immediately endorsed newt gingrich who's been surging in several new south carolina polls. >> a conservative visionary who can transform our country. we've had our differences, which campaigns will inevitably have. and newt is not perfect. but who among us is? the fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek god. and i believe in the power of redemption. for it is a central tenet of my christian faith. >> that redemption remark from governor perry an apparent reference to new allegations from the former speaker's second ex-wife, in interviews with the "washington post" and abc news, marianne gingrich accuses her husband of once coming to her and asking for a "open marriage." here's what she told abc's brian rose. >> i said to him, newt, we've been married a long time. and he said, yes, but you want me all to yourself. callis t a doesn't care what do i. >> what was he saying, do you think? >> he was asking to have an open marriage. and i refused. >> marianne gingrich also used that term "open marriage" in an interview conducted today with the "washington post." i spoke with the reporter a short time ago and asked him about that part of the interview. >> newt gingrich said that he wanted to be able to see someone else. he never used calista's nature. and he said, the problem -- she said no. and he said, well, the problem with you is you want me all to yourself. and she said, well, that's what a marriage is. and he said, well, callista doesn't have a problem with it. and she said she refused and would not go along with that. and from that point forward and later on, they basically got their divorce lawyers and moved on. and then he stopped talking to her. >> that is a new term, open marriage she did not use. a lot of this she did discuss with esquire magazine in an interview some time ago. the obvious question people have in the political context, why now? why 48 hours before the people of south carolina vote has marianne decided to come out and air her grievances with her former husband? >> well, she'd been grappling with this for several months. she'd been approached by a lot of reporters. and she decided that it was unavoidable, at least that's what she told me. she felt like it was not something that she could refuse to answer anymore. plus like any good politician, and she was a politician's spouse for a long time, she knows that you got to get your story out there before other people do, define you. and she felt like she was sort of being defined through whispered campaigns. she felt she'd been discussed on one conservative radio show that she'd heard. and she wanted to get her story out there so she could tell her side of it and avoid perhaps any mud that might be thrown her way. she wanted people to know it wasn't her initiation. she didn't feel it was her fault. and she wanted to tell her side of the story. >> politics as you know and as she notes can be a dirty business sometimes. any indication at all this is anything but marianne gingrich making a personal decision on her own to come forward? any hints, any suggestion that perhaps a gingrich rival, a gingrich critic cowl have encouraged her? >> well, i don't know. that's a good question. she certainly didn't share that with me in my discussions. i felt -- and i've talked to her for more than a month now -- i felt like she was really grappling with the decision about whether to do it. she really didn't want to be brought into it. i think if newt gingrich had made amends or had ever said he was sorry for what had happened that maybe she would have felt differently. >> a big day in politics. you heard there, an account of marianne gingrich's allegations. rick santorum finds out this morning he won the iowa caucuses. rick perry out of the race. he endorses speaker gingrich. a lot to discuss now as the candidates prepare to take debate stage now. i'm joined by our political analyst gloria borger and our white house correspondent jessica yellin. gloria, what is the potential impact? any negative impact among south carolina voters? >> i think there is a potential negative impact. this is of course very close to the election. so it may be coming too late to have a large impact. when you think about newt gingrich and you look at our recent poll in south carolina, we see he has twice as much support among men as he does in women. so he's already got women sort of skeptical. they know that he's had three marriages. and let's be honest. when a woman hears the word "open marriage" when a wife hears that, it's usually not good news. and i think women will react skeptically to it. but again, how much impact it's going to have in south carolina is really an open question. >> perhaps patriot politically one of the reasons he had his two daughters come out with the first statement here, to try to have his daughters speaking for him. let's listen a bit. the former speaker wants them to take the lead here. let's listen to the former speaker. >> i am 68 years old. i am a grandfather. we entered this race -- we had to think this through for a year. we knew we'd get beaten up. we knew we'd get lied about. we knew we'd get smeared. we knew we'd get nasty attack ads. we decided the country was worth the pain. now, people got to decide. [ applause ] >> they decide here in 48 hours. what about a backlash? what about people saying hey wait a minute? what about the timing here? >> it cowl be. and it could be