that gave tim pawlenty an opening. if sarah palin comes in, she will just take up so much space that it will be hard for him to get attention. for mitt romney, it sets up the possibility, if she is to become a candidate. and again, there's no clear evidence that this is a precursor to a campaign. we need to emphasize that. but this would set up a class i think battle between the establishment frontrunner and the insurgent tea party candidate, which would remind people of the divisions we've seen in the party and highlight those in a way almost no other candidate would be able to do. >> well, you know, dan, say it isn't for real. say that we don't know. and if it isn't, it can't help but remind us of donald trump and a little bit of how he drew so much attention without being a serious candidate but sucked a lot of air out of the news coverage, as she is doing now. can we see a new model of people who can use a bit of a toe in the water or faux presidential run at this early stage to get more attention for books, tv sho

former minnesota governor tim pawlenty made it official in des moines on monday.is announcement tour then wound through florida and ended up in new york where i caught up with him. what seriously do you need to do to raise your profile or will the system just take care of it by force of running? >> well, even now only about 50% of the republicans nationally even know my name. so we have to get the name i.d. out and then convert that, of course, to support. but if you're a serious candidate for president, that will happen naturally over time, but i like the fact that most of the other candidates are really well known and yet they don't really have a strong front running position and that gives us time and space to be able to advance our campaign. >> so, ladies and gentlemen, my husband, governor tim pawlenty. [ applause ] >> well, let's get right to the heart of the matter. medicare, you have said that if the paul ryan plan came across your desk as president, you would sign it. >> well, let me start by saying my campaign is based around the notion it's time for the

hiexit sharpens and focuses the contest betwn three former governors: mitt romney of massachusetts, tim pawlenty of minnesota and possibly john huntsman of utah. pawlenty formally declared his candidacy in the battle ground state of iowa. >> it's time for a new approach and it's time for america's president and anyone who wants to be president to look you in the eye and tell you the truth. >> charlie: former u.s. ambassador to china john huntsman has not made a decision yet. he toured another key state new hampshire this past week. >> i have lived overseas four times before and don't worry, i have a u.s. birth certificate. but every time i've lived in a foreign place, i've learned something new about america. on returning this time, i'm finding how pessimistic many americans are about this country's ability to adapt to the future. they point to global economic trends, the lack of jobs, the incomprehensible debt, the bitterness in washington, the wars that seem to never end, the environmental and natural disasters. >> charlie: though mitt romney has not formally entered the race he's been busy ra

question, can pawlenty win iowa? tim?absolutely, and i'm very happy he began by going to iowa and attacking ethanol subsidies, especially because he used to favor them. that takes guts. his being from a border state is good. okay, michelle bachman could complicate it, but if the ethanol thing is a cue and he'll really battle the special interests like barack obama pretends do do, i think he can catch a lot of attention and win iowa. >> who is that lady? >> michelle bachman. >> the alpha female is. >> and she's too from minnesota and could -- >> born in iowa. >> born in waterloo, and she could tap into the evangelical base and tea party base better than they about. >> what about the problems she has, where places are located. >> oh, workplaces? -- [everyone talking at once] >> she had historical problems, said the founding fathers ended slavery. she's a very -- >> said something in maine and new hampshire that's not there? >> it was some r on -- for that. >> i think her sweetness and historical knowledge and history of the

injured. -- when obama opens up daylight between us and israel, it invites danger. >> that is tim pawlenty speaking in florida about obama's recent statement that the borders of israel and palestine should be based on 1967 lines with agreed swaps. earlier we heard plenty promised -- we heard pawlenty promised to tell the truth. is he telling the truth about this, colby? >> i listened to bibi netanyahu speak before the congress, which was well received -- >> i'll say. >> treated like a rock star there. i had a sense of sadness, that you can see what is inevitable. the peace talks will go nowhere , and that means that the confrontation is almost inevitable. what i cannot understand, and maybe somebody can explain it to me -- the statement that said that the united states believe that parties can agree on an outcome that has an independent, viable state based on a 1967 lines, and the israeli goal of a jewish state that recognizes subsequent to the elements -- subsequent developments. that statement was issued by hillary clinton and netanyahu last fall. when the president of united states esse

