long-time nemesis former speaker now presidential candidate newt gingrich. plus a snomobiler's helmet cam captures the moment one of his buddies buried alive by an avalanche and then their frantic race to pull him out. we begin tonight here on capitol hill. the stage tonight for the president's annual state-of-the-union address. theater, yes. but important theater. president obama's election year message will be heavily focused on the struggling economy. and yes, we are told tonight there will be some sharp partisan dividing lines over taxes, spending, energy policy and who is to blame for washington's political dysfunction. on the republican campaign trail today, the leading contenders urge voters not to forget the last three years as the president tries to frame the year ahead. >> did he fix the economy? no. did he tackle the housing crisis? no. did he get americans back to work? no. >> our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is live with her latest reporting on what we'll hear from the president tonight. let's start with policy proposals. anything new? >> you will hear a number of new policy proposals from the president as he tries to term the debate for the upcome election year. he will lay out new tax incentives for companies that "in source jobs" that's a term you've heard from him in the past. he's going to recall his rule for the buffett rule where millionaires should be paying a higher tax rate than those who make less. he'll propose more refinancing for homeowners in trouble. i also want to get to this, john. the white house has just released some excerpts from the state-of-the-union speech. i want to share some of this with you. this should sound familiar from that speech he gave in kansas earlier in december. he says "we can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of americans barely get by, or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules. what's at stake are not democratic values or republican values, but american values." clearly there, john, he's trying it set up a strong contrast with his republican opponents going in both in congress and essentially on the campaign trail going into this election, john. >> and so, jess, that's essentially the big amount of the president's speech tonight. he will talk fairness, and in talking fairness and policy trying to frame the next eight months offer election policy, right? >> yes. because for the president's campaign they don't want this a referendum on the economy as it is today but they want to get voters to think about what the middle class's fate will be in an economy of the future under president obama versus under a republican nominee who they would like to associate with wall street, with the gambling that took place that got us to the 2008 bubble that led to the recession. and they want to say that the president stands for opportunity and for a fair shake. i'll read you another excerpt from this state-of-the-union. he will say "tonight i want to speak about how we move forward and lay out a blueprint for an economy that's built to last -- an economy built on american manufacturing, american energy, skills for american workers, and a renewal of american values. those are the major themes of this speech you're going to hear, john. >> jessica yellin, the president putting his finishing touches at the white house. jess, thank you. the president's biggest audience is the american people. but when he speaks in the house chambers tonight, law miks in both parties will be listening closely knowing his agenda and the tone of the presidential race will go a long way in shaping their own campaigns this year. senior congressional correspondent dana bash, let's start with some very tough words this morning from the republican speaker, john boehner. >> that's right. it was specifically about what jess was just reporting about the campaign themes we've already heard from president obama that we'll hear tonight. the idea that he is going to insinuate that republicans are for the wealthy and democrats are for the people, the middle class people in this country. what john boehner said is that those are the politics of almost unamerican. he said the president is running on this, democrats have run on for the past 80 years. he said it's just not right for a guy who promised to be a uniter, not a divider. very, very tough on the idea the president is already fully in campaign mode and said that he has been awol since labor day when it comes to really working with congress on getting things done. >> sounds like the speaker is fully in campaign mode as well. trying to protect his majority. keep that gavel. the president is coming up, yes, some policy to frame choices for the year ahead of. speaker's in campaign mode. what does it say about the possibility the president wants his jobs done? what about the prospects of getting anything done between now and november? >> you'll hear the president say he wants to work with republicans. i heard john boehner told his house rank and file he wants to get things done and find common ground with the president. but when you get to specifics, john, and ask where are you going to find that common ground it's really hard to see. for people looking at this congress, looking at washington and its approval rating at an all-time low it's not what they want to hear. the bottom line is the most we could get in terms of something they think they can get out of the house is a faa reauthorization. not that that's important but that's not going to put people back to