the media who is out to get newt gingrich is releasing this at this particular time. we're told there were internal debates for example at abc news about whether to release it now. so there cowl be a backlash. and people could also question her saying why is marianne gingrich doing this now and why is she colluding with the elite media? he might say that. what he does say, though, is interesting. which is i'm a grandfather. this happened a very long time ago. this has been discounted. let's move to the future. >> and helping him deal with the story here is this immediate endorsement from governor perry. he gets out this morning, he's going to face his reality. he gets up and getting out and quickly not only endorsing speaker beginning rich but saying sure he's not perfect but let's be christians and believe in redemption. take us inside that story. >> really interesting. rick perry we understand from sources made his decision last night to get out of the race. but it wasn't clear at that point whether or not he was going to endorse anybody. i'm told if he were to endorse anybody it would have been newt gingrich because they are good friends. they have been friend for years and years. they generally like each other although you wouldn't know that from watching some of the debates. but in any event, it wasn't until this morning i'm told that he formally decided he was going to back newt gingrich. we were told at the beginning he would give him a hat or campaign for him. he decided to do a full endorsement. and i thought it was absolutely fascinating that he in the next breath talked about the fact that christians need to forgive. he went right to the heart of the weakness that newt gingrich has with the voters. >> and this is a day rick santorum hoped to be getting a lot of attention for the fact that he won in iowa. instead he has to deal with governor perry getting out. these headlines about speaker beginni gingrich. you asked him about whether rick perry courting evangelical votes. let's hear santorum talking about governor perry's exit. >> i actually never did call governor perry. i found out that he was going to drop out of the race this morning. it was announced immediately thereafter that he was going to endorse newt. i thought, well, that's his prerogative. >> he made clear, senator santorum did in an interview with wolf blitzer he's in no matter what happens here. he knows the polling. romney and gingrich at the top, santorum and paul in the next tier there. what's your sense of his take and his stakes as he prepares for this debate tonight? >> they're huge, absolutely huge. he has the ability to stay in the race now regardless of what happens here because he is getting some money. in fact even though he didn't get the perry endorsement, the santorum campaign aides that i talked to today insist that he is getting some of perry's money people, of course. perry one thing he had going for him is money. a good donor list. the so they are getting some of that. rick santorum has already purchased ad time in florida to signal that no matter what happens, this isn't over but the stakes are absolutely huge for him here because the entire evangelical elite, they endorsed him. they put all of their eggs in his basket. >> and he cease himself as the values candidate. so i wouldn't be surprised if he's the one to go after newt gingrich tonight on the values issue. >> we'll watch that. gloria and jessica, thank you. don't go anywhere. be sure to watch the southern republican presidential debate begins tonight at 8:00 eastern. the last debate before this weekend's critical south carolina primary. that debate right here only on cnn. i went behind the scenes earlier today to get a tour of the setup to see how inside the hall is taking shape. have a peek. we'll start the program right here. but you see our beautiful stage is set up. four. there were four i guess we would say. we have five this morning. now down to four. governor perry was going to be to my left here. instead we'll have senator santorum, governor romney, speaker gingrich and congressman paul. so the four remaining candidates will be up here. it's a little bit more cozy. there were seven candidates when i moderated back in june. there have been eight candidates at some of the debates. now we're down to just four. the stage might look a bit fast i'll come over this way during the debates at some points as i wander over here we're going to take questions from our audience. we can turn to our audience and have them participate. we also are taking questions, asking questions from our viewers online in the twitter verse, on facebook at cnn.com. we have a big monitor across the hall where we can read those questions and put them to the candidates tonight. as you can see it's a bit cozy up here in the sense we've got more room. we've got a little bit more space, the four candidates in here. they'll come out here at the very beginning of our debate tonight. we'll introduce the candidates and they'll come in from backstage, come out. they get a chance first. many of you have seen this before. just to mingle, say hello to each other to say good evening, to interact with the audience just a little bit at the top. we'll have plaej of allegiance, the national anthem. i'll give the official business, go through the rules a little bit so the candidates can get comfortable at their podiums. you see some of them