presidentialness of romney, you would have the perfect candidate. >> if only it worked that way, huh? much more on the iowa stakes and the states in play. first the news you need to know. we'll shift to new hampshire. newt gingrich just wrapped up a debate with jon huntsman. it seem the real sparring was between speaker gingrich and mitt romney. romney threw the first punch saying gingrich should return the nearly $2 million in fees paid to him by freddie mac. >> one of the things that i think people recognize in washington is that people go there to serve the people and then they stay there to serve themselves. >> do you believe he should give that money back? >> i sure do. >> from the form he speaker, this counter punch. >> if governor romney would like to give back all the money he's earned from bankrupting company and laying off employees, over his years, i would be glad to then listen to him and i'll bet you $10, not $10,000, that he won't take the offer. >> and responding to characterizations by the gingrich camp that going negative is a siphon desperation, governor romney added this. >> we are not running any negative ads but we may. this is after all, politics. there is no whining in politics. >> get that? no whining in politics. let's bring in jim acosta. jill, take us to that moment first. the old lincoln douglas style debate. governor huntsman is struggling. what was the highlight? >> reporter: well, john, i think you put it right a few moments ago. this is a side show between the fight going on between mitt romney and newt gingrich earlier today. it did get interesting at times. newt gingrich at one point advocated regime change for iran during this debate. governor huntsman would not go that far saying only that all options should be on the table. this was less lincoln douglas and more of a love fest. it got so mind numbing at one point that jon huntsman quipped on stage one of his own daughters was nodding off in the audience. and then newt gingrich says she was nodding off when i was speaking. so this was really more of a gentleman's, i guess, discussion than a debarkt i would say. >> so take us inside the gingrich-romney feuding. governor romney for months has led in the state. he has a vacation there. he was governor of the neighboring state in massachusetts. gingrich has closed the lead dramatically. do they think they can catch romney in new hampshire as much as everywhere else? >> reporter: they do. in fact, they're going to pull out the heavy artillery here in the next couple weeks. i confirmed with the gingrich spokesman that they will borrow a page from the john mccain play book. you'll recall, it went pretty well here in new hampshire. they'll launch a straight talk express like bus tour in the early voting states themselves didn't offer a lot of details or say whether or not it would come to new hampshire. but suffice to say that r.c. hammond was saying earlier that they're starting to look at which way the seats should face inside the bus. and how much time speaker gingrich would get talking to reportes. this is very much like what john mccain did four years ago. he spend a lot of time in that bus, crisscrossing the state talking to reporters. a contrast the gingrich campaign likes to put out there. he is talking to reporters. >> governor romney is starting to see us more because of that. 29 days until new hampshire votes. 22 days until iowa kicks it off where i am tonight. thanks. we'll see you soon. should states have the individual authority to enforce immigration matters? the supreme court said today, it intends to take on that controversial topic. at question in this case whether arizona can enforce its immigration laws. federal courts have already blocked key parts of the law but arizona argues illegal immigration creates a financial hardship and safety concerns for its residents. the obama administration says they are under the exclusive authority of the federal government. that arizona's interference as the administration calls it, only makes things worse. here to sort it out, jeff, the arizona case has generated a lot of controversy. what is the key question now before the justices? >> reporter: this is really one of the oldest issues in front of the supreme court. what powers belong to the states and what powers belong to the federal government? the supreme court has been dealing with that issue in various forms since the 18th century. in this issue, in this case, you have the issue of immigration at the heart of it which is both politically and legally fraud. and as you pointed out,le states have used the arizona law as a model and if states get the green light in this case, we can look forward to a lot more laws restricting what immigrants can do in a state and allowing law enforcement more powers to stop, detain and perhaps even expel illegal immigrants. >> is just the fact that the high court took the case, is that a setback to the administration? or does the administration as much as arizona need these questions answered? >> reporter: i think this is one reason we have a supreme court. there are so many questions like this now. the court has to sort out the lawful i think the politics are really fascinating. i think with swing voters, most of those voters are generally supportive of these sorts of laws. but hispanic voters are overwhelmingly against these laws. and as you've reported many time, the obama administration is making a real push in states like arizona, colorado, to embrace and support hispanic voters. and they are going to have a very high profile support from the obama administration in this case. so i think the politics are not entirely clear in terms of who is helped in these cases. >> we'll watch this case before the court. a decision likely in the middle of next year's peres presidential election. a somber mole at one of the most sacred sites. president obama and nuri al maliki raised a wreath at the cemetery. earlier, the two leaders held a joint news conference to declare the war formally over. now that all u.s. troops are scheduled to come home, that all done by this month. but there was an uncomfortable moment for the president. for more, let's go to white house correspond, dan lothian. that uncomfortable moment, the president reminded of something he said much earlier. take us inside. >> reporter: he was then state senator obama of the state of illinois. he was back in 2002. and he was some remarks at an anti-war rally. he was criticizing the planned invasion of iraq by saying, quote, what i do oppose is a dumb war. a reporter today asked the president if on this occasion, as