with four more years of barack obama. >> i'll become the republican nominee because of you. >> why does rudy giuliani say he's shocked and outraged by newt gingrich? he also may surprise you. and the shocking incident has spread outrage around the world. the video that appears to show american marines urinating on dead bodies in afghanistan. i'll ask jessica lynch what she thinks. this is "piers morgan tonight." >> good evening, republican front-runner mitt romney being hammered today by the rest of the gop field hoping to gain momentum into the south carolina primary. if you thought there was infighting before, you ain't seen nothing yet. rudy giuliani says that newt gingrich -- with every barrel in his possession. if he were to call newt gingrich right now he would ask him and i quote what the hell are you doing, newt? rudy's here right now. you're calm now, but you were exploding this morning. >> i don't think i was. but both newt and rick are good friends of mine. they are two people that i would have a kind of inclination to support. i think their positions are closer to mine than even mitt romney's. same thing with rick santorum. but i think the attack that they are leveling against romney is not only an unfair attack, i think it's an attack that hurts what republicans stand for, which is a free market economy. >> and you're talking specifically about both of them coming out about this bain -- >> oh, yeah. the issues about romney care, perfectly fair, the issues about romney was pro-choice, now he's pro-life. those are all fair game. you can agree or disagree with them. but this idea that he was doing something wrong at bain capital by investing in companies that were in trouble trying to save those companies. and some of them work and some of them didn't work is totally crazy. this is what we want in our economy. this is precisely what's not going on now in our economy that's keeping jobs down. >> hasn't mitt romney brought this on himself by wording i like firing people. we all know what he really meant and most people would agree with what he was saying about insurance and so on. when you got, i think 8.5% of the current unemployment rate. when you've got so many people out of work and they hear that sound bite, it's damaging, isn't it, for him? >> sure. that is not a good quote. and i'm sure he'd like to walk that back if he could. but that does not justify totally distorting the way our economy works for people like me and rick perry and newt gingrich and mitt romney and i all agree on the value of a free-market economy. and what mitt romney was doing with bain, there is absolutely nothing illegal about it. i don't believe there's anything immoral about it. in fact, i think there's a certain morality to it. you have to downsize companies that are in trouble. that has to be done. that's the way you save -- that's the way you save jobs. and the net result with bain is many more jobs were saved than were lost. and those jobs would not have been saved -- >> do we know that for a fact? >> i know it because i know the market pretty well. i don't know the exact numbers, but i know the companies we're talking about. and i know that he saved an awful lot of jobs, even in the companies are he saved jobs, he had to maybe take out 1,000, 2,000 jobs in order to save 8,000 jobs. >> let's move on to the general atmosphere going into south carolina because it's getting nasty. my guess is it always gets nasty at this stage. the warm-up in iowa, all very nice, south carolina, boom. >> particularly in south carolina. yeah, it gets -- >> why is that? >> i guess maybe they've gotten into it for a while in -- they sort of begin in iowa, and then they go to new hampshire and it's a little bit restrained there and they get to south carolina, this is the last time you can make a real statement and really slow somebody down. >> let me play a clip from newt gingrich last night where he used an extraordinary word to describe what may be coming in south carolina. >> this is going to be armageddon. they will come in here with everything they've got. every surrogate, every ad, every negative attack. at the same time, we're going to be basically drawing a sharp contrast between a georgia reagan conservative and a massachusetts moderate. he's pro-gun control, pro-choice, pro-tax increase, pro-liberal judge. and the voters of south carolina are going to decide. >> armageddon really? >> that may be overstated a little. but everything newt said there is perfectly appropriate, fair game for him to make those points. he's clearly more conservative than mitt is, more consistently conservative. although there are a couple of contradictions in newt's record, as well, as there are in all of ours. that's a very legitimate point and they should fight the campaign out on that. what they shouldn't be doing is trying to take romney's record in private equity and trying to make it into some kind of evil thing. i mean, we have an administration now -- >> -- >> we have an administration now that is anti-business. it is holding back the recovery of our economy. we're not going to grow this economy by having these false notions of how business operates just kind of hanging out there. >> the way you're talking, and correct me if i'm wrong, i spoke to you in december about this, you strongly suggested that newt gingrich might be the guy you could support in this nomination. >> he still might be. >> he still might be? or are you moving toward mitt romney? >> i'm not moving in any direction at all. i'm reacting to an argument that i think is a very counterproductive argument for republicans to be making who have a set of core values about how the american economy works. and about what has been productive for us in the past. private equity is an enormously important part of the growth of our economy and it's an enormously important part of how you grow jobs. one of the reasons we don't have jobs right now in america is that private equity money is sitting on the side. i can give you ten examples of this. not putting any money in because they're afraid of what obama will do to them. now, they're not going to revive that economy with promoting these stupid ideas that are being promoted as part of these ads. stick with the pro-choice, the liberal judges, stick with romney care, perfect area of attack. but don't do this. this is a mistake for republicans. >> newt gingrich having playing nice newt, didn't last very long, it wasn't very