good evening, everyone. i'm john king reporting live from the history irk cspc hall in cedar rapids, iowa. breaking political story tonight. exactly three weeks before iowa casts the first vote of the 2012 presidential campaign. iowa conservative act innist who just signed on with the newt gingrich presidential campaign is quoted just before he took that campaign job as calling gingrich rival mitt romney's religion, quote, the cult of mormon. let me read you the quote. quote, there's a national pastor very much on the anti-mitt romney bandwagon, greg said, a lot of the evangelicals who believe god would give us four more years of obama to expose the cult of mormon. there's a thousand pasts are ready to do that. that was craig berman speaking at a voter focus before he took the job. he's hired as the gingrich iowa political director. cnn's making calls to see if he'll be allowed to keep the job. as we continue our weeklong iowa visit, a condition who has tirelessly visited each of iowa's 99 counties yet is struggling in the polls. iowa could end rick santorum's campaign but he predicts otherwise. >> i feel very good that we're going to surprise a lot of people. most folks are thinking we're at the back of the pack. we're not going to be at the back of the pack. we're going to do very, very well. >> the iowa campaign is different this time around. fewer candidate visit, not not tv ads. some veteran activists here more than a little nervous. >> i think it is the nature of campaigning and this year we've seen something that we haven't seen in past years. we've seen debate performances that have captured the imagination of the american people. >> now whether iowa's unique role is endangers we'll get to that in a moment. let's begin by getting you up to speed on the other big stories. the floor of the house of representatives where members of congress getting ready to vote on extending the payroll tax cuts. let's bring in our congressional correspondent, kate bolduan. kate, this is something democrats want, republicans say they want, the president says he wants but never that simple, is it? >> reporter: up here, john, rarely, i guess we could say at this point. we are expecting this vote in the house in the next few minutes. but it always slip a little sooner or a little later. we're watching as this unfolds. this will be -- the house will be voting on the republican proposal to extend the payroll tax cut for employees one more year. this comes with a provision that would extend unemployment benefits and require overhauls to the program. and also a two-year dock fix to prevent scheduled cuts to reimbursements to doctors who treat medicare patients. three big issues need to be handled by the yeend of the yea this includes a controversial provision that house republicans, included in order to win over lukewarm conservatives who didn't think that the payroll tax cut was good policy, if you will, to have it extended another year, the controversial provision having to do with the keystone oil pipeline project, after i give you all of that, i will tell you house republican leaders are confident this measure will pass. as you know, that means the fight is far from over. john? >> and, kate, this version will pass the house. it's dead on arrival in the senate. so what next? >> reporter: what next? well, we -- what next is that if this moves over to the senate, which it would need to move over to the senate, the senate majority leader says it will not pass there. even it did for some reason pass the senate, the president in the white house today issued a veto threat. this provision is really going nowhere. what needs to happen is the top democrat in the senate, the top republican in the senate and the house speak, john bayne, they need to sit down and start negotiating. that does not seem like that has happened yet. maybe it has to do with the clock, we aren't up on the deadline yet, maybe it has to do with outstanding issues. this is getting messier and more contentious. we're up against another deadline to the mix, if you will, john. this in friday the government runs out of funding. the last short-term spending bill will run out of funding on friday. they've been negotiating a big, massive spending bill to fund the government through the fiscal year 2012 to this point, had not been related to the payroll tax issue. well now republicans are saying that democrats are holding up that approval until they give on the payroll tax negotiations. democrats say that's not necessarily true because there are serious outstanding issues with that massive funding bill but they are not denying the fact that they will not be finalizing that massive funding measure until this payroll tax cut issue is extended. so we're now talking about it's getting more heated, more contentious and we're up against another deadline to the mix, john. >> we wonder, kate, why congressional approval is in the low single digits. we'll go back to capitol hill as news warrants in this hour. let's get perspective from cnn analyst and former presidential adviser, david gergen. when you listen to that the house as a version, the senate has a version, both could be held up in the spending debate. it you're at home thinking, why are my taxes going up in 20 days you're not confident in your government tonight. >> you're not. but i do think there is good news, and it's likely that the payroll tax cut will be extended and families will not face an increase of $1,000 a year in their taxes. both sides have come to the position or many republicans came reluctantly. the bad news is, we're in for another case of brinksmanship. both parties are trying to muscle the oother one into acce their version. they're trying to, you know, put the real squeeze