work. the one thing they have to do is work on extending the payroll tax for the next year. that's going to be the next fight. >> senior congressional correspondent dana bash. you'll be in the chamber for the speech. interesting theater. thank you, dana. republicans who hope to take president obama's place next year spent the day in florida telling republican voters and anyone else listening don't believe much of what you'll hear tonight. >> you're going to hear a bunch of flowery rhetoric and all this stuff about all the things he's done. but what he's done is he's grown the tax burden on the american public through obama care and through dodd frank and through other bills. >> also in florida, a man who sat just behind the president in the speaker's chair during several state-of-the-union speeches back in the 1990s. i spoke to the former speaker newt gingrich now a republican presidential candidate before a big event he held today in sarasota. >> mr. speaker, thank you for your time today. tonight the president will give his state of the union address. an election year state-of-the-union address. he will say tonight to be fair to the middle class, washington needs to make the rich pay more in taxes. he'll have warren buffett's secretary there as one of his guest toss make the point. is he right? >> well, to be part of the middle class i think everybody should pay less in taxes, have a smaller government. we have a proposal for a 15% flat tax as an option based on the hong kong model which we've labelled the mitt romney flat tax because about the same percentage as mitt paid. i think the fact is, americans are overtaxed. this administration is making it worse. and this administration's killing jobs. >> let's go back to last night's debate and a few things you said last night that are drawing some scrutiny this morning. you just mentioned, this your time as speaker and the balanced budgets of the late 1990s. let's listen. >> when i was speaker we hfour consecutive balanced budgets. only time in your lifetime. >> some fact checks are jumped on this, mr. speak, two balanced budgets while you were still speaker. other two happened after you left office. a slip of the tongue there? hyperbole? >> taking cognizance of the fact checkers, the balanced budget act of 1997 which was negotiated and signed while i was speaker led to four consecutive balanced budgets. there was no major policy change in that period. i think people will go back and look and say it's fair for newt to say that the bill that he offered and that was passed and that he negotiated did lead to four consecutive budgets. two came after i left. but they were within the momentum of the bill we signed in '97. >> as you know, you and governor romney got into it a bit last night. he accused you of influence peddling after you left office. just before the debate you released one year of your contract with freddie mac, a consulting contract that has become a source of tension and friction in the campaign. something you said in describing that tenure and in rebutting governor romney is also getting attention this morning. let's listen. >> i have never ever gone and done any lob lobbying. in fact we brought in an expert on lob yig law and trained all of our staff. >> there are some people in washington who say aha brought in an expert to train our staff. why? were they going to dance up to the line? were they going to operate in the gray area? explain why you did that, sir. >> you know, this is the kind of cynicism that leaves you in despair. we want to make sure we're never lobbying so we bring in somebody who's an expert to say, this is what lobbying is. this is what you can do as a citizen. i would have thought that was a sign of being careful, a sign of looking ahead, a sign of trying to do the right thing. i have been an active public citizen since i first ran for congress in 1974. i have written books, i have given speeches, i have been on television. take the example of medicare part b which romney brought up. i've been openly in favor of senior citizens getting medication for most of my career. i wrote an entire book "saving lives and saving money" in 2002. everybody who knew what i was doing and looking at the center for health transformation web site knew that i believed it was a stupid policy to say medicare won't pay for insulin but ill will pay for kidney dialysis if you have complications from diabetes. it won't pay for lipitor but for open heart surgery. it's bad medicine, inhumane and expensive. that was my public policy. as a senior member of the republican party, calling somebody to say as you know i favor this is not lobbying. it is an expression of my citizenship. and i think governor romney just doesn't get it. i also think he frankly doesn't care about the facts. and i think he was throwing words around that his consultants said sounded good in focus groups with no regard for whether or not they were true. >> let's talk about some of the words you speak. i think part of this freddie mac controversy is that you have been imprecise or sir, if not imprecise wrong on some occasions. you told laura ink bram this morning your contract was with the head of government relations, not with lobbying. it was with a man named craig thomas, title -- he was the head of the lob yig shop. that's not saying you were lobbying, sir, but your contract was with the head of the lobbying shop. that's a fair statement, isn't it? >> well, it's a fair statement he's also the head of public policy. and they were asking my