there's mitt.ll right now just focus on the-- okay, we've lost-- we've lost-- (cheers and applause) >> stephen: okay. he found something more interesting. if i were mitt romney i would give my next speech at a turtleneck factory. still, evidently somebody likes romney. >> the latest fox news poll shows mitt romney maintaining a healthy 10 point lead over the rest of the 2012 presidential field. >> new poll finds romney breaking away from the pack with 25% support among republicans. the rest of the canadians are in single digits.çó >> stephen: and if history is any guide, no matter how much they des piece their party's front-runner, republican voters eventually do the right thing. close their eyes, hold their nose, get in that booth and yank the lever. just like they have sex. (laughter) and if mitt romney does get the nomination, i will support him because he's got a built-in selling point. and it's the subject of tonight's word. (cheers and applause) the business end.ñr folks. the economy is tanki

so, i do understand where mitt romney is going with that. obviously, he's a supporter of the tenth amendment and that is what is missing in this president presents administration, is any respect for the tenths amendment, states' rights and we need to get back to that. on the local level, for instance, i opposed annexing areas, in around our city borders because i knew that if neighborhoods wanted to be a part of a city, well, they would mandate themselves in, and invite themselves into a city, that is one example of on a local level, how dangerous it is for a politician to think they know more than that individual family, that individual business and we according to our own priorities make decisions an mandate and dictate to them, local, stated, federal levels, it is not good. >> chris: let me move on, quickly. i will invoke the lightning round rules, on you, quick question, quick answers. you would seem to be closest politically of the candidates to michelle bachmann, you are both tea party activists, both social conservatives. is there roo

former governor mitt romney of massachusetts.a. the congresswoman from minnesota, michelle bashman. bachmann. and the former senator from pennsylvania, rick san to her yum. say hello to the seven candidates here tonight. >> there's the formal introduction. the crowd is excited obviously. momentarily this debate will formally begin. the photo opes and the photographers are there taking pictures. all seven of these candidates. as we watch this, gloria and david is still here as well. i think the initial round, the first few questions will set the stage, gloria, for what could happen over the course of two hours. >> i have to guess that the first few questions are going to be about the economy and how these republicans are going to say they would manage the economy better than barack obama. and as david was saying earlier, we don't have a lot of detail on the plans, and the plans we do have some detail on don't seem to add up. >> the democrats are saying they put out a long memo and i spoke to robert gibbs the former white house pre

bottom line, mitt romney had a lot on the line. he was standing in the middle of everyone else, he is the frontrunner at the top of the hill, people will try to knock him off. he did pretty well addressing the whole idea he is tied to president obama because of the health care law. he seemed to do pretty well on that. what i found interesting is none of the candidates really took an opportunity to take a shot at him in saying that he is a flip-flopper. that's one of the things that some critics have said about mitt romney. they were given a chance last night to really take it to him on that. no one chose to do so. herman cain, one of the candidates on stage, said case closed. mitt romney another big winner out of this debate last night. mitt romney and michelle bachmann have a lot heading forward, a lot going forward after what we saw last night. >> thank you so much, mark. >> just ahead, at 6:30 eastern, we're going to talk live with minnesota congresswoman michelle bachmann who by all accounts more than held her own in last night

poll mitt romney is number two trailing another very big government republican rudy giuliani ali ron paul pulls it over for trailing sarah palin he's the only candidate of those who has declared his run for the presidency yet so in other words the c.m. polling has the number one goal and candidate it was declared as ron paul will enjoy the moment while it lasts then get back to kicking these anti-constitutional so-called republicans out of the running but let me ask you american conservative viewers do you really want mitt romney as your president let's take each one of the conservative elements piece by piece. is mitt romney best for social conservatives if abortion is morally wrong and he responsible for discouraging it one of the great things about our nation sally is that region title to have strong personal beliefs and we encourage other people to do the same but as a nation we recognize the right of all people to believe as they want and not to impose our beliefs on other people i believe that abortion should be safe and legal in this country ok so in massachusetts but the way

you want to join in, mitt?my sons refer to something known as a mitt frontation. >> so you can lose your temper? >> oh, yes. i will say, as both of us have gotten older, you hope you mature and clearly it's been how you learn to control your emotions and he's definitely gotten better with that. but what do they call me? >> oh, ann is the miss stabilizer. if i'm away for a week or so, she has to bring me back and moderate me back a bit. >> the mormon faith is obviously very important to you personally. you seem quite keen to say i'm not going to thrust it down the electorate's throat. but 25% of americans say they're less likely to support a mormon candidate. that must worry you, doesn't it >> it doesn't worry me. people know us for who we are, and that we stand for something and that we believe in something. and if the economy continues to be a problem, i think people are going to be very concerned about where their jobs are going to come from. mitt ran in massachusetts in a very catholic state against an irish