on the other side and make them blink. >> and so, david, this practice now, the house says its version has to have the keystone pipeline a favorite of some conservatives, it's a way that house speaker says you create jobs. they did away with earmarks. is this the wave of the future, if you want to get a big bill through a popular bill, the tax cut, since you can't do earmarks you add our pet project or showdown to big, important legislation? >> well, john, you know this so well. this is actually been done for -- since time in memorial that you introduce something else that's extraneous, irrelevant to the main bill in order to get some votes. republicans, frankly, may not have been able to pass a payroll tax extension without some sweetener of the bill and went for the pipeline that would run from canada through the united states. and, frankly, there is justice on both side of that keystone argument. you'll well remember the administration was supposed to make a decision this year on the keystone, but that they then, for what appeared to be obvious political reasons not have to decide something before the elections that would either tick off labor or tick off the environmentalists they shove that decision down the road past the elections. republicans are coming back and saying, if you want us on the payroll taxes we'll do that but you've got to make a decision within the next three months on this keystone. we're not going to let you defer this until after the election. that's not an unreasonable position on their part, but it is irrelevant. >> irrelevant to this particular bill, if only we could do one issue at a time, wouldn't that be something else? >> we make one step forward at a time. we'd all feel better. we'd all get there. >> your government at work. david, thanks. pennsylvania today, jerry sandusky waved his right to a preliminary hearing set to take place this morning. his attorney says the former penn state coach is ready to defend himself at trial, calling this the fight of jerry sandusky's life. sandusky, as you might know, faces more than 50, 50, charges of child sexual abuse. sara ganim is a reporter for "patriot news" and she's with us from bellefonte, pennsylvania. why did sandusky decide to wave his right? did he not want to be in the courtroom confronting some of his accusers? >> reporter: john, that's exactly what his attorney said afterwards. after he decided to waive. it was remarkable that in court we were only there about 30 seconds for actual court, you know, testimony. it wasn't even testimony, it was just a couple of seconds for him to say i'm going to waive. but what happened afterwards behind me, joe amendola came down on the courthouse steps and talked to the media for almost three hours, first an hour as a group, then individually for another two hours, and basically laid out his entire case and said, you know, it would have been one-sided in the courtroom because the alleges victims and witnesses would have testified and they don't really have that much of a chance to cross-examine and attack credibility and things you could do at trial. here, you know you kind of got exactly what he wanted, he got that stage to present his entire case with no prosecutor around and no victims to counter it. >> interesting strategy there. sara ganim, thanks for the reportingle. . let's get legal perspective from jeffrey toobin. what did you make of that? what did jerry sandusky and the defense gain by waiving this preliminary hearing? and did they lose anything. >> they certainly gained by losing. i mean they gained by not having detailed testimony about horrible acts broadcast around the world. i mean, this was an attempt to limit the damage to the potential jury pool. i think in that respect, it was a smart move. he lost by not being able to cross-examine, to learn about the possible chinks in the credibility of some of the witnesses but by and large, it was a smart move. it also gives him, i think, additional flex ability for flee bargaining. the community is not as outraged as it might be having heard the details of what these witnesses say hand to them. so in bal hance ance it was a s move but let's be clear, he's still in a world of trouble. >> and obviously sometimes what they say at this stage, it's not what happens at the end but do you take them at their word that they want to fight vigorously or do you think that they avoided public testimony to help them negotiate a better plea deal? >> i think they are say what ever defendant says at this stage, we're going to fight. but a plea bargain is always a possibility, given sandusky's age, given the magnitude of these charges. i think a plea bargain is still possible but it will probably take a few weeks or months to play out. the fact that he is out on bail is going to slow the process down. if he pleads guilty, he's got to go to prison. being out is better than being in. >> smart, important perspective from jeffrey toobin. in a presidential campaign yesterday, well, yesterday. that's why newt gingrich without the slightest bit of irony able to issue this decree to staff. i have refrained from watching attacks on my republican oxygens though i have reserved right to respond when my record has been distorted. i'm instructing all members of my staff and urge anyone acting as a surrogate for our campaign to avoid initiating attacks on other republican candidates. it is my hope that my republican opponents will join me in this commitment. running a positive solutions based campaign is the only way to guarantee president obama is not re-elect. hypocritical? let's listen to what the former house speaker said about mitt romney just yesterday. >> i love the way he and his consultants do these things. i would just say that