advice on public policy. now again, i didn't actually care who signed the contract. i cared what i did. and what i did was offer strategic advice, bringing to bear both my knowledge as a historian and my knowledge as a former speaker of the house and somebody who had worked with habitat for humanity trying to make sure that there were practical, conservative ways of helping poor people learn how to build and how to buy a house. so it goes back to. the contracts said i'm a consultant. it doesn't say lobbying anywhere. you end up with mitt romney who now has a contract and doesn't want to believe it. well, i can't make him believe things. he's allowed to run around and say what he wants. to it just happens to be untrue. >> much more of that conversation with speaker gingrich to come including, yes, a revisiting of our debate encounter last week in south carolina. >> you didn't have to take the bait. you didn't have to pick it up. you could have ignored abc. we could have gone straight to energy policy, the economy, balancing the budget. there are lots of big questions we could have talked about. what makes the sleep number store different? the sleep number bed. the magic of this bed is that you're sleeping on something that conforms to your individual shape. you can adjust it to whatever your needs are. so whatever you feel like, the sleep number bed's going to provide it for you. and now, the company that redefined sleep is redefining memory foam. save $400 on our all-new memory foam bed. and at our white sale, stock up and save on our exclusive bedding collection. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. . we're live on capitol hill tonight. a beautiful night in washington, d.c., unseasonably warm. 2 1/2 hours until the president makes his way into the capitol building to deliver his election year state-of-the-union address to the american people. he delivers it as the republican campaign for president enders full steam. florida primary just next week. as we await the president tonight i spoke with one of the republicans who hopes to replace him. the former house speaker newt gingrich. he was in florida. among our subjects i asked him about some of his comments in last night's republican debate that have the fact checkers pretty busy today. >> you also talked about kwloub left office and governor romney was saying you left in disgrace. sir, you said this. >> i left the speakership after the 1998 election because i took responsibility for the fact that our results weren't as good as they should be. i think that's what a leader should do. i took responsibility. and i didn't want to stay around as nancy pelosi has. >> some of your friends, mr. speaker, say that's a bit of revisionist history. they say you were campaigning for re-election. you realized you didn't have the votes among republicans in your caucus. then you decided when you didn't have the votes to say goodbye. >> if you look at the press conference held the morning after the election, when we lost five seats and people thought we should gain 15, we stid had a majority. it was the first time since the 1920ss that any leader had led the republicans in the house to a majority for three consecutive elections but we lost five seats. that morning i said i take full responsibility. and i'm the leader. we should have done better. [ overlapping speakers ] >> i was around at that time, sir. you did after that campaign for votes. >> i called around and said, look, this is where we are. friends of mine said, you're not going to have the authority and the prestige that you need. and frankly, at that point j.c. watts really said to me, you'll know in your heart what you ought to do. and i thought about it and he was right. i was effective as a leader as long as we had an ability to get real things done. i think this is why some people in the washington establishment are so afraid of me and our so hyperactive right now trying to stop me. because my record was real change. my record was taking on the establishment. and my record was actually trying to get big things done. there are a lot of folks in washington who are very comfortable. and they would rather manage the decay than shake things up. and they know that in fact if i win i will shake things up. >> i'm going to spend most of my day, mr. speaker, in familiar territory for you. up on capitol hill the president's state of the union address. i'm going to spend some time with another former speaker, nancy pelosi. you didn't get along much but i want you to listen to this moment which has become part of an attack by your rye values in the campaign. a joint appearance with nancy pelosi. >> hi, i'm nancy pelosi, lifelong democrat and speaker of the house. >> and i'm newt gingrich, lifelong republican and i used to be speaker. >> we don't always see eye to eye. do we, newt? >> no. but we do agree our country must take action to address climate change. >> you have said since, mr. speaker, that that was one of the dumbest things or a dumb thing. please you correct me if i have your words wrong. why was it dumb? because you've changed your mind on climate change or because nancy pelosi has become so polarizing among republicans you thought that might hurt you? >> no, it was dumb because the intensity of dislike for speaker pelosi guaranteed that no conservative would ever see the ad without getting irritated by it. the fact is, i wrote a book called "contract with the earth." i do believe that there are conservative solutions to the environment. in fact i proposed