away from the first tests that count. the battle for iowa and the dramatic shift in the race as it goes down to the wire. newt gingrich is telling mitt romney he needs to man up about his negative attacks. romney is asking why gingrich is so angry. stand by for my interviews with gingrich and romney along with romney's wife ann. iowa's new rising star, rick santorum, and the surprising ron paul. welcome to our viewers from around the world. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." we're just a few days from the voting of the republican campaign and as the iowa caucus looms, mitt romney still leads in iowa with 25% and ron paul is right behind at 22%. but look at this. rick santorum has jumped into third place at 16%. meanwhile, gingrich plummeted to 14% down from 33% only a few weeks ago. rick perry, michele bachmann, and jon huntsman are all at the bottom. i sat down with gingrich has he was being barraged by attack ads. >> if you watch commercials, they are hitting you hard. >> oh, yeah. i think they will have spent 5, 6, $7 million. most of it false: i think this entire jobs and economic growth tour is designed to encounter the negativity. i think we're going to be in the top three or four. we could end up as number one. it's a very confusing field right now. >> it looks like you're optimistic. >> yeah. a super pac ad by his supporters. i'll supply a little clip, watch it, and then we'll discuss it. >> barack obama's plan is working. destroy mitt romney, run against newt gingrich. newt has a ton of baggage. he was fined $300,000 for ethics violations and took 1$1.6 millin from freddie mac before it helped cause the economic meltdown. newt supports amnesty for illegal immigrants. >> all right. you get the point. that's a tough ad not from mitt romney but from a super pac. >> that pac is ran by his staff, paid for by his friends. >> but there can't be any coordination. >> all you've got to do publicly is say, only run positive ads. that would be called leadership. >> here's ron paul's campaign and it's very tough on you. >> folks, don't ask me to explain this. >> everything that gingrich railed against when he was in the house, he went the other way when he got paid to go the other way. >> he's demonstrating himself to be the very essence of the washington insiders. >> it's about serial hypocrisy. >> serial hypocrisy. that's what ron paul is accusing you of. somebody says you're involved in serial hypocrisy and you're not going to fight back? >> well, first of all, people who get to know ron paul who disowns ten years of his own newsletter, said he didn't really realize what was in it, had no idea what he was making money on, that he was racist, anti-semitic, talked about a race war, all of this is a sudden shock to ron paul? there will come a morning when people won't take him as a serious person. this is a man that had a good cause and i think as a protest, he's a reasonable candidate. as a potential president, a person who thinks that the united states was responsible for 911, a person who believes that the world trade bombing was a plot and i would rather just say, you look at ron paul's total record of systemic avoidance of reality, look at his newsletters and his ads, his ads are about as accurate as his newsletters. >> if he were to get the republican nomination -- >> he won't. >> let's say he does. could you vote for him? >> i don't care if there's -- i don't care if the iranians get a nuclear weapon? he said he doesn't think iran is a threat even if they had a nuke bomb. >> what he says is, that's rakes that he's willing to take and had one of his former staff say flatly, that he said over and over again, that israel was a mistake. i mean, i think it's very difficult to see how you would engage in dealing with ron paul's anomaly. given the newsletter which he has not yet disowned. >> you would not vote for ron paul? >> i think he would have to go very far to explain himself. >> what would you do if the choice were ron paul or barack obama? >> i think you'd have a very tough choice. >> what would you do. >> i think barack obama is very destructive to the future of the united states. i think ron paul's views are totally outside the mainstream of virtually every decent american. now, that's going to be very controversial but i just suggest to people, before you decide that i'm wrong, read the newsletters. look at what he said and ask yourself this is a very serious question of the united states. >> he never read that, he never wrote it. only years later did he look at it? >> he's attacking me for serial hypocrisy. and takes very straight answers to get someone to take him seriously. would i listen to him, yes. i think the choice of ron paul or barack obama would be and a very bad chase. >> mitt romney made fun of you. did you hear about this? >> no. >> i i'll play the clip. watch this. >> okay. >> you know, i think you compare that to it's more like lucille ball at the chocolate pact industry. you've got to get it organized. >> i have a very simple message for mitt romney. i'll meet him anywhere in iowa for 90 minutes, just of two of us in a debate with a time keeper and moderator. i'd love to have him say that to my face. i'd like to have him have the courage to back up his negative ads and the stuff that hes staff has been putting out. if he wants to prove that he can debate barack obama, he ought to have the courage to stand on the same stage as me. he's buying millions of dollars of attack ads through a phony super pac paid by his former staff paid for by his millionaire friends. i think he ought to have the courage to explain his ads and explain his record as a moderate in massachusetts, explain his record of raising taxes, explain his record of paying for abortions through state money and explain why he wasn't a job creating governor and his current plan, as much as can be mine. the gingrich romney moderate plan which is much weaker than job creation. i'd like to invite 90 minutes of debating face-to-face. >> herman cain has debated one on one, mitt romney's the one running the most attack ads to attack me. he's doing it by, oh, i don't control all of my former staff and my millionaire friends. it's baloney. he wants to defend