here is a national journal. it will be on page ten, thoughtful analysis and page 11 united technologies advertisement. in the next session, the editor of the national journal daily will further highlight some of the latest findings of the poll and what they might mean for the upcoming election. once again on behalf of the united technologies i want to welcome you to this morning's event reva thank you. [applause] >> an introduction to the brilliant mind sitting before you. i know that charlie cook is a very familiar face to many. he was once described by bob schieffer as the cook report into the bible of the political community we are thrilled and fortune that charlie writes for national journal and national journal daily at least twice a week. joining charlie is not cooper, the editor of national journal daily and editor of matthew's responsible for the fabulous credible accurate and intelligent reporting you read every day and also joining us is reid wilson, a veteran of 2006 and the 2008 campaign and is curre

the weekended on a serious but controversial note at last night's cbs news national journal debate. >> if i were president, i would be willing to use water boarding. >> this is war. that's what happens in war. >> we will not allow iran to have a nuclear weapon. >> schieffer: but that came after a week that ran the gamut from herman cain fighting off sexual harassment charges to rick perry forgetting his own plan to reduce the size of government. >> the third agency of government i would do away with-- education, the.... >> commerce. >> commerce. and let's see. the third one i can't. sorry. oops. >> schieffer: that was christmas in november for the comics. >> that is not the four-letter word i would have gone with. >> schieffer: but last night perry got serious. >> the foreign aid budget in my administration for every country is going to start at zero dollars. zero dollars. and then we'll have a conversation. >> schieffer: even israel, democrats are asking? who is up and who is down now? >> it is a wide open race. >> schieffer: we'll get analysis a all of us from mississippi's republic

also the editorial director of the national journal.you called the ohio repeal vote a warning for republicans in washington. fill us in on what you mean. >> well, first of all, mitt romney, that's getting hit by a swinging door on both sides. first got accused of flip-flopping and now he's associated with an initiative that was -- a law that was repealed by a ballot initiative with 60% of the state voting to repeal. what caught the eye of democrats, you can only go so far in analogizing from any ballot initiative to any other election. what caught the eye of democrats is that many of the groups that have really moved sharply toward the republicans in recent years, in particular blue collar working class white voters and older white voters, both at the core of the republican surge in 2010, they voted in big numbers according to an election day poll for the repeal of this initiative. the argument that was made against the initiative really is somewhat similar to the argument that president obama is likely to make against the republicans i

thanks. >>> looking ahead to tomorrow night's debate is national journal congressional correspondent major garrett. he'll moderate the event. great to have you here. >> good to be with you. >> jan said cain and perry are grabbing the headlines. when you look at the cbs news poll the person in the group pulling ahead, gaining momentum is neither of them. it's newt gingrich. >> former speaker gingrich doubled his support in the last month fantastic. if i were to predict who's going to come out aggressively in the national security, foreign policy debate that's an important part of looking at the debate. yes, it's the 10th but to my mind it's the first and only one dedicated entirely to national security and foreign policy. the previous debates focused on the u.s. economy. but every candidate on the platform knows once you become president, the second you take the oath, foreign policy, national security become preeminent concerns. we're going to try to find out what the candidates think about a wide variety of issues. i expect newt gingrich to be well prepared, to bring his a-game, if y

we have an e-mail question e-mailed into the national journal. i'd like to address this question to mr. cain. >> i believe that following the procedures that have been established by our military. i do not agree with torture. period. however, i will trust the judgment of our military leaders to determine what is torture and what is not torture. that is the critical consideration. >> garrett: mr. cain, of course you're familiar with the long-running debate about whether water boarding constitutes torture or is an enhanced interrogation technique. in the last campaign, john mccain and barack obama agreed it was torture and should not be allowed legally and the army field manual should be the methodology used to interrogate enemy combatants. do you agree with that or disagree, sir? >> i agree that it was an enhanced interrogation technique. >> garrett: and then you would support it as president. >> yes. >> garrett: you would return to that policy. >> i would return to that policy. i don't see it as torture. i see it as an enhanced interrogation tech

