appear to be going all out trying to ratchet fear on this issue, saying that gas prices could reach $5 a gallon by summer. what s your sense as to how disastrous that would be for the world s economy? in the worst case scenario, it doesn t seem so far out of reach. if iran does carry through with its threat, could throw the global economy into a depression, would drive oil prices up to unpredictable levels. he says that consumers wouldn t be able to afford it. you d see an impact on economic activity. it would really hurt consumers getting hurt in other ways, with housing prices and unemployment so high. these higher gas prices will wind up taking money out of their pockets. money that would be spent on other things. it would be spent on consumer confidence. when you see that gas sign of that gas price, people get scared by paying an extra few dollars at the gas pump, even though in reality, it s not as big an impact of getting a good mortgage rate or having a good job. thi
shot rick santorum leap frogs into fourth. his support has tripled since the beginning of the month and closing in on mitt romney and ron paul who are locked in the statistical ties within the margin of error. joe johns is in des moines to break it down. of course, the question is, did the gingrich camp see this coming? yeah, i think to some degree they saw this coming. hammering ron paul, for example. also, mitt romney. it s pretty clear that gingrich saw he had some problems because he was just getting hammered on tv ads day after day from these guys. a lot of people attacking his baggage, attacking his alleged flip-flops. questioning his conservative credentials, questioning what he did when he was speaker of the house and his relationship with nancy pelosi. all of these things play into the mix here in iowa because there are a lot of voters who are very conservative. they want to see the most electable conservative going up against barack obama in november, hala. well
gingrich is down. let s go outfront. good evening, i m ali velshi sitting in for erin burnett outfront tonight. newt sinking and santorum rising. newt gingrich plunging from his top spot down to fourth place. former governor rick santorum doing just the open sits. he surged from single digits into third place. mitt romney now leads the pack with 25% and there s another new poll out of new hampshire where the nation s second contest in the race for the gop nominee will be held one week later on january the 10th. mitt romney dominating his opposition there. he s at 44%. rivals ron paul and newt gingrich trailing 17% and 16% respectively. let s go right to political correspondent joe johns. he s on the ground in iowa. joe, this is a bit of a shocker. santorumizi santorumize santorum rising as much as he has. this is a guy that s been to every county in the state and he still couldn t get that endorsement. what has done that this for rick santorum? reporter: ali, i ve got to
what a life you ve had. do you feel lucky to have ended up. i felt lucky all through life. blessed in some way, even in the darkest days. kelsey grammer is one of the most talked about, one of the most beloved faces in american television history. i m pleased to say he joins me now. you are really, you re part of the american television consciousness for so long. you must walk around the street and everyone goes, hey, kelsey. everyone must think they know you. those things do happen. those events do happen. do you like the mass attention you still get or do you say i ve done it and i just want to go and it s always pleasant. it s flattering. it s always meant in an optimistic kind of affectionate way. so i take it that way and return the compliment actually. do you enjoy the status of television icon? sure. i ve be a fool to say i didn t. i would. let s be honest with you. i would. better than the alternative. but to spend your time at the top for decades, v
because no other state had a medicate program as lavish as yours, and no other state got as much money under the bush administration for this experiment. so there s a lot of big government behind romney care. not as much as obama care but a heck of a lot more than your campaign has admitted. he also likes to hammer the centerpiece of the massachusetts law which is the individual mandate that requires all residents above a certain income level to buy health insurance or pay a fine. now, the idea is controversial, but not so long ago many conservatives including gingrich supported the idea. here s what he wrote in april of 2006 in a newsletter. this was just after massachusetts enacted its health care law. quote, the most exciting development of the past few weeks is what has been happening up in massachusetts. the health bill that governor romney signed into law this month has tremendous potential to effect major change in the american health system. he went on to say, we ag