the new abc news poll from iowa hits romney right in the wheelhouse. >> the economy is in my wheelhouse reporter: iowans say "nope" on the question of who best can handle the economy. romney trails newt gingrich by 11 points. his supporters say romney is the most electable candidate. >> who is our best hope to take on president obama? mitt romney. >> reporter: iowans say "nope." he's tied or trailing newt gingrich there, too. economy and electability are his strengths. what about his perceived weaknesses? like his health care plan in massachusetts? >> i'm proud of what we are able to accomplish. >> reporter: iowans say "nope." 45% say his health care record is a major reason to oppose him. what will he do to fix this? he's coming out of his shell for more press conferences. do a lot more interviews. but he won't be doing the debate moderated by donald trump and he won't swear. if i become president of if united states, i will work my day and night off. >> reporter: john berman, abc news, new york. and i'm told you'll see an immediate shift in tactics because what was going on wasn't wor

with the wheelhouse completely destroyed, there's no way for the captain to control its direction.wn the canal. the boat begins to slow, but the nightmare has just begun. just as the massively damaged freighter comes to a stop, flames shoot out from the point of impact engulfing the upper deck. >> god, jump off the boat, guys. >> i knew this would happen. >> as 22 crew members work quickly to secure the ship, the fire consumes the freighter. everyone on board scrambles to safety as emergency crews rush to the scene. >> holy mackerel. this is out of control for sure, eh? >> the fire continues throughout the night. the accident shuts down the entire seaway between lakes erie and ontario, stranding several ships for several days. remarkably, no lives are lost. only two crew members are treated for minor injuries. the damage to the ship is estimated in the millions. an investigation reveals the bridge operator lowered the bridge too soon and was most likely impaired by prescription drugs. >>> february, 2009. a close call on u.s. highway 301 near tampa, florida. a black suv slams into a

and they know what they're good at, where their gift is and they know how to stay inside their wheelhouse. you never want to go on stage and take too many risks, you're yo-yo ma, you don't have to take risks at this point to pull in a crowd, to make money, to be regarded around the world. why do you see it one way and others see the other way? >> ultimately it's what you believe in and what you think is important and what you think makes sense. and that's where being old, you've seen so many iterations of people being afraid. i think the greatest things that keeps us as human beings from really advancing is fear. we are paralyzed by fear. tavis: i agree on that. >> and some of that is real, some of it is imagined, and if we can conquer our own fears and our own insecurities and are willing to be in our highly competitive hierarchical society, to be vulnerable, in music, that's a good thing. vulnerability is a strength. sometimes just strength becomes a weakness. so, in fact, what we're not looking for is acceptance or success or whatever, but what we're looking for in life as well as in f

this is right in everybody's wheelhouse on the end of the pond, the conservative end of the pond that newt is swimming in along with perry and bachmann and santorum and, to some extent, paul. i expect that they will hammer him -- forget about the ads. they'll take this to every pizza place in iowa. >> let me just push back on that. what's wrong with him saying, look, i thought it was a good idea. we saw how it actually got implemented, and i don't believe in it any more. i changed my minded. snd that kind of refreshing as opposed to doing what a lot of candidates seem to do, which is say that it's not actually changing their mind and go through laborious explanations why it's not? >> it would be refreshing were it not always being carried or parried by his campaign of his campaign doing nanny nanny boo boo by calling mitt romney names. that's just childish. on the one hand his campaign is trying to hammer romney for saying essentially what you just said, that he tried it and he found it didn't work. and on the other side saying, well, because i'm newt gingrich, when i change my mind i

this is right in everybody's wheelhouse on the end of the pond, the conservative end of the pond, that newt is swimming in along with perry and bachmann and santorum and to some extent paul. i expect they will hammer him. foreget about the ads. they'll take this to every pizza place in iowa. >> let me just push back on that. what's wrong with him saying, you know what? i thought maybe it was a good idea. we saw how it actually got implemented. and i don't believe in it anymore. i change my mind. i mean, isn't that kind of refreshing as opposed to kind of doing what a lot of candidates seem to do, which is say that it's not actually changing their mind and sort of go through laborious explanations why it's not? >> it would be refreshing if it weren't also being carried by -- or parried by his campaign doing the equivalent of nanny nanny boo-boo by calling mitt romney names. that's just childish. but on the one hand, his campaign is trying to hammer romney for saying essentially what you just said, that he tried it and he found it didn't work. and on the other side saying, well, because