if governor romney would like to give back all of the money he's earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years of being that i would be glad to listen to him. i'll bet you $10, not $10,000, that he won't take the offer. >> no response from mitt romney yet on the be nice pledge. but, if romney didn't have enough to worry about, as he tries to cast himself as a trustworthy conservative, this 2002 video unearthed by a conservative blogger going viral. >> i think people recognize i'm not a partisan republican, i'm someone who is moderate and my views are progressive. >> here in iowa the texas governor rick perry has a new ad touting his role as a washington outsider. >> washington is the capital political correctness, truth is frowned upon. you can't say that congressmen becoming lobbyistses a form of legal corruption or we give aid money to countries who oppose america. >> recent polls show governor perry is moving up a bit. one person not coming to iowa now, donald trump, who pulled out of the news max debate scheduled for december 27th, he was to moderate. the decision comes after most candidates say they weren't coming either. the current occupant of the oval office also running and running hard, something he appears to be taking quite seriously. listen. >> we're going to have to fight for it. it's not a slam dunk. we're going to have to deliver this message effectively all across the country and at a time when people have been battered by the worst financial crisis since the great depression and the worst economic crisis since the 1930s. it's understandable if people aren't feeling as chipper as they were back in 2008. >> the voters may not be feeling chipper as the president noted earlier today. but listen to this from his senior adviser, this is david axelrod. here's his take on newt gingrich's rise in the polls. remember, the higher a monkey climbs of a pole, the more you can see his butt. so you know the speaker is very high on the pole right now we'll see how people like the view. interesting choice of words from david axelrod. wow. international news. strong words against nuri al maliki and the united states from a surprising source. iraq's deputy prime minister. cnn's arwa damon sat down with him today. take note of the accusations he makes about al maliki and the obama administration. >> they don't know what's happening in iraq or because they don't want to admit the reality in iraq. he left iraq with a dictator. he left iraq with a political process which is going to leave iraq to be divided. he left the iraq in a way that chaos is going to be seen everywhere in this country. al maliki's playing a game between iran and the united states, and there will be a day where, by the american will realize in they were deceived by al maliki sometimes and they will regret that. >> arwa damon joining us live from baghdad. ar arwa, the deputy accusing the prime minister of being a dictateser, tough words. how true are they? >> reporter: well, john, it's a shared view when it comes to the vast majority of other sunni and to a certain degree kurdish politicians as well as amongst the minorities. there are great concerns that al maliki is consolidating more and more power. they point to the fact that the government announced in recent weeks that it rounded up hundreds of individuals that it accuses of being baathists, terrorists. but people say that those individuals who are now in detention are quite simply opponents to al maliki and they fear that this is going to be an even more growing trend as the u.s. continues to draw down. >> and a quick reference to iran by the deputy prime minister there. what was that about, arwa? >> reporter: well, it's about iran's growing footprint in iraq. the deputy prime minister and other opponents of the current prime minister nuri al maliki have great concerns about the impact that iran is going to have and they say that that impact is going to grow as the u.s. continues to depart. they point to a certain reality like the fact that they say the iraqi government did not extend america's presence because it made a calculation, a calculated it was in iraq's national interests to not aggravate iran and they're very worried about the potential for iran's growing influence here, not just when it comes to politics but what is more concerning when it comes to violence as well. i rhinian, shia special groups directly backed by the qods force and they continue to be active. the u.s. ambassador recently put out a kidnapping warning, warning its employees, american citizens of a heightened threat being caused by these iranian-backed shia special groups. john? >> interesting and fragile time in iraq as american troops withdraw. still to come a close look at speaker gingrich's call for a truce among the republican contenders. that's smart if you're leading but is it hhypocritical? why santorum believes iowa will deliver a surprise. >> you sign up for rick santorum, let's me show you, we've got this going on in every county in the state. you put us at the top of the list, you will shake the political establishment of this country. brad, where we going? just a second. just, just one second. ♪ what are you looking at? don't look up there. why are you looking up? ♪ get outta the car. get outta the car. ♪ are you ok? the... get in the car. get in the car! [ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. to spending your lives together, confidence, with depend in color. now available in gray. looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. ♪ because i love you too much baby ♪ >> not just politics here in iowa. that's nearly elvis, as he calls himself. entertaining at the republican dinner right near cedar rapids. he was, believe it or