be more likely to grab something that libertarians might go you know this is great as a bit of romney congress or you could say the new congress is the kind of guy that is very very stylish right here in washington these are good guys been around forever and i just like that special interests influencing somebody right if you want to talk about somebody who is willing to give up their civil liberties for for war on terror policies newt gingrich is that guy yeah and again i mean you know we're talking about compromise here so whereas you know mitt romney can be the kind of guy where you can influence him because he does tend to go back on on promises he does tend to go back and forth on various ideas i mean we've shown we've seen that with abortion we've seen that with with health care i mean now he's talking about repealing obamacare and talking about you know he's still kind of middling on romney care in massachusetts in other words both of these people can fall under the influence of a vocal and involved libertarian group the question is whether they want to be involved well it sounds like b

romney's side. we have a prominent senator and members of congress, but mitt romney is racking up the endorsements andt one is h.w. bush. the establishment is on romney's side, but in 2010 it didn't always get its way in the primaries. >> part of the statement said i think romney is the best choice. i like perry, but he doesn't team to be going anywhere. you can talk about the perry line but he said romney was not a bomb thrower. that's a part of the story line that the establishment and others against newt gingrich want to keep in the minds of people in iowa. >> right. make no mistake it was a shot at newt gingrich and it is clearly how the establishment is lining up with mitt romney. they believe that newt gingrich is a bomb thrower and can't be trusted given his days as speaker during the 1990s in the house of representatives. it shouldn't be surprising that that's the argument that the romney campaign wants to make. >> well the me talk to you about many things revealed in the interview this chuck todd did. one of the things was his decision not to release his tax form. what do we make of this? >>

. >> reporter: as of today, 50 members of congress have endorsed mitt romney, only six have endorsed gingrich. >> for a long time, i was his only endorsement. >> reporter: congressman joe barton of texas argues gingrich accomplished more than most more than speakers. a lot of your fellow republicans are coming out this week and saying that mr. gingrich was an erratic leader when he was here in congress. do you experience that? >> no, ma'am, i don't think he was erratic. i think he was pragmatic. we did do the contract with america when he was speaker. we did balance the budget. we did reform welfare. i mean, he did a good job. >> reporter: after gingrich was pressured to give up his speakership in 1998, he called his detractors cannibals baud butt today he says they just weren't ready for his bold ideas and aggressive approach to reform. >> pelley: nancy, thank you. in chicago today, illinois governor rod blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years in prison for corruption, including trying to sell the senate seat barack obama vacated when he became president. blagojevich is the second ill

congress. there is a huge crowd. romney exactly have his work cut out for him finding members of congress who served under gingrich who will come out against him. every day i talk to a republican house member who said gingrich's speaker tenure left a terrible taste in their mouth. >> your side is starting -- it looks like you're starting to turn the aircraft carrier and say, okay, we've been effective hitting romney, and i think there are a lot of republicans who believe that the democratic machine has taken a toll on romney. are you starting to get nervous about newt? >> no. look, i mean, i think newt is in many ways a really good candidate. he really speaks to the anger in the republican party. >> one could argue channels it better than anybody running, whether the president or others. there is a lot of anger out there. >> absolutely. he channels the republican anger. one of the reasons he's doing so well smit romney's criticism of obama was targeted towards, you know, independence, like he's a good guy but he can't -- yo

romney. republican approval of congress at a new low, a hit for newt gingrich. >> newt, the originator of earmarks back in the '90s. a grand daddy of earmarks, he would be it. >> reporter: gingrich trying to stay positive, even as a barrage of ads and voter mail take aim. >> this electorate wants to hear solutions, don't want to hear a traditional political campaign where have you attack after attack, negative charges. >> santa, i've been so good this year. >> have you? >> all i want for christmas is to win the iowa caucus. >> reporter: gop candidates out in force this weekend. a day after she endorsed him, mitt romney campaigned with nikki hawley. romney could emerge stronger than ever. >> romney was able to field test his opposition research, rapid response organization. something that might serve him in good stead. at the end of the day, newt gingrich's surge might be a good thing nor mitt romney. >> reporter: one more note on the tax cut fight it has to pass the house. last night, a conference call among house republicans, many rank and file unhappy. not a done deal yet. >> mike viqueira at th