scribbling some predebate notes and we'll get to it and ask questions. i'll ask some questions, some questions from the audience. we'll go out to social media as well. 35 hours from when we start this debate until the people of south carolina cast their ballots. so it's a consequential time down to four candidates. tonight's a fun night. peek behind the scenes there. our crew has done a fabulous job taking the arena, it's a debate here tonight. a man who has helped would be presidents and presidents prepare for this debate. republican senator rob portman. -dave. -what's up, dave? -dave. -dave. dave. dave. dave? hi, dave. oh, dave's looking for you. hey, dave. yo, dave! [ male announcer ] in a small business, it's all you. that's why you have us. at staples, we have low prices on everything your small business needs. staples. that was easy. on evwill be giving away bupassafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. less than two hours away from our big debate in charleston, south carolina, let's talk to a man who knows a lot about the pressure of presidential debates. senator rob portman from ohio. he's advised dick cheney, george w. bush, john mccain. a few miles from here, senator portman decided to throw his support to the former massachusetts governor mitt romney. senator port man with mere in charleston. you endorsed governor romney today. i want to get behind the curtain of your past experience helping people with debates. but as you look at the gingrich surge here, a lot of people trace it to a not-so-sure-footed performance by governor romney monday night. what does he need to do tonight? >> i think he'll be fine tonight. he needs to be relaxed, be himself. he needs to be sure he gets his message out. as the moderator this frustrates you i know. but you've got to be sure regardless of what the question is you got to be sure your positions are getting out there and communicated clearly. so i think he'll do well tonight. he seemed very relaxed when i saw him earlier today. this is going to be a very close contest. but i think a lot of folks will be tuning in. >> as you look at the polling state in south carolina, governor romney says i'll release my taxes eventually. first he said he wouldn't release them, he might release them, release them eventually. governor chris christie of new jersey says it's an issue get them out. should he get them out? >> he's been pretty consistent. he said i'm going to do it in april like other americans do when do i my taxes. every four years the presidential candidates in april -- >> you've been in politics awhile. if it's hurting you right now can you wait until april? >> i think as long as he stays consistent on that message that's what he's going to do. we'll see what happens by april. i mean, but in the primary we'll have moved along. we'll have super tuesday behind us. i think he can be consistent and do just fine. >> we've known each other a long time. in campaigns past you have been the stand. in you have played barack obama. you have played al gore. i believe you have played joe biden and you were telling me before we came during the break you once played hillary clinton in a senate debate. what's it like to assume somebody else's identity in a debate prep? >> it's sometimes very difficult. because you're not quite sure if you're playing yourself or somebody else. but it's also great to find out what the other side is thinking. and in the case of barack obama, i feel like i know the guy pretty well. now i'm a u.s. senator on the republican side of the aisle. and when i see the president i sort of i have a kinship with him. same with joe lieberman who's one of my colleagues who i've played also. but it's an exciting opportunity. >> some would say you might not have that opportunity to play president obama this time because you'd be high on anybody's list for a vice-presidential candidate. has that come up with governor romney at all? >> it has not. >> if you were the republican nominee whatever his name was called rob partman would you say you could serve in that role? >> i think i would say i could serve you best by being an elected senator from ohio. we've got an economy in tough shape, got to deal with the deficit and debt. whoever it is needs some allies on capitol hill. i intend to be one of those. >> i suspect we may have that debate down the road. up next adding injury to insult for tim tebow. not only did his denver broncos lose last weekend to my new england patriots, it turns out mr. tebow seriously hurt but kept playing. plus president obama takes his new push for tourism to florida's walt disney world. a backdrop. mitt romney just couldn't resist today. >> it's obviously appropriate because he's been living in a sort of fantasy land these last few years. built for the purpose of driving innovation. one that's transforming how companies from every industry-- and of every size-- are doing business. a platform built for now. and for what's next. this...is the cisco intelligent network. cisco. but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. i want to fix up old houses. ♪ [ woman ] when i grow up, i want to take him on his first flight. i want to run a marathon. i'm going to own my own restaurant. when i grow up, i'm going to start a band. 