met ronnie did in his statement, so did tim pawlenty -- mr. romney did in his statement, asserted tim pawlenty. mrs. mayland did not, mr. gingrich did not, -- palin did not, mr. gingrich did not, a surprising to me,. huckabee. >> dick cheney did. >> the base of your party, you don't want to give credit to the president at any other time. no one would say that george bush cared about his daughters and wife if you care about fire- eating democrats. it is a certain maturity on the part of romney and pawlenty and daniels -- >> and the lack of character and a part of palin -- >> and newt? that is that, i am of the show -- off the show. [laughter] >> why are we still in afghanistan? >> this is the longest war in history. there is no end in sight. we are not even paying for the board. is on at the national credit card. -- it is on the national credit card. it adds $100 billion a year, $8 billion each month, to our debt. >> that is congressman jim mcgovern of massachusetts, a democrat, who along with republican walter jones of north carolina has spons

tim pawlenty, he seems all american, but if you heard his real middle name, tim hosni pawlenty, whathame. my buddy, our outstanding ambassador, jon huntsman is with us, now, there's something you might not know about jon. he didn't learn to speak chinese to go there. oh, no. he learned english to come here. and then there is a vicious rumor floating around that i think mitt romney, i heard he passed universal health care when he was governor of massachusetts. someone should get to the bottom of that. i know just the guy to do it, donald trump! who's here tonight. now, i know that he's taken some flak lately, but no one is happy, no one is prouder to put this birth certificate matter to rest than the donald. that's because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter, like did we fake the moon landing? what really happened in roswell? and where are biggie and tupac? all kidding aside, obviously, we all know about your crudentials and breath of experience, for example, seriously, just recently, in an episode of "celebrity apprentice," at the steakhouse, the men's cooki

republicans that we were talking to throughout there, christine and kiran, were talking about tim pawlentya very big presence in that state. he's one of the few candidates who's opened up a campaign office out there, so a lot of i owe wans looking to pawlenty to make noise out there. he is a neighboring republican from minnesota so he's expected to do quite well there, and he's really banking a lot of his candidacy on winning iowa, guys? >> there's another republican from minnesota when she stopped by here said -- >> michelle bachmann. >> she said she'll tell us by june. reading all the op-eds and they seem to be bemoaning the field on the sunday shows. i mean what is -- what are the knocks against pawlenty? >> well, you know, he's -- some republicans think he's a little bland, that he hasn't really inspired a lot of conservatives, you know, to get fired up and go out there and beat president obama next year. that might be his biggest problem. his staff is trying to tell people, if you're looking for sort of a fresh face, a guy who checks all the conservative boxes tim pawlenty is your guy

[laughter] [applause] tim pawlenty -- he seems all- american, but have you heard israel middle name? i pawlenty? [laughter] what a shame. my buddy, outstanding ambsador john hudson is with us. there is something you may not know abo john. he did not learn to speak chinese to go ther [laughter] oh, no. he learned english to come here. [laughter] [applause] and then, there is a vicious rumor floating around about mitt romney. i heard the past universal health care when he was governor of massachusetts. [laughter] someone should get to the bottom of that, and i know just the guy to do it -- donald trump. [laughter] [applause] now, i know that he has taken some flat lately, but no one is happier, no one is prouder to put this purpose cert matter to rest than the donald. that is so weakened, get back to focusing on the issues that matter like did we fight the moon landing? what really happened at roswell? and where are biggie and tupac? [laughter] [applause] all kiddg aside, obviously we all know that your credentials and depth of experience -- [laughter] for exale -- seriously, just recen

tim pawlenty and john,huntsman. how would each do it? romney would probably be as manager and job creator. here is romney's offense and obama's defense. >> i like president obama. but he doesn't have a clue how jobs are created. >> an economy that was shedding jobs every month now has seen over two million jobs created in the last 14. chris: former utah governor john huntsenman, his strongest argument is he could get bipartisan cooperation. here is his main theme and obama's defense. >> we have been divided for too long. the yelling, screaming and

