a new week and new shake-up for the battle for the presidential nomination. newt gingrich is now the solid front runner in the state of iowa. but today his focus was on new york. and a meeting with donald trump. let's go to new york. there's jim acosta following this for us. what's the latest with newt gingrich the front-runner and donald trump? >> well, he is in the big apple and you can say he is singing new york, new york, start spreading the newts. he his message he is can win the republican nomination. he is willing to take this battle to all 50 states. at a news conference in new york, newt gingrich insisted he can go toe to toe with mitt romney in a 50-state battle for the nomination. even with a much smaller operation. >> we have all these articles about how businesses are getting leaner. how they are flattening their hierarchies. doing all sorts of things. have you people who work from home. you have virtual organizations. all of these cutting edge ideas. you have a group who have to be slow cumbersome and expensive. >> the donald has had the number one show in the country. okay? he is a genuine american icon in miss own right. why wouldn't you want to come and hang out with him. >> part of the plan included a visit from donald trump who had enough meetings to host a presidential apresent iis reality show. >> but beginning rich has a new ad drawing comparisons to reagan's iconic morning in america spot. but the message is eerily similar it yes, we can. >> yes, work together. we can and will rebuild the america we love. >> team obama is sitting up and taking notice with grinning rich surging to the top of the poll. >> i think a lot of people in inside the beltway and outside the beltway woke up today, to a very different political environment and one in which newt gingrich is very much for real. >> democrats seem all too eager to face gingrich in an interview with the blog talking pint point memo, nancy pelosi, dredging up the investigations into the former speaker's leadership into the 1990s. i know a lot of about him, pelosi said. i served on the investigative committee that investigated him. four of us locked into n a room for year. a thousand pages of this stuff. >> i want to thank speaker pelosi for what i regard as an early christmas gift. >> beginning rich responded that the house should reputate her comments, using the office to damage his candidacy. >> we don't always see eye to eye, do we newt? >> no. >> the sign the two former speakers aren't as chummy as their days battling climate change in this ad. >> and gingrich went on to say that during those investigations into the house of his leadership, that he was basically cleared of nearly all of the charges, just one wolf, that he said he was found to be in violation of in the meantime, newt gingrich is also in search of campaign cash here in new york, given the fact he is going to be potentially fighting with mitt romney across the country for this gop nomination, he will need more than just good poll numbers to come out on top. >> if the republicans nominate someone he doesn't looin like, and he is not defining who that might be, he is still holding out, albeit, a tiny percentage. he is still holding o out will possibility that after the season ends in may on his show on nbc, he could run as third party candidate. did he elaborate at all following his meeting with newt gingrich on that? >> he didn't. he basically said his next order of business is to hold this debit on december 27. as you know, he is set to moderate a debate among the gop contenders. some of those contenders, jon huntsman and ron paul said they aren't going. newt gingrich rsvb yes. that probably doesn't hurt too badly in terms of getting an encoarsement from trump. in addition to his reality tv show, the donald is coming out with a book this week. needless to say, and who am i to accuse the dond al of this, but there also might be self promotion going on. just a thought. >> just a thought. we will speak to him later on this week. herman cain is walking way from the presidential race amid allegations of sexual misconduct. but he is leaf leaving with a huge amount of cash. what will he do, now that he suspended his race for the white house wp what does he do with the money he raised? >> as you mentioned, he has suspended his presidential campaign. but in one way, he is still acting like a candidate. he is still fund-raising. he even has a something scheduled tonight in oklahoma. the cain campaign train has come to a stop but he is still rolling in the political donation answers if he gets his way will still be a fixture on the public stage. >> i'm not going to be silenced and i'm not going to away. >> he launched cain solutions.com, a website up but without content. but thing he does have is plenty of cash. cain raised about $14 million in campaign contributions. 9 million of that since october 1. even now, he is fill fund-raising. >> the before his announcement about putting his campaign on suspension, he sent out a very aggressive fund-raising e-mail to his supporters saying, make a generous donation to my campaign so you can show your support. >> cain suspended his campaign as opposed to dropping out of race. what's the difference? money. federal law allowes a candidate who is you suspends a campaign to continue raising funds. he could convert his campaign dmeest a pack and use that to throw list weight behind political candidates. >> he has a lot of freedom to use the funds for political purposes in terms of making contributiones it candidates or political parties or engage in his own political independent speech. >> he couldn't use the funds for blatant personal use but could tap into the money to pay for travel, lodging, web sites and consultants. >> this candidate cannot use the money for personal use. they can't pay themselves a salary. they can't just transfer the money to their own bank account. they can, however, spend the in such a way that it does benefit them economically or in terms of reputation because they have set up a charity and they can-ksh that reflects well on them. >> and cain does have other options with his campaign money. he could return the money to contributor or give money to charity. judging by the fact he is still out there by the political arena, still fund-raising, it is likely we will see a cain pack in the weeks ahead. >> do we know how much cash on hand? >> he has 14 million. he has about $630 million in debt. >> 600 thousand? >> exactly, sorry tp. thanks for qualifying that. he is actually flush with cash so he can doing well. >> he could hold on to that until he creates a pack. there is no time limit. >> that is another possibility. he could run for another political office down the road. >> and use that money, run for governor or senator. >> exactly. >> as he said, he is not going away. he has big plans. he has this website up. >> he wouldn't be the first politician to raise the money and kept it for years to come, using it for political purposes. good report, lisa sylvester. let's go to jack, he has the cafferty file. >> hello, wolf. the day before he drops out of campaign, he is appealing for money. go figure. in a lincoln/douglas style debate, real politics told the human events in the red state they locked down a date on december 19 and place to hold the debate. he says gingrich was toward go but romney turned them down. romney could benefit from the two-person format where the toughest opponent instead of debate format where candidates have no chance of winning are all included. and it could be a good practice for a debate against president obama if romney ends up being a nominee. which is appearing to be less likely everyday. why won't romney agree to debate gingrich? critics say he is simply running out the clock. gingrich will have a debate partner on the 19th. huntsman accepted the invitation while taking a swipe at romney. the substantive format makes it hard for romney to hide from his record. that's a quote. romney could be making a big mistake while refusing to talk to the media and refusing to debate gingrich. the coronation appears to be slipping way. gingrich sits atop the polls as well as those in key early voting states. in iowa a brand new poll shows romney in third place. behind gingrich number one, ron paul number two. and in new hampshire, another poll shows "the gary radnich show" has climbed almost 20 points against romney since october. meanwhile there are reports that cain may endorse gingrich. if if he does, it could be bad news for romney. what does it say about mitt romney that he won't debate newt gingrich one on one? