my phone log that e shows i had a conversation with kent sorensen. he told me, a number of other people on our campaign, that he was offered money by the ron paul campaign and clearly, this is about the ron paul campaign. very nervous. because people see that he'd be very dangerous for the country. op foreign policy, but also, people are figures out ron paul would legalize drugs that are illegal now. he wouldn't stand up for marriage between a man and a woman. i would. that's what this is about. people are making their. about half the people in iowa are undecided and this overflowing number of people have been flipping and going in my column. we would love to make available to cnn susan gettis, the former campaign manager for kent sorensen, eric wilson, our iowa director. there's a lot of people he talked to and eric wilson said he would go under oath and give his statement about what kent sorensen told him in response to the ron paul campaign offering a large amount of money for kent sorensen to defect to their campaign. >> we'll get our reporter, s

sorensen had been serving as an iowa state co-chair for the michele bachmann campaign. the reason he was being introduced at a ron paul roll was to announce he's switching sides. >> tonight's been tough for me. i've been serving as michele bachmann's state chair over the lastç year. and while michele has fought tremendously for my conservative values, i believe we're at a turning point in this campaign. i believe we have an opportunity

the minnesota congresswoman at an event wednesday, her iowa campaign manager state senator kent sorensen defected, joining ron paul's team. >> i believe two tier of candidates and i believe ron paul is in that tier and i'm here to help him. >> kent sorensen personally told me he was offered a large sum of money to go to work for the ron paul campaign. >> reporter: paul's team insist it did not pay sorensen slamming the state senator. a new poll shows only 9% would vote for her at next tuesday's caucus. the poll's biggest surprise, former pennsylvania senator rick santorum after struggling for months he suddenly surged to third place with 16%. that is an 11-point gain since the beginning of december. one continue onetime newt gingrich plummeted to third place. ron paul is three points behind the leader mitt romney. >> the president said he wants to fundamentally transform americans. i kind of like america. >> reporter: last night, the former massachusetts governor drew one of his largest crowds yet at a town hall meeting in iowa and hoping for a bigger turnout next week at the iowa caucus

her iowa campaign manager kent sorensen defected to ron paul. >> in 2010 when i was running for the state senate, congressman paul came and actually did three events for me and i felt like he was by my side and i had to separate now it is my duty to be by his side. >> bachmann fired back, calling the move a sell out. >> kent sorensen personalitiy told me he was offered a large sum of money to go to work for ron paul. >> reporter: the latest poll in iowa puts ron paul in second place in the race for the white house. and even bigger surprise, rick santorum surged to third place, the former pennsylvania senator has campaigned in iowa more than any other candidate and he says he knew his ship would k34 in. >> it shows we have made progress and the people of iowa are getting down to making the tough decision as to who they are going to support. >>> the new poll shows mitt romney at the top. he has been drawing big crowds including this morning at a restaurant. >> i get the impression by and large decided i am a pretty good one. >> as for one time front runner newt gingrich he has plummeted to

sorensen had been serving as an iowa state co-chair for the michele bachmann campaign.the reason he was being introduced at a ron paul ro rally was to announce he's switching sides. >> tonight's been tough for me. i've been serving as michele bachmann's state chair over the last year. and while michele has fought tremendously for my conservative values, i believe we're at a turning point in this campaign. i believe we have an opportunity to elect a conservative, somebody who holds our values dear. i want to tell you guys i'm going to do everything the next few days to help in iowa and beyond and we're going to take ron paul all the way to the white house in 2012. >> the co-chair of michele bachmann's iowa campaign tonight jumping ship and saying he is supporting ron paul. shortly after making that announcement, the ron paul campaign did put out a press release saying that man you just saw speaking there, state senator kent sorensen, resigned from the bachmann campaign effective immediately. it should be noted mr. sorensen was in attendance at a michele bachmann campaign

