congressional stalemate that could mean a bigger government bite out of your paycheck. i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room". -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the lines have been redrawn in the battle for the republican presidential nomination and after months of focusing his fight on president obama, mitt romney is now going after the newest front-runner, the former house speaker, newt gingrich. romney's latest assault is the classic campaign tactic of using the candidate's own words against him. joe johns is joining us now. take us inside romney's latest attack on gingrich. >> now we know that mitt romney apparently is not going to sit around and wait for newt gingrich to make a mistake as some have been suggesting. romney's on the offensive right now, but as far as we can tell, the former speaker hasn't exactly launched any kind of counterattack. down in the polls with weeks left until iowa caucuses, mitt romney makes his move. direct assault on the new front-runner, newt gingrich. starting right between the eyes. with the former speaker's conservative credential ls, reminding iowa of one of my times when gingrich's mouth got him into trouble. that was when gingrich slammed the proposal by paul ryan. to change medicare as we know it into a voucher system. >> i don't think right wing social engineering is any more desire abl than left wing social engineering. >> because gingrich could have just said the plan needed a little work, but instead, he uttered what sounded to many like a crushing attack on a l litmus test idea. >> this is a place where speaker gingrich and i disagree. he called this right wing social engineering. i believe it's a very important step to, to protect medicare and to protect social security, we're going to have to make that i think changeses like the ones paul ryan proposed. >> but the attacks didn't stop there. the action committee posted, then took down another video that -- >> newt has a ton of baggage like the fact that gingrich was fined $300,000 for ethics violations or that he took at least $1.6 million from freddie mac just before it helped cause the economic meltdown. then there's the $37 million gingrich took from health care and industry groups and on the issues, newt's been on all sides. >> that last line just in case people forgot romney was not the only republican candidate who has gotten criticized for changing position. >> that's the attack on romney that's really sold in the republican party and beyond, that he's a flip-flopper, so romney is turning that on gingrich. >> gingrich has said he intended to stay positive in the tcampain and will try to keep the focus on president obama, but people who worked in congress when gingrich was speaker of the house say the most effective attacks on him could be yet to come. if people who serve with them go out in the open with their questions. >> a lot of those members had real questions about newt's leadership. the people who know him the best and severed with him in the congress are the ones who will be the most effective messengers. >> the danger is reminding people of gingrich's negatives will remind them of romney's negatives. we've heard from former members of congress with gingrich and say they can't or won't support him. >> but there's a sense the clock is ticking. they don't have a lot of time between now and january 3rd. they're going on the offensive, the romney people are? >> absolutely. very clear with these videos. the question is, how far you go with it. >> thanks very much. let's dig deeper with our chief political analyst, gloria borger. a little risky for romney and his folks to be attacking gingrich when it comes to paul ryan and his budget given how popular paul ryan is? >> for a couple of reasons. i think it's very risky. the paul ryan medicare plan turns medicare into a roucher system. when mitt romney proposed his own solutions on medicare, he didn't exactly hug the ryan plan. he said he liked it. he would take parts of it, but didn't totally embrace it because when you look towards the general election, if you completely embrace the ryan plan, then you're handing barack obama a real issue to use with general election voters. they're afraid of the ryan plan. medicare is a very opponent issue for senior citizens who vote, so by running to the right of gingrich, romney could hurt himself if he becomes the nominee. >> but the democrats have argued that what ryan has done would be ending medicare. >> and turning it into a voucher system. that's very, very potent for democrats. >> what about the line that the romney folks are saying that newt gingrich is a career politician and a flip-flopper? >> first of all, as gingrich himself pointed out, mitt romney might have been a career politician had he been elected to any office that he ran for aside from governor. he ran for the senator, the presidency. he didn't get elected to those offices cht as for the notion of flip-flopping, the problem is that romney himself as joe pointed out earlier, romney himself is a flip-flopper, so he could say newt gingrich has changed his mind on climate change and is now more liberal on immigration. what if health care mandates come up? gingrich used to be for health care mandates and romney. that's easy for gingrich to turn around on romney. i think a more lucrative line would be how was newt gingrich as leader of the house? why was it that after he engineered the republican takeover within a few years, people were planning a coup against him? >> republican conservatives, i know you've been talking to a lot of them. how are they feeling? >> they're very nervous. newt gingrich is reaching out to them, which they like. he met with a large group of them in virginia this week. they said it was a very, very good meeting, but there's a lot of areas in which they're going to have to agree to disagree. they're worried about his personal life, so they've got a couple of leading candidates there that they don't really embrace and that is why i think we need to be keeping our eye on ron paul in the iowa caucuses. because he could really surprise us there and do very, very well with those conservative caucusgoers. >> his son rand paul is going to be joining me live. he's really going after gingrich big time. thanks very much. working americans will soon see more of their paycheck disappear to kaczmartaxes unles congress can reach a deal on extending the payroll tax cut, but right now, the battle is at a stalemate. right now, kate bolduan is standing by. what's the latest on extending the payroll tax cut because only about 150, 160 million americans are about to be affected one way or the other. >> it sure seems like there's a bit of here we go again going on here. another showdown between democrats and republicans on capitol hill up against another holiday deadline. right now, there is no clear path to compromise. just one week before congress's targeted date and despite calls for action by both sides to extend the tax cut, the senate wasn't in at all today and the house left for the weekend for being in session after all of two minutes. something house democratic leader nancy pelosi took advantage of, holding a rare friday news conference in a capitol hallway occupied by more tourists than staff. >> families will soon be sitting around their kitchen table ma making decisions as to whether they can buy holiday toys for their children, if they're going to be able to come for them come january when the bills arrive. and what are we doing? we're out. >> house republican leaders plan to vote next week on their proposals to extend the tax cut and employment assistance set expire. but republicans are also spoiling for a fight with congressional democrats and the president over an issue unrelated to the payroll tax. demanding any tax cut extension also include a measure to speed up approval of the keystone oil pipeline project. president obama warned this week he would reject such a move, which aides say actually helped republican leaders rally support among conservatives lukewarm on the payroll tax cut. >> the fact that the president doesn't like it makes me like it even more. >> republicans called it a job creator. the white house delayed it saying it required further environmental study. the issue, now a key sticking point in this payroll tax battle. >> we're trying to make sure the american people understand that this payroll tax cut is being held hostage to issues that have absolutely nothing to do with the payroll tax cut. absolutely nothing to do with the unemployment insurance extension. >> it's pretty clear that the president's decided to push this decision off for a year conveniently until after his next election and at a time when the american people are still asking the question, where are the jobs, i think this is a proposal the president ought to endorse. >> harry reid