his latest money bomb is i hate mitt room knee. he's raised over $1 million asking people to contribute against mitt romney. but really among the grassroots to the idea that he will actually get the nominee. is that potentially a fundraising opportunity to rile up the tea party base of the republican party? >> well, there's no question. because weak though he is, mitt romney man -- this is part of the reason high he's so weak as a front runner is he's lick the remainderman of the bush era republican establishment. he's got all those staff people working for him. he has the halfhearted approval of some of the bush orbit circle. he's got all these thins working against him. he's an establishment guy in an anti-establishment year. he inherits the support of a lot of people who have been around politics probably for way too long. he has changed his positions on enumerable issues and he's a terrible campaigner. other than that, he's a great front runner. but he gives all these people something to shoot at because he does so typify what'

now that paw leapty has put tax lying pressure on mitt romney don't be sprieszed if mitt romney wants to cut the top tax bracket to something even crazier. something below 25%. what every republican is going to continue to lie about in the face of all the facts to the contrary is the tax cuts will magically increase revenue to the federal government. with the bush tax cuts we now have a ten-year irrefutable proof that that is a lie. but you would have to be born yesterday in our politics to believe or hope that there could ever be a mathematical proof or a set of facts that could ever get republican presidential candidates even the smart ones who know better to stop lying about taxes. thing we've ever done on "last word." >>> for another prs pektive on anthony weiner's troubles, tonight in our very first media circus that msnbc missed segment, we go back in time four years before msnbc was born to january 27th, 1992, when the political sex scandal of the day erupted into a media circus as it did yesterday at a press conference at a hotel in midtown manhattan. come back with us in time

it will be interesting to see -- >> that will be mitt romney. that is why he is gambling everything on a new hampshire. >> rick santorum -- i want to talk about michele bachmann, because i think she's a real comer in the republican party. she represents her point of view well, the tea party constituency. she comes across not as slash and burn, although she has said crazy things. and she's smart. she made some goofs, but she is smart. it is sexist to compare her with the sarah palin, because sarah palin is not in the same league with michele bachmann. >> there is one person we do not talk about anymore, newt gingrich. >> he had the worst launch since the hindenburg. "oh, the humanity" is all you can say about his campaign. >> newt gingrich will be a factor in the debates. first debate is the 13th of june, new hampshire. newt gingrich will be a force in that debate, to the detriment of someone the other challengers. rick santorum is obviously the candidate who is seeking the cultural and religious conservative support. he has a natural relationshi

yesterday tim pawlenty took a swipe at mitt romney because mitt romney supported mandates and massachusetts when he was governor for universal health care in that state. and, yesterday, took a swipe at him and today, he had an opportunity to really go further on that and he backed off and he was very polite. a missed opportunity for him. >> i know a number of our analysts point out moments -- i want to play that moment for the viewers in case you missed it. watch. >> you don't want to address why you called governor romney "obama care?" into the issue was what are the similarities between the two and i cited president obama's own words that he looked to massachusetts as a blueprint or a guide when he designed obama care. >> you saider asked the question but you chose those words so my question is why would you choose those words in the comfort of a sunday show studio and your rival is standing right there. if it was obamany care on sunday why isn't it with the governor standing there? >> president obama is the person i quoted saying he looked to massachusetts for designing his program. he's

i think it was a slam. 59 mitt romney. it's clear that pawlenty has made a decision he's going to take on romney and try to make this a two-man race. i'm not so sure that's a great idea. i think it's a little early on to try to do that. right now, pawlenty is everybody's second choice. maybe he ought to remain that for a while. he has to do it without being disliked. so we'll see how he does tonight. >> but the knock on pawlenty is he's very vanilla or doesn't stand out in a crowd. he's in a position where he's thrown out this catchy word. he doesn't have to be on the attack. he just simply needs to respond now. many republicans believe the key problem for the romney candidacy if he's the nominee is health care. their argument is bring it out now, let the voters know what the issue is. >> romney refuses to back away from his health care reform legislation that he got into law in massachusetts. >> it insluds a mandate, just like the federal program. >> romney's history from the last campaign is as a flip flopper. so there's