the administration was marking the end of the war in iraq, if the president still felt that it was a dumb war. the president saying that he would leave it up to history to decide whether or not it was, whether the original decision was right. he did add because of the sacrifice of the military, but also civilians, that a lot of progress had been made in iraq and that country has enormous potential. >> and one of the big questions now is how does this relationship continue? ? what fashion does it continue once the u.s. troops are out? i understand the subject of continuing some military to military relationship, including weapons sales. what happened there? >> reporter: that's right. what we won't see are boots on the ground once the remaining few thousand troops pull out at the end of the year. what we did hear at the news conference today is discussion of a sale of additional f-16 fighter jets to iraq and later, the national security spokesman told us that the administration today had notified congress of interests to sell an additional 18 f-16s to iraq. as you know, a lot of iraq's air power was destroyed during the war that lasted almost nine years. they're pointing out that this shows, this decision, of asking this congress for the sale of these f-16s show iraq is in a good position to carry out its own security. as you know, there are a lot of questions still about whether or not iraq indeed can handle its own security once u.s. troops do leave that country for good today. prime minister al maliki they're saying ready. more specifically, the downed drone on the president's mind. president obama has asked iran to return the drone which they claim is seen in these pictures. in addition to the propaganda victory, iran is claiming it is already gathering intelligence from that craft. iran says it has no plans to give it back. a figure from the united nations tonight about years. i can't it says more than 5,000 peel have now been killed in the months long uprising against the president and in the city of alms, it appears a clock is ticking. they say the forces that are loyal to assad and rivers of blood will run on the streets. they say electricity and water have been cut off. food and medicine are scarce. the latest now from cnn's jim clancy. >> reporter: in the embattled city in syria, people are on edge and they have good reason to be. the city is surrounded and they are facing a deadline to lay down their arms and hand over defectors or members of the so-called free syria army. they have no intention of doing that. and it looks like a showdown is looming. we talked to someone a short time ago. listen to one of the leaders of the opposition has to say. >> from the early morning, a lot of tanks inside the city. but security forces and the army is still surrounding homs. we don't know when -- [ inaudible ] so people expect the possible attack at any moment. but we don't know when. >> reporter: john also told me that they couldn't leave the city even if they wanted. to militia men have set up checkpoints and he said the freedom of movement has been limited. they are hoping that they can stand up against all of this. they say they're still optimistic but they are predicting a very bloody showdown. >> jim clancy monitoring the latest in syria from beirut. we promise we'll keep a close eye on that as it plays out. still ahead, pulling ads from a show documenting muslims in the united states. we'll talk to the organization who pushed for the move. next, inside the iowa campaign including a look at how the debate was scored in the twitter verse. confidence, with depend in color. now available in gray. looks and fits like underwear. same great protection. depend. good morning. great day. woman: day care can be so to save some money, i found one that uses robots instead of real people. 'cuz robots work for free. robot 1:good morning... robot 1:...female child. sfx: modem dial-up noise woman: are there flaws? yeah, um, maybe. anncr: there's an easier way to save. anncr: get online. go to geico.com. get a quote. 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. the newest droid armed with motocast. granting you wireless access to files on your home computer from almost anywhere. 4g lte equipped to pull pictures, music, and movies. all at mind-melting speeds. powered by verizon, this droid is too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. live pictures. we're in davenport, iowa. this is the southeastern corner of iowa. we're here all week long. we'll cross this state. 22 nights from tonight iowa kicks off officially the 2012 presidential campaign. this is scott county where davenport is. let's get a sense of republican campaign and how democrats are feeling about this state. this has been a swing state in presidential politics. president obama carried it easily in 2008 buttal republicans here think it will be very much in play come next fall. let's talk with the former scott county democratic cheryl. steve grubbs, a republican, activist and the former cain campaign. i want to focus on where we are today. a big debate over the week. one more, three week away from the vote. arg come out with a new poll tonight and it confirms gingrich is leading. 22% for gingrich, 17% for ron paul. 17% for mitt romney. 13% for governor rick perry. this is your county. is there one candidate that you feel has upward momentum? those perry numbers are up. is there a bit of a surge? >> no. i think the voters are still deciding. they take this responsibility very seriously. they will not base their decisions based on poll numbers but on the accomplishments of even candidate. i was talk to have several people over the weekend. i think there will be a good percentage that show up on caucus night that will still be undecided. >> you lost your candidate, herman cain. i want your sense of the race but i want to show your company did an analysis of the tweets after the debate saturday night. if you show the entire pie chart, you can see that in terms of the share of the conversation and the twitter verse, gingrich and romney were discussed the most. then if you look at the positive and negatives, a lot of negatives for they will. is that their critic taking after them? is that when you have a debate, thing get loud out there? >> it confirms these are the candidates who are getting the lion's share of the twitter verse. they're now going to get fire from those supporting the other candidates and this includes anybody tweeting. democrats or others. when we looked at the actual verbatim statements, clearly people are taking sides with their candidates and i think