romney over neglect tative ads iowa. all "fair game." >>> but first, which candidate grabbed the highest percentage of the iowa caucus vote in history? the answer just ahead. people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. because for every two pounds you lose through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ nyquil (stuffy): just reading whatyour label.ing? wait! you relieve nasal congestion? tylenol: sure. don't you? tylenol (another bottle): hmmm...no... nyquil (stuffy): dude! anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. >>> before the break the question wa

that's john thune introducing him right now. the senator.would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home. >>> lisa sylvester is monitoring other top stories in "the situation room." there is a break in the string of suspicious fires in los angeles.

senator john thune right there on stage out of south dakota there.rganizers are worried about protesters later tonight. in last night, some of those protesters showed up at a romney event. one of romney's supporters responds by telling the protesters to go to work instead. >> [shouting] >> mitt!. mitt!. mitt!. mitt!. >> [shouting] >> go to work!. [cheers and applause] bill: there was the. martha: jab at the end there. later tonight if there are protesters at the caucuses, precinct captains are trained not to treat protesters from anyone else. we'll see if anything happens. or not. martha: or not. a 41-car pileup. in kentucky, it may be tough to believe. look what happened. the visibility they say was discuss a quarter after mile before this massive chain-reaction crash with cars slamming into each other, listen to this, 10 minutes. bill: holy cow. must have been the fog. martha: must have been. thankfully nobody sustained any serious injuries in this whole thing. jennifer grove of fox affiliate wxix was more. >> reporter: it was horrible. because it

equipment >> i know that governor romney has appeared with chris christie, i think the world of john thunee so many great people out there i think the world of mike huckabee. i think there are a lot of qualified vice presidential prospects out there that is obviously up for -- that that's governor romney's decision who is running mate will be. >> when you know i hope you let us know. attorney general pam bondi hot on the trail of the health care debate if the beginning. thanks for joining us, great to see you. >> thank you jamie, . >>> new movie sparking controversy that hasn't hit the theaters yet. the investigation into hollywood story about the killing of osama bin laden? liz trotta on that. >>> we certainly don't see this everyday the wild west making its way to the big apple roaming far from the ranch, cowboy and their bull kicking off the professional bull riders new season at madison square garden where julie ban bar is there live. going to give it a -- give it a try? >> i don't think so. we always like to take the bull by its horns maybe it is something we can do after we retire. s

you just saw senator john thune and by the way some other elected if i recalls here.as been organizing my effort. where is he hiding out over here? there he is. i want to say thank you to jason for the work he has done in congress. got 47 congressmen to help out. congressman blake also here to help out. i appreciate his support. i want to introduce my family. my older son -- don't applaud. there are a lot of them. this is my son tag. father of four. my son matt, father of four. then comes number three son. josh, father of five. and here comes craig. this is the baby of the family. father of two sons. this is craig. you can give applause to these guys. [applause] thanks, you guys. our son ben is a doctor and he is in residencey and he can't be here tonight because he is doing his job at the hospital. oh, but here comes one more person. this one here is the youngest of all the children. my daughter anne. no, she is not my daughter. this is someone who i must have seen in elementary school. when i was in fourth grade, she was in second grade. i wouldn't have noticed, i d

we'll talk to senators john thune, kelly ayotte, about the onslaught ahead. all of that coming up.0 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. you noticed! these clothes are too big, so i'm donating them. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories. >> gretchen: welcome back. you have you might remember this little blue diamond from the hit film "titanic". >> they called it -- the heart of the ocean. >> gretchen: believe it or not, it's been almost 100 years since the real tragedy on the ship of dreams and now real long lost treasures from the titanic are helping the memory live on. >> steve: joining us are the president of the auction house and brian, of premiere exhibition with a special announcement about these art facts recovered from the ocean's floor. good morning. what's the special announcement? >> in april, 100 years from t

you just saw senator john thune and some other elected official here's, one guy that's been organizing my effort in congress to get congressmen to help out, i want to thank, where is he hiding out over here? i want to say thank you to jason, jason chaffetz, for the work he's done in congress, got 47 congressmen to help out. congressman flake also here helping us out. i appreciate his support. but i want to introduce my family first here. my oldest son, no applause, because there are a lot of them. this is my oldest sonning tag, father of four, this is my number two son, matt, father of four, you never know, then number three son, josh, father of five, and here comes craig, the baby of the family, father of two sons. this is craig, you've got to give applause to these guys. thank you, guys. our son ben is a doctor and he's in residency and he can't be here tonight because he's doing his job at the hospital. but here comes one more person. this one here is the youngest of all the children, my daughter ann. no, she's not my daughter. this is someone who i must have seen in elementary scho