replacing the e.p.a. with an environmental solutions agency that is profoundly different from the e.p.a. so i was trying to find a way to have a debate or a dialogue, if you will, that said we can have different approaches. i oppose cap-and-trade. i testified against it. in fact, i followed al gore the same day he testified in favor. i testified against it. my record on cap-and-trade is clear. and i have consistently owe positioned it. i think that that particular ad was a mistake. and when you do as many things as i've done in a fairly long career, you're going to have an occasional mistake. my attitude is to admit it, be honest about it and move on. >> still ahead, more of that conversation with speaker gingrich. also one-on-one with the top house democrat, nancy pelosi. she's not shy at all about making her 2012 republican nominee prediction. >> he's not going to be president of the united states. that's not going to happen. but let me just make my prediction instead by it isn't going to happen. plus a snomobiler's helmet cam was on went one of his friends was buried alive. the dramatic footage when we come back. would you take it? well, there is. 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[ male announcer ] ocuvite. help protect your eye health. will be giving away passafree copies [ male announcer ] ocuvite. of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. welcome back. kate bolduan here with the latest news you need to know now. nice perch thanks for the invite. >> reporter: very exciting night. lots to cover tonight and headline toss catch you up on. a review of u.s. military cemeteries turned up more cases of mislabelled graves not nearly on the scale of the hundreds of mistakes at arlington national cemetery. the veterans affairs department looked at 85 national cemeteries and discovered 115 cases of headstones on the wrong graves. less than 1%, though, of the 1.3 million graves reviewed. an arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords will be in the house chamber for tonight's speech. she's resigning as we've told you from the house this week to continue her recovery from last year's assassination attempt. john spoke with house democratic leader nancy pelosi this afternoon. she says there will be a ceremony for giffords tomorrow on the house floor. pelosi says it's been an honor to serve with her. >> even before the tragedy, and then you saw her strength, her dignity, her determination, her patriotism even to come back and vote. so it's a bittersweet in terms of emotion. you want her to stay. we know she has to go. intellectually it's the right decision because she has made it and we support it 100%. >> reporter: be very wonderful to watch her on the house floor this evening. another thing, keep your eyes on that black dot on the hillside. a snomobiler's helmet cam was on when one of his friends was buried alive by an avalanche in washington stampede pass on sunday. the camera stayed on as they rode to the rescue. >> can he breathe? >> we got you, buddy. >> we got you. >> we got you. you're good. >> we've got his head. >> shovel. shovel! shovel! >> just amazing. and very lucky we can tell you this evening that everyone is okay. i cannot believe it video. >> wow wow wow! >> especially when we're standing here in very unwinter-like conditions. >> to see the video is stunning. but god bless. >> he's alive. my goodness. amazing snow. >> that's what friends are for. that's a great response. kate we'll see you a bit later. in a minute more on our conversation with nancy pelosi including what she this of president obama and what she thinks of the prospect of a president gingrich. i'm really glad we took this last minute trip! you booked our room right? not yet, thanks for reminding me. wait, what? i have the hotels.com app so we can get a great deal even at the last minute. ah, well played sir. get the app. hotels.com. when we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. welcome back. in this half hour an exclusive interview with the former house speaker nancy pelosi who's predicting flat out newt gingrich she says will never be president. plus more from our talk with gingrich today including another look at our encounter during last week's presidential debate. and we'll tell you what's valuable? the white house or one apple store. you see our beautiful backdrop tonight we're on a balcony at the russell senate office building just across the street from the united states capitol. in about two hours president obama will be in that building. he'll head to the house chamber for his annual state-of-the-union address. an election year speech playing against the backdrop of an already crackling republican campaign in an effort to replace him. it will be a dramatic and very important night for country. our chief political analyst gloria borger with us. you've been working your sources in the white house and the congress all day long. what's the biggest thing to expect tonight? >> i think we're going to see the president draw adistinction. he's going to kind of double down, i think, on the issue of the wealth gap. and i think what we see played out in the republican race here is mitt romney saying that he paid 14% in taxes. you've heard the president say that that's not fair, that warren buffett, of course, pointed out that he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. so i think this is going to be a president who tries to draw a distinction between what we've been seeing on the campaign trail and what he's going to be talking