house democrats tried to bring up the tax extension on capitol hill. >> the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on friday -- >> mr. speaker, mr. speaker. mr. speaker! >> that was a democrat there trying to get the attention. he failed. less than a half hour later, after cutting off the democrats the house republican leader was asking, where are they? >> we're here, ready to work. looking for our counterparts to sit down with us. >> so when will the games be set aside and both sides actually start working together to save you money? dana bash working her sources on capitol hill. republicans seem to be on the defensive now. i want to read you from the "wall street journal" editorial today. the "wall street journal" generally a conservative editorial page. they call this a fiasco. quote, the gop leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blamed for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday they are surely going to pass. this is no easy double play. so the "wall street journal" saying when it comes to the strategy here, they blew it. >> you know what? senate republicans, talking about people in the same party as the house republicans, just on the other side of the capital, i'm hearing the same things from them, john over and over today. one senate republican leadership aid told me the house republicans painted themselves into a corner. they are on their own. generally, what i'm hearing from these senate republicans is, really a lot of frustration that the republicans in the house have somehow allowed the democrats to really get the upper hand and the democrats to look like the party of tax relief and republicans to look like their against a tax cut. we're definitely seeing this real schism within the republican party. anger that usually reserved for democrats when you talk to republicans. it's now from the senate republicans at their fellow republicans in the house. >> and so, they've gone home except for that little games manship we saw today. sort of foe outrage by both parties there. do the republicans have a backup plan, if the political pressure mounts on them, how do they end this, and when? the. >> reporter: money if you will, is on republicans in the house backing down. that means that they would end up passing a two-month extension and preventing people's taxes from going up on january 1st. guess what? i talked to a well-placed republican source in the house who said not to expect that to happen this week. they'll take it down to the wire, not talk about the end game until next week, days before people's taxes would go up on january 1st. >> your government at work or not, depending on your perspective. dana bash live on capitol hill. many watching at home might think this is another big fight in washington, another political fight between the democrats and the republicans. no, maybe you have holiday shopping to do. this impacts you and your budget. if they don't get this done if politics keeps this tax holiday from being extended how much money will come out of your wallet? in you make $35,000 a year, you're going to lose $700. or that's about $27 a paycheck. $50,000, if that's your annual salary, if they don't extend the social security payroll tax cut holiday you'll lose $1,000 a year. again $38 a paycheck. you get the picture. if you make $90,000, you lose $1800 next year. nearly $2,000, or every time you get a paycheck you're $69, $70 short. if you're in the upper income scale over $110,000, more than $2300 next year, money you need for family finances or $90 a paycheck. the white house believes there's political hay to be made here. the average middle class family will lose $40. look at website the clock at the top, ten days, five hours, 55 minutes and the countdown on the seconds until your taxes go up the white house believes it has a big political issue especially in the holiday season when the money's coming out of your wallet. we'll watch this debate. the campaign trail, seeing something new tonight. ads featuring candidates' wives, calista gingrich and ann romney in new tv ads. mitt romney's wife ann reminding voters to think about the tough decisions a president has to make and weigh a candidate's character. >> if you can trust they will do the right thing and maybe the hard thing and maybe not the popular thing and if you really want to know how a person will operate, look at how they've lived their life. i think that's why it's so important to understand the character of a person. >> not a mention of newt gingrich there, but many people say look at how they live their life. the character of a person. could that be an implicit shot at speaker gingrich who has been married three times? gingrich's wife is with her husband, at his side, in a holiday ad this week saying, watch us and merry christmas. >> is there anything more inspiring than american towns and neighborhoods brightly lit for the holidays? >> we take it as a sign of great optimism. it remains us of the fire of freedom that burns bright in the america we love. and a prayer that the goodness of our nation will be reward with peace about brotherhood. >> from your family to yours, merry christmas and happy new year. >> that's iowa viewers get to those those, romney and gingrich going