effective has gone back to nasty newt. he's going to unleash through the super bank $3.5 million worth of bile all over mitt romney in south carolina. can this make a difference in the way that mitt romney's super pacs really hammered newt gingrich's popularity? >> you can emphasize and sympathize with newt. i think what was done to him in iowa was horrible. >> unfair? or was it all fair in intellectual war? >> some of it was unfair. some of it went too far. most of it was all fair in love and war. some of it was on fair. the sheer amount of it. and the fact it's being done by attack and mitt romney's separating himself from it. a lot of that can get you very angry. but newt should contain that anger and stick with intellectually honest attacks. >> could he still -- let me paint a picture to you. two scenarios. however many votes he wins by, he goes to south carolina, he has a big win there, many people will say pretty much it's all over. >> well, it's probably all over when you get through florida. if mitt can win -- >> he wins all four, he's there, right? >> yeah. >> you would assume so? >> i would say so. >> you know this better than most people. paint me a scenario where it's not all over and somebody else could still challenge him properly. >> either he loses south carolina or somebody like newt or rick santorum or maybe even perry, although i think that's a little bit remote because where rick is starting in the polls. but if someone gets really close to him. three points, four points -- >> who's the most likely? gingrich? >> gingrich or santorum. santorum you consider that south carolina is a pretty strong conservative state. >> very evangelical. >> probably the guy with the most consistent conservative credentials is rick santorum. he could possibly do as well in south carolina as he ultimately did in iowa. >> but he hasn't gotten the money, has he, or the infrastructure? newt gingrich now has money. he has a lot of money. >> right. >> and as we've seen from what happened in iowa and new hampshire, if you've got the money, on television to hammer your opponents, you can really damage them. >> you can, and it can also backfire on you. it's hard to tell. here's why i think rick santorum has a chance. you have newt attacking romney. some fair, some unfair. you have romney's people attacking newt. some fair, some unfair. and you have santorum sort of sitting on the sideline. he might get the benefit of that. he might get the benefit of it because at this point he's pretty well known, television will help, but it's not going to mean everything. i wouldn't count santorum out of this. i think one of the two of them, santorum or gingrich could run close in south carolina. then you go to florida and florida is much more of a tea party state than the other ones we've been in. florida since 2008 just had lunch with john mccain and we've kind of talked this over. it's done more right than it was -- >> that could help santorum -- >> since they elected scott, the more conservative choice for governor. they elected marco rubio, the tea party candidate for the senate. if gingrich or santorum can come in with momentum, they would have a chance. >> let's take a break and come back and talk about what happens once republicans have got their nominee. it's going to be a tough challenge. [ monica ] i'm away on a movie shoot and it hasn't been going exactly as planned. cut. cut! [ monica ] i thought we'd be on location for 3 days -- it's been 3 weeks. so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. my special guest former mayor rudy giuliani. let's get to the stage where there's a winner, and that winner has to take on barack obama. the economy is definitely strengthening. jobless figures are improving. the stock market feels more confident. if you're in the white house, this is all pretty good news. because the one winning position for them is surely to stand back in a few month's time in november and say we said we would improve things and now we can demonstrably show we have. >> it's a fact, three or four months from now, the economy has materially improved, it's going to be very hard to defeat barack obama. on the other hand, if the economy does what it did last year, a month of improvement, a month of decline. month of improvement, another month of decline, job figures go up, job figures go down, obama in a lot of trouble. >> how does the republican candidate best go after barack obama? what are his weaknesses? >> i think you go after him on the economy. that has to be the answer. because even if the economy improves, i seriously doubt we're going to be below 8% unemployment next september/october. there's still an historic high for a president seeking reelection. >> be dispassionate for a moment -- there's a gun to your head metaphorically, mr. giuliani. answer me this, where are the ticks in the obama box? where has he had success? >> he's had success with charity, success and failures with terrorism, success with ones that are obvious. catching bin laden, getting some of the major terrorists. i think he's had some real weaknesses in dealing with terrorism. i think his equivocation with regards to iran has put us in a difficult spot. the first two years where he wanted to talk to ahmadinejad and ahmadinejad didn't want to talk to him, i think that's put us in a very weak position. i think his position with regard to israel frightens me for the security state of israel. i think his overall stewardship of the economy, even if it improves somewhat is going to be negative numbers. because we have more debt than we've ever had in our history. he has no plan to really deal with that debt. and he leads by following in that area. he lets the republicans and the democrats fight it out. he has no real plan. he's yet to articulate a financial plan that says to this country i can lead you to growth. he has an energy plan that's a disaster. his energy plan is basically say no. say no to nuclear power, say no to fraccing, say no to the pipeline, say no to coal. say no to everything but wind and solar which are fine, but they can't get it soon, they're only 1% of what produces our electrical power. and he's dealing with countries like china that are building 50 nuclear power plants, buying coal, expanding fraccing, buying oil all over the world. and also investing in wind and solar. so i think there are a lot of vulnerabilities. >> well, a controversial book about the obamas by jodi kantor, she's