about when he starts campaigning. of course, this is a little bit campaigning, don't you think here tonight? >> a little bit campaigning. the video is a president working with his speech writers and other aides on the speechlt that's the oval office right there. the president knows it's a policy speech. it's also a political speech. some democrats have some qualms. this is a president of his first campaign says we'd repeal the bush tax cuts, make the rich pay more of a fair share. it seems now that he means it. democrats have said he's caved in negotiations before, caved in the past. he's going to draw a pretty sharp line tonight. >> i think he is going to draw a sharp line tonight. kind of reminds me, of course you covered bill clinton in 1996. bill clinton had to gave very similar speech at a similar point in his presidency looking towards re-election. having lost control in congress. and what did bill clinton do? bill clinton actually said the era of big government is over. barack obama is not going to say that. what barack obama is going to say, if you believe everyone you talk to, is he's going to say, we need to find a government that works for us. we need to find a government that cares about the middle class. we need to find a government that can reduce this gap between the rich and the poor. but he has to do it, i think in a way, that doesn't seem like class warfare. because if you do it that way you're going to turn off an awful lot of independent voters. >> and he's going to also say you might be mad at what's happening in washington. don't just blame the incumbent president or these guys on capitol hill as well. an interesting speech for the president. gloria will be with us all night as well. tonight's speech will not only be president obama's cry for re-election, it's also a shot at what democrats like former speaker nancy pelosi say is a do nothing republican congress. the former speaker has hopes of a democratic comeback this fall. a bit earlier today we sat down for an exclusive conversation. >> thank you for your time on a busy day. >> thank you. >> the president will come up tonight. it's an election year state-of-the-union. you know this. if you talk to some of your members they cringe a bit when he rails against a do nothing congress. they want him to make sure he says do nothing republican congress. and sometimes he doesn't. how much time have you spent with the white house saying make sure you get that right, mr. president? >> well, i'm just fine with the president saying he's running against a do nothing congress. because with the republicans in the majority that's exactly what this is. and while i would prefer that he inject democrat frick time to time, what's important is what this means for the american people. and this congress does nothing. when they do it's about stopping initiatives for clean air, clean water, food safety, public safety, public health, public education, medicare, medicaid, social security, now know it, you name it they're against it. because if there's any government role they're against it. so i'm perfectly happy for the good of the american people that the president is running against a do-nothing congress. >> and what's the sense in your caucus? you know from time to time, sometimes it's overstated but there is grumbling sometimes that the democrat at the other end of pennsylvania avenue is most worried about himself, maybe not so worried about you and your members. >> we feel very comfortable with the president and very proud of him, and look forward to his re-election and helping us to winter house. >> the last time i came up to see you you said that you had reasonable confidence that at the end of this election the democrats would win and you might get the speaker's gavel back. speaker boehner says he views that as nearly impossible. he says he this the republicans will be the majority at least through 2020. >> he said that but on the same day that was reported the national journal poll had is 11 points ahead in the generic poll. you don't know. we do know that we're way ahead of schedule in what we needed to do to recruit the candidates, to raise the resources, to fight the redistricting, to put us in good position. our chairman steve israel who's mag says it's razor thin right now. that's a good place for us to be. and we have the momentum. >> and you say momentum. in terms of the thematics, the president speaks to the country. it's a framing moment. it's a long way from now to november, but it's a moment to framt issues. from a house democrat standpoint what is the single most important thing you think the president needs to hammer home tonight? >> jobs. but we in our own approach to it, which is very consistent with what the president says, we're about reigniting the american dream, to build ladders of opportunity for people who work hard, play by the rules, take responsibility to reach their success. we want to do that by creating jobs, make it an america, build the american infrastructure, do it from the community-based leadership. and we believe that is consistent with what the president is saying. but it's all about jobs and economic opportunities. small businesses, the entrepreneurial spirit of america, a thriving middle class. >> what did you learn from 2010 and what do you hope the president learned from 2010 in the language of that? in the last cycle the stimulus plan was not popular. the republicans were able to say they're about government and it hasn't worked. your party believes in government sometimes