after each other, more peaceful in the ads. the man to beat innee eye is most likely ron paul and his new ads are designed to reassure social conservatives he's one of them. gloria borger spoke with congressman paul in mt. pleasant, iowa, today. gloria, what is he saying by now, 13 days out, and his ads have been pretty tough. are they going to stay that way? >> they are, yeah. he said they will. first of all, he's very, very happy about his poll numbers, his poll numbers are terrific. but when i asked him about those negative ads, john, what he said to me, i said are you going to take down your negative ads? he's accused newt gingrich of serial hypocrisy and he said to me, no, i am not going to take down those ads because somebody has to show that certain candidates are flip-floppers on the issues and if you and the media won't do it, i'm going to do it. >> so -- >> on occasion, yes. >> did you ever object when you read them? >> we talked about this twice yesterday, cnn has. go back and look at what i said yesterday on cnn and what i've said for 20-some years, 22 years ago, i didn't write them. i disavow them. that's it. >> but you made money off of them? >> i was still practicing medicine. that's why i wasn't a very good publisher, because i had to make a living. >> it's legitimate. it's legitimate. these things are pretty incendiary. >> because of people like you. >> no, no, no, no. come on, some of the stuff was very incendiary saying that in 1993 the israelis were responsible for the bombing of the world trade center, that kind of stuff. so, well -- >> good bye. >> all right. all right. thank you, congressman. i appreciate your answer. >> he's getting a bit feisty with you there, disappointed in you. you're asking about a mnumber o things writ innocent ron paul news letter, some are provocative, some racist, insulting and he's trying to make the case i didn't write them, you can't blame me. he's running for president, anything that happen under your name is fair game, he didn't think so there. >> no, he didn't think so. he asked him if you didn't write them, did you read them? and he seemed to sort of say, well on occasion but then he said no, he didn't read them. the point he was making to me is that it's more interesting to us in the media than it is to the voters out here. he seems to think it's an irrelevant issue, case closed, doesn't want to talk about it anymore. but, john, as you know, this is what happens when you become a front-runner in a presidential race. you get an awful lot of scrutiny and that's what ron paul is getting, scrutiny. >> scrutiny, with 13 days to go. see if he can hold that lead. gloria borger, looks like a festive scene behind you in iowa tonight. enjoy. >> yeah. >> looks nice. down to 13 days before those iowa caucuses and tonight new controversy swirling around several republican candidates. ron brownstein the political director and columnist for the national journal, he's with us tonight. one you, take on ron paul? he doesn't like being questioned about his record. yes, it goes back 10, 20 years but he's running ads criticizing speaker gen for thing his did 15, 16 years ago. if running for president, anything you ever done, under your name, fair game, right? >> ron paul has been a niche candidate, existed in a subculture in which he's revered. suddenly the price of success he's expanding beyond that niche, he's at or near the top of the polls in iowa and suddenly he's facing the kinds of questions he was never asked when he was simply a creature of that subculture. i thought his reaction today in that interview was quite revealing of someone who has not had to face the scrutiny that presidential candidates had. the questions asked about gloria, some of the things that bill clinton answered in 1992 by you or me. >> i remember that campaign. clinton would get mad but most of the time when he calmed down understood his life was fair game because he was running for president of the was what was vet in arkansas hadn't been vetted nationally. let's move on. it's clear that the tough attack ads, the loss of his lead in the polls, is getting under newt gingrich's skin a bit. now, he's not running negative ads and he say his won't. listen here, attack ads from mitt romney and more so from a political action committee that supports mitt romney, that have done a lot of damage to newt gingrich. listen to newt gingrich here, a challenge to mitt romney. >> look, i'll tell you what, if he wants to test the heat, i'll meet him anywhere in iowa next week, one-on-one, 90 minutes, no moderator, just a time keeper. i'll be glad to debate him anywhere. we'll bring his ads and he can defend them and we'll bring "the washington post," that his ad is filled with lies and he can defend them. >> the ad "the washington post" took after just to clean up the facts a bit was not a romney ad, it was a romney superpac ad, restore america, i think it's called. so romney said this morning, he has to take the heat, mr. speaker. i don't think gingrich will get his lincoln douglas debate. >> he really wants the debate. he had it with huntsman, it wasn't a debate. compared to gingrich's career he's held his cool pretty well in these -- this campaign. certainly in the debates, you know when he was under