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. or post on wolf blitzer's facebook page. >> you remember my hometown team, the bills, and he became a sportscaster, he talks about sitting on preventing on defense. he would say the same thing and he was right. he says preventing defense prevents you from winning. if romney continues a prevent defense, you know what will happen? >> it just doesn't make any sense. remember, who is the fellow from time magazine you had on last week? talked about how much more accessible romney was, you can't get to him any more. he has this bunker mentality, figuring it is all his for the taking, but i'm not sure so sure it is. >> if you want to be president of the united states, you have to go out there and fight, fight, fight. >> and you owe the voters an explanation. you owe them where you stand on the issues. you should be out there explaining to people, here is what i think about this, this and this. here is how i will attack the problems. you can't trust they will vote for you on good faith. not today. >> check out my blog on the situation room web page. aej remember 9-9-9 plan? >> yes, i do. >> it's not dead, dead, dead. >> a pizza topping. >> it's not dead, dead, dead. >> okay. >> check it out. >> thanks very much. the president is using his bully pulpit to step up pressure on republicans to extend the payroll tax cut. he tries to turn the tables on them when it comes to raising taxes. also, head of the faa arrested for drunken driving. we're learning new details. stand by, you're in "the situation room." the droid razr by motorola. the first droid that becomes self-aware. it remembers what you do and does it faster. create shortcuts like automatically syncing while you sleep. instinctively shape-shifting from a music stream for your workout to newsfeed during breakfast, then a gps for your morning commute. powered by verizon 4g lte, this droid is too powerful to fall into the wrong hands. forty years ago, he wasn't worried about retirement. he'd yet to hear of mutual funds, iras, or annuities. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement solutions for our military, veterans and their families. from investments... to life insurance... to health care options. learn more with our free usaa retirement guide. call 877-242-usaa. 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[ cheering ] i wanna see that again. ♪ let's go to the white house. our chief correspondent is standing by. the president was in the briefing room a few hours ago, making his case, tell our viewers who he said. >> hi, wolf, the president's message is that congress has to use its remaining days before its break it extend the payroll tax cut that basically if republicans block it, it is inconsistent, he says, with their pledge ton raise taxes. here's the president. >> i know many republicans have sworn an oath never to raise taxes as long as they live. how could it be that the only time there is catch is when it comes to raising taxes on middle class families? >> the wolf, the president's aides believe this is a winning issue for the president because if congress doesn't extend the payroll tax cut, then taxes on middle class families go up and the president has a campaign issue and if congress does extend this payroll tax cut then the president has a win, a policy win, on his hands and he can take credit for it. the bottom line is, folks here expect that congress will pass this. at this point, it is just a question of how it will be paid for or if it will be paid for, wolf. >> tomorrow, as you know, jessica, the president heads it kansas. kansas to deliver what the house says will be a big speech. he is trying to draw comparisons with teddy roosevelt. what is this about? >> well, he is going to address issues like income and equality and a lost themes that have been very frustratinging to the progressive wing of the dem krtic base recently, he will be talking about -- well, issues that the progressive wing of the democratic base framed as sort of the 1% versus the 99%. instead of talking about it in terms of the big banks versus everybody else, you will hear the president talk about fairness and making sure that working americans get a fair shake. these themes balance, fairness, were big themes for teddy roosevelt when he gave his square deal speech and he gave that square deal speech in the very same town more than a hundred years ago in kansas. wolf? >> jessica, thanks very much. the man who oversee s was arrested for drunk driving. randy babbitt has taken a leave of absence from his job. what do we know about this? >> wolf, police say this happened on saturday night at about 10:30 if fairfax, washington, not far from washington. faa administrator randy babbitt pulled over for allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road. police say he was driving alone. no crash or injuries reported in this incident. he was charged with driving while intoxicated and released on personal rekog any suns, which means in bail money was required. the department of transportation said officials there learned of the arrest, quote, in the last hour. that of course would be just afternoon today, about 36 hours after the arrest occurs. the white house also didn't find out until today after about noon time. so far babbitt has been given a leave of absence and his deputy will fill in. we called babbitt's house and went there to speak to him. we were not able to speak it randy babbitt. he oversees safety rules for pilots, planes and flights, that includes regulation on pilot intoxication. he was appointed to a five-year term by president obama in 2009, and he is vet ral ran pilot himself. he flew for eastern airlines for about 25 years, wolf. >> any indication whether or not the president will ask him to resign? >> white house press secretary jay carney said babbitt is on a leave of absence. beyond that he is said to ask the department of transportation. the only thing that they say is that he is discussions with legal council about will discussion of babbitt's status. >> appreciate it. a check of the day's other top stories then newt gingrich versus nancy belossesy. she says she's got dirt on gingrich that he is firing right back at her. the two former speakers are battling. that's coming up in "the situation room." ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups that's logistics. ♪ 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 sign out, they couldn't wait to get here. this year was great but next year's gonna be even better. and anyone who knows the gulf knows that winter is primetime fun time. the sun's out and the water's beautiful. 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. thingses mount. pakistan gets a boost from the military base. lisa silvestylvester is monitor that. clats what's going on? >> dip plattic officials confirm that u.s. is leaving the air base at the request of the pakistani government. the order comes after an airstrike last month that killed 24 pakistani soldiers, worsening already strain red lagss between the two countries. under an expired deadline and the threat of more sanctions, syria agreed to let arab league observers into monitor the unrest with conditions. the regional organization must drop sanction immediately and it also wants suspension from the regional group rescinded. the arab league says it'll consider syria's proposal before making final decision. word today that workers from fukushima daiichi found a leak of radio active water. tepco says there is a slightly elevated level of active material in the area. it said they are trying to figure out how much tainted water may have reached the ocean. sandbags stopped the leak. a powerful earthquake and tsunami damaged the plant in march. wolf? >> thanks very much for that, lisa. newt gingrich is out with his first paid television commercial. it is trying to be inspirational. but does it succeed? also, nancy pelosi is hinting she knows secrets about newt gingrich. we will talk about all of this in our strategy session. donna brazile and mary matalin are standing by live. of your baby acting adorable. baby. on it. matt, ignore me and keep updating your fantasy team. huh? jeff, play a game. turbo-boosting now, sir. dennis, check in everywhere you go on foursquare. that's mayor dennis... of the water cooler. you're the best. liz, rock out to pandora. oh, no i'm an only child. and nick, you shouldn't even be here, you can do everything from the golf course. good? good. 