a presidential campaign. jenna: that's what they say the gop candidates well aware of that. newt gingrich mitt romney and jon huntsman stumping through the granite state. romney showing a strong showing. he did make a comment that is certainly generating a lot of buzz in case you missed it, take a listen. >> you've raised that before, rick, and it was true then. >> and it's true now. >> i tell you what, ten thousand bucks? $10,000 bet? >> i'm not in the betting business. >> oh, okay. jenna: kel rewright is live in washington with more on this. >> reporter: in every key battleground state right now newt gingrich is enjoying a comportable lead in the polls. that isn't causing other republican candidates to pack up their bags and go. but the debate turned out to be a dueling match, if you will, between the two frontrunners, newt gingrich and mitt romney. in one exchange they even spared over how to create jobs. >> as speaker of the house i worked with president clinton following a very similar plan and we ended up with about 11 million new jobs in a four yore piod. went down to 4.2% unemployment. >> having snt my life in the public sector i understand where jobs are created, they are not created in government or in washington. >> reporter: newt gingrich is continuing to surge to the top of the field. gingrich is leading in south carolina by 19 percentage points. add in the sunshine state of florida gingrich is maintaining another double tkeupblg i will lead there. romney who is campaigning in new hampshire today is trying to do some damage control from the debate. he is being criticized as being out of touch with middle class americans for challenging governor rick perry during that debate to a 1 $10,000 bet, that after perry said romney wrote in his back that he believed individual mandates for his melt care plan was good for the country. >> this was an outrage us number to answer an outrageous charge from him. i said okay let's put something outrag outrageous moment. >> this is a defining moment between higher taxes and less expensive government. between the european socialist model in which you are a subject to washington bureaucrats and exceptionalism based on the declaration of independence, and you are a citizen. it's one of the great choices in american history. >> reporter: that right there of course is newt gingrich speaking in iowa where he shelled a town hall just about an hour ago. he was talking about what would happen if he became the republican presidential nominee and how he would challenge president obama to lincoln-douglas style debates. and newt sharing the contrast between he and press. speaking of president obama, he says whoever the nominee is he says they appear to all have the same thoughts. he says the american people with see a big choice and a very big debate. jenna: we are going to make a general rule today, kelly, no getting on this show, no gambling, in says anyone is curious. >> reporter: i don't gamble any way. no problem. >> newt gingrich searching in the polls. he does have personal issues that could present problems. he's been tackling them by taking my life is an open book approach. he was asked about marital infidelity, if a candidate breaks his vows to his wife can he be trusted to keep his word to voters. >> i think it's a very, very issue. people have to render judgments. i've made mistakes at times. i've had to go to god for forgiveness. i'm a 68-year-old grandfather, and they have to determine if i'm a person they can trust. >> are we going to soon learn more about newt gingrich than any of us wanted to or is there, after he's been in public life so long anything else to learn? >> the idea is that he's unpacked all of his baggage. it's already out there, and the most important thing that he's doing is making an appeal to the republican base. that is evangelical voters and saying, look, i need grace and i need forgiveness, that is the cornerstone of your faith, and i need you to find that for me. and it's quite frankly a very good strategy, because it's disarming and it prevents whisper campaigns and things like that. so far it's working. >> he's been very open about all of this stuff. can any candidate out there really use it as admonition against him in the way that some of the similar stuff was used against herman cain? >> well, no, because again you don't have the whisper effect. the problem for gingrich in this metta sense, is he, as he says an left it as an open question in the debate, is he trustworthy. has he changed? is he a different kind of a machine as a 68-year-old grandfather east wass a rebellious, young, republican revolutionary? is he a different kind of person now? and he leaves that open for people to come to their own conclusion. the question is once you get down to the end, once it's time for the caucuses and the primaries do those concerns about his character still linger in the back of voters minds. >> tonight going one-on-one against jon huntsman. that is the only place he's made an impact he's at 11% in the polls there. does newt gingrich take a chance who maybe huntsman who is on the rise there, a one and one lincoln-douglas style debate maybe draws some blood. >> it would be okay with him if huntsman does well in new hampshire, because the votes he would take would be from mitt romney the presumptive winner in new hampshire. newt gingrich is polling in new hampshire but not killing it. he would be werl fine with winning in iowa, i think he'd be very happy to give governor huntsman a big platform in new hampshire. >> you can get more of your political fix with chris coming up at the bottom of the hour on power player on foxnews.com. log on and click onto live link. fox news is your election headquarters. we'll westbound could he sponsors a republican debate along with the iowa party thursday. martha: thousands of miles from wall street antiwall street protestors are storming ports up and down the west coast. right now hundreds of occupy demonstrators have successfully shut down the port of portland. that's where dan springer joins us live with the latest. dan. >> reporter: yeah, jenna this day long protest is being called wall street on the waterfront. it is having a disruptive effect on ports up and down the west coast. we are outside of portland, we can push in and you can see we are at the main gate at the port of portland. 