not, not the main event. that billing went to longshot republican presidential hopeful, rick santorum. >> but for iowa, barack obama would not be the president of the united states. and i can honestly say that it is your obligation now to give us the antidote to barack obama. >> senator santorum is trying to things the old fashioned way here. is visiting all 99 iowa counties and appealing to the evangelical voter whose often sway the gop caucuses. the polls suggest santorum is near the bottom of the pack. but over coffee at the blue strawberry kcafe, he insists there's a big surprise coming. >> 21 days out. if you look at the polling, you're up a bit from the first week in november. >> yeah. >> but you've goal gingrich, paul, romney, perry. >> just where i want them. >> just where you want them. >> just where i want them. >> where do you draw the line. >> dow you have you to be in the top three? you don't have the funding other guys. >> the expectations are pretty low for us and that's an advantage. and you know, if you've got six people in the race, you know if we can finish above two or three, that's a huge deal that people who are spending millions of dollars getting more press coverage nationally than we do. for us to be able to do that on a shoestring, i think, shows the strength of the message of the messenger and that's what we're trying to get out of iowa and show the strength. >> your contrasts were sharp last night. focus on speaker gingrich and romney. they're the two guy at top of the pack if you move state by state or national polls. you're making the point they can't win. why can't newt gingrich beat barack obama? >> i think the problem with newt and romney is they can't draw clear contrasts with barack obama on some of the most important issues of the day, big government. i mean, both of them supported the wall street bailout, both of them supported government mandates for health care. both supported cap and trade. those are -- talk about three big issues in this election, those are three huge issues in this election. >> let's me add a fourth. some comforts don't like the medicare prescription drug benefit. senator santorum voted for in. >> i wasn't an advocate for the provisions in the bill that conservatives didn't like, as you know, there are a lot of good things in the prescription drug bill, medicare advantage, which is a precursor to the ryan plan in the brdrug bill, health accounts. it was in the medicare prescription drug. there are a lot of good things this the drug bill i was working on for years and played it if you will, the medicine go down a little easier. i was never saying we need a big prescription drug plan. it's something eswallowed to get some things that were more important and in the end probably wouldn't have done it given the financial situation the country's in now. >> how do you explain the gingrich surge if voters are apaying attention, voters had debates to watch the candidates. you say he's a big government conservative. how do you explain he's not only rising in the national polls, break down the iowa polls, well among tea party voters, doing well among evangelical voters. >> i would just say there's time. there's time for people to get over the romance and look at who the candidate really is. you know we've seen this in time and time again in this race where people have risen on the, you know, the thrill of the moment, if you will, and people then take a more sober look at the candidate. we're the sort of the sober condition here. >> in your speech last night you said, look, governor romney one one, he won it as a liberal republican in massachusetts. square na with this, this is senator rick santorum, february 2008 when you supported governor romney. governor romney is the candidate who will stand up for the conservative principles that we hole dear, he's the clear conservative candidate that can go into the general election with the united republican party. >> a different environment. health care was not an issue in 2008. there was one question on health care in all of the debates in 2008. it is the central issue in this campaign. we can't have someone with governor romney's track record on health care being the clear alternative to government-run health care on the federal level. >> a big debate in washington about an issue, the payroll tax extension. the house republicans want to extend that payroll tax, they want to attach the keystone pipeline project to it. you think the whole policy is wrong because that money comes out of social security. do you believe just no, let middle class taxes go up or no to the payroll tax extension or do something else? >> i believe we need to pass a rebust reform of the tax code. lower rates for middle income people we need to lower rates for everybody. >> what happens? january? if you have that conversation in january, what about january, 20 days from now when taxes would go up? what would you do in the short term? >> i would look for an income tax cut, that's where i would go. look, either there is a social security trust fund that we need to fund with sossocial securiti there isn't. if social security's another government program not tied to this particular tax, fine, let's create it that way. but don't create this aura that the democrats have for years that this is a trust fund program that is -- that has to remain sole vent and the republicans undermine the solvency of the social security trust fund when they are now underminding the solvency of the trust fund and using it for political purposes. it either is or is not a unified system. if it is not, then you know what we see here is politics. >> let's me ask you, lastly, you did an editorial board where you said the president's foreign policy was