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[ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. welcome back. kate bolduan has the latest news you need to know right now. >> reporter: some news to catch you up on. divers resumed searching the capsized cruise ship along italy today, blowing holes in its hull. seven of the 11 bodies so far were discovered they are searching near. the ship's cook told a phillippi know network the captain and a woman ordered dinner about an hour after the ship hit some submerged rocks last friday while things in the kitchen were falling all over off the shelves. in other news, denver's 45-10 loss to new england last weekend was harder on quarterback tim tebow than you may have thought. espn revealed tebow kept playing even though he was in considerable pain from among other injuries a torn cartilage in his rib cage and a bruised lung and fluid in the area surrounding the lung. ouch. the team says he was hurt near the start of the third quarter. and president obama went to florida, florida's walt disney world today not for the rides but to promote actions his administration is taking to make it easier for international tourists to visit the united states and found some time to poke fun at himself. >> it's always nice to meet a world leader who has bigger ears than me. [ laughter ] >> and in south carolina today, mitt romney of course could not resist taking a shot at the president's choice of a backdrop. >> he's giving a speech in fantasyland, all right? now, think about that. he's going to be in fantasyland. and it's obviously appropriate because he's been living in a sort of fantasyland these last few years. >> reporter: newt gingrich john also taking a swipe at the president relating oklahoma's c obama's cabinet to a picture of mickey and goofy. regardless, i wanted to say not like you need it, good luck with the debate tonight, buddy. >> i'm looking forward to it. high stakes for the candidates. their debate not mine but i'm proud to be part of it. we're hopefully going to have a good discussion and maybe a little fun along the way. kate, thanks very much. i hope you'll stay with us. we're expecting the candidates for tonight's debate to start arriving any minute now. you see the north charleston coliseum behind me. they each have a green room down below. that's our debate hall looking shiny and nice. you think the debates in the tv commercials are rough? we're going to show you some of the things arriving in south carolina, mailboxes in these final hours. the word ouch applies. stay with us. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. 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[ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. it's a big night in presidential politics. just 90 minutes away now from tonight's southern republican presidential debate. you'll see it right here on cnn. a half hour ahead we should begin to seat candidates arrive at north charleston coliseum. some of the nastiest ads are coming to south carolinians in the mail. we'll show you. also cnn's fareed zakaria joins me to talk about his interview with president obama. they talked about iran, foreign policy and the campaign to come. it has been to say the least a rocky day for the mitt romney campaign. first this morning, fellow republicans announced the new vote count showing rick santorum beating governor romney winning the iowa caucuses. santorum says romney phoned the former senator to concede. although romney campaign aides call the iowa results a virtual tie. governor rick perry of texas dropped out of the presidential race and immediately endorsed former speaker newt gingrich. jim acosta is following the romney campaign. jim, how do they make of this day here when going into a big debate, trying to keep your focus on the debate and you have a number of developments? iowa, then rick perry? how are they dealing with all the bouncing balls? >> reporter: well, john, it's worth pointing out that at 6:00 this morning mitt romney put out a statement calling the results out in iowa a virtual tie. and then a few hours later at his event in north charleston we tried to ask him a question about what happened in ohio, the fact rick santorum came out on top. he walked right past our cameras after we made repeated attempts to ask him about this and blew past us and got in his car after the event. later this afternoon the santorum people say mitt romney called them to concede to the former pennsylvania senator, the results out in iowa. but the romney campaign fired back and said, no, this was not a call to concede but to congratulate. there's a little bit of semantics game going on there between the two tap ka many pains. it's odd they handled this way, john. you'll recall after what happened in ohio and new hampshire, mitt romney at his first event referred to his eight-vote victory at that time as a squeaker. that was when john mccain referred to mitt romney as landslide romney. so it was an odd way of handling. i think by this afternoon they realized they had to clean it up, john. >> and jim, do they think it makes a difference? it's a couple weeks ago. maybe santorum might have done a little better in new hampshire. hard to say. hypothetical if he was coming out the winner, not a close second. but you think now as you head into a big debate, 48 hours before south carolina votes, do they think voters will process it and somehow have a reassessment? >> reporter: john, i asked this question of a top romney campaign source at that event earlier today. all he would do