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>> how did they the market do, at least in the final few minutes. there are reports of a potential downgrading in a lot of european countries. >> let's look at the numbers. dow jones still man anling to pull out a little bit of gain for the day. i think about 80 points or so. there was talk about the never ending serious of summits. that european leaders had by germany and france, on the front page of the wall street journal. the finance minister was breaking down into tears as she was trying to explain to her people why they were either going to be collectively impoverished or selectively impoverished with later retirement ages and less in their pensions. it is a very, very difficult what is going on inside each and every one of these countries. at least indication from the ft and righters is that it is still not -- still not fixed by any stretch of the imagination, at least in the eyes of the credit rating agencies, wolf? >> let's say the s&p does downgrade germany and other european countries. what does that mean for me? what does that mean for those of us in united states? >> anything that is a hurdle on the road for europe getting its financial house in order is very bad news for the united states, wolf. why? because the euro zone to the largest destination for product. if they slip into a depression, a depression, that would mean that american factories close and americans lose tlir jobs to say nothing of the investments in the fwloeb al mashets tied to what happens in europe. also, the trip aa status of the bailout fund is pretty crucial. you want a cellar credit rating for these countries as they are trying to get their bond situation in order. that is obviously, any kind of sign of a lack of confidence or declining confidence in the euro zone, not a good thing for exporters and certainly not not good for people of europe. you know, friends and allies of the united states. christine watching this for us. thanks very much. is it real politics or reality tv in newt gingrich teaming up for donald trump with a new spin on the apprentice. also, nancy pelosi drops a hint. does she have dirt, real dirt, additional dirt, new dirt, on newt gingrich? 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i held on to your coffee. wow. ♪ nationwide is on your side ( laughing ) it's actually a pretty good day when you consider. that's great. there's a new battle between two former speaks of the house, nancy pelosi and newt gingrich. joining us now are the republican strategist and cnn political contributor mary matalin and cnn contributor, donna brazile. wow, all of a sudden, it is heating up between pelosi and gingrich, ladies. i will put it up on the screen, one of these days we'll have a conversation about newt gingrich. when the time is right. i know a lot about him. i served on the investigative committee that investigated him. four of us locked into a room in an undisclosed location for year. a thousand pages of stuff. now jim acosta with newt gingrich in new york. a little while ago, asked the republican presidential front runner to react. listen under. >> first of all, i want to thank speaker pelosi for what i regard as an early christmas gift. for the american people to see what a tainted political operation nancy pelosi was engaged in and i hope the house will immediately condemn her if she uses any material gathered while she was on the ethics committee. because it would be a total violation of the committee. >> after that, the nancy pelosi spokesperson put out this information. leader pelosi was talking about the extensive. a information that is in the public record. first to to you, mary, what do you make of this? >> he is absolutely right, there is nothing, nothing that nancy pelosi can say about newt that would hurt newt worse than this is hurting nancy pelosi. just the threat of violating those ethics rules. if there is one thing that republicans and democrats is abide by and have integrity for or they like to maintain the integrity of the ethics committee. they do cut each other slack or do it the right way, and her even suggesting that is so egregious, newt is exactly right. stand back and let everybody else make those charges. get out of process and keep talking about message. >> what she said, donna, i know you like nancy pelosi and admire her a great deal. but what she said about in that statement, i know a lot about him, i served on the investigative committee that investigated him. four of us locked in a room for year. a thousand pages of stuff. that's pretty threatening and inappropriate for a member of that pan toll release that kind of confidential information. >> first of all, let's focus out there on the public record. >> but she wasn't focusing on the public record. if that statement she was focusing in on the secret stuff that is never supposed to be released. >> i don't think she was focusing in on it. i talked to her office, thaents what she was referring to. you know, wolf, newt gingrich would love to pick a fight with a woman, he would love to fight with nancy, because then he won't have to answer the charges that the house reprimanded him for and fined him $300,000. if he wants to take a trip down mem reline, it'll hurt his campaign. it will expose him as a hypocrite on many of the ethical issues. i don't think that's his real aim today and you know, taking the fight to nancy pelosi. there is a lot of stuff back there. it is the baggage that he carries. the backage that he must be concern with now that he is a front-runner. he will undergo the staple scrutiny that herman cain and all of the other front runners have to undergo. that is part of his baggage. >> let me respond, he wants it pick a nice with a woman, that's what donna just said, mary. >> i'm sure she didn't mean to choose those words because -- >> oh, i said them. >> all right, well, donna. that's really -- >> he is picking a fight with nancy pelosi. >> picking a fight -- >> she's a woman. >> picking a fight with a woman is clearly a different charge. this is what the democrats an president obama have announced they are going to do. they are going to trash the entire field and they are taking apart one by one. there is nothing we don't know about newt and nobody wants to take a trip down memory lane. every voter wants it look to the future. all of the democrats dumping and trashing and bad mouthing the republicans are exactly what voters don't like. for you to say, donna be he wants it pick a fight with a woman. >> yes. >> it's absurd. he is not try to look backwards or pick a fight with anybody. he is trying to win a nomination. this is not like a favor of the week. he is staying focused on the message, staying focused on the biggest philosophy of government and -- >> mary, first of all, let's not talk about the trash. republicans have thrown all the trash from the garbage can, from the gutter on president obama. his birth certificate. and newt met with the birther himself, donald trump. republican can dates were picking nice with pelosi. absolutely. it comes with the game. she was the first female speaker. i am a woman, off then disgusted with the gutter politics. i spoke out when michele bachmann was aattacked. with the phony song the other night on television. yes. newt gingrich has a past. he has to be willing to talk about it whether he is uncomfortable or not. he has it face the cameras and not just throw red meat at his base hoping to excitement them but demonizing obama, poor kids, nancy ge pe lossesy. when you throw up your two fits with a fight, guess what? sometimes you might get hit back by a woman. >> can i say, one of the ironies of this is the reason why newt standed behind and had his claws up and did so well the reason did, is sis sitting on a couch with nancy pelosi. he is not gutter balling anybody. he is not scaring anybody. this noi this notion that kids shouldn't work. maybe you should come visit. you know education reform is keeping kids in school and tying education to work. making that cause and effect that we do -- >> mary, i'm the daughter of a retired janitor. i know poverty. i worked, my parents worked, everybody worked. but to suggest that poor kids have to work simply because they are poor is asanine. all kids, if they are able to work, should work. they should have worth ethic. not just poor kids but everybody. everybody should work whether it's working for free or working pour money. >> it looked like newt gingrich doubled down own the whole issue at his meeting with donald trump today on this whole issue over the poor children should be working. in schools. listen to this exchange, the speaker followed by donald trump. >> been making the case we need to work very hard to help poor children in poor neighborhoods acquire opportunities to work and i've asked him to take one of the poorer schools in the new york and basically offer at least 10 apprenticeships to kids from that school. to get them into the world of work and get them into an opportunity to earn money. >> he did mention, if i could do something, for some of the kids in very, very poor schools throughout the city. i thought it was a great idea. we called it an apprenticeship and we all know about the apprentice. so we will be doing it. we will pick ten young wound children and make them apprenti. we will have fun with it. i think it will have something with results. this was newt's idea and i