pathetic. in the past you used the term appeasements. this came up the president's news conference last week and he said to those critics, including you, why don't you ask bin laden if he thinks that? >> that's a pa thetsthetic answ my opinion. it had nothing to do with a contingency or problem that came up on his watch. he followed through, which we've been trying to do for ten years. >> does he deserve credit for that? >> no, the people deserve credit, the military whose mission it was to find them. the president doesn't deserve credit. he didn't make a decision, if you will, as to go after bin laden. that decision had been made ten years. >> he gave the go-ahead for sensitive military operation across pakistan's board. >> i give him credit for that. but again that's not a strategic decision with respect to how we're going to deal with contingencies around the world. in fact, he's bungled every single contingency, whether it was iran and his lack of support for the green revolution that emboldened the iranians to do thing like plan an attack on the american soil, which, by the way the president hasn't responded to at all. whether it's his bungling of egypt. controlling a country that wasn't a friendly country and a partner in peace to israel no longer be. he's bungled syria. syria, a client state of iran, he went out and embraced them, opened up an ambassadorship, and now called assad a reformer and assad has done nothing but brutalize his people even more as a result. we continue to have diplomatic relations and treaties into assad as the rest of the world is stepping away from him for the thug that he is. >> appreciate your time. >> thank you, john. >> appreciate it. senator rick santorum earlier today. one of iowa's big decisions three weeks from now, how many candidates get lost in the field. the drone that went down in iran, violating iran's airspace. some say president obama should have been committed what could have been interpreted as an act of war. bombing the wreckage before iran could get its hands on sensitive technology. woman: my father came to america selling fishcakes from the back of his truck, and in 1942, of course, they were sent away. after the war, as a japanese coming back from camp, he started a little store on main street in seattle. of course they needed some money, and bank of america was the only bank who would talk to my father. and we've stayed with bank of america. we have four stores now, three in the pacific northwest and one in oregon. my parents would not believe how popular it is now. the downing of a u.s. spy drone in iran set off a feisty debate. what should the obama administration have done if it had options before the iranians got their hand on it. for dick cheney, simple. what he told erin burnett. >> send it back in pieces after they've gotten all of the intelligence they can out of it, the right response to that would have been to go in immediately after it had gone down and destroy it. you can do that from the air, with a quick air strike, and in effect make it impossible for them to benefit from having captured that drone. i was told that the president had three options on his desk. he rejected all of them. >> now president obama has asked iran to return the drone, but there is no chance that's going to happen. >> translator: the north americans, at best, decided to give us this spy plane. currently we have control of the plane. those who have been in control of this plane surely will analyze the plane's system. further more, the systems of iran are so advanced also, like the systems of this plane, to the unpiloted planes we have made many advances, much progress, and now we have this spy plane. >> let's talk this over. joined by retired air force colonel. pete, i want to start with you, do you agree with the former vice president the current president of the united states should have launched a military strike of some sort inside iran's borders? >> i think the vice president makes a very good point, john, and i agree with limb. i think this is one of the things we should have looked at. this technology falling into the hands of the iranians bother me but it bother me more it's likely to fall into the hands of an advanced military industrial complex such as that of china and russia. we missed an opportunity though we're outside of government here and we don't have all of the information that the president had but the vice president makes a very good point. >> colonel, what are the consequences, if the united states launched an air strike or sent in a command dough team, a special ops team across iran's boarder? >> well, john, those consequences could be severe because it depends on exactly how they planned the mission. but it could be construed as an act of war. with that, of course, given the heightened tensions that we're experiencing with iran, it is a very dangerous course to go on one of these missions. it's not unprecedented but it is one of those things that is extremely dangerous and has to be considers very, very carefully. there are dangers with special operations missions. dangers with bombing it. each construed as an ability of war. >> and so the question is, if each of these could have been construed as an ability of war and it's that dice o. a decision, what are we losing sneer what are the risks of iran getting the drone. >> and as peter noted perhaps rush ssia and china getting acc. he onpanetta seems to be playing down the significance. >> you know, it's -- it's a little difficult to know just, frankly, how much they're going to be able to get from, you know from having obtained those parts. i don't know the condition of those parts. i don't know exactly what state they're in. >> colonel, you have experience on the joint