is describe the last 24 hours as a crazy day. i think that's putting it mildly. i think what has happened here, john, is that mitt romney has had some missteps down here in south carolina, revealing that his effective tax rate is 15% obviously is not going over well. the way he fumbled over whether other not he would release his tax returns in that debate on monday night. obviously that was not good. in new hampshire he could afford to make these types of mistakes because he was so out in front of the rest of the republican feet. he can't do that down here in south carolina, john. it is just too close between he and newt gingrich. i think they realize that right now. i think that's why we saw earlier today mitt romney really in his campaign really clamping down on the media and just offering only a few words of response to what was a blockbuster day of developments, john. >> jim acosta, important reporting from the romney campaign. tonight we'll see how the governor performs in the debate tonight. one missing from tonight's debate is rick perry. he was supposed to take part but surprised a lot of us this morning by dropping out of the race, suspending his campaign and endorsing newt gingrich. peter hamby broke that story. take us behind scenes. what are perry's people saying? the other day he said it would take a supernatural force to get him out. yesterday he said i'm in until saturday. what happens overnight? >> reporter: jon huntman i think was a factor. jon huntsman was going to finish last in south carolina. with him out of the race rick perry was definitely going to finish last in south carolina. the numbers were not moving for him despite all the tv ads and mail they're doing here. he's actually generating big crowds. but voters as much as they like him and like his message had concluded after watching him in all those debates he was not viable. that was the message we got from the perry campaign today. they didn't see a viable path forward even though they had said for the last two weeks we're going to go all in in south carolina. >> so then he decides, very proud man, he decides let's get out now before the results. but then he takes a risky decision, a risky decision anyway given the romney advantages but all the more so given the new reports today questioning newt gingrich's character. rick perry decides, i'm going to be up front right out of the box and endorse newt gingrich. why? >> reporter: first of all, gingrich is more keeping with perry's sort of tea party, grassroots brand. secondly a relationship that goes back awhile. when gingrich started to run for president perry was still governor of texas not running for president he let his senior staff worker go to work for perry. they have a relationship that perry doesn't have with rick santorum and certainly not with governor romney. >> you spent a lot of time in this state this cycle el last cycle. you know the quirkiney of south carolina. this is about rick santorum. early on is he going to be a threat here? look at this on the back here. this is about rick santorum's time in the senate and is he a pork barrel spender. you see it up there, earmark spending out of control. "i'll defend earmarks." essentially this is the pro romney superpac i believe trying to say to the tea party voters don't listen to rick santorum. >> they've sent out four of these huge mailings drilling santorum. >> costs money. >> reporter: these are expensive. mail is one of the most expensive if not the most expensive media effort you can have in a campaign, is it as effective as television? probably not. i talked to my friend sashaize enberg rising a book about nerd scientists in campaigns. how effective is it? it's not easy to measure. but you do get some of the nastier attacks in the mail. >> you go into house visiting voters, they sit there for days. here's one from ron paul. in one way you know it's an attack mailing. sometimes if it's a smiling face it's a resume' mail. if you have this, you see unflattering pictures of president obama, unflargt picture of governor romney, of the speaker. on the back it's ron paul 2012. he uses mail as much if not more than anybody. >> reporter: absolutely. he did in 2008 and he is this time. and he's running the most negative mail campaign by far. i've got friends, voters, my grandmother in greenville, they send me all the mail. by far you get the most of it is ron paul. >> peter hamby, great reporting. helps when you've got a grandmother on the ground to help with the source reporting. peter, thank you. president obama is in new york city tonight for fund raisers and other campaign events including one at the historic apollo theater. ramping up for his re-election fight also includes opening up what's been a very private house. the new edition of time magazine takes us inside obama's world. so let's discuss the commander in chief challenge with fareed zakaria, cnn an thor of "fareed zakaria gps." you had a fascinating conversation with the democratic incumbent, president obama, about his world view. i want to begin there. we have a big republican presidential debate today. i want to read something from your interview that the president would say is a realistic view of u.s. foreign policy that some of these republicans would say is a retreat from where they believe america should stand. he said "countries are once again looking to the united states for leadership. that's not