200 protestors should down this port. trucks have been turned away, workers have been turned away. protestors gathered outside of this front gate. the police put up a chain-link fence. the police have been instructed to let the protestors stay. they are being very cautious because of arrests that were made. they stopped a car and found a sword and loaded gun. three people were arrested. i want to talk with someone from the port of portland about that this morning and why you are being so cautious and closing down this port today. >> one arrests were made last night. one involved a loading weapon. i think based on the available information a decision was made not to order some labor in today, and additional decisions have been made since then. >> who is this affecting? we know that the truckers have been turned away and port workers. >> a lot of these truckers are not paid by the hour. they'll go unpaid. it impacts dockworkers, office workers, rail workers, there is a domino effect outside of the terminals as will. loss shifts, loss waeurpblgs and delays. >> reporter: thank you for joining us this morning. the impact felt in portland is being seen up and down the coast. we know of protests in los angeles, the long beach port. they are protesting ssa a marine company owned partially bee goldman sachs. there are a lot of middle class people who can't get to work today. martha: just after 8:00 in the morning, dan, we'll continue to watch it throughout the day today, thank you. >> reporter: thorpb general eric holder under pressure from some members of congress to resign over the way the justice department handled the controversial fast and furious program. with more testimony before congress likely has holder become too big of distraction for the white house. catherine herridge live for us. how vulnerable is holder. >> reporter: the attorney general on the hill testifying at lowe's four times. on thursday he made a critical error by publicly acknowledge being an indictment currently under seal for fast and furious. >> somebody has been indicted concerning that case. >> somebody has been? and that is not information you can speak to today. >> there are some rules there. apparently this is a matter that is under seal. >> but there has been an indictment? >> yes, there has been an indictment. >> reporter: since that scandal broke the attorney general has continued to push hard publicly on several controversial policies. he told the european parliament the administration was going to lows guantanamo camps by 2012. the department of justice has recently warned local law enforcement in alabama that they could risk losing federal funding as a result of that state's new immigration law. it certainly doesn't sound or act like someone who is under pressure. >> reporter: when it comes down to the calculation as to whether or not he's too big a liability for the administration to hang onto. where are we? >> reporter: some legal analysts who once worked at the justice department is says all that really matters is the opinion of the president. >> he seems to be hold ago strong hand internal leave. he has the backing of the president and there have been no smoking gun documents that have come out so far. we've seen e-mail traffic among junior officials. at the end ever the day if there is no document that directly ties the attorney general into this and the attorney general continues to maintain the faith and trust of this president when he testifies he knows he's hold ago strong hand and he can afford to take a more combat euf stance with the congressional tkpheut tees. >> reporter: they point out the constant pounding of holder may up the base on the left and street event positions among the president's core supporters. martha: the president and the prime minister of iraq sent to hold a joint news conference on the future of relations between our two countries. now that our troops are coming home many wonder if iraq is able to stand on its own and what kind of ally will they become. >> reporter: time runs out to come together on a payroll tax cut extension. senator joe mansion of west virginia joins us live with what is at stake. martha: something all of us does during the holidays. it could make you very sick, john, very sick. we'll cue the music and giver you a hint of what we're talking about just next. ♪ c is for cookies, that's good enough for me. c is for cookies, that's good enough for me ... ♪ [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. martha: "happening now" in washington the house of representatives is set to begin the final legislative session of the year in about an hour from now. law makers are facing a major showdown with the president over the payroll tax cut extension. the stakes are very high. if republicans and democrats fail to come together it could mean a tax hike of a thousand dollars for families. joe mansion is with us. you have a lot of work to do in washington. what are you doing in new york today? >> i'm getting ready to go to work. martha: eye parent lee the house is going to bring up today the compromise republicans are putting forward to extend the payroll tax cut, but adding that keystone pipeline deal to get that through. >> i have a problem with social security, taking money away from social security. martha: you don't like extending the payroll tax cut at all. >> i don't like extending it under those conditions. i'm for and everybody else i believe is for helping the working last middle people, anything you can do. when you basically undercut social security which was really the only program we had which would be supposed to be the partnership between employer and employee. last year we cut it 2/10s of one percent. there has to be a finite time to end it and it has to be absolutely positive that we will end it and not continue this addiction. we'll continue it. everyone says it's a tax increase. basically the partnership was you pay 6.2 as an employee, i pay 6.2 as your employer and it's used and set aside through a trust fund for your retirement. martha: getting to the keystone pipeline issue, would you be open to it. >> i am for the keystone pipeline. we are addicted to oil. the best ally we have is can today. they are going to produce that oil. they'll either build it north or south. i'd rather be buying oil from canada than i would the middle east that takes the money and uses it against us if you will. if not they'll build the hype line from east to west which will go out and probably china would be the recipient of that. martha: is your perception of this from the