tim pawlenty is considering a run.you look up boring in the dictionary, that's more exciting than listening to tim pawlenty. tim pawlenty makes al gore look like rupal. mike huckabee is considering a run. mike huckabee said the president was raised in kenya, went to a muslim school and it has -- and he hates america. despite that, he still seems like a sweet person. he sounds less like a presidential candidate and more like my aunt. and then, of course, there's donald trump. donald trump has been saying he will run for president as a republican which is surprising since i just assumed he was running as a joke. donald trump often appears on fox which is ironic because a fox often appears on donald trump's head. the washington post and you can't finish your entree, don't worry, the fox will eat it. if i can, for a moment, talk about the birther issue, when did we get so suspicious about where people were born? a "usa today" poll said 38% of americans think the president was born in the u.s. in the very same poll, only 5%

>> tim pawlenty is considering a run.you look up boring in the dictionary that is more exciting than listening to tim pawlenty. tim pawlenty makes al gore look like rue paul. mike huckabee is considering a run. mike huckabee said the president was raised in kenya, went to a muslim school and he hates america but despite that he still seems like a sweet person. so he sounds less like a presidential candidate and more like my aunt. and then, of course, there is donald trump. donald trump has been saying that he will run for president as a republican which is surprising since i just assumed he was running as a joke. donald trump often appears on fox which is ironic because a fox often appears on donald trump's head. if you are at the washington post hanging with trump and you can't finish your entree, don't worry, the fox will eat it. and if i can for a moment talk about the birther issue. when did we get so suspicious about where people were born. 38% of americans think the president was born in the u.s. in the very same po

by my reckoning, mitt romney did, so did tim pawlenty, former governor of minnesota. palin did not, and gingrich did not, and surprisingly to me huckabee did not. mitch daniels did -- >> dick cheney didid. >> it is kind of fascinating, because the base of the party do not want to give credit to the other party at any time. no one would say that george bush cares about his daughters or white if you were about fire- breathing democrats -- or wife if you care about fire-e-breathing democrats. so it is a certain maturity with romney and daniels -- >> at the lack of character on the part of palin -- >> and new? that does it. [laughter] ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] with amazing innovation, driven by relentless competition, wireless puts the world at your command. ♪ ♪ >> this is the longest war in our history. there is no end in sight. to make it worse, we are not paying for the war. is on the national credit card. the war in afghanistan adds over $100 billion a year, $8 billion each month, to our debt. >> that is congressman and jim mcgovern of massachusetts who along wit

tim pawlenty -- i do not know if he is a tea party candidate.s some of the talking points in his repertoire and is all for reining in government spending. does he really have the feel of a tea party candidate? part of the tea party is these messages about reducing spending, raising taxes, but it is kind of an anger and outrage associated with the tea party that i do not know if a guy like tim pawlenty will be characterized by that kind of candidate. sarah palin could be a tea party candidate. newt gingrich is kind of played for the tea party vote, and the kind of a firebrand when he wants to be. he could vy fo the tea party vote. the tea party vote has not been secured debt. i do not know if any one candidate will end up with it. host: let's talk about the other side of the aisle. here is the associated press this morning, saying that barack obama tapped into a record nearly 50 million voters for the first time. what do you make of that? guest: that has been the question of his campaign and the political arm of his presidency. he brought so many

tim pawlenty -- i do not know if he is a tea party candidate.has some of the talking points in his repertoire and is all for reining in government spending. does he really have the feel of a tea party candidate? part of the tea party is these messages about reducing spending, raising taxes, but it is kind of an anger and outrage associated with the tea party that i do not know if a guy like tim pawlenty will be characterized by that kind of candidate. sarah palin could be a tea party caidate. newt gingrichs kind of played for the tea party vote, and the kind of a firebrand when he wants to be. he could vy fo the tea party vote. the tea party vote has not been secured debt. i doot know if any one candidate will end up with it. host: let's talk about the other side of the aisle. here is the associated press this morning, saying that barack obama tapped into a record near 50 million voters for the first time. what do you make of that? guest: that has been the question of his campaign and the political arm of his presidency. he broug so many people