romney. republican approval of congress at a new low, a hit for newt gingrich. >> newt, the originator of earmarks back in the '90s. a grand daddy of earmarks, he would be it. >> reporter: gingrich trying to stay positive, even as a barrage of ads and voter mail take aim. >> this electorate wants to hear solutions, don't want to hear a traditional political campaign where have you attack after attack, negative charges. >> santa, i've been so good this year. >> have you? >> all i want for christmas is to win the iowa caucus. >> reporter: gop candidates out in force this weekend. a day after she endorsed him, mitt romney campaigned with nikki hawley. romney could emerge stronger than ever. >> romney was able to field test his opposition research, rapid response organization. something that might serve him in good stead. at the end of the day, newt gingrich's surge might be a good thing nor mitt romney. >> reporter: one more note on the tax cut fight it has to pass the house. last night, a conference call among house republicans, many rank and file unhappy. not a done deal yet. >> mike viqueira at th

not seen, and i love you for you to inform me if i'm wrong, but i've not seen governor romney say, what the congressd do on the payroll tax extension. two months or a year? what should be done? this is obviously an issue roilg the republican party. a leader of the republican party steps in here, correct? >> look, on the important issues of the day, governor romney is leading. as he said, he'd like to see the tax cut extended, he doesn't want to raise taxes on anyone. but he doesn't think this is the permanent way to get our economy going again. he's put forth a 59-point economic plan to be able to turn this economy around. and actually lead things to get this done. as he said this morning with chuck on msnbc, you know, he doesn't think too much, two months is that long of a time. he would prefer to see a year. but again, this is not going to be the end-all, be-all to fix our economy. he would actually do a fundamental restructuring of the economy to get people back to work and turn this around. the payroll tax cut is just a band-aid. >> andrea saul, thank you from my msnbc bosses for that cheap plug

reminder to the american public, oh, yeah, newt gingrich, you associate him with these times in congress. mitt romney, i think, gets a little lift, because the guy may be a flip-flopper, but ultimately has a very conciliatory nature and maybe is the guy that could get us through this. what do you think? >> a deep -- >> i'm not buying it. >> the republican primary voters don't seem to be gravitating towards this idea of conciliation and pragmatism as a quality they wish if their nominee. >> no, they're not. i think this whole situation puts the republican candidates in a big bind. i think -- i have to disagree with my colleague, ezra klein, who's actually way smarter than i am on this. but i think that the president has conceded with the republicans, given them things that they've wanted for the last three years, to the point where i think he has enough political capital where he can stand his ground and say, look, you guys don't want to do what the american people sent you to do. and if people's taxes go up in january, it's your fault. ultimately, i think the american people will look at him and blam

congress to fix washington. bad idea. >> reporter: mitt romney has decided he'll take a quick break from the state. he'll go to new hampshire to campaign for about 24 hours, and then ron paul has decided he'll go back to texas to spend new year's with his family, but will be back on the campaign trail monday. >> i here governor chris christie is also mixing it up. how is that. >> reporter: in he's on the ground in iowa campaigning for romney and showed a little attitude. watch this. >> you people disappoint me on tuesday, you don't do what you're supposed to do on tuesday for mitt romney, i will be back, jersey style, people, i will be back! >> reporter: i think he's the only one who can get away with saying something like that. >> i think you are right about that one. mixing it up on the campaign trail. thanks so much for that report. >>> former american idol winner kelly clarkson facing some backlash for supporting ron paul on twitter. she tweeted: . >> well, that tweet triggered a wave of heated tweet from fans, some supporting the singer of supporting the death penalty, racism, and not equal ri

. >>> today, ilsz senator mark kirk is expected to join the 50 members of congress to endorse mitt romneylso got the back of the des moines register based on his quote sobrity, wisdom and judgment. kathy, thanks for joining us. >> glad to be here. >> i have to go to newt gingrich's comments first. gingrich said he was delighted not to have the paper's endorsement, calling it quote solidly liberal. being seen as northeastern republican and not a true conservative. >> okay, first of all, i'm going to give you a big, fat disclaimer which is that i'm not part of the register's editorial board, so i don't make the endorsements. i'm giving you an observers view of this. i think that newt gingrich's comments as you put them, are exactly one of the reasons why the editorial board didn't endorse him. i think one of the things they liked about romney is that refrains from a lot of the really red meat, editorial board is looking for somebody that thought could effectively work with democrats in congress and so, you know, and i do think that gingrich is speaking for a lot of republicans when they, wh