we know that these two are the front-runners at this point. >> this is the state that put barack obama, then senator obama, on the map to prove he could compete with hillary clinton. he won this state. a the love republicans when you talk them to say aha! in 2006 and 2008, you democrats had the intensity gap. we have it back now. is your sense today that iowa will be tight -- >> it will be president obama. having that that, i don't believe the republicans will mount a sufficient effort to take iowa to the republican camp in november. >> why not? >> the democrats are very strong. we just won a special election in cedar rapids that was very highly contested in a district that was majority republican the independent registration. the democrats are very united behind president obama. and i think he is going to emerge as the president in 2009. >> i want to show a map of the state. mitt romney carried this county back in 2008. it was governor huckabee carried most of the middle. you can see the monitor there. what is your sense this year about the differences in the party? since we were here last time, loiks, as carl noted, the democrats did well in 2006. the democrats did well in 2008. your party had a good year in 2010. what is different about the republican party, the tea party, if you look at polling, the evangelical voters seem to be split. >> the republicans and independents and a lot of tea party people are at a point where they are fearful of their country. they're much more motivated. much more energized to do whatever it takes to defeat president obama in the fall. our republican registrations, when we analyzed it in october compared to october 2007, we are up 7%. and in 2010, we carried a republican governor. just a few years by 52% with just two years earlier we carried president obama by 57%. so you can see that the cycle has turned. that people are actually becoming more motivated in terms of the republican party. >> one of the reasons we wanted to come out here and spend a week is to talk to voters individually. just being here a day, we were here a couple weeks ago. you get a sense that the caring of the iowa campaign has changed some because of the technology. if you look at the number of days spent in the state. rick santorum has been here 85 days. bachmann, 65 days. gingrich, 51, mitt romney, only ten days so far. you have speaker gingrich in the middle of the pack. and governor romney way down near the bottom. leading here. used to be you have to say i've been to all 99 counties and you have the voters who say i've only met him three time. now some of that is cliche. has technology changed? is it taking away some of the caring of a traditional iowa campaign? >> maybe it's taking away a little of the caring. for the most part, having candidates that many days, most states would love to see candidates that much. having said that, there is no doubt that social networking, the way people can connect through facebook and twitter. it is changing the nature of it. if you think about it, this is the first campaign in the history of the world where voters are fully manifested into facebook and other social net sites. so what we're watching today, completely changes the way that all of us professionals engage in campaigning and how we work candidates and voters. >> which republican do you want to be the nominee? you're laughing but it's -- >> bring any one of them. i think a ron paul campaign is probably the most interesting. and i think he could be a very surprising candidate on republican caucus night. there is the top two candidates, gingrich and romney, seem to be running back advertising in media driven campaigns. he mentioned a social media. but the poll people are actually on the ground organizing volunteers. that's how win a caucus. you have to deliver bodies to a meeting at 7:00 on a cold january night. and much as huckabee did four years ago. >> you're more likely but not if someone approaches you to be a paul supporter. do you see a surprise. >> i don't think the surprise is who finishes first or second unless the media that come out of romney super pack drops gingrich's numbers. but otherwise, if he can survive this week, he should be in, finish first in the caucuses. >> do you see a surprise? somebody we haven't -- >> no. i don't see a surprise. >> do you think gingrich or romney will win the state? >> i think that's a good possibility. did. >> diplomatic. thanks. so for your time tonight. just ahead, why would a reality called all american muslim spark controversy. especially when feelings like this are expressed. >> being in dearborn has allowed us to practice our faith without losing our sense of american patriotism. >> the debate is so heated, there are now calls for a boycott against the national retailer. my doctor told me calcium is best absorbed in small continuous amounts. only one calcium supplement does that in one daily dose. citracal slow release... continuously releases calcium plus d for the efficient absorption my body needs. citracal. at bank of america, we're lending and investing in communities across the country, from helping to revitalize a neighborhood in brooklyn to financing industries that are creating jobs in boston or providing funding for the expansion of a local business serving a diverse seattle community and supporting training programs for tomorrow's workforce in los angeles. because the more we can do in local neighborhoods and communities, the more we can help make opportunity possible. the media mogul talking about hate. it's all part of the angry consumer back lash against lowe's after the retailer pulled ads from the reality show all american muslim. a series about muslim families living in dearborn, michigan. >> today is the day i'm going to d.c. i hop they don't annoy me and have to do a random screening. >> i was on a flight to d.c. i had a woman sitting behind me say, see that veiled woman? i'm very uncomfortable. i told her, you get your ass off the plane. i have a meeting to get to to educate people like you. >> lowe's pulled the advertising including groups like the florida family association complained, calling it propaganda. david joins me now. i want to read a bit from the organization you wrote. clearly this program is attempting to manipulate americans into ignoring the threat of jihad and to influence them to believe that being concerned about the jihad threat would somehow victimize these nice people in this show. what you have had do you have that this particular show is trying to manipulate people or trying to somehow get us all to turn away from jihad. >> the evide