he maid it official in myrtle beach. move comes hours before tonight's candidate debate front runner mitt romney may face questions about his record as a businessman. chief washington correspondent james rosen takes a look at the paper trail. >> governor romney would like to give back all the money he earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees, over his careers at bain, that i would be glad to listen to him. >> we need to have more venture capitalism going on in america, and less vulture capitalism. >> romney's 15-year tenure as ceo of bain capital is a chief selling point for him and for the moment the bane of his existence. headquartered in the john hancock building, bain capital employees 900 people worldwide. >> we started staples. >> published reports show bain gave staples less than 10% of the seed money. today, bain manages $60 billion in asset protecting private equity invest in the 450 companies. private equity means buying control of existing business and trying to enhance the profitability. >>

peter alexander is going to be live in myrtle beach for us. where do we stand on how we know when jon huntsman came to this decision? >> it's a good question, thomas, we posed that to senior advisers in the huntsman campaign. they told us he had been having this discussion with his advisers and family members over the last several days, the days following his disappointing finish in new hampshire, but didn't come to a final decision. it wasn't conclusive until late yesterday evening. we were in charleston with his family dining, between 9:30 and 10:00 p.m. he put a call out to governor romney, acknowledging he would be endorsing romney at today's event. this would be a little suspect given the statements the two have made. it was just a week ago where he called out romney for putting party before country as has been a theme throughout the campaign and then in november, governor huntsman said of romney that he was unelectable, saying he lacked a certain core and had so many shifting positions that made him not a sufficient candidate. huntsman i

. >> the only problem is that have brought more people to myrtle beach and west virginia beach. that would not be good for me. other than that, i am all for. i mentioned at those times of getting off of 95. at 10 years old, it was dad, are we there yet. it seemed like we never got there because the small roads were the toughest part. what we did in virginia last year, we are not raising taxes. we will use surplus revenues and some general fund revenues because it is a priority in our budget. but we're also going to say, we have a very limited debt ceiling. dislike we do with our mortgages in our house, let's invest a little bit of money in bonds because we have the lowest interest rates. we are aaa bond rated state. we are getting the best deals axpayer. the text p we had $2 billion in projects last year. we created a transportation infrastructure banks. then have the private sector build some of those roads. and paid for with tolls. we would have a chunk of that 73 going to the southwestern part of virginia. i know that now you have an agreement with north carolina on a route,

carl cammeron live for us in myrtle beach. "special report" anchor bret baier will moderate tonight's debate. he will join us inside fox report. of course, watch the debate right after "the o'reilly factor" 9:00 eastern time, 8:00 central. live coverage of the south carolina primary this saturday, same team starting 6:00 p.m. eastern standard time. the cruise ship crash probably has some folks rethinking vacation plans. and that could be a very big problem for the cruise industry. millions of people sign up for cruises every year and we're already seeing early indications of how bad for business this disaster could really be. plus, tensions with iran. we'll see what the united states and israeli military have just agreed to do to try to keep things from spiraling out of control. that's all ahead from the journalists of fox news on this martin luther king day, fox report. [ male announcer ] a raw nose can feel really sore. achoo! [ male announcer ] and common tissue can make it burn even more. puffs plus lotion is more soothing

joe's in myrtle beach.start with wolf blitzer, who's in d.c. and wolf, essentially, how significant is it that now you've got huntsman who is going to be bowing out and he's giving his support to romney? is that really significant in terms of getting all the gop and the republicans behind the front-runner? >> well, it's not going to get them all behind him, but it's certainly going to bring in more of the moderates, less conservative, shall we say, gop primary voters in south carolina. if it is a close contest, and some of the more recent polls showedne

and starting in myrtle beach beech and in charleston. i think chad connelly is doing a great job focusing on south carolina. they are looking for a candidate to inspire to greatness. we'll lay out a plan for getting us out of the economic dolled rum and inspire us to american greatness again. >> congressman, evangelicals and conservatives. where are they going? >> it will be divided. a lot of the folks are for rick santorum and some are going to newt gingrich. mitt romney doesn't seem to be strong in my area but is strong state wide. it is a neck and neck race going into the final sevenhours. >> each candidate had to handle tough things. but out greeting voters and in terps of tax returns. you say mitt romney, you didn't mention him in the iniial group. was he hurt by the state's unemployment rate. which it does and basically his income is mostly in 15 percent capitol gains form when a lot of people are hoping for a w-2? >> mitt romney laid out a great economic plan and he is a leader to help us out of the economicuation and dr. paul is