now that paw leapty has put tax lying pressure on mitt romney don't be sprieszed if mitt romney wantso cut the top tax bracket to something even crazier. something below 25%. what every republican is going to continue to lie about in the face of all the facts to the contrary is the tax cuts will magically increase revenue to the federal government. with the bush tax cuts we now have a ten-year irrefutable proof that that is a lie. but you would have to be born yesterday in our politics to believe or hope that there could ever be a mathematical proof or a set of facts that could ever get republican presidential candidates even the smart ones who know better to stop lying about taxes. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] thanks to advanced natural gas turbine technology from ge, the power that will help make our nation more energy independent is right here in america. [ crickets chirping ] ♪ [ cheers and applause ] advanced gas turbine technology from ge. ♪ advanced gas turbine technology from ge. tell me about castrol gtx with trishield. it helps stop particles from building up as deposits. how? fir

that's mitt romney, this is "piers morgan tonight." >>> good evening. congressman anthony weiner finally confessed today, just one week after insisting a hacker had posted a lewd photo to his twitter account. the new york democrat finally admitted he had sent the photo himself and that he lied about it. >> last friday night, i tweeted a photograph of myself that i intended to send as a direct message as part of a joke to a woman in seattle. once i realize i had posted to it twitter, i panicked. i took it down and said that i had been hacked. i then continued with that story, to stick to that story, which was a hugely regrettable mistake. >> and apparently it wasn't the first time the seven-term congressman says he's repeatedly had what he calls inappropriate conversations conducted over twitter, facebook, e-mail, and occasionally on the phone with women he'd met online. but he says he has no intention of resigning or separating from his wife. i want to bring in wolf blitzer, who's pretty much seen it all, and who interviewed congressman weiner, sat righ

you know the crazy thing about this new rasmussen poll that came out is that mitt romney is in first place michele bachmann's in second place and herman cain is actually in third place so that doesn't look so good for the gingrich's and paul mts and the santorum of the by now last i just want to get your opinion we don't try to play the clips but yesterday i said b.c. devoted their resources to doing a hardcore investigation as to why newt gingrich a staff quit and they decided it was because of his wife calista because she had to get her hair done in the morning so they they couldn't get the plane to fly out there she is right there with her with her deal on that are you going to impersonate maybe calista gingrich next if only you know. and bachmann is that these planes are full of juice and full light you know calista i think is actually made up on the inside i think that she might actually be a creature of another dimension that is created entirely of ice and snow i don't know if i could get calista down quite frankly. ouch well i think that he was going to ask you to issue an apo

mitt romney makes it official. he's in the presidential race. so why is sarah palin stealing the spotlight? welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe a new highly toxic strain of e. coli is to blame for the food poisoning that's killed 18 in europe and sickened over a thousand more. global health officials are racing to contain the illness which is centered on germany but they still don't know where the outbreak actually comes from. the bbc's david shukman has the story. >> this is the frontline against the battle with the back tier -- bacteria. this e. coli emerged from a source that's unknown. these are nervous times. >> there is a fear among the staff says this intensive care nurse. there are patients the same age as our children and nobody knows where this is coming from or where it will lead. identifying the bacteria is the first task. it's one that's never caused an outbreak before. and analysis revealed its virulence, understanding it should help trace its source and the quicker that's done, the faster it can be brough

so you're going to see mitt romney go after the president.nts people to see as his rivals. he's going to go after them on jobs, jobs, jobs, and the economy. >> what do you make of the fact that sarah palin is going to be stealing the spotlight from her own bus tour pulling up in new hampshire? >> reporter: well, listen, sarah palin certainly attracts cameras wherever she goes. it's a good way, if she wants to be in the headlines, it's a good way to do it. she's going to be not far from here, as we understand it, for a clambake somewhere near portsmouth. that's not far from here. on the other hand, this is the official announcement of the supposed front-runner in this race. so it tells you a lot about the state of this race, that people like palin and people like chris christie and people like rudy giuliani still get a lot of attention. none of them are in the race, but they still get a lot of attention. it tells you that it's a very unsettled race at this point. republicans are still kind of looking outward, saying who would be cool to run? i

mitt romney didn't raise taxes. he didn't cut services to seniors like obama care did. >> a lot of republicans don't like that plan in massachusetts. >> a lot do. some refer not to have individual mandates. four years ago, carol, when the plan was in place, in all of those debates the republicans had, not one republican criticized the individual mandate or romney care because at the state level, where states have the police power at opposed to at the federal level where they don't, mandates are common. you might not like a particular one. there is a man tait kids have to go to school, public, private at home. a mandate that you get vaccines and a business license. mandates at the state level are not the problem that obama care is, a onerous job-destroying blob that is destroying in the united states. the opinion among the manhattan media is not the issues that will drive iowa, new hampshire and florida and when he won last time around, they weren't talking about the mandates. they were talking about who can create j