coming on after you on the show tonight. what do you make about the fury surrounding it? >> typical. every white house has this. there was a book about both bushes. there were several books about clinton like this, there were several about reagan like this. so what is the book going to say? the white house is somewhat dysfunctional. so is every white house. they're dysfunctional. george washington white house was dysfunctional. >> are they still -- >> thomas jefferson and alexander hamilton hated each other, right? and of course it got so bad between burr and hamilton, one killed the other. not quite that bad. >> is it journalistically valid? or is it just piddle paddle? >> i think it's journalistically valid because i think people have a right to know what's going on inside the white house. i think it's -- i think it's way beyond gossip when you're talking about the white house. but i think is it going to have an impact on the election? it's going to be three or four days, maybe three or four weeks of discussion and ultimately then it'll merge into what we've heard about every other president, what we've heard about every other white house. all the unfair or sometimes fair attacks on first ladies. that -- presidents don't get elected and reelected based on how's their white house functioning in terms of people getting along with each other. >> rudy, always a pleasure. happy anniversary next week -- >> happy anniversary. >> you are officially now my most regular guest in the first year. >> very proud of it. you do a good job. >> thank you very much. coming up, the hottest tell-all book of the year, but is it all true. an exclusive with jodi kantor, the woman who wrote "the obamas." when you have tough pain, do you want fast relief? try bayer advanced aspirin. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice as fast as before. bayer advanced aspirin. test how fast it works for you. love it, or get your money back. the political tell-all that everyone's talking about is "the obamas." the book that goes behind closed doors at the white house. painting what some are calling a controversial picture of the first couple. and jodi kantor joins me now. welcome, jodi. >> thanks so much for having me. >> you're getting a lot of flak for this book. how are you dealing with that? did you expect it? >> well, actually there's been a lot of praise and excitement for the book. it's gotten some great reviews. you know what's exciting about this book is that it shows how the personal intersects with the political in this white house. and you know, there were some big headlines and scoops that came out of the book. but the real book that exists for people who are reading it as opposed to the abstract thing that a lot of people have been discussing on tv without reading is this sensitive nuance texture portrayal of the obamas in the white house. >> that's clearly not how they're seeing it. i can tell from the first lady's reaction in an interview yesterday with gail king. she's not happy. >> i was surprised by her reaction. and i assume what she's reacting to is the coverage of the book, which has been a little distorted rather than the book itself. because i never called her an angry black woman. in the book -- i also never said that she and rahm emanuel had cross words with each other. so, you know, and she did say in the interview that she hasn't actually read the book. i'm not sure she knows what's in it. >> let's just hear the first lady commenting on the book. >> it's more interesting to imagine this conflicted situation here and a strong woman and, you know -- but that's been an image that people have tried to paint of me since, you know, the days. that i'm some angry black woman. >> she makes that feeling pretty clear there. and when you read your book, there's no doubt that if you were michelle obama and you read the book from cover-to-cover, which she obviously hasn't but she's had the report, you do get the impression of a feisty lady who is trying to put her own opinions into the presidential domain through the west wing aides and so on, and she has conflict with some of those aides. is that true, or not? as she says, how do you know what's going on in their head? >> well, i reported on her the same way i've been reporting on her for five years in the "new york times," which is the obama inner circle really let me in for this book. the interviews in the book come from people like valerie jarrett and susan axelrod, and the first lady's close friends. so, for example, if valerie jarrett or susan said the first lady was concerned about such and such, and i can write according to aides or according to them the first lady was concerned about such and such. so i followed the same rules i did in the newspaper. and the important thing is that the stories that came out are stories that the obamas don't usually tell. it's a much more candid portrait of them in the white house. >> let me read you what the white house said. this is white house press secretary. the book, an overdramatization of old news. it is a relationship about two people whom haven't spoken to in two years and not interviewed them for this book. the emotions and private moments described in the book, though, often seemingly describe the president, first lady are little more than the author's own thought. they're saying, look, a lot of this stuff is in your head and is speculative about how michelle obama in particular was thinking at various times. how would you know that? >> well, because her -- i was -- her aides gave me access. i spent months interviewing her aides in the east wing. >> not her. >> piers, i'll give you an example. do you remember when michelle obama went to london very early in the presidency? and she spoke to school kids and she cheered up a little bit on stage. one of the things her aides were very intent to describe was the importance of that moment in the formulation of her first lady hood. and they talked about how when she saw these young girls and these were not privileged girls, they were from minority backgrounds, a lot of them were english speakers. when she began to see the affect she had on them, she began to really understand the power of her first ladyhood. the way she stood for access and social mobility. so these are aides who were very close to her. also remember, i've been covering these people since 2007. i mean, eric schultz' protest to me sounds like some sort of protest against journalism,