in a statement today accused republicans of wasting valuable time with this keystone provision because he says it will no pass the senate. now, as house republicans prepare for a vote on their proposal, we're told that senate democrats, senate democratic aides especially, will likely be working through the weekend on another proposal of their own to extend the payroll tax cut. both sides acknowledging one thing. that next week could be make or break on this issue. >> next week is going to be a tough week r for members of congress and they should get back quickly because a lot is at stake. thanks for that. elaina kagan, she's under fire. >> why do you believe she should rekuz herself? >> the bottom line is you can't play coach and be referee in the same game. >> why some conservatives want her to sit out of the case of health care reform. plus, senator rand paul, he's out with a brutal op-ed slamming newt gingrich, saying he's not even a conservative, let alone part of the tea party. rand paul. the senator from kentucky. the son of ron paul, joins us live this hour. for 5 days only, get great holiday deals. like $100 off the 4g lte samsung galaxy tab. or buy one 4g lte samsung stratosphere for $99.99 and get another one free. hurry in, these deals end december 12th. the smartphones are ready. the tablets are wrapped. get the technology they love. on the network they deserve. verizon. rating the republican fear. the influence of tea party movement certainly has not endorsed a candidate yet. let's go to erin burnett. she's taking a closer look on who might the tea party endorse. what's going on? >> it's amazing, wolf. obviously, there have been a couple of influential tea party endorsements. the one in new hampshire yesterday. you've got hurricanes of groups that identify themselves as tea party. tonight, we're talking to tli. tea party patriots, the dallas tea party and the tea party coalition and none are ready to make a formal endorsement yet. one thing that stood out to me is you have tea party registered voters who are going to vote republican primaries who identify themselves as quote unquote tea partiers. they overwhelmingly are supporting newt gingrich. take florida. 62% of supporters take gingrich. in iowa, 42% of them. you see that there but not with the overall groups. michael leahy has gone so far as to grade've of the candidates on how they fair for his metrics for being a tea party loyalist, most of these are on if fiscal side, not the socialist side. he's got newt gingrich at a c minus. >> who are they in love with? anybody? >> what's amazing on this, it's going to say michele bachmann, a minus, rick santorum, b minus and these are the people now that obviously the rank and file voters are not leaning towards, so we're going to see tonight if we can get any of these folks to say what's it going to take for you to make a commitment and are we going to get any of these main big tea party leaders to come out and endorse one or the other if that's who it's going to be before we get to the first of this year where we start having all the action going on. >> i'll be watching. 7:00 p.m. eastern later tonight. good stuff. thank you. >> thanks, wolf. some conservatives are calling for the u.s. supreme court's newest member to sit out one of its most important cases in so many years. we're talking about the justice elaina kagan and the challenge to the health care reform law. let's go to brian todd. set the scene for us. what is the issue here? >> well, the issue is health care reform and the politics around it. the supreme court has not faced this probably since bush versus gore and right now, p pressure is the on elaina kagan and potentially clarence thomas. if she wasn't in her current job, she might be gearing up to fight president obama's health care law at the supreme court, but elaina kagan is now on the court and there's pressure from the right for her to sit out the health care case. why double she should rekuz herself? >> bottom line, you can't play coach and be referee in the same game. >> several opponents believe that as solicitor general in the white house, kagan had more to do with shaping the legal strategy from the law than she led on. there's one e-mail from kagan to a colleague. quote, i hear they have a votes, larry. simply amazing she says that's not the problem. she says kagan's principal deputy in the white house kept kagan close to the white house. >> he copied her on e-mails, promised he would keep her in the loop. he copied her internal strategy. >> and that, she says, means elaina kagan could not be impartial deciding whether the health care reform law is institutional, but there's no firm indication that she was actively involved in the health care strategy. the white house has long insisted that while the law was being shaped last year, kagan was walled off from the discussions because she was being considered for the high court. >> i can tell you with regard to conversations, i did not remember her being there for any of them. >> health care maybe the most important case in a decade. there's pressure from the left for justice clarence thomas to recuse himself because this woman. thomas's wife, virginia, at a tea party rally last year. she's had connections to conservative groups that want the health care law overturned. >> i think we need to repeal obamacare. >> conservatives say thomas has never been swayed by his wife's political activities. so, what are the chances that clearance thomas or elaina kagan will recuse themselves? analysts say it's not likely they will. the law says it is up to the justice him or herself to decide whether to recuse because of conflicts of interest. the supreme court says neither will comment on this. >> both justices, correct me if i'm wrong, have rekuzed themselves from other cases. >> elaina kagan has done it quite often in the term and a half she's been in office here. 28 times total by our count she's had to recuse herself. 26 last term. two far this term. but analysts say it's not likely she's going to do it this time. >> thank you. brood tobrian todd at the supre court. a 30 rock no fly zone. why some flight attendants want to ban alec baldwin's show from being shown on planes. plus, influential republicans are piling on newt gingrich. stand by. you're in "the situation room." nyquil (stuffy): hey, tylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. tylenol: we are? nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. lisa sylvester is monitoring other top stories, including the latest on the shooting yesterday at virginia tech. >> police at virginia tech are trying to learn the motive behind the shooting yesterday. authorities say the gunman had no contact with the officer before the shooting and they are close to identifying the shooter. a second person believed to be the gunman was found dead not far from where the officer was killed. a new labor agreement between the airplane manufacture and the union had a decision. the union had accused boeing of opening a plan in south carolina to punish it for past strikes. the issue was resolved after boeing agreed to build the fleet of match jets in the west. they said it was proof the white house was more concerned with pleasing unions than creating jobs. and hopes that europe is is finally taking its debt crisis seriously. fueled a weak rally. the dow jones industrial average closed up 183 points. the dow was up more than a percent for the week. investors also feel prospects here at home are improving as signs point to a growing recovery and american airlines flight attendants are fighting back against alec baldwin. they want the actor banned from the airline after being kicked off the flight on tuesday. the union says he was rude to workers who asked him to turn off his smart phone before a flight. flight attendants also want the show, "30 rock," banned. baldwin has already vowed never to fly american airlines. a little dust up there. >> never dull. thanks very much. another republican presidential candidate declined to take part in donald trump's upcoming debate in iowa. is he losing his influence with the republican pact? stand by. and senator rand paul says newt gingrich isn't a conservative. senator paul is here in "the situation room" live. he's coming up. he'll explain what's going on. hi, i'm cashing in my points... peggy? no more points - coupons now. coupons? coupons. coupons? next, you convert coupons to tokens. tokens? then you trade tokens for credits. and then i get the cash? then you call back. bye bye. peggy? hello? what just happened? want rewards that make sense? switch to discover. america's #1 cash rewards program. it pays to discover. 