his negativity, show up in iowa face-to-face. but let the people decide whether or not in fact le back up what he's been saying and let him back up his moderate record. not conservative record as governor. i don't think he will do it. >> one final question because it's so important to the country and to me. knowing what you know right now, knowing what all of us know, including this tension that's developing in the african-american view, was it smart for the u.s. to go in there in march of 2003 and launch this invasion and get rid of suddam hussein based on faulty intelligence? was it a blunder, if you know then, what you know now, what would you have done? >> first of all, based on the intelligence as agreed to by the russian, british, the french -- nonetheless, every -- >> we all know that we're smarter now than we were then. >> yeah, but you have an advantage of looking back at hindsight and say, gee -- >> with 20/20 hindsight, was the war smart or stupid? >> i think suddam hussein did a lot of murderous things and was involved in killing over a million people and look at the cost of running the iraq war. so i would say, if you look at what he was doing for nuclear weapons, most of his generals thought suddam had a nuclear weapons program. weapons program. so i think it's [ male announcer ] if you're giving an amazing gift, shouldn't it be given in an amazing way? ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer. 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[ding] [fans whirring] announcer: chill raw and prepared foods promptly. one in 6 americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov. and i would hate to pick one or they trade with people and practice diplomacy having this militant telling people what to do and how to run the world and building walls around our own country. that is isolationism and it's a far cry from what we believe in. >> just to be precise, you want to bring all u.s. troops home. from germany, japan, every place else around the world. is that right? >> yeah, because i believe in our responsibility of the government of national defense and fighting these wars does not help us. and it's bringing us to our knees, too. we've been here 10 years and it's contributing to this huge deficit that we have. the wars have contributed in the last ten years. so, yeah, i want to bring them home and i think we'll be stronger for it. we'll have a lot stronger economy if we're serious, you have to deal with foreign policy. >> congressman, good luck. >> thanks a lot. >> the next candidate on our agenda, michele bachmann. you're going to figure out her plans for a last-minute surge in iowa. plus, governor texas rick perry on the move. what no democrat has done since 1948. ♪ [ male announcer ] it's easy to see what subaru owners care about. ♪ that's why we created the share the love event. get a great deal on a new subaru and 250 dollars goes to your choice of five charities. ♪ with your help, we can reach 20 million dollars by the end of this, our fourth year. 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[honks horn] [circus music plays] here you go, pete. thanks, betty. betty: we're out of toner. announcer: if you're facing foreclosure, talk to the right people. speak with hud-approved housing counselors free of charge at... it was only four months ago when michele bachmann was at the front of the presidential pack in iowa. since then her numbers have been plunging and it's time for her to turn things around. >> it's never going to happen, wolf. ron paul is not getting the nomination. we see this unbelievable momentum for me in iowa. americans want an american iron lady and they are flipping to michele bachmann. i intend to be the nominee that defeats barack obama because we've got to get the company right on track and appeal obama care. that's what i intend to do. >> i know it's a big if but he says he couldn't vote -- >> it's never going to happen. >> if it did, would you vote for him? >> it's never going to happen, wolf. it's never going to happen. >> you can't say whether or not -- he is never going to be the nominee. right, you guys? it's going to be michele bachmann. there you go. >> in our new cnn poll, he's doing a lot better than you are in iowa. how do you explain that? >> well, because the polls don't determine what is going to happen on january 3rd. everyone said that i didn't have a chance to win the iowa straw poll. i'm the only candidate in the presidential race that's won a statewide election. i won the iowa straw poll. we're going to see a miracle happen on tuesday. i have absolutely no doubt. the people here in nevada, iowa, know that, too. so we're going to see that miracle. we're excited. >> you are continuing to spend about $2 billion a week, maintaining 100,000 troops in afghanistan. the karzai government announced that they are granting an oil-drilling project potentially worth billions of dollars not to a u.s. company that wanted it, not to a european company that wanted it but to china. is that okay with you? >> no, of course that. because this is what we are seeing. are they are continuing to become the economic powerhouse. we cannot forget that china has delivered systems to enable them in their quest to obtain nuclear weapons. >> four more interviews to go, including mitt romney. up next, he and his wife get personal. plus, why rick santorum is nervous about a ron paul presidency. 