pulling the levers to help people. >> we're about public-private partnerships. that's been history of america. you have to have both. i believe that the messaging will be much more clear this time because the president is on the ballot, so his -- president obama has been a job creator from day one. the recovery package saved or created at least 3 million jobs. that is clear. in the second year of his term which is the last measurement we have, he created more jobs in the private sector -- i don't say he did -- more jobs were created in the private sector than in the eight years of the bush administration. i don't think many people know that. i think that we shouldn't assume anything. and the message has to be clear and direct and make the distinction. i feel very confident that the president will do that. we will echo it across the country. >> you come up from time to time in the republican presidential campaign. former speaker gingrich's rivals like to tell everybody about the time he sat on the couch with you and you talked about global warming. i spoke to the former speaker today, speaker gingrich. and i played him that clip. he said it was the dumbest thing maybe he's ever done politically because he underestimated how polarizing you are to republicans. >> just like him to project it onto somebody else. i think he's done plenty dumb things and there's stiff competition for what is the dumbest thing he's done, of course, including his violations of the ethics rules of the house of representatives. but the fact is it's typical vintage gingrich to say it's about her, it's not about me. either is concerned about climate change and that's the issue. it's not about that he was on the sofa with me. it's that he was on the sofa with the issue that we must do something about the climate crisis. that's what he's walking away from. >> you mentioned the ethics committee investigation. he says that was a partisan vendetta led by democrats. governor romney says there's a report somewhere. the findings have been posted online but there's a thicker report that somehow speaker quick rich -- speaker gingrich will come pouring out. is there anything you know that we should know? >> les not stipulate to something that speaker gingrich said. this is not a democratic vendetta. it was a republican-controlled congress under whose auspices these charges were brought. and against a speaker gingrich. it was a very sad time. however, i think the public record speaks for itself. i don't know if there's any reason to go further than that. but read the public record. >> he took a bit of a shot at you last night. his history was a bit revisionist. he said he left the congress after the election losses. and we know that he campaigned for re-election and then quit when he realized bob livingston had more votes. but in his take last night at the debate he said i wasn't going to hang around like nancy did. >> put it on somebody else. it's vintage projection projection projection. he would love to have stayed. he just didn't have the support in his caucus to do. so but you know what, that's neither here nor there. what's important is not what job he has but how many jobs are created for the american people. that's what this election is about, the future. it's not about newt gingrich's past. it's about america's future. who's going to be better prepared to take us into that future? we have great confidence in president obama, a great leader with great vision, knowledge, judgment, strategic thinking, and passionate about our great country and able to communicate that message. that's what this is about. no use wasting any time on the past. >> not on the past but let's look to the future. you make your case there passionately for president obama. you also understand it's tough re-election climate for any president, democrat or republican in this economy. because of your history with speaker gingrich, what goes through for mind when you think about the possibility which is more real today than it was a week or month ago that he would be the republican nominee and that you could come back here next january or next february with a president gingrich? >> let me just say this. that will never happen. >> why? >> he's not going to be president of the united states. that's not going to happen. let me just make my prediction and stand by it. it isn't going to happen. >> why are you so sure? >> there's something i know. the republicans if they choose to nominate him, that's their prerogative. i don't think that's going to happen. >> leader pelosi's passion there. coming up more of mire interview with newt gingrich and we'll revisit this. i am tired of the elite media protecting barack obama by attacking republicans. 