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. here are some of the stories we're working on for our next hour. new hotel video from the night dominique strauss-kahn allegedly assaulted a hotel maid. who's side does it support? also, disturbing hostage video of a former fbi agent who went missing in iran almost four years ago. why is family releasing the video now? stand by. you're in "the situation room." let's get to our strategy session. lots of politics to discuss. joininging us, karen hanready and in new york, the democratic strategist, paul begala. karen, let me start with you. you're a good republican. some republican establish types and others, they're beginning to hit newt gingrich now that he has the front-runner. noonan writing in the "wall street journal," is he erratic and unreliable, yes, e egomaniacal, harebrained and impulsi impulsive, all true. what's going on here? >> those who know newt best seem to be most concerned about his rise in the polls. lindsey graham, who severed with him in the house, he's now in the u.s. senate. i think the nicest thing lindsey graham could summon up about newt, hoping he had matured. now, newt gingrich is 63 years old. so one would hope by the age of 63, a man is mature, but that is the question everyone's asking. does he have the temperment to hold through not just a primary, but if he were to win the nomination, does he have the temperment to keep out of the general election, which is going to be very difficult, probably going to be a very ugly election. >> david frum in his latest column writes this. prediction, he says. if gingrich has emerged as the nominee by then, according to the republican convention next summer, the mood of that convention will be full of unconcealed panic. you know newt gingrich. you were in the clinton white house. you worked with him on a nearly daily basis when he was speaker of the house. what do you think? >> he is perhaps the most partisan conservative i know. i mean, he is a -- but i think is appealing to the republican base and dan frum's a very principled guy. peg peggy, i think they may be helping newt. i think karen's point is well taken. it's the old joke where clinton said why do people take such an instant dislike and clinton says, because it saves time, newt. he appeals to whose who want somebody radical, conservative, bomb throwing. the more the establishment says they don't like newt, the more they may be helping newt. >> in part, look, i think what the party wants more than anything is to defeat barack obama. and i think they see the how well newt has performed in these debates. we've had at least a dozen debates. two more, maybe three before the end of the year. and i think they want someone who can go head to head with president obama, who has great, who is a great orator, who has excellent communication skills. i think what they fail to realize is in a general election, you get two to three debates. th not a dozen chances like he's had in this primary. they want an outsider. newt is the consummate insider. he's partisan, but this is someone who did tv ads to combat global warming with nancy pelosi. so, you know, i think a lot is going to happen before the nomination process comes and i'm not even sure newt is going to qualify to get on the ballots he needs to get on in order to win the nomination. >> i assume he's hoping to have it wrapped up after the first four of five contests, but we'll see if he can do that. and paul, let me point out these debates. there are two schedules right now, republican debates this month. the third, donald trump, a news max debate. only two candidates. newt gingrich and rick santorum have agreed to participate. as i told him yesterday, that's not going to be much of debate. everybody dropping out and saying they're not interested. maybe it won't happen, but what does it say to you about donald trump, that only two of the republican candidates agreed to join him december 27th in iowa? >> i watched your interview with him yesterday and it was riveting. donald trump brings eyeballs. he is a consummate showman. i thought what he did with the birth certificate and all that was despicable. you can't deny the man's talent. it says more about the republicans. they were clambering for his endorsement and now, they're running away. i guess you don't want to be in a fox hole with some of those folks. newt gingrich, he seems to not be waivering. maybe it's a sign of character, that there's something he will stick with. >> karen? >> it says these candidates woke up finally and realized that donald trump is not one of them. this is not a conservative. this is a man who's given a lot of money to democrats like john kerry and harry reid and you know, the very democrats that we worked very hard to defeat, he's given money to. and i think that you know, they've come to terms with the fact this is not a man who is serious. he's really all about himself, promoting himself. i think they were smart not to attend this debate. newt gingrich has nothing to lose by doing it. he's not raising a lot of money. this gives him another opportunity to play to his strong suit, but if you're these other candidates who've gotten an abc debate, fox news, i think it's probably just good strategy as far as time management to skip this debate. >> guys, thanks very, very much. he's a tea party favorite with a scathing assessment of newt gingrich. senator rand paul standing by to join us live, will talk about his father's presidential campaign. ron paul, and a lot more. stand by. [ nadine ] buzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, bzzzz, 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. ♪ ♪ the tea party favorite senator rand paul is not mixing words at all when it comes to his assessment of newt gingrich. rand paul is joining us now from bowling green, kentucky, his home state. senator, i was amazed when i read your op-ed piece. you didn't mince any r words. i'll read a line from it. you say this, gingrich is not from the tea party. he's not even a conservative cht he is part of the washington establish i was sent to fight. go ahead and explain. >> well, you know, i was part of the tea party movement that was unhappy with some republicans who voted for the bank bailouts and newt gingrich was a big champion of the bank bailouts, so i don't know how he can be considered a conservative or appeal to tea party voters when the thing that made us mad is that we didn't like republicans who voted for the bank bailouts, then it turns out he made millions from these banks while supporting more government bailou bailouts. i don't know the tea party could support him. >> you're talking about when he was on the payroll at freddie mac, that 1.6 to 1. $8 million he took in over a period of several years. >> yeah, but even more than just taking the money is that he supported a position opposed to the tea party. we in the tea party didn't like bailing out the big banks with taxpayer money. we also were upset that republicans voted to bail out the big banks and so i don't know how that sits very well. the other big issue that's going to be tough is a big issue for the tea party has been obamacare. almost universally despised within the tea party and he has been for the individual mandate. that takes away a big issue for us with the president. the president's going to look at newt gingrich and say, thanks for the ideas, for helping me get started with my health care plan. >> if he's the nominee, could you support him? >> i think any of our republican nominees are better than president obama, but i would like to have a really strong candidate and i would like not to have someone who people say, oh, well he's a conservative and then it turns out he's not. that helps to destroy the conservative movement. you know, your previous person you had on just before i came on talked about him being a conservative bomb thrower. well, half the bombs he's thrown at us. thoohe's thrown them at us, buto at the conservatives as well. before for cap and trade, sitting with nancy pelosi and advertising his support for cap and trade. traveling with al sharpton and being in favor of the president's agenda on a federal takeover of education, these are just not conservative positions. >> so you would hold your nose and go vote for gingrich as opposed to barack obama if that was the choice zm. >> we're still early on, wolf. there's that ron paul guy and he's got a good chance in aiiow so i'm going to support ron paul for now. >> what about mitt romney? who's a stronger potential nominee? from your tea party oriented, conservative perspective? >> i'd say they're different. i'd say with mitt romney, you get a moderate, pro business republican that would also be better than president obama. i think president obama seriously is the most anti business president we've had. business is afraid to get started. afraid to expand. afraid to hire people. i see romney for what he is. i think he is a moderate and he's a pro business republican and i think he would beat the president. my problem with gingrich is that he portrays himself