thought it was a great idea. >> donna, great idea? quickly, we only have a little time left. >> i support any effort to help any child in this country. that's what i'm all about. adopt the school, kids, parents, neighborhood. make sure by fund education so every child can get a healthy start as well as head start. that's the ticket out 6 poverty. >> mary? >> let me make a prediction. everyone will make fun of the donald and newt, but mothers of these children will be lining up knee deep to get one of these ten apprenticeships. i think is a brilliant idea. it is happening across the country. i believe they have put it on the top of the radar for education reform. >> ladies, good discussion. as usual. passionate, that's the way we like it. thank you very much. mitt romney says no to one on one debate with newt gingrich. we will tell you what we know about this. part of the political race for the white house. ♪ [ woman ] i know my kids are growing up. i see it in last year's pictures. i hear it in their plans for tomorrow. it makes me miss a couple of things. but i have a way to keep them close, even when they're far away. [ male announcer ] the inspiron one 2320 with the second gen intel® core™ i5 or i7 processors. performance for your unique lifestyle. for a limited time purchase select dell pc's and receive our holiday photo solution. our gift to you. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] some people just know how to build things well. give you and your loved ones an expertly engineered mercedes-benz... ho ho ho! ...at the winter event going on now. but hurry -- the offer ends january 3rd. the storm at britain's embassy in terrain. erin burnett is meeting with top officials over there. a lot of focus on iran's nuclear program in the entire region. i know you had a clans to meet with shaykh mohammed, what did he have to say about this. >> it is amazing. you are only about 40 miles away from iran. they are deeply concerned, obviously, about this. dubai is in an awkward position. they have a whole lot of money and business. iran is ree relying on the uae. the royal rich em rhett and ruler of did dubai. here he is on the situation. >> is iran a bigger threat now than it was a few years ago? >> iran pb is our neighbor and we live next to each other for thousand and thousand of years. i don't believe that iran will enter the nuclear weapon. >> you don't think they will get a nuclear weapon? >> i don't think so, myself. what can iran do with a nuclear weapon? for example -- [ indiscernible ] you think their city would be safe? it would be gone next day. >> that's an interesting situation, wolf. here in the united arab emirates as as they have tried to prepare for a threat from iran, you see an arms race in this entire region which of course is a fascinate aeng terrible time to see an arms race here, given you have the arab spring, so many in disarray, the economies have been in stall mode, joblessness has pris rhas risen. an interesting topic here, wolf. >> i'm sure it is. as the united spring had an impact on the united arab emirates where you are in dubai? what is going on there? >> it's interesting. obviously these gulf states are different than some of the places where you have seen upri upuprisings. they have a lot of money. right here in the united ar edd emirat emirates, last week was their 40th anniversary. they are very young. they doubled the wages for workers. they say they are doing that to keep people happy and prevent uprising and protest here. shaykh mohamed says that is not the case. but it is a fascinating topic and there were five men who who is dubbed the uae five, who were jailed foregoing on blogs, talking about wanting democracy under this shaykh-ruled kingdom. which is now it is. p is ruled by two ruling families. i talked to him tonight. a telecom engineer. and he was talking about how he thought the uae is ready for full democracy. which is something the leaders of this country don't agree with. we had a very frank discussion. and it is coming up tonight with shaykh mohamed. >> out front in the united arab emirates, tonight, 7 p.m. eastern, live in abu dhabi, we will be watching. 7 p.m. eastern, later tonight. when we come back, jack cafferty will join us with the cafferty file. there goes dwayne's car. oh, man. there goes dwayne's house. whoa! whoa! and there goes dwayne. man, that thing does not like dwayne. 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[ male announcer ] enbrel. the #1 biologic medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. jack's back with the cafferty file. jack? >> what does it say about romney that he is refusing to debate gingrich. renee in illinois says, i think his critics are right about running out the clock. romney stands a better clans in the general election than most of the candidates on the right but he is struggling with the extremists in his own party. the real question, what does this say about the gop that they are more determined to run with a candidate who can win their own primary but less of a chance of the election. romney wants to run from his record and knows it will never hold up in a head to head debate. hats off to jon huntsman for agreeing to debate newt. romney is also scared to debate romney one on one. i'm seeing tom duey more and more. charles in san antonio, i believe it is a good move on romney's part. romney would be forced to move too far to the right. that won't appeal to the independents or disgruntled democrats in the general election. however, refusing to debate gingrich will hurt romney but not as much as actually debating him. it is all a political calculation. carol writes, it depends on newt imploding and he is nominee by fault. gingrich is a better debate than he is, it is as simple as that. politicians are great debaters. it's rule number one, look at guy in the white house now. he doesn't have a clue, but he is magician at the podium. if you want to read more, go to my blog. or to our post on the situation room's facebook page. there is a thing on the tv about you being on soul train and beating boxes. what is that baabout? >> that's old history. i was in atlanta two weeks ago. we taped that and it aired last -- the sunday after thanks giving. now people are getting around to reporting about it. >> i'm way behind the curve. >> i had a great time. you remember the "soul train." >> yes. it was great. as u.s. troops get ready to pull out of iraq in the next few weeks, many americans are wondering how much has been accomplished. the story of how american and iraqi authorities are responding to the killing of an american soldier may provide part of the answer. cnn's martin savidge goes in-depth. >> like many american service plebs in iraq, these soldiers in the first army division are toward go home. but before they can go, there is one more thing they have to do. armed and in full body armor, they head towards a building. cnn is there as 10e years went after the man suspect he of killing one of their own. 25-year-old first lieutenant dustin vincent of texas always wanted to be a soldier. and dreamed that tore at his mother's heart. >> i told him wib said, i don't agree with it. but i'm here to support you. >> iraq was vincent's first tour of duty. but a sniper's bullet ended the mission in early november. and shattered the life of his high school sweetheart, who vincent married just two days before he deployed. insurgents posted this video on-line claiming it showed the attack. set it music it shows a military convoy stopped on the street. there is a gunshot. and a soldiers drops from view. there's no way to know if this video is the actual killing of lieutenant vincent. meanwhile, word reached the men of vincen't's squad that the alleged gunman has been captured. they come to the courthouse, not for revenge, but justice. you see, lieutenant vincent's death is being handled as a homicide. >> there was a crime committed and because of that crime, a lieutenant was killed and everyone wants it see justice done. >> an attack on american forces would have resulted in an airstrike or fire fight at one time. but instead, the lieutenant's death triggered a trial in an iraqi court. the soldiers meet with the prosecutors to testify about what happened. they go over the evidence, including the video. it is a sign of just how much things have changed. and u.s. officials say the iraqis are delivering real result. >> they have been willing take on cases of the terrorists who attacked the u.s. troops, and i think that's a good sign. >> outside the base where he was stationed, lieutenant vincent has been added to the wall of dedicated u.s. servicemembers. each name, a painful reminder of the sacrifice that has taken iraq from the ruflt dictator and to this case, to the rule of law. martin savidge, cnn, baghdad. in "the situation room" happening now, newt gingrich trumps romney, with a photo opportunity of the day. with gingrich up, romney down, cain out. plus, is one of america's most secret and effective weapons now in the hands of iran? we're taking a closer look into iran's claim that it shot down a u.s. drone like this one. and if kwu crack this code within the next week, you may be a high-tech spy. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. breaking news, political headlines and jeanne moos straight ahead. i'm wolf blitzer, and you're in the situation room. the red-hot spite light on newt gingrich is bigger today because he shared it with a publicity magnet. we are talking about donald trump. the latest presidential front-runner is looking for the support of the would-be campaign maker. their meeting, a few weeks before trump moderates a debate in iowa that's boycotted by some of newt newt gingrich's rivals. >> of course i want his endorsement. not yet. he has to do this debate. >> there is speculation that cain might endorse gingrich now that he suspended his own campaign. it puts pressure on romney it find his way back to the top of the pack. let's bring in joe johns. he is looking at challenges from mitt romney. joe, as you and i know, there are many. >> that's for sure, wolf. this is a rough patch for the romney campaign. the point where a candidate for president would really like it start surging and not slumping. and now, with the iowa caucuses closing in, time is about to become a real factor. >> this is the cross road, when neur a position like mitt romney coming off a week in the polls like this, a lot of people are going to give you advice but perhaps none speaks louder than the advice romney recently gave it gingrich. >> have you to win the election and to win the election, you've got to earn it. >> that's before two new polls put gingrich in the top with romney and paul battle for second. a lot of those voters could be persuaded other wileys. the so the question now is with how does romney earn it? what does he do in campaign advice is to step up his attacks on gingrich. >> i don't know if there is time for mitt romney to play that strategy that newt may strategize himself. he mihave to help voters say all of the flaws in gingrich. >> romney's problem is romney. his record seemingly. shifting positions on issues make social conservatives and tea partiers think twice. richard vigry, wrote on his website, conservative hq.com, that romney failed to convince conservatives he will govern as a conservative. romney surrounded himself with quote bush viedsors and wall street types and try to flip-flop. though it is possible to make the case that romney has been such as inconsistent as newt gingrich. >> newt gingrich has no more claim to conservativism than mitt rom flee does. newt gingrich stood on both sides of many issues. he proclaimed ills of man made bloeb al warming and that we must do something about it. >> if gingrich and romney are guilty of shift and change in direction then why is gingrich ahead? some say his tough way of talking, that conservatives like the most and why romney needs to show he can fight. >> what does newt gingrich offer that mitt romney doesn't? he offered a combative personality. he fors action # passion. he aftered someone that will take to to president obama while mitt romney is kind of bland. and that gets voter's attention. that's what they are looking for right now. >> we reached out to the romney campaign today. they did not exactly respond point by point to any of this. but what a source did say generally is that rm knee will keep moving forward where w his own message and will draw contrast, their word, with newt gingrich where they exist. wolf? >> joe, thanks very much. romney is certainly getting ready to get a new endorsement tomorrow. a campaign officials confirming to cnn that dan quayle will back romney in an event in arizona tomorrow. let's talk about what's going on right now. gingrich versus romney. the state of the republican race for the white house, our chief political analyst is here. are we seeing, gloria be a and you and i have covered newt gingrich for a long time. a different newt emerge in these days of this campaign? >> i think what we are seeing is newt gingrich who is trying to portray himself as more positive, more optimistic. ala ronald reagan. take a look at this ad is he is running in iowa prps. >> some people say the america we know and love is a thing of the past. i don't believe that. because working together, i know we can rebuild america. >> he is clearly trying to reintroduce himself. i would say he is trying to reinvent himself to the american people. that's kind of grandfather newt over there. i was at a focus group with republican voters the other night and they described him as a grandfather. there he is. >> how is he responding to mitt romney's suggestion that newt gingrich is nothing that are than a real washington insight? ? >> hae as good answer for that. he actually makes the case that mitt romney has been seeking elective office most of his life if he hasn't won those elections. take a listen at what he said today in the press conference with donald trm trump. >> i don't know that you ought to count running for senate in 1949, then for governor, then for president in six years, i don't know if that makes him a career politicians or not. it is fair to say i've been a successful candidate a number of times. it is also fair to say as a citizen, i've been very clear and very proud of the fact that i started working as a citizen at 15 years of age. i think citizenship is very important. >> i don't think that the career pole tigs charge is the most effective one that mitt romney could be using against newt gingrich. i think it would be more lucrative for romney to look into how newt gingrich used his power and whether people who worked with him that time would actually trust him to become an effective leader again because the people i talked to, who were in congress with him. who are republicans, privately are saying, absolutely not. >> a lost republicans have said to me and i'm sure to you and a lot of other folks, that none of these candidates is perfect thp they have a problem with gingrich, bachmann, santorum or any of the candidates, ron paul. but their most important is to beat president obama and not let him become a two-term president. they will support whoever is the republican nominee. >> a a lot of them believe with their hearts is that newt gingrich is their guy, who represents with anger, who can take it to bomb. their heads say, romney, because they know he is electable. people i talked to are worried that this turned into kra os right now. if. newt gingrich get the fom nation, what they worry about is that for independent voters, his resume of chuting down the government and taking on point, one of the most popular politicians in america right now is not going to sit well with the people. they would need to convince to get off the fence and vote republican. >> lots to dissect and digest. thanks very much. >> sure. >> let's get back to the trump factor in the 2012 campaign. most of the tv show the apprentice is clearly trying to be a mentor. but a couple of them don't want anything to do with him. least not now. we asked mary snow, who? new york, to take a closer look at this. mary? >> two very important opinions of trump coming from two gop white house hopefuls in new york today. the biggest question is what kind after difference could trump's support make for a candidate. >> with the crush of cameras awaiting him wp newt gingrich became the latest presidential hopeful to pay a visit to trump. defending plans for upcoming republican presidential debate to be moderated by the real estate developer and reality tv host set to be sponsored by the conservative website, news matt. >> this is a country which elected a peanut farmer to the presidency. they have elected an actor who made two moves with the chim pan zi for the presidency. not participating in the trump debate, jon huntsman. >> >> you know, i'm not going could kiss his ring or any other part of his aanatomy. >> i don't understand the marching to his office. i didn't know that he had an ability to lay on hands, you know. and anoint people. >> firing back, trump who is also promoting a new book dismissed criticism in an interview on nbc. >> i think that they are joe candidates. i think they are doing very poorly and certainly mr. huntsman is doing extremely poor at 1% and frankly it gives more air time to people who have a better chance of being elected. >> while candidates have stinging words with trum whop flirted with running for president, it hasn't stopped several gop white house hope fruls. michele bachmann met with him a few times. and while we as candidate, herman cain now met up with trump. >> he is a great business plan. if