in myrtle beach. >> welcome to the myrtle beach convention center and the republican presidential debate. [applause] >> it is being sponsored by fox news, the wall street john natural and the south carolina republican party. now let's meet the five remaining candidates. texas governor rick perry. [applause] former senator rick santorum. [applause] former massachusetts governor mitt romney. [applause] former speaker of the house, newt gingrich. [applause] and congressman ron paul. [applause] and, of course, our stage is town one podium with governor jon huntsman announcement today that he is leaving the race. you at home can participate through twitter tonight. you can weigh in on how questioning the candidates are answering the questions. tweet the candidate's last name and hashtag answer if you think he is tackling the question or hashtag dodge if you think he is avoiding the question. then you can see the results during the break at foxnews.com. let's meet our panelist tonight. fox news political analyst and my colleague, juan williams. and from the wall street journal, economic corres

here's bret baier in myrtle beach. >> welcome to the myrtle beach convention center and the republican presidential debate. [applause] >> it is being sponsored by fox news, the wall street john natural and the south carolina republican party. now let's meet the five remaining candidates. texas governor rick perry. [applause] former senator rick santorum. [applause] former massachusetts governor mitt romney. [applause] former speaker of the house, newt gingrich. [applause] and congressman ron paul. [applause] and, of course, our stage is town one podium with governor jon huntsman announcement today that he is leaving the race. you at home can participate through twitter tonight. you can weigh in on how questioning the candidates are answering the questions. tweet the candidate's last name and hashtag answer if you think he is tackling the question or hashtag dodge if you think he is avoiding the question. then you can see the results during the break at foxnews.com. let's meet our panelist tonight. fox news political analyst and my colleague, juan williams. and from the wall street jour

wtop political analyst mark plotkin is in myrtle beach tonight. he will join us at 10:30 to break down tonight's debate. >>> overseas now a state of emergency declared in italy. the cruise ship that crashed off the tuscan coast has now led to environmental concerns and we're learning more about what may have led to the disaster. >>> plus a newborn abandoned in last night's freezing cold. we'll hear from the neighbors who desperately tried to save her life coming up next.  >>> the search for survivors continues tonight in italy after a luxury cruise liner capsized friday. tonight the number of people believed missing jumped from 16 to 29. there are also environmental concerns after an unidentified liquid began leaking from the ship's damaged hull. fox 5's maureen umeh has the latest. reporter: chaos and confusion, these images taken by a survivor of the costa concordia after it struck a reef and started sinking off the tuscan coast friday. passengers packed into a lifeboat watching the massive boat sink. >> everything happened from like 11:3

joe's in myrtle beach.start with wolf blitzer, who's in d.c. and wolf, essentially, how significant is it that now you've got huntsman who is going to be bowing out and he's giving his support to romney? is that really significant in terms of getting all the gop and the republicans behind the front-runner? >> well, it's not going to get them all behind him, but it's certainly going to bring in more of the moderates, less conservative, shall we say, gop primary voters in south carolina. if it is a close contest, and some of the more recent polls showed newt gingrich and mitt romney not all that far apart going into next saturday's primary. whatever huntsman could bring, presumably, most of his supporters will be much more inclined to go along and vote for mitt romney than they will for

what a treat to be back in myrtle beach. i was telling him when i was a young kid living in northern virginia, my parents would bring the family down here every year how many of you remember the old crescent beach? we were there every year for about a decade through the 1960's and early 1970's. i have some many fond memories of coming here and sitting in that traffic from 95 to hear. that is why 73 is a pretty good idea. congressman, thank you for hosting these town halls and i need to be here with you. you have had some of the presidential candidates here already to give you a firsthand look at the candidates. i cannot tell you how much i admire what tim has done. he campaigned for some of our candidates in 2009 and 2010 in virginia. he is a great, bright, conservative voice in the u.n. is states congress. he sticks to his guns. that is why he was rewarded with being the leader of the freshman class and why he is already taken the stand of things we need to do like cutting the corporate income tax rate so we can have more am