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[ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. had about a 12-minute conversation with the former house speaker newt gingrich today as he campaigns for the republican presidential nomination down in florida. we talked about last night's republican debate, tonight's state-of-the-union address. and yes, we spent a few minutes about last week. >> let me close, sir. we had a bit of a moment the other night in south carolina. skid a question at the beginning of the debate. you took offense. here's part of your answer. >> let me be quite clear. the story is false. every personal friend i have who knew us in that period says the story was false. we offered several of them to abc to prove it was false. they weren't interested because they would like to attack any republican. they're attacking the governor, they're attack me. i'm sure they'll get around to senator santorum and congressman paul. i am tired of the elite media protecting barack obama by attacking republicans. [ cheers and applause ] >> i want to come back to your point there, sir. you were attacking me and calling me part of the elite media. we can debate whether it was an appropriate question at the beginning of debate. my business is debating that. but i could not have asked you the question if your ex-wife had not come forward. she's a republican, sir. she said she supports much of your prince. how was that an example of the elite media trying to protect barack obama? >> well, you have to ask yourself the question. why would abc go back many years, why would they dredge up something which had already been reported several years ago? why would they do it two nights before a primary? why would they refuse to have other witnesses rebutt her? we offered them a number of people who were there at the time who said what she was saying just wasn't true. i would just suggest to you that when the only person you get is an ex-wife who wants to testify on the air just before a primary with nobody allowed to rebutt her, there's something a little goofy about that design. and my point to you, john, was simple and i repeat it. you didn't have to take the bait. you didn't have to pick it up. you could have ignored abc. we could have gone straight to energy policy, the economy, balancing the budget. there were lots of big questions we could have talked about instead of taking the time on something like that. >> we did talk about other issues but a lot of people in the state were talking about that issue that day. a lot of people think that exchange work today your benefit. that's not for me and my calculation. have you spoke ton your ex-wife at all? why did she come forward at that time? i can't speak for abc but it says if you had offered people it would have interviewed them. >> oh, that is just plain baloney. i mean, i'll check with r.c. hammond in a minute. but if they're saying that they're not being honest. they said explicitly the opposite. i will check with r.c. because he was briefing me on this the whole way through. we had several people prepared to be very clear and very aggressive in their dispute about that. and they weren't interested. >> mr. speaker, thanks for your time today. we'll see you on the trail in florida soon. take care, sir. as we count down to tonight's state-of-the-union address we're joined on the russell balcony. i want to talk about the speech in a minute. to go back to this moment with speaker gingrich. i was not trying to relitigate it. i wanted to see his tone. he wins in south carolina, he goes to florida. he's a much kinder, gentler guy. not happy with abc. but i was thinking maybe he'd want to come at me again. he's in a much better place now, because he thinks what? he needs to be calmer, less combative? >> he's toned it down in a lot of ways. in south carolina gingrich campaigned with what a lot of they call racial cues. i was restruck in the florida debate they're gone. he's suddenly reaching out to people who are different from his base voters. in south carolina he wasn't. different newt, different state, different newt. >> i know you don't like him. >> why would you say i don't like him? i actually have a lot of respect for him. because back in the day when i worked on capitol hill, newt gingrich worked with my former boss, eleanor holmes norton. president bill clinton of others and others to help us save the district of columbia. so i have enormous respect for him. i disagree with his policies. >> and political strategy-wise as david just noted a shift from south carolina to florida. if you were a republican advising him is he doing the right thing? >> absolutely. look, john, he has momentum. he also understands he has to win this state in order to continue his moment up to build up more delegates. he's leading in delegates. i think he's on a roll. the question is, will mitt romney change his temperament over the next couple of days in order to beat newt gingrich. >> it's not just about one state, though. he's got a problem which is republican party donors, activists, the party machinery are terrified of the prospect of a gingrich nomination. he's trying to reassure them right now, look, i'm a more stable person than you remember me as being from ten years ago and before. >> and that memories from this building here. let's talk about tonight. the president of the united states two hours and ten minutes coming up giving his speech. here's one of excerpts the white house released tonight "we can either settle for a country where a shrinking number of people do really well while a growing number of americans barely get by. or we can restore an economy where everyone gets a fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays the same set of rules." he's coming up here to draw this class line saying the rules as were now written, the republicans he will insist are trying to help the rich at the expense of the middle class. the right campaign year state-of-the-union? >> it's a second best. ideally he'd like to come up to capitol hill and say, when i came here things were in terrible condition. now they're much, much better. he would like to have a recovery message, but since he can't have that message and a bit of a recovery but not much of one, and he is trying to help the core supporters, and that is a second strategy