we are trying to come up with how to create jobs wib think the difference between my party and the other party, we go to people who know how to create jobs. >> a n. >> of likely republican voters in new hampshire, 37% are less likely to vote for trump like candidate. more than 44% two trump green lights. in iowa, the numbers are not that different either. >> and there is an entirely different number that trump is talking about. he claims he is worth $7 billion. you might remember when he was considering running for the white house, that is a number he would not disclose. that number just to put is in perspective is much higher pch forbs for instance, estimated him to be worth $250 million and $3 billion. >> i know there a big argument over what he is worth. what does he say about his own presidential ambition? >> he is not entirely shutting the door. he is saying that he intends to endorse a candidate after this he can bait. but he says if he is not entirely happy that be you know, he is hinting that is still a possibility that he would perhaps run. but. >> but he will wait until the end of the apprentice next season. it is unlikely but he says his number one goal it to make sure that president obama doesn't get re-elected. mary, thanks very much for that. check out my blog by the way. where i write about herman cain's departure from this race, 9-9-9 is now dead-dead-dead. check it out and see what you think. iran says it responded to a aggression by the united states by shooting down a drone like this one. we're investigating the possible threat to america's top secret spy technology. this is how broitian is looking to find new high-tech version of james bond. can you crack the code? president obama is measuring republicans to accept the new democratic compromise to extend the payroll tax. lots of news come canning up right here on the situation rooim room. you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ that's my world. usa prime credit... this peggy... hi, i'm cashing in my points... peggy? 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[ male announcer ] medicare open enrollment ends soon. call 1-800-medicare or visit medicare.gov to learn more. jack cafferty is here with the cafferty file wp jack. >> here is something that aught to be keeping you up at night. the unemployment rate may have declined to 8.6 percent in november but the picture is not nearly as rosey as the white house would like us to believe. yes, it's been -- the it's the lowest since march 2009, and yes it is getting closer to 7.8% rate where it stood when president obama took office. but that's where the good news ends. the job market has a very long way to go to recover from the financial crisis. long, long way. 8.8 million jobs have been lost since the recession began and less than a third of those have been recovered. more than 13 million people remain unemployment in this country and 43% of those have been out of work for more than six months. plus, the current unemployment rate of 8.6% isn't even as good as it seems at first glance because a big part of the rate decreased is due to the fact that more than 300 thousand december couraged workers gave up on look for a job and dropped out of work force. it is not due to job creation. speaking of job creation. employers only added 120,000 jobs in october, which is well below what economists agree is needed just to keep up with population growth. so the numbers aside, job outlook remain bleak. in disastrous housing market, european debt crisis, it could pull our economy done even further. president obama has a lot of work still ahead of him do. a recent poll shows only 15% say economic conditions are good. six out of seven say they are poor. majority say conditions are very poor. so here is the question. no president since fdr has won on unemployment over 7.2%. is obama doomed? post a comment on my blog or go to and post a on our facebook page. we have a decline to 8.6% but mostly because 300,000 people have just given up looking for a job, wolf. >> they did revise the you jobless number a little bit. but you're correct. people drop out, give up. you don't even mention the fact there are so many people who are underemploy underemployed, working part-time. they have a job but may be only making a fraction of what they were making. i want to know who the 15% are who think the economy is good right now. who are they? >> the 1 percenters, maybe. >> maybe. we still have a long way to go and the white house acknowledges there is a long way to go. >> in fairness to obama, this is a horrible thing he was confronted with. we went into a recession, the likes we haven't seen before going into a depression. this isn't like a day at the beach, kicking sand in everybody's face. he add tough row to hoe. >> yes, he inherited a mess. i think that's a fair assessment. prs. iran's claim it shot down a don't like this one that they say invaded its airspace. it is not clear if the unmanned airspace is downed but if iran has its hands on the technology implications could be huge and do cob dangerous. here is chris lawrence. >> wolf, this potentially goes way beyond just one drone. because if it's relatively infact, this could be an intelligence windfall not only for iran but for russia, china and who knows what else. aviation experts say commonly used drones like the reaper and predator can't come close to what the rq-107 can do. >> this is a plane that not only goes faster than the systems that's not only stealthier than the previous generation, that it cannot only gather much better enintelligence information about what is going on on the ground ground, there is las system that is smarter than the generation. >> the sentinel's radar is the same sophisticated stealth technology that allows fighter jets to outrun their eye kwif lents. >> is something that takes radar to, you know, 21st century capabilities. >> but how much of it, if any, is now in iranian hands? reports from state-run tv claim iran brought down the plane. they have not broadcast any pictures of the actual crash but claim the drone is relatively infact. >> i'm very skeptical of the iranian claim of shooting it down. it is possible that as the drone is operating as the government suggested, they just lost control of it so it landed inside iran's boarder. >> a u.s. official says it was flying along the afghanistan boreder with iran and the flight control lost control of the aircraft just before it went down. experts say they are not worried about iran starting a production line of knock off drones. but iran could provide parts to its val eye who can then reverse engineers the technology. >> the best way for the iranians to meek make sure a counter ends up in their hands, is not to build the counter on its own but russia or china to build it and tell is back to them. >> a plane shot down by serbia in the late '90s, russia and china exploited that and are still using it in some of their weapons today. wolf? >> we got confirmation. significant developments, s&p downgrading europeans right now, specifically, lisa, what is going on? >> what they are doing is they announced 15 countries are on review for a possible downgrade. but the significance here is that it applies across the board to the country's or part of the euro zone. that includes france and germany, even though these are two countries with train aaa ra. greece has been downgraded. those these countries have been downgraded to junction status. but can you see that concern is that there is a potential for the spreading. among the reasons the s&p gave for putting these countries on review for possible downgrade sp of course, their mounting debt. also, there are signs that credit is tightening. this is significant. and it all poipts to one thing, increased possibility that europe will go into recession. of course, what does that mean for people sitting here in the united states? it's an good thing. if europe dips into recession, europe is the united states's largest customer that can afengt our exports to europe and also effect jobs in the united states. there is a push to get the unemployment number down from 8.6%. it is going to make it harder to dig out of the country. but it speaks to the fact that europe has to do something. european central bank expected to meet this week and it is the -- at least the consensus, is that they will likely cut interest rates. but there's a real problem in europe. >> yeah, this will put enormous pressure on them to do, as you say, the right thing. president obama argues. can you see if you live in the united states or middle class framly, can you see a thousand dollar tax hike. but are both sides any closer on a deal on a payroll tax cut? also with herman cain now out of the republican contest, is 9-9 ksh 9 dead ded ded. then i'd be like, you rule! and my kids would be like, you rule! oh, load up the sleigh; this is going to be a great christmas. 