and wants to be a leader of the conservative wing of the party, but he's been on both sides of these issues and that's why i like to show the contrast with my father, ron paul, who has been the most consistent conservative. >> you can explain this. if president obama's so anti business, when he took office, the dow jones industrial wall street, around 7,000. it's now over 12,000. a dramatic, dramatic improvement over these past three years. how does that work out if he's so anti business? >> well, i'd say the stock market is somewhat of an illusion. i'm very worried about the stock market cht when i talk to investors, i hear a lot of people say they're mostly in cash still. and 12,000 is better than 7,000. we went through a horrible recession, but we have 2 million more people out of work since he came into office. he added $100 billion in new regulation on business this year, so there are a lot of things that businesses fear. they mainly fear the uncertainty of these new regulations. what will obama care cost every small man. if you did a survey, you'll find they're conservative. >> i interviewed donald tump yesterday in new york. we had a little discussion about your dad, who rejected his invitation to participate in this december 27th news max debate. listen to this little change i had with donald trump about your dad and others who didn't want to go to the debate. >> you know, honestly, they're not going to win. but -- >> paul does have a big following. >> but he's not going to win. he's not going to win. he's, you know, he's a whacky candidate and he's not going to win. it's a joke. and you know it and i know it and that's why he always complains he gets coverage. you cover people that are going to win, okay? >> he calls your dad a whacky candidate and a joke. that was a pretty strong word. a lot of these republican candidates have gone to his office appealing for his support. >> here's the funny thing. last time i looked, trump has never won any elected office. ron paul's won office 11 times. so you call that what you think it is. look at donald trump. he wants to be this big republican go-to guy. he's a how long supporter of charlie rangel, of harry reid. of most of p prominent democrats in the past two decades. when he was doing this crazyness about the president's birth certificate and i told the media i wanted to see trump's republican certificate because i'm not sure if he is a republican. >> describe your dad's path to victory? how does he handle south carolina, florida? walk us through his strategy. >> there's a certain amount of the party who are constitutional conservatives and i think he's getting a lot of that vote. he can only win if he turns out independents. we are looking at independents in iowa and new hampshire. if they come out in a big way, he can win. when you see him, you guys have done, cnn has done some polling where you do ron paul against president obama. he does better than most of the republican candidates because he captures a lot of independent vote because op the war issue, he's different than other republicans. he thinks we should be reluctant to go to war, we should always have checks and balances and congress should vote before we go to war. >> quickly, i want you to react to george wills column, your dad might when the dust settles, if he doesn't get the nomination, run as a third party candidate. what do you think? >> i have to repeat what my dad keeps saying, that he has no plans to do that. and i take him at his word on that. i don't think it's a good idea, to tell you the truth. for the tea party to break or for my dad necessarily because i think it would just elect the president again and i think we don't want that. so i plan on staying in the republican party. i don't think it's a good idea to have a split away or break away movement. but my dad will make his own decisions. he has a mind of his own and we don't always agree on everything. we'll see what happens. he has been saying he has no plans to do it. >> as i've told your father on many occasions, he's very lucky to have a good son and loving, loyal son like you. senator paul, thanks so much for coming in. >> thank you, wolf. it's a bird, it's a plane, it's a secret spaceship. we're going to show you a mysterious object near mercury that's bringing out the conspiracy theorists. and why one group of new jersey immigrants may soon be deported. alright emma, i know it's not your favorite but it's time for your medicine, okay? 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[ male announcer ] more christmas for your money, guaranteed. there's a mysterious planet-sized object spotted near mercury and some think it could be what, a secret spaceship? chad myers is taking a closer look. tell us what's going on. >> there was a mass ejection kind of like a solar flare, and it slows plasma out into space. it even hit part of the earth. we felt we had some aurora borealis not that many days ago. but here it is when it hit mercury and there's this big fluff of plasma heads towards mercury and when it gets there, it finds that little object and many think that may be an alien spaceship going around mercury, but we've debunked that theory. it looks something like a spaceship. you can maybe see dr. spock in there, but not really. this is not what it seems. this is an image of a, phantom image of what the computers and how the computers block out other stars. on a regular day, you would see many, many stars. there would be so many stars on this map you would never see that plasma coming by. so what the computer program does through nasa, it takes all of those bright white spots, if it sees it in two passes, it blacks them out. so you see one if you take a picture here, another image here, if both bright spots are in the same spot, they black them out. so that lets us see the plasma. blacked out. but guess what? this one right here looks like a spaceship, is not. in fact, it's the old picture of mercury from yesterday. remember i said it would have to have two pictures, two images that have the same images at the space space, the image, the computer tried to take away the bright spot, but didn't do a good job. only took away half. so it looked at least for a while, like a spaceship, but now we know it's not. >> would have been a better story. thanks very much for that. we'll continue to monitor. dozens of immigrants in new jersey face deportation. why this man is 99% sure he'll get kicked out of the country. >> and live in this country that we love, that my daughters love so much. 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. of course, neither do i. solution? td ameritrade mobile trader. i can enter trades on the run. even futures and 4x. complex options, done. the market shifts, i get an alert. 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[ male announcer ] trade commission-free for 60 days. plus get up to $600 when you open an account. time is running out for dozens of immigrants facing deportation. advocates step up their fight in a case they say is a classic example of a broken immigration system. mary snow has more. what's going on here? >> these immigrants don't hide fwr the fact they are here illegally, but after a welcome gesture from the government two years ago, they don't understand why they are now being shown the door. this ritual may soon become just a memory for the crushed american dream for this family. roughly among 70 indonesians in a reform that makes no sense. so, you're 99% sure you're going to be deported? >> my faith, i said no, they're not. they will not deporting me. >> your faith? >> harry's faith is rooted in this new jersey church, home to a tight knit community of indonesians. many of them fled their home land in the late 1990s because of religious persecution against christians, including harry's wife, yana. >> keep hope alive! >> that was harry at an immigration reform rally after nearly being deported in 2009. he was only able to stay in the u.s. after his pastor worked out an agreement with immigration officials. because the indonesians in his community had no criminal records, they could live and work in the u.s. and check in regularly. that agreement appears to be ending. u.s. immigration and customs enforcement says it began reviewing all pending cases, but it's not clear why this community is being targeted. >> i'm deeply angry about this. but more than angry, i'm just despairing the fact that the politics in washington would lead to the inability of our government to make compassionate decisions to keep families together. >> he says families like harry's are only on the radar because think did what they were supposed to do. foreign visitors from predominantly muslim countries needed to register with the government. >> and then because they reported, they became the low hanging fruit for deportation. >> a glimmer of hope came in june when