joining us tonight, juice and davis of "national journal," david wessel of the "wall street journal," gloria borrow engineer of cna and dan balz of the "washington post." >> covering history as it happens, from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill," produced in association with "national journal." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875, we have been there for our clients through good times and bad. when their needs changed, we were there to meet them. through the years from insurance to investment management, from real estate to retirement solutions, we developed new ideas for the financial challenges ahead. this rock has never stood still. and that's one thing that will never change. prudential. >> a line is a powerful thing. it connects the global economy to your living room. cleaner air, to stronger markets. factory floors to less crowded roads. today's progress to tomorrow's promise, for folk southern, one life, infinite possibilities. corporate funding is provided by boeing. additional fun

major garrett of "national journal." lori montgomery to have "washington post" and joan biskupic of "usa today." >> award winning reporting and analysis, covering history as it happens. live from our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill & national journal". corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. to connect our forces to what they need when they need it. >> to help troops see danger before it sees them. >> to answer the call of the brave and bring them safely home. >> around the globe, the people of boeing are working together to support and protect all who serve. >> that's why we're here. >> additional funding for "washington week" is provided by prudential financial, norfolk southern, the annenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting, and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. another week, another frontrunner this time it's former

. >> now a 2012 election preview hosted by the national journal. this hourlong panel included top staff members of the republican presidential candidates. we will show you as much as we can until our live coverage of the senate at 930 eastern. >> and we're back. they differ sitting up the stage. we have an interesting in the near record coming up. as many as you know the national journal covers the issues and trends impacting america and the makeup of congress in 2012 no issues are more dominant nationally than those relating to housing and the economy and the unemployed. we appreciate the partnership of the national association of home builders tunnel pilot is important issues. joining us today is jerry howard, ceo of homebuilders to mollifying advocate for home building and housing. please welcome jerry howard. >> i wanted thank victoria and the national journal for allowing in ehp to co-sponsor this very important event. as victoria mentioned, while the economy is clearly a fundamental issue that i in the forthcoming elections, never before have

our nation's capital, this is "washington week with gwen ifill," produced in association with national journal. corporate funding for "week week" is provided by -- >> this rock has never stood still. since 1875, we've been there for our clients through good times and bad. through the years from insurance to investment management to real estate to retirent solution, we've developed new ideas for e thnancial challenges ahead. this rs k hae never stood still. and that's one thange will never change. prudential. >> a line is a powerful thing, it connects the global economy to your living room, cleaner air to stronger markets, factory floors to less crowded roads. today's progress to tomorrow's promise, nor folk southern, one line, infinite possibilities. >> corporate funding is also provided by boeing, additional funding is provided by the annenburg foundation, the coorps of public broadcasting and from contributions from pbs viewers like you. here again, live from washington subting for gwen eifel pete williams of nbc news. >> good evening, it's probably not a good sign when the reviews of your d

during the cbs news national journal debate both cain and congresswoman michele bachmann said they would reinstate waterboarding as a interrogation technique. >> i would return to that policy. i don't see it as torture. >> reporter: president obama responded at a trade summit in hawaii. >> let me just say this. they are wrong. waterboarding is torture. >> reporter: a new poll out today says cain is still leading among republicans but in a head-to-head matchup with president obama, people surveyed favored the president. same goes for mitt romney. in a head-to-head matchup, that poll shows the president would win but in a generic contest against a republican, they would win. >>> yesterday, nfl great franco harris defended his college coach. >> he did his job. people higher than him. fit went all the way to the president, that is stuff they should do, they should take care of. >>> a civil suit is being prepared against the university. pennsylvania's governor wouldn't be surprised if more alleged victims come forward. >> reporter: the pat attorney general, department of education and the sch

, john harris of "politico," charles babington of the "associated press," jim tankersley of "national journal," and alexis simendinger of "real clear politics." >> award-winning reporting and analysis covering history as it happens. live from our nations capitol, this is "washington week with gwen ifill," produced in association with "national journal." corporate funding for "washington week" is provided by -- >> we know why we're here. to give our war fighters every advantage. >> to deliver technologies that anticipate the future today. >> and help protect america everywhere, from the battle space to cyberspace. >> around the globe the people of boeing are working together to give our best for america's best. >> that's why we're here! >> additional funding for "washington week" is provided by prudential financial, norfolk southern. the anenberg foundation, the corporation for public broadcasting and by contributions to your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. once again, live from washington, moderator gwen ifill. gwen: good evening. last week we told you about why herman cains sta