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[ male announcer ] the epa estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from spending time together, to spending your lives together, chevy runs deep. president obama now insi insisting the fate of working americans is in the hands of congress as the clock ticks, ticks, ticks, toward a deadline to extend a tax cut benefit of tens of millions of americans. the president took to the white house briefing room to urge republicans to get behind the plan democrats unveiled earlier in the day. >> a year ago at this time, both parties came toogt to cut payroll taxes by the typical american framly by about a thousand dollars. as soon as this year ends, so does that tax cut. if congress fails to renew this tax cut before then, that same family will see a tax hike of about a thousand dollars a year. there aren't many folks either in the middle class or those trying to get into the middle class. who can afford to give up a thousand dollars. not right now. >> let's go to capitol hill where we are standing by with more. there are only a few days between now and the end of the year. otherwise this tax will go up for millions and millions of americans. >> yes, wolf. again, another pending deadline. this is called a compromise offer. they are proposing a smaller package to ex ten the employee payroll tax cut with a different mix of measures to cover the cost. i should first say it is not likely to go far as republicans are already coming out to criticism this latest proposal even before the full details had been released. listen here first to senate majority leader harry reid. >> we're offering spending cuts to with which republicans have already agreed and at cut back tax on the richest americans a group of average income of $3 million a year is also a sincere attempt to get republicans on board to pass what they say they want to do. >> now the democrats original offer, a bill that failed last week, this latest offer from senate democrats would extend and expand the payroll tax cut for employees. cutting tax from 4.2% to 3.1%. but here is where democrats say they are compromising in toward win over more republican votes. this offer would not include a payroll tax cut for employers. it would also be paid for with a smaller sir tax on millionaires. this would go from a little under 3% tax, would now go down to a just a little over 3% tax now to just under a 2% tax on income over a million dollars. they say that is also a concession no senate republicans. senate democrats say they are adopting part of the republican proposal that failed under the senate last week. that is provision to prevent millionaires from being able to receive unemployment benefits and also receive food stamps. as i said earlier wolf, it is not -- republicans are already coming out really to slam this proposal. senator hatch calls in a political show boat that isn't going anywhere. then there is this from senator jon kyl, listen here. >> is what pays for social security benefits. it is bad economic policy, bad tax policy, and certainly the surtax that would fund this is something that would very much hurt small business and job creation. those are reasons to be very skeptical about continuing this payroll tax holiday, this supposedly temporary tax holiday. >> it seems to be the latest move in what is likely to be more back and forthright up to the deadline that we could potentially see, wolf, on this payroll tax extension. an important issue to members up here, very important political messaging opportunity for both sides. we're told we could see a first vote on this latest offer from senate democrats as early as friday. wolf? >> this notion of millionaires being eligible for food stamps, kate, i don't know if you looked into this story. but it is probably making folks who hear those words possible. how is it possible that millionaires could be eligible for tax-payer food stamps. >> there are reports about that this allegedly occurred. both republicans and democrats admit it doesn't bring in a ton of money to help pay for this measure. but you can understand there is potentially a circumstance where someone making over a million dollars with find themselves unemployed and could turn around and file for receiving unemployment assistance as well as try to receive food stamps and receive benefites from both of those programs. both republicans and democrats see this as an opportunity to prevent that but both sides say it wouldn't pay for the entire proposal. it is more after nod to one side or the other. >> yeah. if someone has a million dollars in the bank or they are getting a million dollars, there is something wrong with that story. thank you, good job as usual. let's talk more about the candidate no longer in the race. we are talking about herman cain, of course. joining us is rolland martin and will cain. i wrote a piece today, let me start with you will, on our website. in which i said that herman cain's legacy might be-9-9 now dead-dead-dead. did we forget about 9-9-9? >> no, i agree with you substantive. however flawed it was, his legacy will be 9-9-9. simplifying the tax code. but there is another legacy, wolf, that i hope doesn't take hold. you'll have pundits and strast strategists say he was an inexperienced politician. if he was mayor of atlanta, we would have known these problems. of course they will say this because they are lifetime politicos. herman cain didn't know his stuff. my hope is that other business who have been successful, look at herman cain, and see the potential for success and have their own ducks in a row. know what they are talking about. >> you and i know, there have been plenty of guys who run for the democratic presidential nomination. fours years ago, eight years ago, with limited qualifications. they didn't get very far but sometimes throw hire hat in the ring. >> first of all, i need to remind him of a couple things. he add short run in 2000. herman cain also ran for the senate. he is not just a businessman all these years who decided to run for president. we know steve forbs. he ran for president before and put out a radical tax plan that fired up a small element of the republican party. when you look at the notion of being a conservatives, you have fiscal con conservatives, social conservatives. you have bauer. his endorsement will be irrelevant, just like trump's. at the end of the day, he was a terrible candidate who didn't know a thing about it. republicans are probably happy is not in the race. >> i don't know why you think rolland, herman cain's endorsement will be irrelevant, el be excited about that movement. >> right. tell me right now, if you are sitting here running for president, and if you are sitting here and say santorum drops out whob is w, who is run around looking for pawlenty's endorsement can you convince the voters and the poll we just showed a few minutes guy, 32% of the people in iowa are less likely to vote for a candidate if they get trump's endorsement versus those who say they will vote for him. that's why i say, it is the candidate, not those who support them. >> i think very little of it. i think the party whose ideais are centered around those of burke and freeman and goldwater and reagan should not be affiliated with likes of trump. i can't think after single serious person who could possibly disagree with that. >> wolf? >> hold on. newt gingrich said he would be there. he said he would participate in the debate. >> good for newt gingrich. >> this would be a two-person debate. i predict this debate will not even take place. he is a carnival barker. at the end of the day, donald trump has no credibility hosting a debate. look at the coverage. it hasn't been about the candidates. it's been about him. that's what this is all about. he has a new book coming out. at the end of the day, we have to own up to it as well. we in the media have fed this monster. fed this beast. we fed his ego and we pretend that donald trump sp a credible person when whe it comes to politics and it is not. it would be a joke for any of them to show up. i doubt romney shows up, perry shows up. huntsman is not coming. paul is not coming. that's not a he can bait. >> i don't think rolland will be invited. >> and i would not seek an invite through anything he is at. >> thanks you, guys. a lot more politics coming up. also a breach of security at a nuclear power plant and a knew government admission about what went wrong. and would-be spies test your code cracking skills. if you're up task, you could get a job. lisa is back and watching this, some of of the other top stories in the situation room right now. what's going on. >> that's right, wolf. the adviser to the prime minister says he will be executed next year. the execution of