sorensen was one of bachmann's early supporters in iowa. he released a statement saying ron paul is the most conservative candidate. bachmann lashed out saying sorensen made the jump for political reasons. he told her, quote, everyone sells out in iowa. >>> a krn time poll has the massachusetts governor ron paul in the lead. rick santorum has shot up to third place. that puts newt gingerich in fourth place just days after jumping out into the lead. rick perry and michele bachmann are in fifth and sixth place. meanwhile, occupy protesters are ramp up their demonstrations before the iowa caucus. police arrested 10 protesters outside of mitt romney's headquarters. they banged on the windows as romney staffers banged on the doors. they called for all candidates to return donations they've received from big banks. >>> the protesters who camped in freedom plaza since october will stay through the end of february. a new permit was issued running through february 28th. the group is now calling itself occupy d.c. it's protesting corporate greed and

a guy named kent sorensen has jumped ship.re accusing ron paul the's people of essentially buying him, offering large sums of money to go to work for him. kent sorensen says he was not bought off in any way, shape or form. he says this is about going to a winning team and he says there is a chance with all the momentum to elect bhae call aes constitutional conservative. but ron paul at the moment has suffered another setback in the polls. he's now down to second, still within the margin of error, but running just behind mitt romney in the latest cnn poll. mitt romney is benefiting from the splitting of the social conservative vote, people who are standing behind people like michele bachmann. and rick santorum and ron paul. that's why we're seeing all this volatility in the polls. anything could happen. >> rick perry is still fighting to get virginia's republican primary ballot. the texas governor filed an emergency motion yesterday allowing a federal judge to allow his name so be on the ballot in march. perry has filed a lawsu

me specifically that he was offered a great deal of money and that's why he was leaving. >> kent sorensensays it's not about the money.ç it's about stopping romney. >> i believe we're at a time when michelle is not going to win iowa. he came to my aid when i was in two tough battles. do not want mitt romney to be running for our nominee. i was never offered a nickel from the ron paul campaign. >> mitt romney who used to be afraid lest anyone think he care about the results of the iowa caucus is now so confident of victory in iowa that he will host a post caucus party at the hotel ft. des moines. romney's super pack restore our future continues to do the dirty work against newt gingrich. >> ever notice how some people make a lot of mistakes? >> i made a mistake. i've made mistakes at times. >> so far newt gingrich has admitted his mistakes or flipped on, teaming up with nancy pelosi, immigration, medicare, health care, iraq, attacking and more. >> i made a big mistake in the spring. >> haven't we had enough mistakes?ór >> the gingrich superpack, winning our future, is finding gingrich ene

sorensen was her top person.shows up at a ron paul rally and says i am now supporting ron paul. gets even crazier. bachmann's campaign last night said sorensen was paid off to go to ron paul. sources of the paul campaign say no, not true. five days to go, deb. it has been one wild ride here in iowa. >> certainly has. interesting that romney remained near or at the top of public opinion surveys in iowa. he has to hold on to it for now. we will check in with you later onchlgts with newt gingrich's numbers declining, mitt romney in the front-runner position in iowa. also in new hampshire. our next guest says we could be looking at a nightmare scenario for his conservative voters. ron brownstein joins us live from washington. good to see you. >> good morning. >> let's talk about newt gingrich. 20 days, we have seen him fall about 20 points. 19 points to be exact in iowa. he was leading at one point with 33%. now he is in fourth place with 14% of the vote. as you well know he is quick to point out all those negative a

. >> suarez: he got another boost overnight when iowa state senator kent sorensen endorsed him. sorenson had been state chairman for minnesota congresswoman michelle bachmann. >> in 2010, when i was running for the state senate, congressman paul came in three separate events for me, and i felt like he was by my side in a tough race, now it's time for me to be by his side, when he has an opportunity, and he's in a tough race himself. >> suarez: bachmann insisted she's staying in the race, despite lagging numbers. and her campaign claimed sorensen was paid a large sum of money to defect-- a claim ron paul denied. meanwhile, things were looking up for rick santorum, who tripled his support in the new polls. the former pennsylvania senator was looking to seize on the momentum starting on nbc's "today" show. >> this has been different than everybody else that's sort of risen in this race. that they haven't been tested and we have. people know that there's authenticity here. that they can trust me. what i say that i'm going to do is what i've done in the past. >> suarez: but while san