fire in that des moines debate he kept his composure effectively kind of rebutted the arguments. the problem that is he's being overwhelmed on television and he doesn't have the resources to fight back. he's making that argument of underfunded candidates, i'm taking the high road, people will react against the negative attacks but in fact, they are clearly having an effect on him and putting romney in a much stronger position to come out of iowa as the unqualified front-runner. >> you talked about his composure. earlier today, gingrich at an event in des moines where he gets heckled right during the event. >> mr. gingrich, you do fleeds to start putting people first. you really do. i know there's people in between you and me, but i'd like to meet you in a conversation here, sir. >> not today. >> he said not today. after the event he talked to the gentleman outside, he had some gay rights activists get his face. he's been very calm. some are organizers, show up, trying to get a youtube movement and he's been very -- >> he has, he has. there's not a macaca moment as there was for george allen. this has been a din newt in this cam pen. hess hasn't been as volatile, he's been more disciplined burke he is facing a fundamental resource imbalance at this point. >> 13 days, that makes a difference. when we come back, new rules that may help airline pilots stay awake, keep you safer. the updated holiday travel forecast, that's in seven minutes. with capitol hill deadlocked on your tax cuts, president obama, he can't start his vacation. stick around and see how he spent some of the afternoon. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, 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. 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. ♪ ♪ faa issued a landmark ruling to prevent pilots from flying without adequate time to sleep. in the last 24 hours, take a look, 62,000 flights landed in the united states, 1.6 to 2.3 million passengers a day expected to fly on commercial flights now during the upcoming holiday season. here's how the new regulations which won't take effect for two years would work. flight duty times 209 9 to 14 there is time, a time limit of it's a or nine hours flying depending on the start time. minimum rest period, up to ten hours, up from eight hours, so pilots have an opportunity of eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. all responded to the colgan flight that killed 50 people. neither the pilot or the co-pilot slept in a bed the night before. scott mauer's daughter died in the crash. appreciate your time today. i'm sure it's always difficult to revisit this. has what the government done today, is it enough? >> well, it certainly is a step in the right direction. it's been 25 years in the making to move this ball across the goal line. sadly, had this been in place, you know, perhaps our tragedy may not have occurred. >> one of the -- what wrinkles in this is the cargo pilots, the rules aren't quite as strict. i want to read a statement from the president of the independent pilots association for u.p.s. pilots. they said this, giving air cargo carriers the choice to opt-in to new pilot rest rules makes as much sense as allowing truckers to opt out of drunk driving laws. to potentially allow fatigued ka cargo pitts creates an unnecessary threat to publy safety. ray lahood said they department do that because of a cost/benefit analysis. make sense? >> well, no, it doesn't make sense to us. sadly, you know, we feel that the faa mesissed the golden opportunity to address a critical need. but if you allow me, i certainly would like to accentuate the positives that did take place and clearly going from an eight-hour rest period to a ten-hour rest period was very good. one other critical point is, is that this rule employs the use of fatigue studies, et cetera, so you know, this was very important and hopefully the regional airline pilots are going to benefit because that's actually where the crash, our crash, was adversely affected. >> and it was a personal tragedy for your family that made you so interested in this and made you now someone who has studied it closely. listen to congressman john mica of florida. he says this, the final rule provides improvements for aviation safety, pilots must take personal responsibility for coming to work rested and fit for duty. the government cannot put a chocolate on every one of their pillows and tuck them in at night. it cute the language in the end but it's an important point. do you think across the industry, these people want to keep their jobs, these people they do have rigorous schedules you, think they have learned the horrible lesson of the crash that took your daughter? >> well, that's a tough one. you hit upon another critical point that was not covered with today's announcement and that is commuting. you know the way in which this rule's written, pilots will be signing that they're fit for duty and we obviously want to take a very good, close look at how that's going to play itself out. but the issue of commuting, and all of the pilots commuting across the country is one that was not addressed and we should all have a little bit of concern. i think that's what congressman mica was referencing. >> appreciate