. >>> after the convention at myrtle beached today, they said that south carolina is where the march to retake the white house begins. >> and that could be the last chance to turn things around in my mind. >> reporter: but the most conservative activists in this very conservative state, they are divided on just how to take on the president. that's a good thing. >> reporter: they are blocking to rick santorum. to ron paul and others. now in general, the election battle cry might be anybody, but obama. with the gop primary less than a week away, a growing course is shouting anybody, but romney. >> and that's why i'm here. to stop mitt romney. >> yes, sir. >> that is something more than $2 million to support newt gingrich with the strong political action committee. he says that they need the tea party to win. that he cannot energize them when he is the author of romney care. so he may win that republican nomination on that dividing conservative vote. but he will not win the general election. that will be for all divisions. >> i think that we need to get behind them. and that is elected

>> welcome back to myrtle beach, soh carolina. there was a time-lapse video of a sand sculpture outside of the convention center here. it still has governor huntsman on that sculpture. he's not here tonight. next round of questions is on for yen policy and we will begin with congressman paul. in a recent interview with the des moines radio station you said you were against the operation that killed osama bin laden. you said the operation that took out the twists responsible for killing 3,000 people on american soil showed no respect for the rule of law, international law. so to be clear, you believe international law should have constrained us from tracking down and killing the man responsible for the most brazen attack on the u.s. since pearl harbor? >> no. i did not say that. as a matter of fact, after 9/11 i voted for the authority to go after him. my frustration was that we didn't go after him. it took us ten years. we had him trapped before and i thought we should have trapped him there. i introduced a proposal to keep the ey

you sound like an obama lef leftist. >> in a couple of days we head to myrtle beach.tile ground are te debates. as we head there, does it change the dynamic? >> i do. the bain capital issue will be on the table there. that will be a chance for romney to show that he has something to say. i am surprised. i think the bain ads are reducing romney's lead. may or may not help in the end. right now, it is helping them and it looks as if it might in longer run hurt him in santorum. up until now, the romney response hasn't worked. there has to be a stronger answer in the debate. the issue we know is the one that obama will use. either a poison or inoculatio inoculation. on the last gingrich ad, i was shocked. one thing if you accuse an opponent of raping and pillages but accusing a guy speaking french, is a low blow! the next thing you know he will say that romney eats snails. >> bret: final word, liz. other thing about the polls is that one is that newt gingrich surging. two, rick santorum appears to be falling at least in these polls and on the average. >> yeah. no, the pol

here in myrtle beach behind me at the convention cent center. this is the center of the republican universe tonight. every television camera will be able to catch this. was it a foregone conclusion? probably. after jon huntsman's third place finish in new hampshire, it was sort of disappointing for him. he came down here to south carolina without a ton of momentum, almost no money and no staff. he wasn't really catching on. it is surprising he's endorsing mitt romney. the staffs, i can tell you, do not really like each other very much. so it's going to be pretty interesting. jon huntsman has said very negative things about mitt romney, basically that he can't beat obama. democrats are feasting on that. they will later today when this press conference happens. >> oh, lord you and i go back in politics long enough to remember bush/mccain. this sort of thing happens all the time. but what i thought was so weird was the timing. because didn't a nice big fat endorsement come from south carolina's biggest newspaper of all people, for jon huntsman toda

fox news hosts the debate myrtle beach south carolina the most likely target. mitt romney who has already swept wins in iowa and new hampshire. >>> tuesday, president obama meets with his council on jobs and competitiveness at the white house, business leaders are expected to discuss policies and plans to haven'ten the economy, create jobs and reinforce america's global competitiveness. mr. obama will also welcome the st. louis cardinals to the white house tuesday the president will honor the baseball tammies work on and off the field. -- team's work on and off the field they are expected to meet and greet wounded military service members at a local hospital. >>> presidential hopefuls debate for the final time, southern republican leadership con press plays host. >> sad off to the polls for south -- saturday off to the polls for south carolina citizens. we will see if the gop candidates public jabs and statewide ad campaigns against mitt romney will block him from his third straight win. nevada's presidential caucuses take place saturday the state's democratic

"special report" from myrtle beach, south carolina, starts at 6:00 eastern now. my colleagues with "the five." ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> greg: welcome back to "the five," so here are some things you can buy for a dollar. six pack of vegetable seeds. white tube socks from a street vendor. calendars from 2007. a christmas ornament in january. nail polish from the discount table at walgreens. >> kimberly: did that. >> greg: "newsweek" magazine. i don't mean one copy of newsweek. i mean the company who was sold to a tycoon for a buck. don't be surprised, look at their latest cover which asks why are obama's critics so dumb? that is a funny question coming from the magazine with depth of a litter box. but it's not the first thing they did on their part. remember this? and this? that was about the economy two years ago. and this? we have one more? there we go. so if you are looking for balanced reporting you are better off with mao's little red book. count on seeing more. the media will resume work with the propaganda arm of the obama administration. forget the obvious bias. what is