during the cbs news "national journal" debate, mitt romney calls iran the president's greatest foreign policy failure. >> look, one thing you can know and that is if we reelect barack obama iran will have a nuclear weapon. and if we elect mitt romney, if you elect me as the next president, they will not have a nuclear weapon. >> reporter: in a news conference, the president suggested romney was naive. is mitt romney wrong? >> you take a look at what we've been able to accomplish in mobilizing the world community against iran over the last three years and it shows steady, determined, firm progress. now, is this an easy issue? no. anybody who claims it is is either politicing or doesn't know what they're talking about. >> reporter: mr. obama was also asked about this exchange on the controversial use of waterboarding. >> i don't see it as torture, i see it as enhanced interrogation technique. >> if i were president i would be willing to use waterboarding. (cheers and applause) i think it was very effective. it gained information for our country. >> reporter: but the president wasted no t

also the director of the national journal. we heard herman cain and rick santorum choking up, getting emotional. it was a defining moment for hillary four years ago as well. do men and women candidates get treated differently when they open up and show that they're human beings and show emotion? >> i think so, ted. first of all, we have come a very long way since 1972 when edmund muskie, the democratic front-runner, had his candidacy crumble when he appeared to cry defending his wife in new hampshire from some accusations. now it is such more acceptable for men to show emotion. it seems to open up a view of them as being sensitive. traditionally we thought, i think most people in the political world, most politicians believe it is tougher for women to show emotion because they can seem weak. hillary clinton was a big exception to that in 2008 because in some ways it humanized her in the same way that it did some of the male candidates that we have seen because she had been so tough, so strong, this was a moment in which she se

we heard him at an event for the national journal this morning saying they raised $250,000 -- >> we have no way to check that until they file. >> the danger for herman cain is that if this had happened to someone who was a fixture in politics for 10, 15, 20 years that was well known it might not alter the perception of him. but for someone that's so new and still relatively undefined, this has a real, real danger of filling in gaps that people had not been filled in before. so, for someone new on the scene, this is more dangerous than for a brand name that had been around for a long, long time. >> now, chuck, there are two possible narratives. if the people is defined as those already in. this either helps the establishment rally around mitt romney or it gives rick perry some second wind. >> look, i've seen no evidence that this concerted conservative vote, anywhere from 20% to 40% that's truly been anti-romney. i think there's another bucket that's not yet with romney but not yet against him, either, but there's this somewhere between 20% and 40% of the republican primary electorate who

>>> we start with the co-author of the extensive article that appears in "the national journal" and "the atlantic." anthony shafer who knows all about iran, pakistan, afghanistan, and their relations with terrorist groups. let's start on iran, tony, do we really have the ability to know what iran's capabilities are and how suspicious should we be considering our obvious inability to know what iraq's possible capabilities were before we invaded that country? >> well, i think in this case, we've been able to trace the other elements, other countries involved. the pakistanis, the chinese, the russians. they've all had a role to play in helping move things down the road. and i think we have a better picture of that. with that said, the iaea and its report today i think is very clearly indicating that there's a -- there's evidence of a nuclear program. and this is what worries me. you know, i work this issue back in the '90s regarding the north koreans. and i'm seeing the exact same thing now watching in slow motion the north koreans develop a we, same thing here with the iranians. i still

. >> major gar set national journal's congressional correspondent and jay newton is a washington correspondent. that was painful to watch for many a i watched five minutes of t you know, his campaign said he was going on four hours of sleep and this was taken out of context. you mod rated the debate, as most know here on foreign policy, what do you think? does he know what he is talking about? >> that is for the voters to decide f you look the sum total of his anticipates, direct questions to the debate that cbs and national journal conducted on saturday and look at what happened in the very straightforward, not a gotcha question yesterday, i think you can make some conclusions that on foreign policy and national security, herman cain doesn't know all the things that most people would expect a potential commander in chief to know and doesn't have a sense of discussing them with any sort of comfort or sense of what he would take u.s. foreign policy or national security policy should he become the president of the united states. and i know this campaign is focused legitimately on the economy but

post about the national journal, this panel runs for a minute. >> vice president of national journal and on behalf of her or not national journal, to establish her to look at me or i can also give a warm welcome to everyone join in that line on. we're live streaming on national journal.com and we appreciate you tuning in. we hope the various discussions you here this morning will help provide insight on the poll numbers, trends in key races coast-to-coast and also give you a robust discussion on what's driving the republican presidential contest in president obama's reelection campaign. we are for dynamic panels this morning and i encourage you to stay for the entire session. if you would like to participate in the event today, we encourage you to do so. today we'll be taking questions and facilitating discussions about event with yahoo!, are online tomorrow. i would like to thank yahoo! news, online moderators chris moody and rachel rose hartman were sitting up front. they were moderating questions today. you may post comments and questions via twitter. please use hash tag pound sig