. >> reporter: a strong organization in iowa and got a boost when state senator sorensen left michelleachmann's campaign to sign up for team paul. >> [ inaudible ] >> reporter: michelle bachmann says ron paul would be a dangerous president. jon huntsman called him unelectable. tahmon bradley, abc news, washington. >>> if you take a look outside, you will see there's fog out there and there is mist and drizzle. lisa is in for mike with a look at the forecast. >> here i am! >> there you are. you shudder to think the number of people -- [ unintelligible ] she is in for mike. we see some reflection from the bridge deck. >> i definitely had wipers on this morning. not much out there. if you are sleeping in this morning or just going to be out later in the afternoon you will see the ceilings lift and we'll continue begin to enjoy partly cloudy conditions. everybody wants rain. -- numbers are mile due to cloud cover, low 50s for the cooler spots, mid 50s for concord and fremont. redwood city 54, 50 to in san francisco as well as novato and napa. the temperatures not the whole story. the other

and got a boost from state senator kent sorensen, an influential tea party figure. left michele bachmann's campaign to sign up for team paul. >> i think there's clearly two tiers of candidates. i think ron paul is in that top tier. and i'm here to help him. >> reporter: michele bachmann says that ron paul would be a dangerous president. and jon huntsman called him unelectable. sunny and dan? >> wow. definitely a war of words going on there, tahman. all right. so, turning to romney now. if he wins iowa, how would that shape this whole nomination fight? >> reporter: a victory for romney in iowa would be huge. keep in mind that he has almost a 30-point lead in new hampshire, the next state to vote. and iowa voters, the caucusgoers there are very conservative. and the romney campaign would love to show he has patched up problems among conservatives in the republican party. and make it seem as though there's a steady drumbeat to the nomination. and that romney is the inevitable nominee. >> days to go. tahman bradley, thank you for that report this morning. >>> also this

kelly sorensen tracks the birds at big sur. >> it's almost impossible to see until it's too late. >>ter: so pacific gas and electric, the company that owns the power lines, took them down. the utility used helicopters to bring in underground piping and then buried the wires. the total cost? $4.2 million. according to the federal government, it's one of the largest projects ever launched to protect an endangered species. >> i think we can all agree to have our children see condors and their children's children see condors in the wild, it's going to be a great thing. right now we are in this race. we want to get the population up as fast as we possibly can. >> reporter: and now there is one less obstacle in the way of the condor's recovery. bill whitaker, cbs news, los angeles. >>> coming up later on "the early show" a look back at the big stories of this year from the arab spring uprising to the death of osama bin laden. plus a look ahead to next year to see if president obama will be able to break the log jam and work with congress. >>> and the colossal of sax. jazz great sonny rolli

sorensen made the announcement at a rally for the congressman hours after attending an event for michelechmann. listen. >> tonight's been tough for me. i've been serving as michele bachmann's state chair over the last year. and while michelle's fighting tremendously for my conservative values, i believe we're in a turning point in this campaign. i believe we have an opportunity to elect a conservative, somebody that holds our values dear. and when the republican establishment is going to be coming against him over the next few days, i thought it was my duty to come to his aid. i just want to tell you guys that i'm going to do everything i can the next few days to help in iowa and beyond. and we're going to take ron paul all the way to the white house. >> sorenson credits his switch to ron paul's past support for him during a state senate race last year. but theç bachmann campaign pois to another reason. in an official statement, bachmann wrote, "kent sorenson personally told me he was offered a large sum of money to go to work for the paul campaign. kent said to me yesterday that "every