because, i mean, he fits right into that fox wheelhouse of everybody else is wrong except us. >> he lovess, you know, he was an analyst on fox news for a long time. he's much more comfortable with the press. during the '90s when getting run out of town, he loved talking to the press and does it better than romney. the problem is if you take a couple steps back, what we're really seeing is a fox news primary and fox news campaign and fox news is slowly destroying the republican party as we see with newt gingrich and donald trump today. one of the problems is they want to create the bubble. that's the right wing approach, stay inside the bubble. it doesn't work. you have to deal with the press. >> quickly, does mitt romney have a confidence problem right now? >> oh, absolutely does. that's reflected in the press. >> to question about it. eric. good to have you with us. that's "the ed show." i'm ed schultz. listen to me on sirius xm channel 127 monday through

and wearing survival suits, the captain and the engineer will need to cross the boat from the wheelhouse> from our point of view they got about halfway across. we saw the captain slip, go down on his knees, and this huge mound of ice just crushed -- came across the beck and swept them overborder. >> oh, no! >> the two men are flung into 28-degree water. the tide pulls them dangerously close to the monarch. it looks like they'll be crushed by their own ship. now they're at the mercy of mother nature. >> waves come in sets, so not only were they hammered by that one wave that washed them over, there were about three others that came through, just boom, boom, boom, right on top of them, crushing them. we're sitting up here going, what are we going to do now? >> the wind is howling at 30 to 40 knots, but pilot gooth moves fast. she maneuvers her chopper tight between the monarch and the coast guard ship. with a steady hand she holds her position, and the crew drops their rescue basket down to the engineer. >> i have never seen anybody get in a basket that fast. he wanted out of there real ba

this is newt gingrich's wheelhouse. verbal combat. no one is better at it. no one enjoys it more. you know, the key for him is not to appear too mean. not to go totally off message. and he didn't -- neither hapned last night. soery successful evening for him. so you know, unfortunately i think for governor romney, the clip that will be played a lot is himtrying to make the $10,00bet. >> u don say. here was the fight with rick perry over the individual mandate in health care. watch. >> i read your first book, and it said in there that your mandate in massachusetts, which should be the model for the country, and i know it came out of the reprint of the book, but you know, i'm just sayg, you were for indidual mandates, my friend. >> you know that, you've raised that before, rick. itas true then. >> is it truenow? >> ric i'll tell you what, 10,000 bucks, $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> oh, okay. >> okay. >> the median income in iowa is less --is only about 50,000. so a $10,000 bet is pretty extraordinary. and we should point out that newt gingrich had a similar mom

. >> the economy is in my wheelhouse. >> reporter: this morning, iowans don't seem to agree.r new abc news poll, 31% say they trust newt gingrich to handle the economy. romney is 11 points back. >> we're going to put that in the ground. >> reporter: romney says he is the republican most likely to beat the president. iowans say, nope. gingrich has the edge there, too. newt seems to be piling on romney a bit. while in new york, trying to line up donald trump's endorsement. >> it's a genuine american icon in his own right. >> reporter: gingrich had a sideswipe with some bite to it. noted romney's no political outsider. >> i don't know if you ought to count running for the senate in 1994, running for governor and running for president for six years. i don't know if that makes him a career politician or not. i'll let you decide. >> reporter: overnight, romney tried to turn the focus from himself, to the president. reporting at length of his christmas vacation. >> i think it's time to have a president whose idea of big hands on is not a better grip on the golf club. >> reporter: de

it's in my wheelhouse. >> tonight, most americans believe our nation is heading in the wrong direction. >> there's a plan out there and there's a person that can get it done and that's rick perry. >> i'm not going to rest until we repeal obama care. >> now, with the vote only 24 days away in iowa, they gather in the heartland to make their case. >> the radicals have been in charge way too long. >> to face the tough questions. and to challenge each other. the stakes couldn't be any higher. >> iowa gets to decide who's going to be the next president of the united states. >> and finally, the moment to choose is at hand. live from drake university in des moines, iowa, in partnership with yahoo! news, abc 5 woi tv, the des moines register and the republican party of iowa, this is the abc news republican presidential debate, your voice, your vote. now reporting from des moines, diane sawyer and george stephanopoulos. >> and good evening to all of you. welcome to iowa. welcome to drake university, as the presidential voting draws near. the time is coming. and the political team of abc news ha

facing a looming fighter shortfall, and the fact of the matter is, this falls squarely in congress's wheelhouse. the taiwan relations act that i referred to earlier, 1979, signed by president jimmy carter with bipartisan support, requires the united states government to provide taiwan, our friend and ally, with the defense articles necessary for them to defend itself against communist chinese aggression, and it instructs the president and the congress to determine the nature and quantity of such defense articles based on their judgment of the needs of taiwan. 47 democrats and republicans in the united states senate -- almost half -- have signed a letter to the president of the united states supporting this sale. in the house of representatives, 181 democrats and republicans have signed a letter to the president supporting this sale. the senate, as you'll recall, madam president, in september previously voted on an amendment like this in the trade adjustment authority assistance bill, which ended up in a 48-48 tie. although the bill had strong bipartisan support, some of my colleagues said they