i.c.e. said it was using what it calls prosecut prosecutorial discretion. in a statement -- to focus immigration enforcement resources on those convicted of crimes, recent border crossers and agreenlgous immigration law violators, but harry says those new guidelines can't help him now. as advocates fight for him, he's bracing for the fate he and his wife will be handed three days before christmas. >> and live in this country that we love, that my daughters love so much. please. >> and this week on capitol hill, two democrats, congresswoman introduced a bill to help imgrants who fled religious per cougs, but would only apply to those who arrived between 1997 and 2002. happening now, ron paul's campaign to quote expose newt gingrich. could the libertarian rebel of the republican party derail the front-runner in iowa? new makes coming in. plus, a new video of dominique strauss-kahn. the surveillance tape is creating new confusion about the charges that have been dropped. and a year old hostage video that's painful to watch. it's now public. part of a new bid to free a retired fbi agent who went missing in iran. we want to welcome our viewers in the the united states and around the world. breaking news, political headlines and jeanne moos all straight ahead. i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room". -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com the stop newt gingrich campaign is moving into overdrive right now. his republican opponents watched as poll numbered soared this week with less than a month to go for the first contest. romney's camp is releasing a new video. it's slamming gingrich for calling the plan to overall medicare quote right wing social engineering, a comment he later dialed back. ron paul is also getting more aggressive in his criticism of gingrich, saying he has to expose the man he calls, i'm quoting, a counter fit conservative. the january 3rd caucus could be his best shot. lisa sylvester has more on ron paul's iowa prospects. this is crucial in the race for the nomination. >> that's right. right now, ron paul is solidly in the middle of the pack, but he has been working iowa. developing a ground team and building up widespread support and the question is now, could iowa be the spark he need to place him in the upper tier? >> congressman ron paul. >> officially, he's not the front-runner. not even the second runner up, but don't let the numbers fool you. ron paul could pull off a surprise upset in iowa. he's passionate and likable. >> don't you think it would be a pretty good idea if we went back and obeyed the constitution? >> but his real asset is his organization on the ground in iowa. a devoted following that will stand by him. senator rand paul says his father is courting independent voters in the state. >> gingrich has no ground game there, so you have to get voters to the polls and we're planning on getting thousands and thousands of voters out come the iowa caucus. >> here's how the numbers break down. in the latest cnn poll, gingrich has 33% of likely gop car kus participants. romney, 20% and paul, only a hair behind him with 17%. but steve day says those numbers don't capture many of paul's supporters. >> conservatives in general are skeptical of the mainstream media. ron paul supporters are hyper pair noid of it, so they're not ones that traditionally pick up the phone when the media calls. if he's in double digits with a mainstream media survey, that probably indicates his actual support on the ground is much stronger than that. >> we do agree our country must take action -- >> paul released this ad in iowa ripping gingrich for quote serial hypocrisy. paul scores well among tea party conservatives, who love his preaching on cutting taxes, reducing government and slashing spending, but there are other views that might turn off establishment republicans. >> with some of the less mainstream issues and some of the quotes he's made over the years that could come back to haunt him. >> some of those views, eliminating five government departments, adopting an isolationist foreign policy and leaving it up to the states on whether to legalize or criminalize marijuana. if ron paul is not the nominee? could he run as an independent candidate? ron paul has dismissed that scenario, not wanting to pull away support for who ever goes against president obama. >> thanks for that. let's dig deeper with candy crowley. candy, he's got a great organization in iowa. you and i know, got a lot of devoted supporters out there. what happens, it's not out of the realm of possibility. what happen ifs ron paul wins iowa? >> in fact, it's well within the realm of possibility. this is what democrats would love to see because still most would say that ron paul doesn't have what it takes to to go the distance. the support is passionate, but it works in a concentrated place like iowa. not so much when you get to a place like florida, but what happens is let's say mitt romney maces third in iowa. that really weakens his campaign. let's say newt gingrich places third behind romney. that weakens his campaign, but nothing gets settled in new hampshire unless of course there's ron paul again and then we'd have to reconsider. what it does is lengthen out the process, which is something that democrats would love to see. >> a lot of us remember when dean didn't do so great in iowa. remember what happened to his bid for the democratic nomination. >> right. >> at that time. he's been very highly critical, ron paul, of donald trump and now, there's indications today that the debate that trump and news max were going to do december 27th, it might not happen. only two of the cans, newt gingrich and rick santorum, have agreed to participate. here's what donald trump told me yesterday. listen to this. >> people are afraid that i'm going to run as an independent candidate and some of the people that are supposed to be in the debate have expressed that, and i don't want to give up that option because it is an option if the republicans pick the wrong candidate or if the economy continues to be bad, that would be a worst of all. i'd love to see the economy get better. i don't think it will under this administration. >> i was surprised almost all of those republicans said no. >> i wasn't. one of the first to say no was ron paul. >> he slapped him in the face. >> he said no, this isn't a circus. this is a serious endeavor and we ought to treat it as such. by and large, no matter what donald trump says, is a realization that within the republican party that while herman cain was busy imploding, there were a lot of republicans who said this is taking on a circus atmosphere. you are up against a sitting president, so you're done here. you don't want to look like you're the carnival and he's the serious president. he gives big, lofty speeches and they're talking to a guy with a reality tv show. i think that was a primary source of concern for a number of those folks. >> you think these republicans are concerned donald trump might still run? >> certainly, we heard from the head of the republican party who said listen, i don't think the moderator ought to be a guy who's thinking about running against them, but i still think it had a circus atmosphere that turned out of a number of the candidates. i also think they're doing a heck of a lot of debates. right now, where they need to be is knocking on those doors and sitting in people's living rooms. >> thank you very much. president obama's trying to shore up areas where he could be vulnerable on election day including support within the american jewish committee. republicans, some democrats, are accusing the president of damaging u.s. relations with israel. brianna keilar is joining us from the white house. i know there's a strategy at the white house to try to win back a lot of that jewish support. what are you learning? >> well, you've heard the administration, white house pres secretary jay carney again and again saying the obama administration has done more for israel's security than any other administration. but the president's critics have been really hitting him hard for being in their minds, soft on iran and also, for months ago, talking about the starting point of mideast peace negotiations, the prospect of which have now faded, to be those pre 1967 borders. the administration is firing back. >> welcome to the white house. thank you all for joining us tonight to celebrate hanukkah. >> a warm welcome for the president's jewish supporters. >> this hanukkah season, we were a story so powerful that we all know it by heart. even us gentiles. >> these overtures are part of president obama's strategy to shore up backing among jewish american backers and stem the tide of criticism he's getting from republican presidential candidates. >> president obama has measurably set back the prospect of peace. >> they hammer president obama's stance