the exact same moment as existed post world war ii. it's an american leadership that recognizes the rise of countries like china and india and brazil. it's a u.s. leadership that recognizes or limits in terms of resources, capacity." it's that last part that will likely be a sharp contrast in the fall campaign. republicans don't like to hear a president say limits on our resources and capacity. explain what the president means. >> well, i think that it's a recognition of reality to begin with in the sense that in 1945 the united states was 50% of global gdp. 50% of the world economy was the united states. today we're about 21, 22%. other countries have become important, become powerful, and they want to be heard from. it's not just countries like china but even turkey you go to the middle east and the turks have their own ideas and they're not going to be pushed around. brazil has become incredibly important within latin america. so obama recognizes that. the second piece of this is i think that he felt the united states had gotten overcommitted, massive intervention in iraq, massive intervention in afghanistan. a huge military footprint around the world. and he wants to pare that back and refocus probably more from nation building to counterterrorism. just killing the bad guys. i think he has the facts on his side. and more importantly i think he has the american people on his side. i think that while you're going to hear some rhetorical bravado on the part of republicans, in the general election if i were them i wouldn't push it too hard. i don't think that there is a great yearning in the united states for a new imperial mission, for another iraq, for the united states to be re-engaging the world in the way that the bush administration did. i think people really do believe that the nation building that needs to take place needs to be happening here in the united states. >> well, let's have the conversation in the context of iran. these republican candidates with the exception of ron paul tonight, they have been very muscular in their language, very disciplined in saying, iran will not if they are elected president get a nuclear weapon. the rhetoric is more muscular from the republican side. let's look at the policy. are there actually significant differences in how they would hander that faceoff? >> well, it's interesting. obama has been much tougher on iran in practice than the bush administration was. mainly because they have acted multilaterally. see, we don't actually trade with iranians, anyway. so we can't do much more than not trade with them. what the obama administration got was they got the chinese and russians to sign onto united nations sanctions. the reason that's important is those tend to be enforced by all countries. they tend to be global sanctions, not just about us. but much more stroiking they have now been able to get the europeans, the chinese, the japanese, the south koreans to say they will buy less iranian oil going forward. iran is going to have a real problem selling its oil and certainly selling it at market price over the next year. so he's been very tough on them. but he hasn't been as belicose on the military side. he's always said he'd keep that option on the table. that i think is campaign rhetoric. i certainly think that if a president romney confronted the iranian situation, his policy would probably be almost exactly what barack obama's is. >> now, president obama knows the main thrust of this election will be unemployment, jobs, taxes, spending, the size of government. how comfortably was he in the interview, how interested is he from your interview with him to make foreign policy an issue in the campaign as well? does he believe it will be a big issue and does he want to draw those contrasts himself? >> oh, he seemed very comfortable talking about foreign policy and very comfortable with the idea of a foreign policy debate. look, i think the way he looks at it he's decimated al qaeda. the whole strategy that culminated in the killing of osama bin laden has been successful. he's outflanked the republicans on that issue. he was more aggressive and more successful in counterterrorism. meanwhile he drew down in iraq which was a place that by and large americans wanted to get out of. he's beginning to draw down in afghanistan. i think again something that is broadly popular. so from a purely political point of view, i think he's in a sweet spot. now, he's eager to engage i think on the other stuff. and as you saw in the interview, he's very eager to engage on deficit reduction and all those other issues. in fact he got passionate when he was talking about the issue of who is to blame for the breakdown in deficit reduction and the fact that we haven't gotten those big budget deals that people were hoping for. >> i suspect we'll get a different per respective our republican candidates tonight. but a fascinating conversation, fareed zakaria and president obama. pick up time or go to time.com to pick it up. fareed, thanks for your help. >> pleasure. about an hour and 20 minutes now away from tonight's big debate. as we await the candidates' arrivals, stay with us. much more coverage ahead. tonight's truth is about the pivotal role these debates have played in a fascinating republican campaign. you name it. i've tried it. but nothing helped me beat my back pain. then i tried salonpas. it's powerful relief that works at the site of pain and lasts up to 12 hours. salonpas. and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! 