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[oinking] ♪ sing polly wolly doodle all the day ♪ ♪ hah i went to iowa this week and the run-up to caucuses and i sat down with mitt romney and his wife ann on the campaign bus. the conversation got personal. i got to see a side of them and their new marriage that many people haven't seen. >> you know, i think a lot of people are aware that i have multiple sclerosis and to bring an awareness to people that are suffering and have difficulties in their life, not only would i bring more awareness to people that have to deal with a lot in their lives, but also to try to move the ball forward a little bit and try to find a cure. >> tell us about that, if you don't mind sharing, what does that mean for you? >> mull tell sclerosis has an enormous amount of fatigue in their life and it's like starting over. it's like the rules of life have changed now and you aren't operating the same way. your memory isn't as good, you get fatigued, you often times might lose function in a leg, an arm, an eye. i mean, it is all these bad things that happen with ms and it's a progressive disease. it's also a relapsing and remitting disease which i'm fortunately in right now. it's a difficult thing to deal with. >> i know people who on medication can really help. >> yes. it's been enormous progress in the last -- since i've been diagnosed, really. enormous progress. and keeping people to their aspirations is not as significant and that's where the medicine has been very, very helpful. but we're right on the cuff of finding new ways to deal with multiple sclerosis. >> the story you've told -- and i don't know if our viewers have heard you tell it, that when you suspected that mrs. romney was getting sick, you weren't sure what it was, you had no idea what was going to happen, and i wonder if you could share that story when you first suspected that something was wrong. >> well, wolf, we knew that something was awry and our doctor said you need to see a neurologist. we went to massachusetts general hospital where the folks signed us to a subperb neurologist. we went into his lobby and on the table were brochures that described lou gar rig's disease and multiple sclerosis. those looked to be the things that neurologists were treating. >> and the symptoms, they were my symptoms. >> yes. >> same symptoms? >> the symptoms, in ann's case, were similar for either one of those diseases. we went into his office, he did a sear rus of neurological tests and so forth and it was clear that she he didn't have feeling where she should have, she didn't have balance where she should have, and something was seriously wrong. he left the room and we embraced each other. we were very emotional, and i said, ann, we can deal with anything as long as it's not terminal. you know, ann's my life. we live for each other and it was a difficult time for us. it's been a challenge since then but we're very fortunate that her condition is not terminal. that she's been able to be strong, and that this trauma came and that we were able to confront it. >> you've had an amazing marriage together and that one commercial that you've done, it's a powerful commercial. you know all the pundits, what they said? >> i actually don't know what they said because i'm on the road. >> they said, you know what, you've had a wonderful marriage, and you can see the two of you together right now, that is in marked contrast of newt gingrich and his three marriages. was there a political background to what you were trying to do there? >> you know, not at all. i think whenever i speak about our life experience, it is ours. this is our story. it's not anyone else's story. everyone has their own story and for me to be able to talk about my life and how i feel about my husband, that's my story. and it's never intended to be anything along the lines other than our story. >> so tell us how you feel about him? >> well, i will say that for me it's so comforting to to know that mitt is always on my side and with me in the hardest of times and when you just described what it was like, to have that diagnosis, it was mitt that got me through my darkest hours. it was also mitt that got me through those really tough years raising five really quite rambunctious and at times quite naughty boys, where he would call home and remind me when i would be quite exacerbated because he was traveling, that what i was doing was more important than his. my job is temporary and yours is going to bring lifelong happiness and eternal happiness for the family. so we had that kind of partnership. and that kind of support system that's always been there for a long time and, you know, when it gets really tough, it's nice to know that mit's mitt's there for me. >> tell us something that you may not know about the governor. >> well, i think people don't appreciate actually his sense of humor. that he actually plays a lot of tricks all the time and that he actually laughs most of the time and as soon as you turn these cameras off, he will become a joke and we'll be laughing and sitting back and telling jokes. >> he's a funny guy? >> he actually is a very funny guy. >> the image of the governor, very proper. >> it's funny how that is and that may be his public perception but that is not who is he privately at all. >> is she right? >> yeah. yeah. i mean, i live for laughter. but, you know, in debates you get asked questions. you answer the questions. you don't tell jokes and as a matter of fact my sons, i used to watch laurel and hardy, the three stooges. >> newt gingrich didn't get on the virginia ballot and you made the comparison to i love lucy and the chocolate factory. >> i think his campaign was like pearl harbor and my reaction was, no, no. this is not at all like pearl harbor. this is more like lucy at the chocolate factor. things are coming at you very fast. you're not always as organized as you'd like to be and sometimes things don't work out the way you want them to work out. and that happens to me in our campaign, that's happened to me at times. it's a humorous image but in many respects it reflects. >> if he couldn't get on the virginia ballot, couldn't get the 10,000 signatures that he needs. what does that say about his campaign? >> well, you know, i can't speak to his campaign but obviously that's his home state and we knew what the rules were when we got into this. we had to organize our effort to get on the ballot. you've got to be able to play by the rules if you're ultimately going to want to become the nominee to be barack obama. >> let's go through a few points and give you a chance to respond. he wanted to challenge you to a one-on-one, no holds bar, just a full debate, just the two of you. and i am going to speak with governor romney tomorrow, look into the camera. he looked into the camera and said this, you want to run a negative campaign, you want to be enough to own it and let's be clear, i am willing to fight for real job creation with a real reagan camp style program and it's very tim pitd about job