now that pawlenty has put tax lying pressure on mitt romney don't be surprised if mitt romney wants toracket to something even crazier. something below 25%. what every republican is going to continue to lie about in the face of all the facts to the contrary is the tax cuts will magically increase revenue to the federal government. with the bush tax cuts we now have a ten-year, irrefutable proof that that is a lie. but you would have to be born yesterday in our politics to believe or hope that there could ever be a mathematical proof or a set of facts that could ever get republican presidential candidates even the smart ones who know better to stop lying about taxes. [ female announcer ] kiss everything you know about cookies goodbye. new newtons fruit thins. real cranberries and cranberry citrus oat... crispy whole grain. newtons fruit thins, one unique cookie. male announcer ]t thins, of some of the annoying symptoms menopause brings. go it's one a day menopause formula. the only complete multivitamin with soy isoflavones to help address hot flashes and mild mood changes. one a day me

mitt ro -- >> mitt romney looks the part, but why does he not sound like it? he is a little dull. more damaging is his stance on health care. the plan he introduced in massachusetts is almost identical to the 1 barack obama introduced to america, a plan headed by republicans. he has tried to run from his past policy, but the habit of changing positions led to flip- floping in the 2008 campaign. met ronnie -- mitt romney was the front runner, but this woman was due in the same staet. -- state. dull, not at all. if she decides to run, all bets are off. >> he mitt romney - -h- he says mitt romney is not the only republican presidential candidate that are scared of sarah palin's intentions. >> she is out there, not campaigning or with any official business and she is sucking up all of the political oxygen. it is cause to worry with other candidates, including a romney. -- governor romney. >> what about in 2008 when the candidacy went to a john mccain? the rights, abortion, etc.? he says he will work to repeal president obama's health care reform, but when governor, he had a very simil

primary voters shows her in second place behind mitt romney now i'm no fan of. politics i will give you some props for being the sole female candidate in a line of dominated by met then what happens if sarah pale and really does join the race is there room for two women on the campaign trail two women with brown hair that are both fairly attractive you know that's the ridiculous question being asked by the mainstream media these days as they make it look like a female on female. bachmann's campaign manager ed rollins from the old school paling yesterday for lacking subsets today a top male an advisor shot back accusing rollins of sticking his foot in creating a contrived narrative about the two thousand and twelve race. so if both bachmann and baylen choose to run our heads going to explode over the increase and ask her to join me to discuss this is sarah bennett gossip blogger for comedy central's indecision sarah so nice to have you back on the show it's been a really really long time we both know i am so excited to be back alone i don't know less i like evans

. >>> tonight, mitt romney make it official. >> i'm mitt romney. i believe in america and i'm running for president of the united states. >> did sarah palin and rudy giuliani steal his thunder? i'll talk to rudy about the state of the republicans, what's really going on with the curious case of weinigate and the economy. >> wanda sykes. >> you thought i had a big mouth before. >> she's not afraid of anything or anybody. tonight she's letting loose on politics -- >> we didn't get bin laden until after he repealed don't ask, don't tell. just saying. >> marriage? >> you've been married to a man and a woman. >> not at the same time. >> no. >> you don't want to start rumors. >> to president obama. >> i think michelle must be growing some weed in that herb garden and that's how he is staying so relaxed. >> and something i've been wanting to do for years, spend the evening with christy super model. tonight she'll tell her story to me. this is piers morgan tonight. >>> good evening. mitt romney officially threw his hat into the crowd and told the crowd wha

guest: mitt romney is pushing hard on the economy. he is really downplaying all the social issues that g him in trouble last time he is to favor abortion rights r example. he was viewed as a social moderate but this tim he flip- flop last time and this time he will not use that as a central theme in his campaign. economy is the issue of this campaign. romney has the background to make that essential in his campaign. i don't see any other argument for him to make. host: wisconsin, good morning. caller: very enjoyable show. i am really impressed with the knowledge of linda feldman. on the reader ship of "the christian science monitor," are they democrat or republican? does your paper take in any editorial view on afghanistan and iraq? i look forward to your answer. guest: our readership runs the gamut. we tried hard to not show bias in either direction. we have some readers or very conservative and some or very liberal. i hear from all of them. i would like to think that means we are doing a good job. in terms of our editorial positions