republican side that they are putting an offer together that you potentialee could support. >> i'm more interested in that. i'm concerned about the social security. martha: we'll get back to the social security part. you voted no to your own party's legislation. you're not getting what you want and there is still no compromise. maybe what you want is to bring people for a compromise. what would that be. >> we are going to end social security, taking money away from social security and it will take a tremendous amount of votes tofr go back to that a detectives. on top of that this is what jump starts and creates jobs. the keystone pipeline, we are addicted to oil. i'd rather "oil from canada. it creates thousands of jobs. martha: do you think the president getting more involved at this point would help or hurt the process to compromise. >> i always think the president should be involved. as a governor i was always involved. i'd hunt you down. i wanted to talk to you, i wanted to find out where you were coming from and how we could make the compromise. once you're the leader you're responsible to bring people together. martha: do you have any friends in d.c. you have your own idea, you're not necessarily going with your party line in the senate. you said the president needs to get more involved in this. >> yes my opinion. martha: i'm curious about that. you've said in the past that leadership is really lacking down in d.c. how do you see bringing that back? >> well, you know, to me our priorities should be based on our values as a country. we need to rebuild america. i think we have so much going on outside of this country, we are trying to be everything to everybody. we have infrastructure calling down around us, we can't get a tax reform that really gives us the revenue to run our country and take care of obligations. we are having all those problems -- martha: you're saying set the values first and follow in a soared answe accordance with that. we don't even know if the government is going to stay up and running. martha: oh, they will. john: mounting tensions between the united states and iran over this high-tech spy drone captured by the country's revolutionary guard. what officials claim to have recovered from the aircraft and why they now plan to sue the united states. if you hate dieting, have we got a story for you. how you can drop the pounds without counting a single calorie. sounds too good to be true? we'll tell you all about it coming up. welcome idaho, where they grow america's favorite potoes. everyone knows idaho potatoes taste great. but did you know they'reood for you too? they're high in vitamins and potassium. and idaho potatoes are now certified to carry the heart checkmark from the american heart assoction for foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol. so they're good for my family, and for yours. heart smart idaho potatoes. always look for the grown in idaho seal. this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people wanted to visit us... in louisiana. they came to see us in florida... nice try, they came to hang out with us in alabama... once folks heard mississippi had the welcome gn out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year wagreat but next year's a be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and you can go deep sea fishing for amberjack, grouper and mackerel. our golf courses are open. our bed and breakfast have special rates. and migrating waterfowl from all over make this a bird watcher's paradise. so if you missed it earlier this year, come on down. if you've already been here come on back... to mississippi.. florida... louisiana... alabama. the gulf's america's get-a-way spot no matter where you go. so come on down and help make 2012 an even better year for tourism on the gulf. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. john: new reports coming in on the high-tech drone captured in iran. iranian officials say they are in the final stages of recovering data from the ai aircraft. this is one of the most sophisticated in the u.s. arsenal. iran says it will use the information to file a lawsuit against the united states for violating its air space. th*e officials say they now have the capability to reproduce the aircraft. joining me now is jim walsh. great to see you this morning. when they say they are on the cusp of unlocking the secrets of the drone aircraft, what could they possibly get out of it. >> i think it's highly unlikely that they would have the capability of doing that. iran is known for grand pronouncements and the follow-up is not there. i don't think they have the technical capability to reverse engineer or doing that is meaningful with it. maybe the russians could, or the chinese could. the most likely outcome will be that that he use this as a bargaining chip with the russians or the chinese. john: they want to file a lawsuit. who would they appeal to? >> perhaps they could do something at the international court of justice. i'd like to see it on the people's court, the television program. i can see now a guy on one side, a u.s. guy on the other side. i don't think this is going anywhere. this is about politics and symbolism and they are just trying to milk it for what they can. john: maybe my friend nancy grace could handle this a one as well. >> there you go. john: you don't think iran has the capabilities. they have some pretty smart scientists in iran. is there a chance they could discover something that might accelerate their air program? >> i really don't think so. they focused on rockets. they don't have much of an air force, and their rocket program while making progress is nothing compared to the russian program, the u.s. program, the chinese program. they are a developing company, yes they have some smart folks. they are a developing country. they are not an advanced industrial state. i think that is beyond them at this point. john: they could make some sort of deal with russia or china. if the russians or even more worrisome the chinese got a hoefrld it what could they do with it? >> we don't know what information is actually embedded in the drone. we don't know physical shape it is. it looks intact, we don't know what it looks like inside. if you use drones, they are going to crash. if you use missiles they are going to crash. it's just the price you pay, you don't want it to happen. at the end of the day the u.s. is working on the next generation of drones and the one after tha