. >> today that man will formally endorse mitt romney at 11:00 in myrtle beach where the five remaining candidates debate later tonight. after a disappointing third place finish in new hampshire, huntsman limped into south carolina. the maverick independent for the nice guy conservative and he tried to run the mccain 2000 playbook without mccain's personality or personal narrative. already today romney's rivals are angling to use it against him. >> it's the bottom line, governor romney had a leg up on him as being a solid moderate that the establishment could get behind and governor huntsman wasn't able to crack through that. >> huntsman leaving the race really doesn't change the dynamics in south carolina. but look what's doing for mitt romney, he committed to have his own day of dropping out. instead getting his own day to day and also giving mitt romney a moment, the man who almost motivated him to run because of what may be, whatever rivalry there is between the two of them that has been simmering for a long time. but he's giving mitt romney a moment, could this be the bid for the 2

we need to know now. >> bret: it was a fiery night in myrtle beach last night.d the last state there. by governor perry about tax records. governor romney in the debate said he would release them, maybe in april. didn't get specific. so he is pressed about that today. start with an overview. bring in the panel. steve hayes, senior writer for "weekly standard." kirsten powers for daily beast. syndicated columnnist charles krauthammer. charles, winner and loser? >> well, the big winner i think obviously was newt. this is not one of the debates that was muddy. there was a clear one, gingrich. started out wobbly as we saw at bain stuff and the ads. as soon as he pivoted away, he won the night, obviously. not only when he answered the question about food stamps and the poor, and hand outs but he got lucky when he was the one who who was given the question afterron paul had answered your question about bin laden raid. that was the lowest in the paul campaign and lowest moment of the evening. ron paul gave an answer sub contradictory, meandering, incoherent and in the

nbc's ron mott is on the trail tonight in myrtle beach. ron, good evening. >> reporter: hey, lester. good evening to you. this was a rare day of rest for mitt romney as the rest of the field tried to take advantage, calling on south carolina conservative voters to keep this race from running out of options. >> let us all fight for that -- >> reporter: with republican front-runner mitt romney taking sunday off the campaign trail, his opponents were busy stumping today, rallying conservative support in an effort to slow romney's momentum. >> i hope each of you will peer into your heart and find that individual with the record, with the values that represent your heart. >> reporter: harry and rick santorum hoping to leverage his endorsement this week from a national group of evangelical leaders into a south carolina surge appealed to a christian audience at a prayer breakfast. >> we need a candidate who has accountability to god and accotaunbility to an eternal truth and understanding of our role in the world. >> reporter: since 1980, voters

bill whitaker is in myrtle beach, bill, good evening. >> jeff, if members of the south carolina tea party are united on anything, it's their desire to defeat president obama in november. ♪ at the twilight's last gleaming ♪ ♪. >> at their convention in myrtle beach today movement stalled when senator jim demint said south carolina is where the march to retake the white house begins. >> but this could be our last chance to turn things around in my mind. >> reporter: but these most conservative activists in this very conservative state are divided on just how to take on the president. >> i talked to tea party people all over the state and they are supporting all the candidates. they are pretty divided and i think that's a good thing. >> reporter: social conservatives are flocking to rick santorum, fiscal, to begin rich, libertarians to ron paul and pragmatists to mitt romney. the general election battle cry might be anybody but obama but with the gop primary less than a week away a growing group of tea parties are saying anybody but romney. >> that is why i am here, to stop mitt romney? >> m

they are meeting in myrtle beach, a very beautiful part of your state.rty element in your party in the state, mr. chairman? >> i got to tell you. you've even promoted myrtle beach for me. thank you, sir. the tea party element is strong here. when you look around south carolina, the tea party has really folded into the party in some places. in fact, they've even worked themselves into the leadership in several of the counties and the gop leadership. so they are very influential. you know, people say they are fractured. i don't see that. i've got friends who are quote/unquote establishment republicans in every one of these six camps. i've got friends who are tea party republicans in every one of the six camps. i don't think that's unusual for a primary fight at all. >> now rick perry, does he have a chance? he did very poorly in new hampshire. didn't do that impressive in iowa. is really do or die for him in south carolina. does he have a chance? is there a potential constituency for him there, or does he get ready to go home? >> well, i think that this is