your time tonight and your spperspective on the regulations and effort to bring them about. >> thank you very much. still ahead, power plants releasing toxic pollutants in your community being forced to clean up their acts. dr. sanjay gupta tells us how it impacts your health. two sails are return home and make navy history, next. i joined the navy when i was nineteen. i was a commissioned officer at twenty-three. i was an avionics... tactical telecommunications... squad leader. i think the hardest transition as you get further into the military is... you know it's going to end one day. chase hired me to be a personal banker. i'm a business analyst... manager. i'm very proud to work for chase. when you hire a veteran, you get... great leadership... decisiveness... focus. chase knows, when you hire a veteran, you're hiring america's best. chase is proud to help 100,000 veterans find jobs at home. mathis team of guinea pigs to ty boanso to save some y, d inea pig: row...row. they genatectry, wch le me rf t. guinea pig: row...row.took one, 8 months to get the guin: ..row.ow...row. they genatectry, wch le me rf t. lile cbby one to yell row! guineaig: ro's kof strange. guinig: row...row. such a simple word... row. anncr: t an easierayof strange. save. get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. e u 15% or more on car insurance. welcome back. here's kate bolduan with the latest news you need to know now. >> good evening. syria's main opposition group says nearly 250 people have died in a two-day span of horrific massacres this week. one video posted online shows a huge funeral procession following one body. president obama spokesman says the u.s. is deeply disturbed by the new reports of massacres. a very different story a judge delivers a temporary knockout to boxing champion floyd mayweather's career. sentenced to six months in jail for beating up his ex-girlfriend. he'll have to serve at least 90 days of that in custody. and now that don't ask, don't tell has been repealed. seeing a new kind of welcome home for returning u.s. forces. seeing video of it there. gay partners in uniform, free to give one another an on-camera kiss. this was in norfolk today. that's part of the time-honored tradition of one sailor getting off first when a ship comes home. >> it's interesting to watch that and maybe it will go without notice politically or maybe you see some of the republican candidates, governor perry, for example, trying to appeal to social conservatives. sometimes these things become issues in campaigns. thanks. coming up in three minutes a new ruling by the epa, shutting down power plants that release toxic pollutants in you're community. dr. sanjay gupta will break the rules down. celebrities do it former athlete dozen it. a close look at the high dollar speaking circuit. how much money former politicians make giving speeches. it's a lot. it's a lot. that's coming up. across the country,vestings from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible. -why? 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[ female announcer ] we all age differently. roc® multi-correxion 4 zone moisturizer with roc®retinol and antioxidants. lines, wrinkles, and sun damage will fade. roc multi-correxion. correct what ages you. it's like having portable navigation. a bluetooth connection. a stolen vehicle locator. roadside assistance. and something that could help save your life - automatic help in a crash. it's the technology of five devices in one hard-working mirror. because life happens while you drive. this holiday, give someone you love an onstar fmv mirror for only 199. visit onstar.com for retailers. consolation prize for politicians who lose power. guess what in they get big bucks just for talking. names and numbers. a high-tech way to watch the next super bowl. 15 minutes, the truth about what everyone believes will be the biggest spends are in the 2012 campaign. first, though, tough, new rules for the power plants that generate our electricity. the epa wants to keep poisons like mercury out of the air. and out of your lungs. the critics say those rules also could leave you with higher electric bills and could cost jobs. cnn's chief medical corner dr. sanjay gupta with us now. new rules don't apply to mercury, other pollutants regulated as well? >> mercury's the big one people have had their sights set on for some time, also arsenic, nickel, different chemicals released by plants for some time. john, this is -- in the history of the epa, this will be one of their top milestones, as you said, it's a controversial one, to some degree, but this has been something that the epa has been working on under this administration for some time. we had spoken to the administrator jackson about this after she took her tenure and talked about mercury standards being a top priority. talking about coal fire plants around the country that either because they're grandfathered in or because they hadn't yet come up to standard were emitting large amounts of mercury and other chemicals. they are now going to have fit under the new standards, put in this new pollution-controlling equipment to bring emissions down. >> the health risk what are the biggest health risks from mercury and the other pollutants? >> it's