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[ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. just about an hour and 15 minutes now until tonight's main event, the southern republican presidential debate. that debate takes place the main event right behind me, the venue you see is the north charleston coliseum. we're going to show you a time lapsed video. 200 people in the hardest-working show in the news business. that crew has been at it since saturday. the north charleston coliseum again the site of our debate tonight has hosted everything from basketball and hockey to wheel of fortune, "american idol" auditions to rodeos and concerts. let's watch that play out a little bit more. they did a fascinating job in that hall tonight and will host perhaps the most critical debate of the republican presidential season. it's been a little more than an hour now until that debate kicks off. the four remaining candidates facing off just two days before the pivotal south carolina primary. yes, i know. some of you at home have dea big fatigue. this is number 17, after all. but here's tonight's truth. like it or not the debates have been the driving force in this nomination fight. and the timing and the moment make tonight's perhaps the most consequential of the cycle. can newt gingrich, for example, move past new character questions and complete a dramatic comeback here in south carolina. can mitt romney regain his footing and make the case he's the best gop hope against president obama in november? just go of tonight's big questions. here to consider the evening and the stakes with us, republican congressman from south carolina, tim scott. jena smith a political reporter and eric eric sohn. the big night tonight, gingrich has been surging in the polls. you know the story that came out today. his second wife launching what i would have to say just questioning his moral character. is that an issue for south carolina voters as we go into the closing hours? >> it may indeed be an issue. but the question is the timing of it. there may be actually backlash that comes because some folks are saying that abc has chosen the republican nominee they want to see, and so this story may play out in the fight negatively for the other side. >> what's your sense of conversations in reporting today? you can see it as the congressman says you can see this going both ways. the timing is curious. >> i think gingrich's personal baggage is an old story. when you tell the voters in south carolina, people bring it up all the time but still seem to like him. they talk about the fact that he's a grandpa now, that they think he's a different man. so i don't know if it's going to have a whole lot of sway here in south carolina. >> if you looked online today, eric, one of the things when you visit your site you get the sense of the intensity, the comments. sometimes they're all pro, sometimes all con, sometimes a mix of everything and a lot of volume. this story did cause a lot of conversation online. >> it really did. a lot of people were saying if perry gets out they'd go for newt. then the story hits and people saying whoa let's see how this plays out. it will keep some people on the sidelines longer than they already would have. it also puts rick santorum in a difficult spot now. will evangelicals go to him? if he drops out where will his evangelical supporters go? >> governor rick perry is out of the race right now. but governor perry not only gets out, he makes a decision knwhat the headlines are today he makes a decision to endorse speaker gingrich. >> i believe newt is a conservative visionary who can transform our country. we've had our differences, which campaigns will inevitably have. and newt is not perfect. but who among us is? the fact is, there is forgiveness for those who seek god. >> that takes courage. it takes courage especially eric when romney's viewed as the prohibitive favorite, when most republicans like it or not will tell you if you look at the state of the race now no matter what happens in south carolina romney has the pieces on the chess board that he's probably the nominee. what is behind that? friendship with newt gingrich, an mossy towards mitt romney, a little bit of both? >> a little bit of both. most of rick perry's supporters would say go with newt. he knows his base well. he knows newt gingrich. frankly newt gingrich was the only other guy on stage on monday who was talking about making washington as inconsequential as possible which has been rick perry's thing. he may be quitting but everybody is singing from rick perry's song book about washington. >> when he got in he shot up to the lead in the polls here in this state. he was a player in this state. a player in iowa. he had a couple of horrible debates and made some big gaffes and the voters, i think, because republicans are so hungry to beat president obama, they were less forgiving of those debate gaffes because they're thinking about october than perhaps they might have been earlier. >> no question. you take a look at his performance, one-on-one with 400 people, he's fantastic. 