congress. and a romney supporter. and jeff johnson is a contributor of msnbc.with you. what's interesting about the attack there, i don't know if it was a defense of gingrich. he's been tough on newt. he was upset about the paul ryan. i think you use it in a video, but he does give voice to where the conservative base is not in washington. >> well, i'm sure that's true. however, i think there are those people in washington who have worked with newt and who know newt for better or for worse who feel quite frankly that we have an obligation to talk about what our experiences are and people like you call us to tell us about the experiences. and you're not going to lie. there's stories -- these stories, these temperament issues that have been documented for many years. that's who newt gingrich is too. the establishment knows newt gingrich because he is the washington establishment person. >> and his office address on k street of all places to visit. nia, he's what david brooks wrote this morning speaking of establishment. but the right of center columnist. he calls

showing romney back in the lead in the first caucus state, gingrich has fall on the third behind representative ron paul. paul and congressman michele bachmann both missed yesterday's vote in congressng the payroll tax cut. lawmakers were gridlocked and have now returned home for the holidays. gingrich says he does not know how he would have handled the stalemate in charge and romney refused to say if he would ask congress to come back to work. >> if you want answers, please make it the longest holiday. let it last a year. how they go about solving that, it's to be resolved amongst them. >> late this afternoon, the former speaker newt gingrich said the president should call the senate back and deal with it. and that john boehner, the current speaker of the house, go ahead and pass a one-year, extension. 13 days and then finally voters will get a chance to decide. it looks otherwise as though the debate devolved to who has the nastiest ads and whether they belong in politics, as though that is something new. >> bret: carl cameron live in new hampshire tonight. we should note we asked speaker gingrich and congressman paul to sit down this week. we have yet to hear back on their sched

romney's father. >> bob: they were in congress together. >> andrea: 41 campaigned with perry.also cult an ad -- >> dana: he helped perry get elected to where he is now. what happened last year when n the governor's race, as i understand it, perry had initially indicated he was not going to run. senator kay bailey hutchison decided to run for that. a big primary and 41 came out in support of her. >> eric: you know more than anyone at the table, is it rumored bad blood between bushes and romney? >> dana: i think it's more at a staff level than the principal level. >> bob: it got ugly for a while. the staff level. >> dana: but do you really think, if you were george h.w. bush do you think giving perry his endorsement would help perry? >> eric: of course. >> andrea: i think they don't want to waste their endorsement; particularly, somebody as well regarded as 41 and the republican party. they want to go with winners and see united g.o.p. >> dana: i think there is a lot to that. the gingrich piece, but i also think that it gives some people comfort to think that 41 likes -- >> andr

romney has misplayed his hand. joining me now from washington, ben weber a form member of congress and special adviser to the romneypaign. hey, ben, thanks so much for joining us. >> congratulations on the new initiative in israel. >> well, thank you very much. exciting to be here. but back home, newt gingrich is now ahead in both iowa and south carolina. there's a new abc news "washington post" poll which has newt surging up quite a bit in south carolina. we see also in iowa in the "washington post" poll on qualities to be president, caucuses goers say that newt gingrich has 33% say that he has the best experience to be president to 16 for romney. reflects core values, 25% to 12%. will stand up for your beliefs, 24% to 10. most electable, 29 to 24. that's the only one that is really a close call. do you think that mitt romney has been too risk averse and has been sort of playing a bit of rope a dope not doing interviews, not doing interview with joe kline in time magazine for the cover story or with robert draper for the "new york times" magazine and that he is now letting newt gingrich take the stage? >> well, th

. >> bret: about the aggressiveness we may see out of romney campaign, you saw former senator jim talent in congresshat about that tactic? how far the candidate, mitt romney can take it? >> i don't think he has a choice. pete is right. newt gingrich is genuine and durable, because the polls are reflecting that the voters now believe that he is electable. that he will defeat barack obama in a general election. that is a difference. used to be romney was electable but nobody wanted him. >> bret: let me interrupt you there. we have two other polls from the new polls out tonight. vote for president. if the election were held today, president president obama gets 44% to mitt romney 42%. that is within the margin of error plus or minus three. newt gingrich is at 46% for president obama. 40% for newt gingrich. >> it's true in the fox poll that romney is more electable in this poll. there have been others that have been out recent day days tt show what i think is surprising results. that the primary voters now believe that newt gingrich is electable in a general election. i don't agree with that contention.