interesting because this is more than just anecdotal now. we do have some real science on the effects, for example, mercury, it's a known neurotoxin. it's something that can, you know, affect developmental in children, obviously something you want to caution for for pregnant women. you hear about mercury in fish, for example. how does that happen? mercury gets in the atmosphere, rains into the ocean, fishes are contaminated and that's how we absorb mercury. the science gets harder. it could save up to 11,000 premature deaths a year, john, by increasing these standards. >> what are the power companies saying? >> not everyone's going to love this, as you might imagine. the power companies, you know, this is going to cost money, they say. it's going to -- people may be laid off from the existing power plants, it could cost jobs as well and potentially affect the power grid. the epa responds to all of these things you have to hire more workers to bring these plants up to standard, you're going to save lives which will save money in the end. while they acknowledge an effect on the power grid, they think it will quickly come back up to speed. >> dr. sanjay gupta, appreciate your help. take care. the prospect of retirement means no more money coming in. maybe social security, maybe money in the bank. if you're a politician or sports champion, a lot of money coming in. giving up political power could be the first step to collecting some big bucks. >> john, former politicians are celebrities on the speaking circuit, pulling in anywhere from a few thousand dollars to be on a pan toll tens of thoses to deliver a keynote address. newt gingrich told a south carolina campaign stop last month he made as much as $60,000 per keynote. >> please, thank you. >> when it comes to public speech fees, former presidents make the most. and bill clinton is king. he's made more than $75 million in speaking fees sense leaving office in 2001. in 2008, he made more than 500,000 for just one speech. and in 2010, he made about $205,000 per speech on average. how do we know? his wife is required to disclose it as secretary of state. ronald reagan made $2 million from a japanese company back in 1989 for two speeches. >> i think it's just even and we ought to be proud that you want to do business in our country. >> reporter: since then, american presidents have left their $400,000 a year jobs to make many times that speaking to audiences. the center for public integrity says president george w. bush has earned $15 million for 140 speeches here in and abroad sense he left the white house. that's about $107,000 a speech. >> west virginia! >> reporter: and sarah palin, after leaving her $125,000 a year governorship, she can make more than in one stop. who pays? big corporations, universities, and trade associations. and often, it comes from the very industries the speaker once oversaw. >> the industry is a regulator in many way. it's self-regulated by the speakers themselves. they decide who think speak for, they decide what fees they charge, and they -- the buck stops with them. >> reporter: it's washington insiders, politicians and sort of politicians. >> people often say, why did that person get pay sod much? they're asking the wrong question. they're asking, why did somebody pay that much. >> reporter: snooki, she made $32,000 for 2 speeches at rutgers earlier this year. that speaking agency president we spoke to in the piece, he said something interesting, john. he said, you have to wonder why people spend energy vilifying politicians in office and paying them tens of thousands of dollars out of office. john? >> a piece with donald trump and snooki, can't beat that. bruce weinstein, author of "ethical intelligence" and host of "ask the ethics guy." bruce weinstein. speaker gingrich is running for president, and he gets $35,000 a speech. they are regular lated when they leave office, if it's congress, can't lobby your former peers. it's a year. should speaking fee be regulated or welcome to capitalism? >> the practice of giving large fees to former politicians is consistent with ethical intelligence and i'll tell you why. the pursuit of happiness is a cher herbs value and face it, for a lot of folk $500,000 for one talk can buy a lot of happiness. the problem is not with the former politicians accepting the money. the problem is our celebrity-obsessed culture willing to pony up this money to be in the same breathing space as former politicians or athletes or movie stars. that's really where the problem is. >> full disclosure here, i give a couple of paid speeches a year, i say no to most because of conflicts of interest. why? why are these institutions, corporations, why are they willing to spend so much money? you mentioned celebrity obsession. is that it or is that? trying to buy influence, access? >> it's the thrill of being around a celebrity. the other day i ran into sting at a movie theater and i was beside myself. that's one example of how we're so thrilled to be in this same space as a celebrity. but also in the same of full disclosure some of the bureaus that represent the politicians represents me as a speaker. the argument isn't a function of being a member of a speaker's bureau, it's looking at facts and looking at the values