1,000, he's fantastic. put him on the stage and let him debate, he has not had the experience and it came across. romney's been running for four years. it shows. zpl it showed. if you go back four year, a loft people say this is where we are this race. romney was humbled here last time. this time, people say he's in the john mccain role. he comes down here, the attacks on him, he's too modern. he's not the worthy heir to reagan, but on the right, he has gingrich and santorum. mike huckabee and thompson. as you can tell at home -- we're getting a little fly by. close to an airport, including a military base and that's the united states air force saying hello. i feel safe. don't worry about the noise. the sound of freedom. do we have a replay in the sense that romney, who is viewed as a ko conservative, but not the most conservative candidate in the race, do you have a huckabee-thompson and gingrich-santorum? >> possibly. i think he's learned a lot. he's running an almost flawless campaign this go around, but there's still sort of that antiromney sentiment in south carolina. a lot of people still don't like him so much. they're sort of grudge lly gettg on his side, but i think it's still his race to lose at this point. >> the last opportunity to appeal directly to a mass audience. you think this will be because of the stakes and because of the history of this state, longest any of us have been in this process watching this process, covering this process, involved in this process, the winner of south carolina is the republican nominee. that's been the history. you think we'll get a i need to protect myself, be polite and presidential or a little rock em sock em? >> this is going to be rumble in the jungle. you'll see romney on offense and newt as he's never been before. he was good on monday. >> he was pretty good. if you'll go through the path, i think everybody would agree. democratic strategists would agree. the most consistent debater has been newt gingrich. one of the reasons he was able to come back from the dead when his staff quit on him in june. stress the irony. went to governor perry. the second most consistent debater has been governor romney, in terms of keeping his cool, strategically. he's paying for it. >> he got flustered a few times. the first time we saw romney have moments like that, but he was still pretty good. but he managed to remain looking presidential. remained to still look like someone who would be the nominee. tonight, i wonder if he's going to do that when he's getting pounded on both sides and not able to play the attack dog back. >> we haven't mentioned ron paul. had a significant impact in iowa, new hampshire. i know his supporters are saying why did you take so long to get to ron paul? and when people like me say it's hard to see his path to the nomination, we get hammered for it online by his supporters. it's hard to see that. but he has been i think more so than many people estimated, an impact player in that race. does he have it here? >> he does. not as much as gingrich, but he's going to have an impact and these are proportional races. >> you're watching live pictures here. governor mitt romney arriving. ben jinsburg, he's on the romney staff. that's the north charleston coliseum. an hour and about seven minutes away. erick erickson, you expecting fireworks? >> i hope so. great headlines for tomorrow's paper. >> appreciate your time. up next, we're going to give you a v.i.p. tour of what it's like to be in the candidate's shoes getting ready. ♪ [ male announcer ] why do we grow quaker oats? because there are mountains to climb. ♪ dreams to be realized. ♪ new worlds to be explored and hearts to be won. quaker oats. energy to get you going, fiber to help fill you up and help keep your heart healthy. super people eat super grains. you know, typical alarm clock. i am so glad to get rid of it. just to be able to wake up in the morning on your own. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm really glad we took this last minute trip! you booked our room right? 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[ male announcer ] osteo bi-flex. the #1 doctor and pharmacist recommended brand. back live now in charleston, south carolina. little more than an hour away from the southern republican pral debate. four candidates on stage. thought we had five this morning. also, rick santorum, not mitt romney, won iowa. you'll see the candidates for two hours on stage tonight. now, let's take you under the bleachers, behind the stage, where the four candidates, the would be president, are getting ready. we're underneath the bleachers. you can see the halls down here, they are just packed with these cases. it takes a lot of gear to put on a production like this. number two, this is a sports arena. over here, normally, the teams are down here. they play hockey, basketball here. it's a locker room, right? tonight, it's not. this is a holding room for speaker gingrich and his team. the speaker, staff, his team can come in, have a little water, snack. come across the hall, this is dressing room one. they also put on performances here. some are locker rooms, the performances tonight, this is ron paul's room and as you see inside, what do they get? a telephone, a little tv set. internet access in here. there are rest roops and a number chairs so they can come in with the staff. congressman paul likes to say he doesn't overprepare. he likes to hang around with his grandchildren, his wife, have a little family talk, some conversations with aides and then a few steps into the debate haul for a big night in presidential politics