. >> if he really means it governor romney should promise now if elected he'll work with nose congresste new campaign finance laws. governor romney is getting too much help from existing rules. restore our future founded by three former romney campaign ads and raised $2 trillion from old romney associates. to be tear, governor romney is hardly alone from getting help from deepak eted former long time aides and friends. even speaker gingrich has friends trying to help them using super pacs. the supreme court says spending is legal and unless and until congress changes the rules, speaker gingrich won't get his christmas wish of a kinder, gentler campaign. with us tonight, republican strategist mary matalin, eric erickson of redstate.com and cornell belcher, working for the obama 2012 campaign. mary, these ads are new and different. the super pac especially, since you were doing presidential campaigns, you know, nothing we can do about it, right? gingrich can complain all he wants but these are doing him in in iowa right now? >> you know what? no one but the editorial pages of "the new yo

. >> it only matter we get president romney or president gingrich and they have republican chambers in congressf you get a split decision like we did the last time or like we did in the midterms, then we're going to not be able to make that. >> i would say even if you had republicans in charge of everything, that doesn't mean the defense isn't going to be cut any more, it's not going to make up any more than the pentagon is now planning for. >> there's some talk about another $200 billion in cuts beyond what they have now. maybe not a sequestration. >> i think the historic record doesn't really support that. republican control of the senate and the white house is the single most reliable predictor of an increase in weapons spending. >> it's only tied to crisis, though, it's not on a steady state basis. >> we've never had people facing the kind of budget deficit we do now and that's what changes it. >> exactly, with the party that's become fiscally more dramatically conservative, some of them. let's go to the question of what's going to happen when the administration 4,"husubmits its budget. thi

mitt romney is leading the way with conservatives in congress and newt gingrich has supporters who weatheredpaign storms. congressman, let me start with you. why romney and not newt? >> i support romney because he's number one the guy who can win the election and most importantly he's the guy who can best lead our country. >> you think number one electability? >> absolutely. they favor mitt romney over barack obama. he's our best chance at recapturing the white house. at the end of the day we have no shortage of great ideas in washington d.c. we need someone who can get the job done. you look at history whether ronald reagan who came from california or bill clinton who came from arkansas, i'll take the governor from massachusetts. a democratic state who can get things done. that's the kind of bipartisan leader we need in washington d.c. >> congressman kingsman, did you choose to support speaker gingrich because he's a georgian? >> i have known newt for a long time. having served with him in congress led to my decision as much as anyone else. aaron mentioned ronald reagan. what two figures in

that may wind up working better for romney who did the dirty work himself. >> also in washington. congress reached a rare bipartisan agreement heading off potential government shut down tomorrow at midnight pro-posed 1 trillion dollar spending plan would keep washington running another 9 months or so. house votes tomorrow. lawmakers still debating an extension of payroll tax break for 160 million americans set to expire at the end of the year. >> 2 bay area charter schools are on a state wyatt wide hit list tonight. san francisco leadership high and richmond west county high are among those single out by the state charter school association. association says they should be closed because the poor academic permanent form answer threatens the credibility of the charter school movement. but officials say students at leadership high often out 64 their pier at other city high school and dismiss the list as attempt by the association to demonstrate that it can be critical of some charter school programs. >> home run king barry bonds sentenced tomorrow for his conviction on obstruction of justice