he is expected to make the announcement today at a fundraiser in myrtle beach, south carolina. he will endorse mitt romney. >>> another guilty plea in the embezzlement case against harry thomas jr. james garvin will sign a plea deal this week. he worked with the charity and reportedly helped cover up thomas' theft of $300,000 in city money. the head of the foundation has already pleaded guilty to similar charges. >>> this morning, at least six people are dead and 16 others still missing after a cruise ship crashed on the coast of italy late friday night. 120 americans including two women from virginia and maryland were on board that luxury liner when it hit a reef and ended up sideways in the water. some are describing the disorganization and chaos during the evacuation process. >> reporter: as thousands of passengers are recovering in italy, their stories of what happened are starting to come out. shaken survivors compare their experience to the movie titanic as they describe the chaotic moments the ship began to sink. some crawled through hallways and down ladders to escape w

what on to myrtle beach, south carolina.o other place to be this week because it is a critical crossroads for our country. may we parade. -- yay we pray. we thank you for all of your love and blessings pita we pray for our country and need your help @. i ask that you would call upon all of our patriots and stirred their hearts and souls and let them know that the time is now for us to stand up and be heard and be counted. our country, its future is at risk. get us the courage and the strength and the bold so that we might stand up and not take no and not be turned it down. we are willing to take this banner and march forward. help keep alive the dreams and the plans that our forefathers sacrificed so deep -- so deeply for. bless our troops. be with them. keep them safe, charge your angeles to protect them. plus their families here at home. be with us now lord as we take upon this serious challenge to help turn our country upon the path of righteousness and help us to start here and start now to put the pews back into our pol

from myrtle beach, john roberts, that, very much. it here, for more of huckabee forum 2, he leads a discussion and will be joined by tim scott, huckabee forum 2, tonight on fox news channel at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> gregg: be sure and tune in monday for the battle of the beach. fox news "wall street journal" and the south carolina republican party present the candidates debating at the myrtle beach convention center. that is monday, 9:00 p.m. eastern time, hosted by bret baier and, by the way, send any questions you might have for the candidates, to bret's twitter handle. @bret bair. >> martha: the captain of a sinking cruise ship held for questioning. this is amateur video of the disaster at sea. the ship going down in the dark, late friday. off the coast of italy with thousands of passengers on board, over 100 of them americans. a dive team suspending the search for about 40 people who are still missing, so far, three confirmed dead. the vessel reportedly hitting a reef. forcing passengers and crew to abandon ship. listen to the hor

jim costa, i'll begin with you in myrtle beach.ou near that coalition group at which romney is expected to speak at? >> brooke, that is across town, just up the coast, i believe, and it's going to be happening any minute now. we're actually outside a tea party conference that is also going on in myrtle beach. newt gingrich, rick santorum, ron paul is all expected to be here today. it's good news for romney that huntsman got out of the race and he's being endorsed. here's what newt gingrich had to say earlier today. >> it's very clear the establishment wants romney. and it's very clear the establishment only has one chant. they can't argue his record in massachusetts because it's too liberal, okay? so they can't come out and say, here's why you should be the champ. these are the same people who got us beat in '96, the same people who got us beat in '08. ask yourself a simple question. why would you want to nominate the guy who lost to the guy who lost to obama? >> did you catch that, brooke? why would you vote for the guy that lost

. >> rick: trying to stay alive in the race and john roberts is live in myrtle beach with more. hi, john. >> reporter: good evening to you, rick. yeah, things tightening up in south carolina. newt gingrich running a strong second and trying to make a play to break out here, he'll launch an aggressive effort to compare and contrast his record in congress against that of mitt romney as governor of massachusetts. took place he'll go to georgetown where a tell mill once owned by bain capital closed down, a number of jobs lost there and while republicans chastised him for attacking mitt romney at the huckabee forum airing tonight at 8:00 on fox he said it is absolutely fair game to question mitt romney about bain capital. >> i think to ask question about a particular company is not the same as attacking capitalism and i don't see how you can expect us to have a presidential campaign in which an entire sector is avoided and i guarantee you if we republicans avoid it our nominee in the fall will not find that obama avoids it at all. >> reporter: now, earlier in the day he was in a run