and not as good as the i made things better strategy. >> i asked the speaker pelosi about this, and some of the democrats would love for him to rail against the republican congress and they cringe when he says do-nothing congress, and doesn't include the republicans in there, and you are part of the hill, and do you trust that he will frame it right or he is worried more about him and less about them? >> well, most of america knows that congress is as popular as a root canal. the president's job tonight is to remind the congress that this congress has a responsibility to act on behalf of the american people. it is not about class warfare, but fairness and shared sacrifice at a time when the economy is struggling to move forward and the president tonight is going to remind the american people that he is on their side, and he is not going to stop working and until he helps all americans. >> how nervous are the democrats and what do you make with your experience on this number, the gallup poll with the approval of the president, a thnd this is ag number, 44% approval rating down from 46% from january of last year. so he comes to the merp people underwater, if you will, donna, under 50%, and if you are running for re-election, and democrat and republican or independent, that is a tough number. >> well, as you can tell from the numbers, newt gingrich has more rebounds than larry bird. so hold on, because basketball season is under way, and guess what, the numbers will also rebound. >> and the thing that he has to be watching is the most important events are happening beyond this city in europe. if the euro currency continues to be in trouble and looks like the german economy is going into recession, and the 44 number has a long way to go down, because this country cannot take more bad news whether it is jep raisd here or across the ocean. >> well, it is out of his control. >> this is the most out of the incumbent control where decisions will be made in other countries. >> and it is important, john, to tell the american people it is not about the poll numbers or the election, but it is about the heart and the soul of the country and the president has to show the american people he is on their side and he will fight for them. >> and the president has a lot of goodwill from the american people. that's, you see it in a lot of numbers bs numbers, but in the end, they want results. whether he didn't get the results, because he made bad mistakes or just unlucky, at some point people say, send us a luckier president. >> maybe they want a president who will not take us back to the president who dug us in this deep hole. the president has gotten us out of the ditch, but we have work to do, and the president will tell the american people tonight that we have work to do, and he is ready to do it. >> good debate about what to do, donna brazile, and david frum. beautiful night out here on the balcony. >> and you can forget what is going on inside. >> and erin is coming up at the top of the hour, and you have been digging into mitt romney's tax returns and what have you uncovered? >> well, this is insane, john. look. the guy made a lot of money. with know that, but we had 500 pages here and we put together a strike team of seven irs experts, and tax experts to go through it to find out some things that stood out, and we did, ale though it does appear that mitt romney paid everything that he is supposed to pay, and there are a coupleel of interesting things in here, and his use of blind trusts, and he has talked about that before and perhaps not in a way he wants us to bring up tonight, but we got to the bottom of it, and also we will be ready for the state of the union. good thing that the weather is good there, otherwise, john, you would not be pleasant. >> i like the cold. i wish it were snowing, but if the it is a night nig, i will l it. you have to promise me that you will recycle all of the paper or use it for a fire starter. >> i will do that. a fire starter. i will do that. you look at the top of the 1040 willard m. romney and forget it. it is willard. and did you know that town and country had him in 1967 as one of the most eligible bachelors and the kind of guy who might end up spending weekends at the whits house. >> well, he would like to spend weekends at camp david is his goal. >> i am sure he would. >> thank you, erin. we will get to you in a few minutes. and why is the apple retail stores worth as much almost as the white house? we will explain next. 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[ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. kate bolduan is back with more of the latest news you need to know right now. hello, again. >> lots of news to catch you up on. and of course, what else do you want to know? big news out of hollywood. oscar nominations are out. martin scorcese's "hugo" has the most, 11 in all. including best picture and director. in the last 15 years, the film who has won best picture has also won best director. and the oscars will be handed out february 26th. here is a god bit of trivia, cnn money tell us that apple computer stores sell $4,709 merchandise per square foot which is as much as the white house which is valued at $4,752 a square foot which is just $43 more a square foot. that is interesting. >> more fun toys at the apple store and more pres teemg at the white house. >> yes, theel ba lan balance. >> and tonight, a sweet moment, and here is senate majority harry reid. >> here's the deal. my caucus likes me a lot. so they gave me