staff at a time when the drones are becoming increasingly important to u.s. intelligence gathers, u.s. strikes against terror targets around the world. how significant is it that the iranians, perhaps the russians and the chinese, now have this technology in their hands to study? its very significant, john. the idea is that the technologies being used to make these drones to make the rq-170 in this case is stealth technology, it's extremely sensitive, and that kind of technology, there's no doubt in my mind, that it has gone to the chinese and the russians. the iranians, of course have intelligence relationships with both countries and they are going to do that. but it is extremely -- an extreme setback, i would say, for our programs because it got into the hands of the iranians who will then pass it on. it is one of the ars where we need to work with what we have and then work our way out of it as best we can. >> how do you work your way out of it as best you can? you can see the smirk on president ahmadinejad's face in theness view. they have a public relations coup, perhaps an intelligence coup. how do you work your way out of it. >> if we destroyed the drone we wouldn't be here. they're going to exploit if there's communications gear for sensors, codings, all of these sort of things and it's a problem for us in the future considering how heavily we rely on these drones, whether we're looking at iran's nuclear program or going after bin lad. remember this was the same drone that was used there. i mean there -- would be consequences to a strike in destroying that on the dpougroun iran. what is iran going to do? aid the taliban? aid militias in iraq? we are at war with iran today. and i think it was a major mistake, and there have been many mistakes in obama's policy not supporting the green revolution and the way the nuclear program is launching forward towards a nuclear weapon but we are where we are today and the administration's not going to talk much about it because it's a big mistake. >> also, if i may, the big issue here is that the timing of everything. if it had been known that the drone was down they could pinpoint the area where the drone was down, that it may have been possible to do one of the actions that peter talks. but the further you go in time the more difficult it becomes to do one of these actions and it becomes a much harder thing for the military to pull off. >> we blinked, john. >> current lleyton, peter brooks, we'll continue. thank you. appreciate both of your time. take care. a deadly attack in the middle of a busy market. that market set up for christmas. the chilling pictures next. yead but i'm only 37 and a half. 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[♪...] >> male announcer: book now, save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. welcome back. if you're just joining us, latest news you need to know. the floor of the house of representatives, voting now on the house republican version of a proposal to extend a payroll tax cut. but the house republican version has provisions, including calling for the keystone pipeline project to be sent through the united states. the president says he would veto the proposal, as it now stands. but this is the house republican proposal, the difference is with senate democrats. we'll keep an eye on that vote and bring you the latest when completed. the ad time for next week's all-american muslim is sole out. this comes after lowe's caused a stir by pulling its ads, that under pressure from conservative christians who called the reality show propaganda. the hip-hop mogul russell simmons says he's buying any remaining time available. a deadly attack in belgium. a man acting alone tossed three again mads and opened fire. four byestanders and the gunman skilled. scores injured. a call for a nationwide ban on using cell phones or texting while driving. national transportation safety board said it would battle a growing threat on america's roads. the ban would apply to hands-free and hand-held phones but not apply to passengers. let's move on to tonight's number. today's number, 1888, that, how days passed since newt gingrich's staff quick. he had trouble raising money, rejected staff how to organize his campaign. he just returned from a cruise in the greek isles with his wife which was the last straw from his team. 188 days later speaker gingrich is leading in the poll and has been fending off attacks by his republican rivals. remarkable turnaround by speaker gingrich. when we come back, we will talk about speaker gingrich and why he decides, after attacking mitt romney for a couple of days in a row, to say, no more attacks. let's keep peace in the republican party. ♪ ♪ mom? dad? guys? [ engine turns over ] [ engine revs ] ♪ he'll be fine. [ male announcer ] more people are leaving bmw, mercedes, and lexus for audi than ever before. take advantage of exceptional values during the season of audi event. 