i want to bring in rick klein now. and rick, as you know, we've been pouring over this poll all day. curious what you thought of the numbers tonight. voters were asked who their first choice is, second choice is. 43% say they're so convinced newt gingrich is not only their first but second choice, as well. 31% said as much as romney. so, what does it say to you about momentuomentum? >> reporter: it's all on gingrich's side. he's done something that's very hard to do in politics. he's turned around negative perceptions of himself and now he's dealing with a wider poll of voters who are willing to give him a shot. one other note from that poll, from the "register," gingrich came in second place on the question of most likely to have a scandal in the white house. behind only herman cain. >> just six days until the abc news debate, next saturday night. how crucial will their performances be, particularly gingrich and romney here? >> reporter: it has all the makings of a decisive moment this is the first time they will face

i want to bring in rick klein tonight, who was in that debate hall with all of us last night. rick, the bottom line tonight, who won, who lost? >> reporter: newt gingrich was the clear winner. he turned the target on his back right around. he still managed to come around as a grownup on the stage. and romney with a definite loser. he lost a chance to stop gingrich's momentum and worse, david, he committed the cardinal sin of debating. he delivered a line that became a punch line. >> as you know, a lot was riding on last night for other candidates, as well. people talking about the newest name to emerge last night, newt romney. >> if you look at newt romney, they were for obama care, principles, if you look at newt romney, they were for cap and trade if you look at newt romney, they were for the illegal immigration problem. >> and this went on throughout the night. do you think michele bachmann gained any traction with this, rick? >> reporter: she had her best debate in months if she can make this newt romney guy famous, you may see a break. if they are worried about them and st

and i want to bring in our senior washington editor rick klein tonight, who was in that debate hall with all of us last night. rick, the bottom line tonight, who won, who lost? >> reporter: newt gingrich was the clear winner. he was the front-runner for the first time at a debate, but he turned that target on his back right around. he hit romney before romney could even land a punch and he still managed to come across as a grownup on the stage. and romney was a definite loser. he lost the chance to stop gingrich's momentum and even worse, he committed the cardinal sin of debating. he delivered a line that became a punch line, making him just look out of touch. >> as you know, a lot was riding on last night for other candidates, as well. people talking about the newest name to emerge last night, newt romney. let's listen. >> if you look at newt romney, they were for obama care, principles. if you look at newt romney, they were for cap and trade. if you look at newt romney, they were for the illegal immigration problem. >> and of course this went on throughout the night. do you think miche

senior editor rick klein joins us. we should explain why he re signed.s a recess appointment. >> that's right. he wasn't going to get the job permanently because of things he said in the past that the republicans didn't like. >> and maybe a third of the money that taxpayer dollars are spending is wasteful. that's not surprising, wow, the government wastes money on healthcare, it's like being shocked gambling in and losing money. >> but was there any way that he was seriously doing any sort of rationening? what was the problem on that? >> there was no evidence to suggest that. he said basically either you have some form of rationening that's smart or some form that isn't smart so we have to confront it. what he meant by rationening is we make choice necessary the healthcare system. either the government or others making choices. but what a hot potato it was, republicans globed on to the vote and made him ungone firmable in the senate. but he's thoughtful about these things. he's studied this in academia and in the private sector and he's a pediatrician hi

amy walter and rick klein. sort of an insider's guide, i'm curious.hat will you be watching most closely? >> i'm going to be watching body language. and specifically, i'm going to be watching newt gingrich's body language. he's the man in the middle, literally and figuratively. his opponents are likely to come after him. how he responds will be very important to watch. in fact, if you could give me just one camera, i would put it right on newt gingrich and watch every single move that he makes. the facial expressions, the body language. >> incoming fire expected. for gingrich tonight. rick, what will you be watching? >> there's a new front runner in town. i'm going to be looking at the old front-runner. mitt romney. this is a critical debate for him. does he do something to try to change the dynamics of a campaign that is tipping away from him right now? does he throw a punch? back up some of the things his supporters are saying about newt gingrich? they're out there saying he's untrustworthy, questioning his conservative credentials. does he say thos

rick klein, reporter for abc news. charles krauthammer.ld say the panel is starting earlier. we have a holiday greeting at the end. we'll have three panel segments. what about this and the impact of paul campaign in iowa? >> this is a problem. nasty stuff. this is nasty stuff. because it's indefensible, he hasn't made an argument of it. he hasn't said how it happens. >> bret: he disavowed the language and disavowed. >> takes a general moral responsibility for them but hasn't given specific answers to specific candidates that other front runners would be required to answered. he hasn't done. that that is a problem and something that is consuming the political class in washington. iowa isn't talking about this. this is a real problem for him here, that we are talking about. in iowa, not consuming them this way. they worry about the day-to-day stuff. going to holiday period in a week people take it off. and not paying attention. i don't know that it does damage to him. >> bret: we talk about the electability issue. one would argue that gets t

rick santorum who surged into the number three spot. here to talk it over i'm joined by "new york times" national political correspondent jeff zelny and joe kleineund the 25% mark for a year and a half. are we surprised that rick santorum, who has been saying all along i'm doing better than you all think, any of that surprise you? >> i think he's been coming on and as republicans go through this field and raise them up and eliminate them, he was one who hadn't been raised up. so it's his turn. >> his turn, right? >> it's true. he's been putting in the time here. i mean the caucus -- >> he lives here. >> -- is a niche product and he's visiting all of these people around the state and he hasn't had major flubs. he's not a star performer in the debates but solid throughout. people see him as being able to sort of address these problems and issues. i saw him at a two-hour long town hall meeting in mason city yesterday, which seems like a long time, boy the voters loved it because they know the circus is about to leave town and they were happy to see him and happy to hear him answer all of these questions. >> he's getting important christian conserva

toure's inside at work the bad rick perry at a campaign stop at iwo perry weighed in on energy policy and ongoing tensions with iran kerry told the audience when to stop klein oil from foreign soil sources and instead buy oil from places like canada barry said every barrel of oil it comes out of those sands in canada is a barrel of oil and we have to buy it from a foreign source. seriously you actually said that kerry went out to say the buying energy from foreign sources is not good policy and it's not good politics and frankly it's un-american and quote right first will someone please tell rick that canada is a sovereign country and not a territory united states and second tar sands oil from canada is one of the most toxic forms of oil that can be produced it won't solve our energy problems but it will destroy our environment then again the texas oil barons who are funding rick perry's campaign really don't care about the environment. and the very very ugly peter johnson jr says it's one of the slowest news weeks of the year g.o.p. t.v.'s second ranked talking talking head peter johnson jr dusted off the old talking points and bashing the occupy wall stre