tariq aziz will be carried out after u.s. forces have withdrawn from iraq. aziz was hussein's prime minister and iraq's public face for two decades. france is owning up to security after green peace gained access into a nuclear plant. they climbed the dome to highlights the vulnerability. the internal minister ordered searches of all plants. the japan-based auto maker announced that 6,000 american made camries will make the trip to south korea annually. toyota says the strengthening yen makes it more practical it ship cares from kentucky. nasa says the commission looking for potential earth-like planets has found its first planet in the so-called habitable zone. that is an area where a planet could exist with water on the surface. the planet has a radius twice that of earth and about 600 light years away. a lot of people are very excited about that. >> only 600 light years. not an easy trip. hope they are having fun over there, 600 light years away. thanks, lisa. wanted, high-tech spies who can crack this code. you're going to figure it out, if you can, you could get a brand new job. an occupy move many, with a surprise for police, that will have you laughing. cnn's jeanne moos will explain. ? it's when we comb through your policies and make sure that you're getting all the discounts you deserve. no, i get that part, but you guys are doing my move. the discount double check move? that's my touchdown dance. so you're a dancer? no, i'm a quarterback. oh, a quarterback. mrr. i'm a robot. mm, mm. ee, er, ee, er. get out of here. 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[ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm. nyquil tylenol: we are?ylenol. you know we're kinda like twins. nyquil (stuffy): yeah, we both relieve coughs, sneezing, aches, fevers. tylenol: and i relieve nasal congestion. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. luck? i don't trade on luck. i trade on fundamentals. analysis. information. i trade on tradearchitect. this is web-based trading, re-visualized. streaming, real-time quotes. earnings analysis. probability analysis: that's what opportunity looks like. it's all visual. intuitive. and it's available free, wherever the web is. this is how trade strategies are built. tradearchitect. only from td ameritrade. welcome to better trade commission free for 60 days when you open an account. do you have what it takes to become a spy? britain's intelligence agency wants to know. and the answer may ultimately come down to a unique new on-line puzzle. let's bring in brian todd. he's got the details. a challenge to a lot of folks out there who might want to spy. >> that's light, wolf. britain says their systems are under constant take from hackers. they are now recruiting top talent it fight back. here is your challenge. 160 combinations of numbers and letters. and a countdown clock. you have just a few days to your deadline. if you crack this code, could you be the next real life james bond. >> bond, james bond. >> maybe not. but if you're a british citizen and you solve this puzzle you could be recruited for britain's next generation of high-tech spies. posted on-line, publicized on facebook and twitter, it is put out by the government's headquarters. britain's version of america's national security agency. its mission is to help catch terrorists. this agency once posted job ads inside video games. an official there tells us this puzzle's gotten thousands of hits and at least 50 people involved it. if you do that, you are congratulated. offered a clans to apply. >> what do you think of this as a recruiting tool? >> i think it is a great idea. it brings aware us in of the need for crip toling to ra fers. >> mark stout does code cracking for washington. he says for people with reasonable math and computer science, this code probably isn't too hard. >> what kind ever intelligence can you gather by code breaking? thz this is intelligence as we call it, can be tremendously valuable. it is one of the rare forms of intelligence that if done properly, we can give you the enemy's intention. what are they thinking? >> government's like britain's, need cyber warriors more than ever. they say they want people with an interest in so-called ethical hacking. how will that play? mark mayfray is a former hacker who co-founded ei digital security. he says sophisticated hackers might find this gimmicky. >> what i might have found funny would have been to hack the server hosting the challenge and actually change the challenge to have some funny message or some other thing. >> other cyber experts say the code is just too easy. an official at that british government communications headquarters say it is not designed to be overly difficult, more to promote awareness of what that agency does. he says if that's the goal, then it is worth it to get teenagers and other young people excited about careers in legitimate cyber espionage. there is a desperate need for it. >> code cracking has helped take down terrorists. >> he won't tell exactly what happened, but he points to killing osama bin laden. he said that depended on the intercepting of a occur a courier phone. >> they used to call it no such agency, so secret -- >> that's right. they are working around the clock on code breaking. thank you very much. no president since fdr has unemployment over 7.2%. is president obama and his chances for reelection doomed? that's jack's question. the cafferty file. and your e-mail and more news, coming up. anyaway. no president since fdr has won reelection with unemployment higher than 7.2%. is president obama doomed? no one succeeded you said these conditions since the last guy who faced these conditions and succeeded. that would seem to demonstrate that it is doable. obama definitely has the potential to win but it will be a severely divisive election. i think the country would be better off if we tossed a coin. rubbles seem determined to see that obama gets reelected. we have herman pokemon, donald the apprentice, newt the grinch, mitt and jon the mormon-bots. mark writes obama is was not-term president. he was voted in due to the hatred of bush and he has made things infinitely worse. and he is not doomed. no president ever inherited a near depression, two wars and ten years of tax cuts for the rich all at the same time. we were laughing out loud over the weekend watching the news and seeing obama trying to koup the europeans on how to fix their economy. with what he's done to our economy, he ought to be looking for advice instead of giving it. and gerard writes, perhaps it has been said before. in a country where laws declare pizza a vegetable, everything and everybody is doomed. if you want to read more on this, go to the blog. cnn.com/caffertyfile or go to the situation i know that a. >> still a long time between now and november of next year. not much time between now and the caucuses but a long time until november 2012. right? >> yes, that's right, blitz. a long time. >> anything can happen. >> anybody besides cain call you blitz? >> sure. a lot of people call me a lot worse than that. >> a group of protesters turn occupying their tents into a fashion statement. [ female announcer ] the humana walmart-preferred rx plan gives you the lowest plan premium in the country... so you can focus on what really matters. call humana at 1-800-808-4003. [♪...] >> announcer: now get a $250 airfare credit, plus save up to 65%. call 1-800-sandals. certain restrictions apply. as that occupy movement gains momentum around the world, some aren't just occupying tents, they're wearing them. here's cnn's jeanne moos. >> remember when tents used to be something you used to catch out in the wilderness? now they're being pitched on police cars. they've become a symbol of the occupy movement. >> floating tents. >> instead of floating, these days they're being dismantled by police. that's what everyone thought was going to happen. in medical bourn, australia, police marched forward. but then what seemed like an oddly random verbal signal rang out. >> space! >> protesters it turnld out were wearing their tents. [ laughter ] >> they were dubbed the tent monsters. occupy mel bourn put it to music and uploaded them to youtube. police seemed befuddled. one tent even dropped its pants. one of the officers asked, how did they do it? to which a protester applied -- the man lo and behold, the police turned around and left. the tents in hot pursuit. one website labeled it mock and awe. arguments between police and protesters over tents have at times been intense. for instance, at occupy toronto. >> are you going to touch my stuff? do you have a word? excuse me, officer! i want a warrant. >> the only warrant at occupy melbourn should have been from the fashion police. true, tents may not make the most flattering outfits. as one person posted, honey, does this tent make my