at stake and realizing that if we are to blame flyanyone, is it u our celebrity-obsesses culture willing to pony up this kind of money to pay politicians. let's face it, if trade associations were not willing to spend 250 grand for one talk, there would be no politicians there waiting in line. so it's really up to us, as members of these associations or members of the public to say, waimt, is this the kind of money we want to be spending or might our money be better spent elsewhere? >> top paid speakers, donald trump, reagan makes a lot of money, tony blair, bill clinton, rudy giuliani. look at all of those people, mr. trump's the only one who hasn't been involved in public life and politics. do people want the inside stories? do they think when they pay this huge am of money they're going to learn something in the speech they didn't learn when this person was in office? >> let's look at that segment. we learned that snooki got $32,000 for speaking at rutgers university. what did we learn from that? people like to be around someone who is famous. she seems to be famous for being famous. in some cases, perhaps we want to learn what somebody lass to offer but in a lot of cases we're just besotted with the fact i saw that person on tv, i mean there's a scene from "king of comedy" someone says that was the guy on tv. you know, really, it has to do with our own obsession with something that perhaps we might better reign in and rethink because it's our celebrity-obsessed culture that's the culprit. >> maybe the money could be spent better, feeding the hungry. tonight's truth is something that mitt romney says is bad and yet it's doing his campaign a ton of good. 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[ male announcer ] the only place to go for last-minute christmas gifts. walmart. romney campaign spent roughly $326,000 on tv ads in iowa so far. the gingrich campaign, less than one one-third. add in the help governor romney is getting help from the restore our superpac, and the anti-gingrich voice is loud somewhere frequent on eye television these days. >> you know what makes barack obama happy? newt gingrich's baggage. newt has more baggage than the airlines. gingrich supports taxpayer funding of some abortion. newt is the only speaker in history to be reprimanded, fined $300,000 for ethics violations by a republican congress. >> that's got the former speaker more than a little frustrated. >> i don't object to being outspent. i object to lies. i object to negative smear campaigns and i object to things that the candidate himself refuses to support. these are his people running his ads doing his dirty work while he pretends to be above it. >> here's tonight's truth. and it's two-fold. one, by the rules of politics governor romney is absolutely right, when he says this -- >> with regards to the heat associated with ads, you know, if you can stand the relatively modest heat in the kitchen right now, wait until obama's kitchen shows up. >> fair. point two comes with a but. but, as right as he is about the rough and tumble of politics governor romney is being too cute when he voices outrage over the superpac spending. >> they set up new entities which i think is a disaster. campaign finance law has made a mockery of our political campaign season. we ought to let dam pains raise the money they need and get rit of the super pacs. >> if he really means it governor romney should promise now if elected he'll work with nose congress trying to write new campaign finance laws. governor romney is getting too much help from existing rules. restore our future founded by three former romney campaign ads and raised $2 trillion from old romney associates. to be tear, governor romney is hardly alone from getting help from deepak eted former long time aides and friends. even speaker gingrich has friends trying to help them using super pacs. the supreme court says spending is legal and unless and until congress changes the rules, speaker gingrich won't get his christmas wish of a kinder, gentler campaign. with us tonight, republican strategist mary matalin, eric erickson of redstate.com and cornell belcher, working for the obama 2012 campaign. mary, these ads are new and different. the super pac especially, since you were doing presidential campaigns, you know, nothing we can do about it, right? gingrich can complain all he wants but these are doing him in in iowa right now? >> you know what? no one but the editorial pages of "the new york times" gives jack about campaign finance reform. so you just need to stop complaining about it. newt's doing everything he can do. but these town hall meetings and whatnot, quit whining. how he ascended was by taking on obama in what romney says is spot-on, cornell's team and they're so good at this are going to unleash the furies. if newt thinks this is bothersome, he's going to spend the whole general election being upset. that's what campaigns are. they're not being -- they're ugly but voters are sophisticate enough to distinguish between false negatives and problematic facts. and that's just the nature of the business. it is what it is, we're not going to perfect humanity in this cycle and get over it, everybody. >> cornell's here and you're going sign a pledge. the obama