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 could not make working and going to school work. it was not until the university of phoenix that i was able to work full-time, be a mom, and go to school. the opportunits that i had at the university of phoenix, dealing wh profesonals teaching things that they were doing every day, got me to where i am today. i'm mayor cherie wood, i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah, and i am a phoenix. [ male announcer ] find your program at phoenix.edu. iowa votes three weeks from tonight and at the moment, it is the former house speak, newt gingrich, the driver force in the republican campaign. but there's breaking political news in iowa tonight and an interesting intriguing appeal from speaker gingrich. let's talk it it over with james carville and mary matalin, standing by for us at their home in new orleans tonight. i between start, guy, with the controversy about a campaign staffer. a guy named craig berman, conservative activist, well known in iowa. sat down for a voter focus group he did not work for newt gingrich and said something -- i'll get to it in a minute -- and took the job as the iowa political director for the girn campaign. can he keep his job? quote, there's a national pastor who is very much on the anti-mitt romney bandwagon. a lot of the evangelicals believe god would give us four mour years of obama to expose the cult of mormon. there's a thousand pasts are ready to do that. he might be saying something that is a fact, there are pastors who say that about mormonism but can the gingrich campaign, at a time when the speaker says i don't want to be negative on other republicans how do they deal with this? >> yeah. look, the reason newt ascended and you cracked these numbers all the way up and you can feel it, the reason he ascended and the time of his ascension is when he stopped p bickering among all the field and framed up an issue against barack obama. he does not need this kind of distraction. you all in the press are not going to buy he's going to put out that statement and it should -- that statement he put out today should naturally apply to this. it is just not -- it is a distraction he doesn't need and i think a lot of conservatives do not want to fight about religion. they don't question people's faith, whatever that faith is. >> so, james, do you just say, sorry, buddy, i know you said this before you joined the staff, but you're gone in. >> what he was saying is what a lot of people think. if i say a lot of people think this, then he didn't say that he -- it just -- it struck me as not parse, it struck me as clear he was repeating what he had heard and, you know, it was before he was on that. i think that's thin gruel. i'm not -- i'm not on the ground. maybe it is a distraction. it is easy just to ax the guy than not, but i can't see where he didn't say that was his personal opinion and he said it was what other people were thinking, before he went to work for newt gingrich, i don't buy it. >> the voice of fairness, i want to clarify. i didn't speak to should he be fired or not, but newt needs to clean item. it it is a distraction. for two people who tried to be fired from campaigns, that's a worse distraction. >> yes. >> let me ask you, speaker gingrich sent a note to his staff and his supporters today. he had ripped the veneer off mitt romney. they had a feisty back and forth. you were saying last night, you want more of it. you wanted to see a good fight. the speaker wrote a know saying i refrained from launching attacks at my republican opponents but i reserved the right to respond when my record has been distorted. on monday, this governor and romney engaged in what in diplomatic circles is called a frank exchange over our respective records on the private sector. mary, some would say, you know, smart strategy, some would also say, boy, that is hypocrisy from a guy who gives as good as he gets and of course he wants everyone to be nice. he's leading. >> and some would say it is yet another distraction. first, let's saall stipulate everybody hates primaries. you hate fighting with your own guys. it is easy to fight against the democrats. this is just what happens. so making all these promises, and it is distracting and i would say it is less hypocritical than distracting. they're not even fighting over some philosophical or policy difference, they're fighting over who made money and what the bet was and all that. it is -- they should just all stop, quit talking about it and just talk about what their policy preferences are and how they would be good against obama. that's what they need to get back to. >> i think, john -- >> james, i know -- james, i know you and newt have a good relationship. i know you and newt have a good relationship. i want to take you back in time. newt might be mr. nice guy today. here he is talking about your friend, the former president, saying he needs to fess up about mond monica lewinsky. let's listen. >> what you have lived through for two and a half long years is the most systematic, deliberate obstruction of justice cover-up, an effort to avoid the truth we have ever seen in american history. and the time has come to say to the democrats and to say to the president, quit undermining the law in the united states, turn over the evidence, agree to the witnesses, have the hearings. the american people have the right to know the truth. >> back in those days he could give as good as he got too, right? >> right. he lost his job and the president kept his. so historical background here. look, there is not a front runner in the history of politics that didn't say, no more negative, that's it. i'm in the lead now. this is not going to last. they're going to tear the hide off of him and he's going to strike back and we'll have quite a little show here between the 3rd of january and the better kn news is will keep going on after the 3rd of january. i'm going to sit back and watch lsu play bcs and watch the guys go after each other. >> three weeks from tonight, iowa votes. james and mary, got to leave it there for you. you can have a peaceful watching of the game. at least you're rooting for the same team. before we go to break, house republicans passing their version of a payroll tax cut. the president said he would veto that plan. we'll watch this one. when we come back, tonight's truth is about a candidate who did well. can't find evidence of him this cycle just yet. spreading joy in a pair of santa swimtrunks? 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