democratic representative donald's payne will take your questions about union organizing and "the national journal" chief correspondent michael hirsh joins us to talk about unemployment. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] host: good morning and welcome to "washington journal." wednesday, november 30. in the headlines, "the washington times" leads with the senate testing be the threat in holding terrorist suspects. "the washington post" leads with iranians attacked british embassy. "the new york times," their lead story, lines long for free meals at u.s. schools. "usa today" leads with troops with p -- straining resources. we will talk about the euro debt crisis. a lot of talk in the papers regarding that. we will talk about that in the next 45 minutes. if you want to call -- we are going to start off by taking a look at an article in "the washington post," i pulled it off line. howard schneider writes -- we are going to continue our discussion on that but before we take your calls, we want to show you what the president

national journal covers the trends impacting america.are perhaps more dominant in america than those related to housing, the economy, and the unemployed. we appreciate the provision of the national association of home builders to help highlight these important issues. joining us is the ceo of the home builders, a lifelong advocate for homebuilding and housing. please welcome jerry howard. [applause] >> i want to thank victoria and the national journal for allowing nahb to co-sponsor this very important event. as victoria manchin, while the economy is clearly the fundamental issue in the forthcoming elections, never before have we seen such a tie to the economy and not just housing -- housing has always been a significant element of our economy, 18% of gdp when running on all cylinders -- but if you go out and travel outside the belt way right now and talk to voters, particularly to a highly motivated large block of voters like baby boomers, most of whom still have their jobs, most of whom own homes -- they are concerned about the fundame

here's the "national journal," it fact checks the republicans today.tty darn nonpartisan, i think we would all agree. he said those words were distorted. "obama used the word lazy to describe american business practices in a conversation about attracting foreign investments on saturday at the asian pacific economic cooperation summit. his audience was a group of ceos, but some republican presidential candidates would have you believe that he was talking to individuals about their character." so was he speaking about the american character, michael feldman? >> no, of course not. it was very clear from the context. look, this is an act of desperation. none of the other candidates took this whack. rick perry took this whack. >> well, i hate to tell you romney did. you're a little too generous. >> i was going to say. >> no, you're not right, he's too generous in asserting republicans are cleaner on this. it's not just perry. here is mitt romney using the same line of attack against the president at an event earlier this week. >> sometimes i just don't thin

assessment as to whether or not this is going to create too much of a cloud, he said, according to a national journal transcript, and told staffers, the allegations have, quote, taken a toll on my wife and family, as you would imagine. the campaign later denied they were even considering dropping out of the race. while cain struggles, newt gingrich is soaring. the former house speaker is quickly picking up support and adding staff and campaign cash calling himself the conservative alternative. he is increasingly taking shots at fellow front-runner mitt romney. >> it's wrong to go around and a adopt radically different positions. >> reporter: and he is not counting out cain quite yet. >> remember, i was supposed to be dead in june and july. i will not go around declaring anybody else dead. >> reporter: cain has lost some republican support since this new allegation came to light. >> susan mcginnis in washington this morning, thank you. >>> elsewhere in politic another apparent slip by texas governor rick perry. speaking at a new hampshire college yesterday, perry was seeking votes for some young. appe

the hour-long broadcast, another half hour of discussion streaming live on the website of the national journal, which is cosponsoring that debate. >>> president obama is in hawaii to host an economic summitt with countries from the asia-pacific region. obama arrived in honolulu last night. he'll meet with leaders of eight asian nations to push a deal called the trans pacific partnership, designed to boost u.s. exports. separately, he'll meet one on one with the presidents of china and russia, and with the prime minister of japan. >>> today, a memorial service will be held in san jose for a marine who died trying to disarm a bomb in afghanistan. staff sergeant stephan dunning of lapides died during his second tour of duty in afghanistan. he was 31 years old. >>> we now know the name of the young skateboarders who were hit by a garbage truck. it happened yesterday in vallejo. 12-year-old joseph tafoya. >> john: iii and cleo young were riding together on a skateboard on chapman court. the two were headed downhill when they rolled out in front of a truck. tafoya died, and young is in serious condi