on israel one after the another while addressing the republican jewish coalition this week. >> president obama must immediately end his doctrine of appeasement. >> this one sided pressure that says it's always israel's fault has to stop. >> the criticism has been so persistent, even late night hosts are poking fun. >> well, all the republican presidential candidate rs in washington, d.c. this week courting the jewish voters and while speaking to a prominent group of jewish republicans, newt gingrich promised to support israel, not give into the palestinians and promise his next wife would be jewish. >> in the president's corner -- >> first jewish woman to represent florida in congress. >> debbie wasserman schultz. >> there isn't a single domestic policy issue that republicans are right on when it comes to the jewish community, so they have no other choice but to lie about the president's record on israel, distort it. >> obama campaign just hired a director of jewish outreach and this week, a pro obama pack defended the president in a mem o filled with praise from israeli leaders. it is a lot of political fire power to be concentrated on a voting block that makes up an estimated 4% of the american population. many of those voters tending to vote democratic, but the thing, the jewish population in america tends to be concentrated in states that are very important like politically, like florida and of course the lesson of the 2000 election was that you can't take a single vote for granted in a battle l ground state. >> good report. a newly released surveillance video is raising questions about the dropped rape charges against dominique strauss-kahn. plus, why did the family of a missinging american wait a year to release a videotape released by his captors? 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surveillance video now fuelling -- about the sexual assault scandal involving dominique straus khan. what's the latest, mary? >> these claims are being raised after two men are seen on the tape and appear to be celebrating. >> here is dominique strauss-kahn leaving the luxury new york hotel shortly after he was alleged to have sexually assaulted a maid. he appears to be leaving and after he checks out, he gets into a taxi cab. his accuser is also seen that day in her hotel uniform. french broadcaster, bfm, which obtained the video, described the two people with her as a supervisor and security officer. later, she is seen pushing someone, her attorney claims -- what strauss-kahn did to her. then, there is this portion of video. for roughly 12 seconds, two men are seen in a separate room and appear to be celebrating. there is no audio on the tape and it's unclear what they're saying. both sides claim the video bolsters their case. an attorney for strauss-kahn says it raises questions about what he calls questionable conduct of personnel saying the time of the behavior of the two employees defies an innocent explanation. an attorney says it's nonsense there's any kind of conspiracy. >> this video shows actions of a victim. not someone who's part of some plot to bring down a man that she had never seen before in her life that day. >> even though the manhattan district attorney's office dropped criminal charges against the former imf chief after questioning his accuser's credibility, strauss-kahn facing a civil suit. will this video make a difference in the case? >> i think when judging it in the context of the legal case that it's a flash in the pan. it's a bunch of headlines, the tabloid press loves. but in the end, i don't think it's going to be an important part of the civil case. >> as for the two men seen celebrating on the videotape, a lawyer for the parent group of the hotel said in a statement that the men couldn't specifically remember why they did this. but he adds that they were both relieved that the housekeeper had made the decision to allow the hotel to call the police. >> i'm sure more to come in this story. thank you. on wall street, the dow closed the week almost 200 points higher on an agreement that could potentially move europe closer to revolving the dire euro zone crisis, but also came with some setbacks. richard quest is joining us from brussels, where all the action is going on. what's the very latest right now? what happened today? >> well, what happened is that the europeans not only increased the fire power of their bailout fund, but they put in place the new principles of rules for how to make sure the euro works in future. the so-called fiscal compact. basically agreeing budget deficitrestrictions, automatic sanctions, a whole series of things to make sure this never happens again. unfortunately, there was one country that refused to sign up for the whole pack ak nlg that was the u.k. the u.k. says it wasn't getting what it wanted. it was going to veto the treaty. so basically, it has kicked the're european countries and they will no have to do this arrangement separately. think of it this way. they'd hoped to have a grand treaty. everybody on board. all agreeing to improve the working of the union. instead, you've got that lot over there getting on with it and britain on the outside throwing stones, saying that they can't do it this way. they shouldn't do it that way and it probably, they're not going to be cooperative. it's a bit of a mess what's happened today. >> were you surprised at david cameron, saying britain would never give up its own currency and join the europeans? >> no, not at all. i was not surprised on that point and the fact that david cameron, you see, basically, what he was doing was protecting london as the financial center. some european countries want the so-called tobin tax. now, that will come down the road, but this was cameron's moment. if he said to the others, you get your treaty, but i get a get out clause knocked on out financial tax. that would have done it. but they wouldn't give him the opt out. they said no, so literally, he said you're not going to give me that. i'm not going to give you this. tit for tat. you're not going to have your treaty until i get my opt out. he went right to the bring and for good reason, wolf. london would have been seriously impacted by this tax and david cameron knows when he goes home, he would have been creamed in the press and in popular opinion if he'd gone along with it. >> richard, lots at stake right now. we'll be staying in close touch. thank you. the case of an american who went missing in iran gets more baffling with the belated release of a video showing him held captive. plus, rick perry struggling to name one of the supreme court justices and donald trump reveals his eye popping idea to cover the coast of the war in iraq. everyone have their new blackberry from at&t? 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[ male announcer ] on at&t, blackberry® torch moves at the speed of 4g. ♪ donald trump has never loss nor words or lacking in self-confidence. i was reminded of that when i sat down for an interview yesterday. here's a portion of the interview when trump shares some provocative views on the conflicts in iraq, afghanistan and libya. iraq, all u.s. troops are going to be out by the end of this month. you happy about that? >> tragic, waste of money. tragic -- >> more than a trillion dollars. >> 1.5 trillion to be exact. tragic, tragic waste of lives and money and that we left there without taking the oil is unbelievable. >> it's iraqi oil. >> like hell it is. they have the second largest oil feels in the world. oil reserves. second largest after saudi arabia. we spent 1.5 trillion, thousands of lives and i'm not even talking about the wounded where i see them all the time. i love them. no legs, no arms, their face gets blown to pieces and my attitude was much different because what's going to happen as sure as you're sitting there, wolf, is that iran will go and then take over those oil fields and the reserves more importantly because they're very backward, but they have the largest reserves after saudi arabia. >> but you say the u.s. should have taken over those oil fields. >> absolutely cht and every soldier's family that was killed, $5 million. you know what this is? peanuts. that's peanuts compared to the kind of numbers you're talking about. every soldier that was wounded, 3 or $4 million where they lost their arms and their limbs and their face. 3 or $4 million. these kids are going to be out for the rest of their lives. they're going to be paying medical bills a and they don't have to money to pay. 3 or 4 or $5 million to the soldiers badly wounded. i see them all the time because i help them. we leave iraq and we didn't leave. they threw us out, just so you understand, wolf. i know you like the president. less than folks at msnbc, but we got thrown out of iraq. we didn't leave. they said, we don't want you hear. the counsel said no. the head wants to say they're