if you're tim pawlenty, poor tim pawlenty who wants to be president, you've got to be careful. >> we and the other guy former governor of new mexico he wants to legalize marijuana, not that controversial but this the conservative party. >> this is why -- to roger's point. this is why it's an odd thing tim pawlenty participated. i get why. he figures fox news channel, lots other people. ron paul and gary johnson, they're not on the same page. >> there's the establishment republican party that wants to hold office, then there's the tea party-led party that would just as soon yell and have fun. the focus group showed that herman cain, who heads up godfather's pizza, this is an amazing result. this was his favorite line from cain in the fox news channel debate last night. let's listen. >> one of the biggest problems we have with this country right now today is too much government intervention in trying to tell businesses how to do what they do best, which is create jobs. government doesn't krael jobs. businesses create jobs. we need to get government out of the way, including trying to t

and then it's other people. >> does it diminish tim pawlenty at all to be at this debate?> it gives him the spotlight. if he performs very well, we'll be watching tonight and he'll be able to show that he has the chops to go head-to-head with president obama november 2012. i do think what could diminish the republican field is just the split screen image of the day. president obama going to ground zero for a very solemn tribute to those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. on the other hand, the debate in south carolina, tim pawlenty, rick santorum, heram cain, ron paul, gary johnson and that split screen image could be very difficult for the republican party. >> do you think, certainly, with the president's victory and command of this operation, which the white house really took pains to release that narrative of how closely he followed this operation and planned for it in terms of catching and killing bin laden that then highlights the lack of foreign policy and now security credentials of current republican field? >> it does. and of course, that osama bin laden's dea

tim pawlenty and john,huntsman. how would each do it? romney would probably be as manager and job creator. here is romney's offense and obama's defense. >> i like president obama. but he doesn't have a clue how jobs are created. >> an economy that was shedding jobs every month now has seen over two million jobs created in the last 14. chris: former utah governor john huntsenman, his strongest argument is he could get bipartisan cooperation. here is his main theme and obama's defense. >> we have been divided for too long. the yelling, screaming and finger pointing in this country ought to come to an end. >> when it comes to just about everything we have done to strengthen our middle class and rebuild the economy, almost every republican in congress says no. chris: the third with a serious chance is tim pawlenty. he is running as at conservative p populist who could blunt charges the g.o.p. is a rich man's party. >> i saw up close the face of loss, the face of hardship, the face of losing a job. so i know americans are feeling that way tod

gary johnson, herman cain, ceo of godfather's pizza, ron paul shared the stage with tim pawlenty. where were the others? >> they were ducking it and made a mistake, because fox news is important to nominating process. newt gingrich lost his scholarship box, and so was present form -- his scholarship at fox, and so did rick santorum. >> it was an underwhelming group of candidates there, probably enough to spur people like huckabee if that is the field. >> i am about to ask a crass political question, but i should know that the unemployment number has inched up to 9%, not necessarily bad because they have added jobs, but the crass political question is, does the capture of osama bin laden give barack obama pushed to reelection in 2012? >> i think you will wear off, because in our fast-paced culture, nothing lasts. he will get credit for it, but not enough to re-elect him. the economy will drown this outbreak it the economy goes sour, it will be in much bigger deal. >> i think evan is right, but there was this. republicans had been pushing that he was indecisive and cannot do anythin

he did it in the most damaging way to his party line. >> lehrer: now tim pawlenty is coming. t's almost definite that he is coming in the next few days. what is your reading on him right now? >> yeah, i think-- i think there are really three plausible candidates, romney, pawlenty and daniel if he gets in and i could easily see the nomination for pawlenty because he is the one with without any strong negatives. he is fine. he was a good governor. he speaks well. he's fine. so various people compare him to the dukakis race. he comes from a working class background which that will play well. he's a good guy. so he doesn't, so far he hasn't aroused any excitement. and so far he hasn't really defined himself as more than just a generic republican can. but that might be fun fine. that might be good enough. so he is a serious player worth paying attention to. >> lehrer: do you agree in. >> i think anybody who is a governor and re-elected as a governor, especially in a state that politics have been dominated by the other party is a plausible candidate. but jim, running for president,