campaign would not run a negative ad, right? >> that's -- >> it won't have a super pac. >> that's not going to happen. two things here. all of this money in politics it is bad. i earn a living doing politics. once upon a time before mary started making money speaking -- it gets in the way of the voice of the people. guess what, guys? again i've said it before, negative advertising works. you have to response to it. newt has not responded in a forceful way to it and it's beginning to drop his numbers. >> let me ask you this, negative advertising works we know that. does positive advertising work? listen to a brand-new ad governor romney put up in iowa, his wife talking on camera, positive if you listen to the script. the question is, is it saying something else? >> if you really want to know how a person will operate, look at how they've lived their life. and i think that's why it's so important to understand the character of a person. to me that maybes a huge difference. maybe some voters it doesn't. but for me it makes a huge difference. >> that last part, maybe for some voters it doesn't. that's a little silk swat, i guess? i'm not sure what to call it, no? >> rick perry also has one up with anita perry saying the same thing. yeah, i think they're making it an effective point and making a negative with a very positive commercial. people love the wives ads. they love seeing the wives in these ads. so the positive advertising does work. you can see it in rick perry's poll numbers as he's coming up. mitt romney is suddenly coming back up. newt gingrich is going down. a larger issue here, though, john, and that is in 2004, how hard dean and dick gephardt were so negative towards each other and everybody connected the commercials to them. they said, paid for by dick gephardt, howard dean, super pacs didn't exist. for the first time you've got negative attack ads on newt gingrich and they don't end by saying paid for by mitt romney, they say paid for by the. ac no one's ever heard of. in 2004 in cost those two two implode and john kerry rose from the ashes and won in iowa. this year it's hurting newt. mitt romney's poll numbers have been stable. >> i want to move to a debate here and now, here in washington. mary matalin, i assume you read the "wall street journal," though you have moved out of town to new orleans. conservative editorial page, normally kicking the democratic administration saying president obama wants to raise our taxes, wants to regulate the economy until he chokes it. that's normally what you see on the editorial pages of the "wall street journal." today you see a slap at the republican leadership in congress over the payroll tax extension. they say, quote we wonder if they might end up re-electing the president before the 2012 campaign begins in earnest. the gop leaders have somehow managed the remarkable feat of being blame for opposing a one-year extension of a tax holiday that they are surely going to pass. this is no easy double play. help speaker boehner and leader mcconnell out of the box, mary. how did they paint themselves into this corner? >> listen, john, i read the "wall street journal" editorial page before i brush my teeth in the morning. before i have a cup of coffee. they're wrong on this. they make the point it's not going to create a single job, it's all politics, they play the politics -- they're not understanding politics. these voters particularly primary conservative voters are done with politics as usual and boehner and his caucus took a principaled stand. the senate hasn't passed a budget. they're at the last minute they make this ridiculous deal. so what is required when you make a -- take a principaled stand to go out and continue to splaen explain it and they out to, referencing the previous segment, they out to go back tell the "wall street journal" how wrong they are in this place because principal will overcome politics, is my pray. >> do you agree with that? if you look at president's approval numbers especially among middle class americans they're jumping up all of a sudden? in a tough economy that's an achievement for an incumbent president. i agree with speaker boehner the two-month things a joke. however, it wasjoke. the way it was debated was a joke. however, it was the proposal on the table. taxes go up in ten days if you don't pass it. you can beat it like a piñata and say we're going to hold our nose, and then come back and do more. >> you have to remember, the house learned a valuable lesson. they were going to pass their one-year expense and leave town and tell the senate do it or nothing. instead they decided to stick around. the senate did to the house what the house was going to do to the senate. there are days i wake up and think raw sewage has a better political acumen, at least he can flow through in the path of least resistance. frankly we know this two-month extension can't be implemented by businesses. mitch mcconnell agreed to a plan that businesses in america can't even implement in time to get a two-month extension. so one of the questions in town is will the president blink? the republicans went home. maybe next week they'll try to figure out the way out. they're hoping the democrats blink. the president says come back in. >> why on