not sure. iran's goin to take over iraq. >> so, the whole thing was a waste of time. >> much worse than that. excuse me, it wasn't a waste of time. it was a waste of lives and what about the iraqi lives? you had -- >> in fairness to president obama, you remember the president that started the war in iraq? >> excuse me, have i been a supporter of bush? the answer's no. that war should have never -- saddam hussein knocked down the world trade center. one good thing about iraq. he was very good at killing terrorists. now, it's harvard. it's like going to harvard for terrorism. saddam hussein killed terrorists. he would wipe them out so fast and right now, they're using iraq as the primary breeding ground for terrorists. if iran is going to take over iraq and the oil reserves, why don't we just keep the oil reserves? how stupid, look, how stupid can we be? thousands of lives, tremendous numbers, 35, 40,000 people really horribly injured. we get nothing. now we're handing it over to people that in a couple of years will be our enemy. >> $2 billion a week. that's what the u.s. is spending to keep 100,000 troops in afghanistan right now, another three years. $100 million a year. money well spent? >> no, it's not well spent. it's poorly spent cht you have to understand, i'm a military person. >> what would you do? >> i would get out quickly. it's never going to be good. >> end result in afghanistan will be like the end result in iraq. >> here's the difference. no, probably even less except there's a difference. iraq has oil. afghanistan basically doesn't. so -- >> they do have some natural resources. >> by the way, you know who's taking out all those? >> china. >> we're fighting and china's taking all those mineral reserves. i mean, how stupid are we? so, afghanistan's different, but we have a problem with pakistan. but afghanistan -- excuse me, wolf. we've got to rebuild our country. we're rebuilding. you go to afghanistan. tl a school. it gets blown up. we rebuild it. we build a road to the school. they both get blown up. if you want to build a school in brooklyn or iowa or california, you can't build them. is there something wrong? >> i know you write about it eloquently in the book. you also write, a trillion, a billion -- $1 billion. that's what the u.s. spent to liberate libya. >> and much more than that, but that's okay. >> that's the official number. >> because they say that, it's much more. >> the u.s. throws about $30 billion in libyan assets. i wrote a blog saying deduct the billion the u.s. spent from that frozen assets and state department says that's -- under international law. >> it's a sovereign county tr. >> the u.s. got nato involved. >> so, gadhafi is just bombing the hell out of these people. they come to the united states, which is basically nato. they say, please help. they're being routed. now, obama said we're going to help you. we want 50% of their oil. instead, he just helped them. now, they throw us out and that's the end of it and a person who is meaner, tougher and more vicious than gadhafi will end up taking over libya. it's already basically happening. now, if we ask now and then we say the great fighters, they didn't liberate anything. they go to a city, get routed. now they go to a city and they're bombing the hell out of the city. but we routed the city, killed the city and then they walk in and say, we're great freedom fighters. they come from iraq and have been fighting us, from iran. and what do we get out of it? the $1 billion is a phony number. but still even a billion dollars, what do we get out of it? now, if six months ago these people who had lost because gadhafi was a lot stronger than people thought, they had lost, it was over, had obama said we're going to help you, we want 50% of your oil. they would have said absolutely 100% they'll pay. but why wouldn't he do it? you said he would never do that? is he stupid? is obama stupid? >> because that goes against international law. >> it doesn't. first of all, there is no country. there's a revolution. why wouldn't obama say we want 50% of your oil and we will help you? >> you think obama would ever do that? >> why wouldn't he? do you think he's stupid? >> he's a very intelligent guy. he comes from a very different background than you do. you're a business guy. >> here's the question. we will help you, but we want 50% of your oil. they will say thank you very much. they'd sign anything. and you know what? then we wouldn't have to feel so guilty if you took it. if we go back now and say we helped you, they'd laugh in your face. >> donald trump speaking with me in his office yesterday. another potential oops moment for rick perry. ahead, details of the texas governor's so-called stumble. and coca-cola revealed. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 there are atm fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and the most dreaded fees of all, hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, you won't pay fees on top of fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no monthly account service fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 no hidden fees. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 and we rebate every atm fee. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck tdd# 1-800-345-2550 because when it comes to talking, there is no fee. preparing a massacre for a town at the epicenter of the prodemocracy movement. lisa sylvester is monitoring that story. zpl activists are warning about a government push to crush the -- they say at least 37 people were killed across the country today. nearly half of those deaths were in palms. soldiers are manning dozens of check points. the u.n. says more than 4,000 people have been killed since a brutal crackdown began last march. police in india arrested six hospital managers for negligence after a fire killed 88 people. a government minister said most of the bedridden patients were abandoned by the staff on duty. the blaze started in the basement where investigators found safety violations. authorities are still trying to determine what caused the fire. and the woman accused of pepper spraying her fellow walmart shoppers on saturday won't face felony charges. the los angeles district attorney's office is referring the case to the city attorney and the woman could be charged with a misdemeanor. firefighters treated ten people for exposure. she paid for her purchases then left, but later turned herself into police. and eddie murphy -- spike lee would direct the film about the man who served four terms as mayor. murphy's name was recently in the news when he quit of next year's academy award show. we can't tell you the secret recipe for coca-cola, but you can see the box that holdsit in atlanta. since 1925, the box has been kept at a bank, but for coke's 125th anniversary, the company moved the recipe to its world of coke museum. it was created back in 1886. the formula was never written down until 1919 when used as collateral for a bank loan. imagine that. the recipe. >> imagine if that got out. >> it's never going to get out. >> it's the ultimate company secret. >> thanks very much. authorities say they now know the identity of the gunman in thursdays's deadly virginia tech shooting, but a big question still remains. and jon huntsman weighing in on the rise and fall of his top rivals. when he says his 15 minutes of fame will arrive. sarah, will you marry me? 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[ male announcer ] don't miss red lobster's surf & turf. 3 grilled combinations all under $20. like our maine lobster with peppercorn sirloin, or our new bacon-wrapped shrimp with blue cheese sirloin for $14.99. i'm john mazany and i sea food differently. more oops moments for rick perry today. this time, while taking questions at a board meeting with iowa's newspaper. the first came when he appeared to stumble over the name of sonia sotomayor, while discussing what he considers president obama's war on religion. watch this. >> when you see his appointment of two, from my perspective inarguably, activist judges, whether it was -- not the mayor -- >> sonia sotomayor? >> sotomayor. and kagan were both activists judges. i would suggest that is an example of my concern about -- i believe the supreme court should not be making -- and telling americans how to live. >> governor perry also mentioned there were eight justices on the supreme court bench, instead of nine. listen. >> for washington to tell a local school district that you cannot have a prayer in and a time of prayer in that school i think is offensive to most americans. i trust the people of the states to make those decisions. i trust those independent school districts to make those decisions better than eight unelected and frankly unaccountable judges. >> meanwhile, he may be at the bottom of the republican presidential pack, but that's not