the two took aim at president obama's policies over the weekend at the cbs news national journal debate>> if we re-elect barack obama, iran will have a nuclear weapon. and if we elect mitt romney, if you elect me as the next president, they will not have a nuclear weapon. >> we're here tonight, talk to the american people about why every single one of us is better than barack obama. >> the numbers show voters may be inclined to agree with gingrich. they're not happy with the president's performance on the economy. and when asked if they would vote to re-elect president obama or elect an unnamed republican challenger, voters were evenly split. danielle nottingham, cbs news, the white house. >>> the candidates are now shifting more attention to iowa. the next debate will occur there and the caucuses are set for january 3rd. >>> the organist at the national cathedral will play for visitors later this afternoon. it is the latest event in the weekend of festivities to mark the reopening of the d.c. landmark. the cathedral was closed to the public since august 23rd because of that earthquake.

the cbs news national journal took place in spartanburg and it focused on national policy issues.hose topics have taken a back seat to the economy throughout the gop race. when asked about the u.s. role in the world there were various answers on torture and waterboarding. >> i would return to that policy. i don't see it as torture. i see it as an enhanced interrogation technique. >> torture is illegal. and by our laws it's illegal by international laws. >> we should not tore tire. water boarding is torture. >> i would be willing to use waterboarding. it was very effective in gaining information for our country. >> the candidates will square off several more times before the iowa caucus january 3rd. >>> a milestone at the national cathedral. what happened for the first time in ten weeks. and what happened for the first time in history. >>> wait until you hear this. kids getting drunk off gummy beers. the new trend that has some authorities concerned. >>> how one lucky marine from our area got justin timberlake to take her out tonight. >>> the second half of your weekend is looking

national journal congressional correspondent major garrett. >> >> legislating by cry sis, that will be the defining characteristic of this very effective congress in december. >> the 112th congress may go down as the least productive in modern history. so far it's passed only 44 public bills that were signed into law. even the so-called do-nothing 80th congress under president harry truman passed 906. >> both sides know they're arguing past each other and intentionally so to make a bigger political point. why? because next year is an election year. >> reporter: some republicans say passing bills just for the sake of passing bills only means more spending. and as they attempt to win back the white house and the senate in 2012, continued grid lock is expected. russ? >> mitchell: whit johnson on capitol hill, thanks a lot. when we come back, the latest from the campaign trail. >> with just over six weeks to go before the new hampshire primary, the state's largest newspaper, "the union leader" today endorsed newt gingrich, who just last week finished second in statewide poll that had mitt

as part of a joint reporting project, the national journal and the atlantic have begun a story on this. the pakistani is our training 8000 extra people to insure the safety of their nuclear weapons. how safe are they? >> they are not very safe. the question i would pose to anyone, if you had 100 nuclear weapons, 120 nuclear weapons that you were looking to store somewhere in the world, would you pick a country that is the epicenter of global jihadists and that also has the headquarters of al qaeda and the pakistani taliban. no, of course not. >> is the pakistani told you that the threat comes not from jihadists but from america. >> they don't doubt the jihadists threat. the pakistani are extremely worried that the u.s. is going to come in and steal their nuclear weapons. after the osama bin laden raid, the pakistani is realize that the americans can fly into our country and executed operation and fly out before we even know it. >> one of the things that struck me was the relationship that has survived only as long as it has because both countries have decided to believe the lies that t

national journal congressional correspondent major garrett. >> legislating by crisis that will be the defining characteristic of this very ineffective congress in december. >> reporter: with an approval rating of just 9%, 112th congress may go down as the least productive in modern history. so far, it's passed only 44 public bills that were signed into law. even the so-called do nothing 80th congress under president harry truman passed 906. >> both sides know they are arguing past each other and intentionally so to make a bigger political point? why? because next year is an election year. >> reporter: some say passing bills for the sake of passing bills only means more spending appear as they attempt to win back the senate in 2012 continued gridlock is expected. whit johnson, capitol hill >>> this morning, on "the early show," a new reality show on tv. i'm terrell brown. and this is the "cbs morning news." [ male announcer ] a soup opera from bertolli. ♪ vegetables picked at their peak ♪ ♪ so fresh my knees grow weak [ male announcer ] new hearty bertolli meal soup for two, with crisp