. >> if washington is a problem why trust congress to come fix it?. >> mitt romney a push there. it could be a gamble that pays off big or could affect his momentum heading into december. >> a key player in the republican administration says if no clear front runner emerges former schwartzeneggar press secretary says it could come down to california's june primary. >> this is four years ago democrats did go through so remember, barack obama and hillary clinton were still duking it out in june. if that is the case this year, we could have a say who the republican nominee is. >> california moved its primary elections from february to june to save money by combining with voting on ballot measure autos well, still ahead here this afternoon, get this, rats eating plants. >> what? >> that no one knew about until now. >> wow. >> and fans of the flip know a new breed is stepping in to replace it. i'm michael finney and will have consumer reports guides next. >> and later on those who cannot escape taking work e mails can enjoy it. the word is swapportunity. can i have the d

that may wind up working better for romney who did the dirty work himself. >> also in washington. congress reached a rare bipartisan agreement heading off potential government shut down tomorrow at midnight pro-posed 1 trillion dollar spending plan would keep washington running another 9 months or so. house votes tomorrow. lawmakers still debating an extension of payroll tax break for 160 million americans set to expire at the end of the year. >> 2 bay area charter schools are on a state wyatt wide hit list tonight. san francisco leadership high and richmond west county high are among those single out by the state charter school association. association says they should be closed because the poor academic permanent form answer threatens the credibility of the charter school movement. but officials say students at leadership high often out 64 their pier at other city high school and dismiss the list as attempt by the association to demonstrate that it can be critical of some charter school programs. >> home run king barry bonds sentenced tomorrow for his conviction on obstruction of justice

congress operates according to a logic all its own. >> you had an interesting vignette in your piece about how romneyought together the best and the brightest group in harvard. i don't know if you have done it, but is he considered to have a good personal touch. he was dealing with the legislature of the other party and got a fair amount done. >> i think it was very mixed. i think it was very mixed and i think on the presidential level in sommç ways it would be much harder because it's not clear what kind of relationship he has with his party's own establishment or conservative ideology. what struck me about the presentation he gave about work life balance is that he was trying to prove something that everybody knows which is that spending time with your kids is say really good thing. it's about the least controversial kind of statement you can make. yet the effort he went to with the charts and the data and the little circles to prove something that everybody already knew to be true. >> i will never criticize anyone for putting things on a chart. it brings up this other piece because the other inter

romney. >> either mr. holder himself should resign or the president should ask for his resignation or. he has misled congress and botched the investigation of the fast and furous program. >> and mitt romney spent want day. this is the first time mitt romney weighed in on the issue of attorney general eric holder on fast and furous. >> today was a day when he appealed to all of the supporters and trying to show his strength. he appealed to the base and he will ask the organization to go all the way to the white house. we wanted the message out because of the conservatives. he believed that eric holder needed to be removed. but perry's campaign said they called for the resignation. mr. romney now calculated that he should join governor perry and call for the resignation of firing of attorney general eric holder and calling for president obama to not take such a long vacation . he believed that the plan to go to hawaii over christmas and 17 days off is too long given the place we are in our country. >> molly, we'll get back to the cain suspension of the campaign. mitt romney having reaction to that today? >> ex

congress are here. susan who supports romney, and the senior adviser to newt gingrich. mr.ant to begin with you. you're here in iowa, been here all week. and what they like to call newtmentum has stalled somewhat. part of that has been the attacks, no question about it. the attacks in media interviews, the attack ads on television. and newt was responding to one of them last night. i want you to listen. mitt romney interviewed the "new york times" said gingrich is sometimes zany. >> i sometimes get accused of using language that's too strong. so i've been standing here editing. i'm very concerned about not appearing to be zany. >> funny moment, congressman livingston, but can your friend withstand these attacks without firing back a little bit more forcefully himself? >> sure he can, john. and by the way, i totally agree with you about the debates. i think carl rove is wrong. i think the debates have been great. and one reason is that newt gingrich has been able to get his message out. he had a horrible start last spring when i started to support him. worst start perhaps in

. >> ifill: current or past members of congress but not mitt romney in that mix. who would you say of those three stands the best chance right now, susan? >> i say the fact that we're talking about all three of them still being in the mix is great news for mitt romney. he really... he needed all these people to stay in the race and to continue to get a share of the vote because that meant, as stu said, he could be in a position to win in iowa with just about the same proportion of the vote he got last time. >> ifill: susan, final question. i'm curious whether looking back ear 2011 you have had any occasion to think to yourself, boy this was quite a political year or this wasn't much of a political year. what's your sense of it? >> hey, we've seen these candidates come out of nowhere, go to the top of the field and crash and burn. i was down in orlando for the florida straw poll. there was a debate the night before going into the night, rick perry was the hot flavor. he was coming with a big storm. he didn't perform very well in that debate. you could feel the air