stopping jon huntsman from pushing full steam ahead. in an interview with fareed zakari, he's now revealing his theory about the rise and fall of some of his top rivals. >> let's talk about the temper because it is, seems to me, one of your problems, the republican primary wants people to say insind yar things. if you watch the rise of herman cain, rick perry, newt gingrich. there is a market for people to say slightly outrageous thinks as a way of proving your politically incorrect. you just refuse to say those kinds of things. >> well, it may give you your warholly and 15 minutes of fame, they go up and come down because there's no staying power. all i'm saying is i've got a track record. i'm a consistent conservative and my track record would speak to accomplishments. as governor, i've lived overseas four times. three as united states ambassador. when we get our 15 minutes of fame and i think it's coming this month as we build up with a sustainable rise in new hampshire, we'll have the staying power. >> you're predicting something about newt gingrich, who is still up. you think that will fade? >> it's hard to know. we'll see where the marketplace goes. i'm not going to pander, bluster, contort myself into somebody i am not and i'm not going to sign those silly pledges like everybody else has done and i'm not going to make that soldier into donald trump's office. >> as to whether he'd be open for the obama white house if he doesn't win his party's nomination. >> given your poll numbers, it is possible for someone to look at your candidacy and say this man is running for secretary of state. so, i'll ask you, if republican candidate becomes president and then offers you the job, will you be secretary of state? >> nice try. we're in this to win the race. that's always the marketplace that upends conventional wisdom. make no mistake about that and we're doing just fine in new hampshire. we're going to win new hampshire. we're going to exceed market expectations. >> i misspoke. he was asked if he would take a job in a republican administration as opposed to another obama white house job. you can see the full interview with jon huntsman on fareed zakari this sunday on cnn. a lot of mysteries surrounding the disappearance of a former fbi agent in iran. now, his family releases a video of him and it's raising even more questions. and the president's unexpected stroll outside the white house. ♪ when the things that you need come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups that's logistics. ♪ okay... uhh. the bad news, it's probably totaled. the good news is, you don't have to pay your deductible. with vanishing deductible from nationwide insurance, you got $100 off for every year of safe driving, so now your deductible is zero. the other good news ? i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing ) it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great. we're getting a disturbing new glimpse of an american who went missing in iran nearly four years ago. it's an fbi held captive and pleading for help from the u.s. government. let's brin in jill daugherty. this video isn't now, but it's just being released now. >> you'd have to say we've been reporting on this case right from the beginning and it continues to baffle and frustrate everybody involved. especially the family of robert levinson. in the video -- >> i am in held here for three and a half years. >> a gaunted, bearded robert -- >> i am running very medicine. i had been treated well. i need the help of the united states government to answer the requests of the group that has held me for 3 1/2 years. >> when i saw it, i was very sad to see him looking the way he does. however, at the same time, i was happy to learn that he was alive. >> reporter: christine levinson, mother of their seven children, tells cnn the family received the video a year ago and finally decided to post it on their family website, along with a new plea to release him. >> we need to know what you want our family to do. so that my father can come home safely. we will do everything within our power to bring him home. >> reporter: who sent it? who's holding him? christine still doesn't know. >> sense we received that video, we've tried to get in touch with the group that is holding bob. unfortunately, we have not received any response from them and we feel that this is a way to try to reach them with our plea and the video to get them to let us know what the family needs to do to get bob home alive and quickly. >> reporter: 63-year-old robert l levin sexual do levinson, disappeared in march 2007 from iran, where it's believed he was investigating cigarette smuggling. for years, there were almost no leads. iran's government claimed it was not holding him and did not know where he was. then last year, the family received what secretary of state hillary clinton described as proof of life. in march, cnn was told, some discussions with iran were being held about levinson. >> we welcome any help the government can provide in determining mr. levenson's welfare and where about thes. >> reporter: the state department says it's still in the dark. >> we're not in a position to confirm where he is. what we have said what the fbi has said, secretary said it in march, is that we've received indications that he'sening held c captive in southwest av shah. >> today with christine, she did say she believes that her husband is alive. president of iran, ahmadinejad, did say that he is willing to help to try to find levinson and mrs. levinson wants him to try to do that. but with relations the case they are now with iran, the prospects of that are looking bleak. >> jill dougherty, thanks very much. alisa sylvester monitoring the or top stories, including latest on the police investigation into the virginia tech university shooting. what's going on there? >> wolf, police at virginia tech could reveal the name of the gunman in yesterday's shooting. they're trying to learn motive behind the shooting of a police officer. the gunman had no previous contact with the officer. a second person believed to be the gunman was dead not far from where the officer was killed. republican presidential candidates are cheering the government's decision to drop a labor complaint against boeing. newt gingrich said the case was p p politically motivated. the case was dropped after boeing reached a new labor deal with machinists union? when your commander in chief, it's not easy getting out of the fish bowl of the white house, president obama tried that today. took a short stroll to the white house gate. we are told that he set off the metal detector, guard suspects he might have left a cell phone in his pocket and we're guessing it probably was not a pat-down. what a treat for the people down in that area to see the president just strolling along, for all of the tourists out there quite a treat. >> thanks very much. i don't think he does get a pat-down. renowned chorus breaks into song with a medley of tweets. 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[♪...] >> announcer: now get a $250 airfare credit, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. certain restrictions apply. a twitter is getting a philharmonic in canada singing along with new tip for staying warm. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> reporter: imagine your pathetic, little tweet sung by a majestic 120-member chorus ♪ tweet, tweet, tweet >> we decide to ask people how to stay warm in a calgary winter. >> reporter: a ka gary philharmonic orchestra chorus sang the tweeted tips to one of most melodramatic pieces of music ever. ♪ try hot yoga or a nose hat or black silk ♪ ♪ long underwear >> reporter: do people put their clothes in the dryer to warm them up before they go out? >> of course. ♪ clothes in dryer set the timer ♪ hop into a warm outfit >> reporter: the chorus did this to promote the canadian city of calgary. it's not first time it's gotten new lyrics. ♪ it's a big ad for carlton draughh ♪ it's just so freak-ing huge♪ >> reporter: helping wash down one of most popular tweets done sung by the calgary chorus. ♪ gravy action on my cheese >> reporter: some of the tweets require translation from the canadian. >> it's a french-canadian delicacy of fries with cheese on top and then gravy on top of that. >> reporter: tweeted tips on how to stay warm are nice, but someone posted, they should do this with kanye west or snooki tweets. kanye west have already been done on jimmy kimmel's show ♪ ♪ can we please toast to the [ bleep ] bags♪ ♪ fur pillows our hard to actually sleep on♪ >> reporter: so are snooki's tweets. ♪ love my tattoos i'm a bad [ bleep ] today is so a cuddle day♪ >> reporter: even sarah palin had her tweets performed by william shatner on conan's old show. >> consistent rain reminds us, no rain? no rainbow. >> reporter: delivered soulfully almost any tweet will have you