if you're mitt romney or romney's advisors you get to the end of this week feeling pretty good. he had a good debate in large part because his rivals didn't go after him. he had some awkward moments after the debate in the couple of days afterward, a couple of things he said including i'm unemployed to a group of people. gwen: it was a joke. a little awkward. >> a little awkward. nonetheless he ended the week where he began it but a little more clarity that he is the clear frontrunner or at least the frontrunner. on the other hand if you're romney's rivals you come out of this week and say yes, eggs the front run -- he is the frontrunner. but he has real vulnerabilities that he's going to have to deal with and they will get dealt with before this nomination battle ends. and second, that compared to past frontrunners for a republican nomination, he is nowhere near as strong as others have been. gwen: his competitors don't know how to go after him. we saw that with tim pawlenty at the debate and even seen it with michelle bachmann who i thought -- saw interviewed and asked whether

they know mitt romney because he's run before.ody like a tim pawlenty who really doesn't have the much national visibility who probably will try to distinguish himself i would think in this debate because all of them are going to be looking for a way to kind of make that connection with those voters who just see it as a great big field out there with one guy who ran and sarah palin who's not yet in it. >> here's what i don't understand, john. jon hunts man the former u.s. governor who became the u.s. ambassador to china, he's clearly running. he hasn't announced officially. since he's skipping iowa for all practical purposes, i would have thought he would want to be in a republican debate in new hampshire, which is a state perhaps better at tuned to for his credentials. >> i spoke to him here a couple weeks ago. he's back in new hampshire just before the debate to be the campaign to raise his profile. he decided to skip this debate. his advisers say in due time he will join the field. it is raising a lot of eyebrows here in new ha

sharpening his attack on mitt romney.t is on his back. >> tim pawlenty is considered the establishment favorite if mitt romney should stumble. depending what poll you look at, he is in the low to mid single digits. he doesn't want to be seen as going too aggressive against a solid republican but has to point out what all the other republicans think is mitt romney's weakness, which is that his health care plan that he proposed is so similar. >> i had a question about the president's plan and massachusetts's plan. it's obvious and president obama said in his own words that he patterned obama care after the health care plan in massachusetts and merge d those two things together to form obama care or, as i call it, obomni care. >> this speaks to a big government health care plan, right? what so many republicans don't like. so, if you have a front-runner who has something so similar to president obama, that could make him too weak in a general election. that could help romney lose a general election, let president obama win. b

i think all in all mitt romney had a very good day today. on the cables for certain parts of his speech and he got his case out there about why he would be better than barack obama. so he accomplished what he needed to do today. he won't be able to dominate the weak. he won't even be able to dominate it for a few days. and you have to throw into it the maybe candidates, like sarah palin or rudy giuliani. it's all part of the republican mix that is unusual but all republicans have to get used to it. this is what happens when you don't have a front-runner. >> it looks like, paul, that sarah palin and rudy giuliani are poking their fingers in his eye, on this supposedly the big day for him when he makes the dramatic announcement. >> well, they clearly are upstaging him. he makes a good point. he's just a great looking guy with a gorgeous family. beautiful strong visuals and get overshadowed by the half term former governor of alaska and by mayor giuliani. and this is the problem that he's going to have, should he ever confront barack obama, bec

and mitt romney is many things.hink anyone would describe him as an insurgent kind of candidate. the other thing that we have to talk about with respect to romney is his religion. we have 20% of all people saying they're less likely to vote for a mormon for president and 34% of white evangelical protestants who are very significant bloc of the republican party were not there considering those kinds of issues right now. but if you look at romney and huntsman, those are very significant. >> woodruff: who also happens to be-- within that's right. >> woodruff: and we haven't heard the question of religion come up very much yet on the campaign trail yet, have we. >> not much at all. this was the issue in the 2007, 2008 when he was running. and i was just thinking i wrote 5,000 words about him, never even mentioned that he was a mormon and it's frankly not as much of the debate. and he's been around once. people have gotten used to this, they learned about the mormon religion and sometimes it takes a couple of cycle it's

you and mitt romney. you are the darling of the tea party. there's also a big religious vote out in iowa. i think that would probably help you. but beyond that, how are you going to convince republicans that you can run the country with its serious financial problems better than mitt romney who has not only run a state but has been a hugely successful businessman and also has run the olympics? >> well i think a lot of people don't know about me is the fact that my husband and i are both self-made. we came from lower middle-income families. we both workd our way through college. we worked our way through graduate school. i have a law degree but i also have a post doctorate degree in federal tax law from william and mary. i spent my professional life and my scholarly life working on federal tax litigation and the united states a federal tax court. i have a long history of the devastation of high taxes on individuals, businesses, farmers. but beyond that, my husband and i... my husband also has his doctorate degree. we also started a clinic. we