and that is tim pawlenty. >> reporter: and that man, former minnesota governor tim pawlenty joins ushank you. >> is george will right? are you the big winner on the mitch daniels announcement? >> i'm not a policy analyst or pundit. we'll let them figure out who wins and loses without mitch being in the race. our country is in trouble. i'm running for president because i know i can tackle the issues. i know i can get the economy back on track. i did that in minnesota. i can do it for america. >> you're entering a race that mitt romney and newt gingrich have already joined. it looks like john huntsman will get in as well. you're still pretty far behind in the polls. what one thing sets you apart from these other candidates? >> well, every candidate is going to have his or her own life story and his or her on record. only four governors in the country got an a grade from the cato institute for fiscal management. the other three are not running. i'm to only other one. >> one of your republican predecessors, arnie carlson, who was governor for eight years, said, i don't think any governor

former minnesota governor tim pawlenty is in and former massachusetts governor mitt romney officiallyaunches his campaign next week. texas governor rick perry says he's mulling it over. >> i'm going to think about it. but i think about -- i think about a lot of things. >> reporter: tea party favorite michele bachmann and former governor jon huntsman are undeclared and making the rounds. palin is the wild card. >> her entry could mix it up to the point where it denies pawlenty a clear path to victory but i don't think she'll get in. i think the nominee will be pawlenty, romney or huntsman. >> reporter: palin's tour could be the clearest sign yet that she just might be considering a bid. kristen welker, nbc news, washington. >>> for more politics on the palin factor, we're joined by cnbc's chief washington correspondent john harwood. john, she's got us all talking which is probably part of what sarah palin is looking for. does this go beyond pr for a tv personality or are we watching a campaign for president? >> i think there's a good chance of preserving her voice and her brand. the fi

an official announcement by the former minnesota gopher tim pawlenty. at podium right now. he is going to be officially launching his 2012 run for president, republican there. he's just one of many who have decided to join in the race. they are from the very important state of iowa in des moines, iowa, to make that official announcement that he will throw his hat into the ring. >>> also, president obama connecting with his roots today and, yes, it is in ireland. he's about to deliver remarks at an irish celebration at college green in dublin. you're looking at live pictures there as well. he and the first lady just visited the tiny village of moneygall. that is where president obama's maternal great great great grandfather was born. we're going to have more live pictures and that event right after the break. >>> it's official, republican tim pawlenty has formally entered the 2012 race for president. the former minnesota governor kicking off his campaign just moments ago in iowa. he is promising to tell the truth. >> if we want a new and better -- >> and

on the other hand, the new kid on the block is former minnesota governor, tim pawlenty. he's conservative, lives next door to iowa. very important for all of those trips back and forth, if you will. we're seeing something of that. and we're seeing something of michelle bachman. another person from minnesota, representative. here's the other one you want to watch for. you want to watch texas governor rick perry. the longest-serving governor in texas history. very, very popular with conservatives from texas. that's something to think about. >> we're still very early in the game obviously. anybody have an edge? a leg up on the rest of the kpet snigs. >> yeah. a couple of ways to look at this. first of all, always bear in mind someone like mitt romney. why mitt romney? he's got money, recognition, organization. that's a trifecta you've got to respect, okay? but he also has a lot of baggage from 2008. he's the one who came up with his own health care program, in massachusetts, eerily similar to what republicans call boem care and there's a bit of a flip-flop reputation he's g