earth would the president blink? when your enemy is digging themselves into a hole, you get out of the way and let them continue to dig. the real politics behind this becomes more interesting because speaker boehner was on board with the deal. >> he says he said it was a dpood deal that they put the keystone pipeline in there. >> it was a good deal. >> he says it's a little more complicated. >> senator mcconnell, the republican leader pushed forward understanding they would bring it to the fore. it shows us once again that speaker boehner has no control over his caucus. >> what you have, mary, cornell blames this on the tea party, the new freshmen members. they're saying we don't care if we lose the next election. when you have so many senate republicans now essentially saying what the hell are you doing to the house republicans, what happens? >> i don't need to tell anybody in the real world that normal people right now don't care about this. they're christmas shopping, stooped over from wrapping and all the wonderful things -- >> in ten days they might lose $20 or $40 or $80 from their check -- >> that's not going to happen. somehow they're either going to -- it's eethder not going to happen or the republicans are going to have to explain why. that's not necessarily a bad thing. but i promise you this, and you know i make few predictions. not one single voter is going to cast their vote in the elections of 2012 over this incident which is infinite tess mall compared to the big debt ceiling catastrophe that everyone said was going to bring down the universe. boehner did know, cornell, i'm sorry, he did know what was going on. he does control his caucus. they did the right thing. they have to hold firm and push back and say how stupid this is to the president and the senate. >> mary, real quickly. it's not one thing. it's a narrative. a whole narrative about how republicans are not fighting for middle class families and how democrats and the president is. this fits neatly into the narrative. >> back in 2009 and 2010 you and mary's husband and others were saying the republicans were going to get disseminated because they were the party of no, through january, february -- >> i never said that. >> oh, they're the party of no, they're going to lose. look what happened. this isn't going to matter in november of 2012. the economy will matter. >> the economy will matter. the question is whether the president is emerging as the "i'm on your side" guy in this one. mary, eric, cornell, if i don't talk to you beforehand, have a merry christmas. if you have holiday shopping to do, you're not alone. we'll tell you where the shopper in chief went and what's on his list. the government recalls a popular battery used in many tools. the reason, it might explode. details next. rybody likes more . well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? 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[ giggles ] here you go. driver's license. past five years' tax returns. high school report cards. and i'm gonna need to see a receipt for that watch you're wearing. you know, you really should provide us with a checklist of documents we're gonna need up front. who do you think i am? quicken loans? at quicken loans, we provide a checklist of the mortgage documents you'll need up front. it helps keep you in the know every step of the way. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? welcome back. here is kate bolduan with the latest news you need right now. >> an important warning for everyone with rechargeable power tools under the christmas tree. this afternoon the consumer product safety commission issued a voluntary recall of rayovac replacement cordless battery packs. take a look. if you've purchased this battery sold exclusively through battery plus, check to see if it has a ctl printed in white lettering on it. if so, stop using the battery immediately as the agency warns the battery packs can explode unexpectedly. in other important news, football's most watched annual event is coming the the small screen. for the first time ever the super bowl along with some other postseason nfl games will be streamed online and through the league's mobile apps. there's always a catch. here is this one. you must be a verizon subscriber to watch the games on your phone. no plans if there are plans to bring the super bowl to other mobile carriers in the future. >> i bet verizon hates that. >> so bad. tonight's moment you missed. the first shopper, at work, at play, at business. headed for some stores in the washington suburbs and let reporters in on a few secrets. >> in case you guys are wondering, "just dance" for the wii. the girls beat me every time on these various dance games. i'm going to -- you guys will never get a picture of me doing it because i get graded f every time. how are you? merry christmas to you. >> the president spent about $200 on that shopping trip, three copies of "just dance." he says he stinks, "the simms three pet special," $49.99 and a couple $50 apple gift cards. sasha and malia, there is a santa claus and we hope we didn't ruin anything. a little tough there. >> you have other important news. >> this was almost kate bolduan usa. i ducked out to go to a very important event. that's hannah