. >> you are referring to senator sorensen.e downside, he left it with brad zaun. >> [laughter] you remember the sioux city debate. that is where i went after ron paul on the issue of iran having a nuclear weapon. no question, there is a desperate difference between every candidate and ron paul. he is unwilling to stand up for the united states when it comes to dealing with a nuclear iran. >> you guys were arguing over questions of fact, whether or not there was -- >> there was an iaea report issued in november that said iran was perilously close to having the technology for a nuclear weapon. i sit on the intelligence committee, we deal with the nation's classified secrets. i cannot talk about a lot of that. >> we have ways to make you talk. >> no, you don't. there is a clear report that iran is perilously close to having a nuclear weapon. ron paul was essentially denying that the report exists. then he said the report was not worth anything later. the whole point is, ron paul would be a dangerous precedent -- president for the

sorensen says ron paul is the most conservative candidate. bachmann says politics have nothing to do with the move. she lashed out saying he only joined paul because paul is paying him more. >>> members of the movement say they don't want to do anything that would jeopardize iowa's status as the first state to go to the polls. despite no plans to cause problems on election day, protesters in iowa are ramping up demonstrations. police arrested 10 protesters outside of mitt romney's headquarters. they banged on windows as romney staffers locked the doors. >>> the occupy d.c. protesters who have been camping out at freedom plaza since october can now stay through the end of february. the national park service issued a new permit that runs from january 1st through february 28th. the old permit would have expired at the end of the year. >>> the union representing d.c. police says kriemp in the district is up at least in part because officers are being pulled from neighborhood patrols and reassigned to monitor the occupy d.c. protests. the fraterna

sorensen denies those accusations. >>> a bombshell revelation about four star general turned c.i.a.avid petraeus, an upcoming biography will reveal he wanted to resign as commander of the afghan war after president obama decided to draw down troops. the book claims petraeus decided not to quit because he thought it would be a, quote, selfish grand standing move with huge political ramifications. >>> talk about excessive taste. michelle obama spending $2,000 on this sun dress which she wore during the first family's $4 million hawaiian vacation. she changed into a $950 skirt just hours later. both outfits from french designers. can they fit a case of beer under them? that's what i'm now looking for in a dress. >> steve: al circumstances referring to an earlier story which we will replay. while the republican candidates are hitting iowa, president obama is, as ali reported, vacations in hawaii. but some of the president's behavior is not sit too long well with the press corp. >> clayton: for more on that, we go to peter doocy live in dc with more. >> good morning. according to yesterd

just hours after appearing with the congresswoman at an event wednesday her campaign manager kent sorensen defected, joining ron paul's team. >> i believe there is two tiers, ron paul is in that top tier and i am here to help him. >> but she claims it wasn't just politics. >> he told me he was offered a large sum of money to go to work for them. >> paul's team insists it did not pay him, accusing her of slandering him. she already had her work cut out for her, a poll shows only 9% would vote for her. the biggest surprise rick santorum, after struggling for months, he surged to third place with 16%, that is an 11 point gain since december, newt gingrich has plummeted to fourth place. ron paul is second with 22%, just three points behind the leader mitt romney, in washington, duarte jeer geraldino. >> there is that happening. >>> check out this sack. take another look at that high leap, one of 6 sacks on the night for texas as they beat cal. >>> the ravens will be looking to bring down the cincinnati bengals quarterback and -- and andy dalton as they head out to ohio for the regular season f

. >> reporter: who has a strong organization in iowa and got a boost when senator sorensen, an influentialeft michelle bachmann's campaign to sign up for team paul. >> clearly two tiers of candidates i think ron paul is in that top tier. >> reporter: michelle bachmann says ron paul would be a dangerous president. huntsman called him unelectable. tahmon bradley, abc news, washington. >>> :50. let's take a look at the traffic situation out there. frances dinglasan is going to check that for us. >>> we've had a few accidents for this time of the morning could be due to the wet and slick roads with the moisture. we are going to take you to one in cal cot tunnel westbound -- caldecott tunnel westbound tunnel blocking a lane. still moving smoothly as you make your way towards oakland at 55 miles per hour. also an accident in hayward southbound 880 on the whipple off-ramp, not blocking any lanes. two accidents on the peninsula, east 92 to north 101 and north 101 to 280, just look fourth that. again, we are seeing thick fog along highway 1 in pacifica, drivers need to slow down there. lisa is goin