. >>> former minnesota governor tim pawlenty is running for president. he made the announcement on the internet video released last night. >> my first campaign stop will be in iowa and that's where i'm going to begin a campaign that tells the american people the truth. >> pawlenty will be in iowa today. it's the first stop on the campaign trip that will also take him to florida, new hampshire, new york and then washington, d.c. that least a list of declared public candidates as tim pawlenty, carla marinucci, mitt romney, john huntsman and herman cain all trying to get the gop nomination. >>> san carlos city council member will discuss appointing anew mayor at the council meeting. omar ahmad died suddenly of a heart attack a couple of weeks ago. vice mayor andy klein took over on an interim basis and a day later was arrested for possibly driving under the influence. the mayor in san carlos is appointed by the city council. >>> gas price fell nearly a dime over the past two weeks. lundberg survey says the national average is $3 .97 per gallon. here in the

but the problem for tim pawlenty is that, you know, he had a lot of tough questions asked of him, innge, on waterboarding. you know, so that's a difficult thing for somebody who not a lot of people really know. his name i.d. is still very low, and that was their introduction to him. >> how will last night's debate influence the republicans who have not yet thrown their hat in the ring? >> we wrote today that actually, we think the people who haven't decided yet were the biggest winners tonight. the thing about mike huckabee, tim pawlenty got asked about whether or not mike huckabee would put his campaign out of business. and he said, "i love the huck." so if huckabee wants to get in, he certainly would do pretty well. >> there's a campaign slogan for you, "i love the huck." it's got a certain ring to it, doesn't it? thank you. >>> congressman ron paul got a big round of applause last night for this line on what the united states needs to do now that osama bin laden is dead. >> get the troops out of afghanistan and end that war that hasn't helped us and hasn't helped anybody in the mi

tim pawlenty, cap and trade. mitch daniels, governor of indiana, supported some tax increases. and john huntsman has, too. he was president obama's ambassador to china and been pro gay rights. then there is the list of likely candidates with big personal history flaws. trouble with independents as well as with the g.o.p. base. newt gingrich, on his third marriage. mitch daniels whose wife divorced him, left him with their in our daughters and then returned three years later and then they remarried. and of course donald trump. howard, this is a strange story. let's start with the personal ones and strange for people even thinking of running for president. maybe a situation of desperation they're in. mitch daniels, his story was in every paper this week. they decide to put it out. somebody did. his wyche many years ago left him, left the four daughters in his care, split, married some guy who got divorced himself, then came back three years later, they married again. is this going to be the kind of -- for lack of a better word ickey discussion that no wife or husband really wants

tim pawlenty had a great rollout, huntsman. they may be the ones.ack obama will be tough to beat. i disagree with part of alex's premise. you look at part of their message developing this week, what they did with the car industry. had the american people, had george bush not had the tamarity and barack obama not had the audacity to continue with that and talk and ensure the financial system did not collapse. it's hard to run on that, but these are realities. and when you look at the stock market over the last few years, he has a case and something to settle. at the end of the day, the talk about the medicare and social security cuts, as relevant as it may be, alex, david, ruth, you all know, no president wins by saying we are in a terrible position as a country, we have to cut and cut and cut. people want to hear growth. they want to hear how we're going to get back to where we are, and then you get to the message of cutting. the problems with the republicans arc rollouts in the last few days and weeks, is all they talk about are cuts and doom and g

i'm tim pawlenty. and i'm running for president of the united states. >> meanwhile, another republican says he's not entering the presidential sweepstakes. indiana governor mitch daniels took his name out of consideration for the nomination. in the end, daniels said in a statement, i was able to resolve every competing consideration but one. the interests and wishes of my family is the most important consideration of all. if i had disappointed you, i will always be sorry. >>> in los angeles, an arrest in the brutal attack of a san francisco giants fan at dodger stadium. the suspect is being held on $1 million bail. and police say they are closing in on other suspects. meanwhile the victim, bryan stow, remains in a medically induced coma. manuel gallegus has more. wrt a s.w.a.t. team swarmed two hollywood apartments early sunday. they arrested a man they say is one of two suspects in the march 31st beating of giants baseball fan bryan stow. police spoke outside dodgers stadium where the attack occurred.