. >> i had a conversation with ken sorensen, and in the conversation i had with him, he told me thatwas offered money. he was offered a lot of money by the ron paul campaign to go and associate with the ron paul campaign. no one else knows about that conversation other than ken sorenson and myself and i know what he said to me about that. >> cnn's shannon travis is keeping up with the troubles in bachman bachmann's campaign. just as it's great time to peak, it's not at a great time for this to be happening to michele bachmann. >> reporter: absolutely not, just days before the iowa caucus, candy. just days after the bombshell from ken sorenson that he was defecting, leaving michele bachmann's side. let me explain this. there's a man who was up until a little while ago michele bachmann's iowa political director, okay. so ken sorenson said that he was going to defect over to the ron paul campaign. mish shell bachmann said he was offered money to do that. today -- earlier today wes enos said i'm going to remain michelle back mane's political director but i em going to defend ken sorenson

michele bachmann's state co-chair, kent sorensen, just appeared at a ron paul event in iowa and endorsed tuned, folks. while there are only six days left, but the ground is clearly shifting. so the co-chair of the bachmann campaign has jumped ship and gone over to ron paul. >>> up next, romney made millions of dollars at bain capital by putting my next guest and his co-workers at ampad on the unemployment line. >>> don't forget to tweet us using #edshow. stay tuned. >>> well the 2012 election is going to be about the economy and jobs. i think we can agree on that. most polls show that across the country. mitt romney's history at bain capital is not going to help his image as a job creator. now, we want to disclose nbc universal and bain capital are each a part owner of the weather channel.ç bain capital's main business model is buying companies like american pad and paper and restructuring them. in many instances, bain turned a profit by strip mining these companies. american, ampad is what it's known, the stock was driven down and the company went bankrupt. they fired hundreds of worke

kent sorensen said it had nothing to do with money as the michele bachmann campaign is alleging, but, clearly, bachmann doesn't have the resources to do a get out the vote effort a lot of her supporters would like to have happen. tamron? >> thank you, chuck. as he gains traction ahead of the january 3rd caucus gop presidential hopeful and former senator rick santorum told us this morning his campaign has viability outside of iowa. >> this has been different than anybody else that's risen in this race. they haven't been tested and we have. people know there is authenticity here. they can trust me. what i say i'm going to do is what i've done in the past and we've got a good, strong record and a great vision for the future of shrinking the size of government dramatically. i've put out a plan to balance the budget in five years. i voted toughly over the years to cut spending and rein in entitlements. i've led on those things. we've got the record to back it up. >> santorum is projected to finish third in the iowa caucus next week. >>> the u.s. navy is warning that it won't tolerate iran

michele bachmann's state co-chair, kent sorensen, just appeared at a ron paul event in iowa and endorsed stay tuned, folks. while there are only six days left, but the ground is clearly shifting. so the co-chair of the bachmann campaign has jumped ship and gone over to ron paul. >>> up next, romney made millions of dollars at bain capital by putting my next guest and his co-workers at ampad on the unemployment line. >>> don't forget to tweet us using #edshow. stay tuned. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's easy to see what subaru owners care about. ♪ that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. ♪ with your help, we can reach 20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year. [ female announcer ] get 0 percent apr financing on select models for thirty-six months and we'll donate two-hundred and fifty dollars to your choice of five charities. now through january 3rd. >>> well the 2012 election is going to be about the economy and jobs. i think we can agree on that. most polls show that across the country.

no one else knows about that conversation other than canned sorensen and myself.rmer staff member and family of the late senator gathering in boston recently for the groundbreaking of the edward m. kennedy institute for the u.s. senate. >> good morning ladies and jumped him and, thank you very much for being here. we really do appreciate it. if we could begin to have folks take their seats we will have time for pictures a little later. bill de la hunt, could you sit down please? thank you. what a leader. lieutenant governor is about to take his seat beside the treasure there. we are making real progress here. good morning ladies and gentle men. and in so many ways -- this is the day the lord has made. [applause] let us rejoice and be glad. [applause] i was just telling vicky, and was walking out by the 10 earlier this morning, looked up at this incredible blue sky and the sun was shining down and i said something that so many of us have said so many times in our lives, thank you, ted. well people will take credit for much of what happens, i think we give him the r