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more on that in a moment. dan is going to join us live. also, we want to tell you the company that owns the ship pointing the finger squarely at the ships captain for allowing the ship to run aground on an italian island. cnn received a statement from costa cruises just a short time ago which reads in part, it says while the investigation is ongoing, preliminary indications are that there may have been significant human error on the part of the ships master, captain francesco schetti...

Decision not to run for reelection or by the time that happened do you think he already knew he wasnt going to try to get reelected? >> i dont think it had anything to do with that. even early on, although its very popular now, it was 40-40 in favor and against, the rest undecided, i think there were other factors. i dont think he ever intended to run for reelection, he wanted to get on the national stage, run in 08, a lot depended what happened with john kerry in 04, once kerry lost, he was off...

Election is going to be as close an election as we have seen in a long time. >> maybe the bain capital story is really not a bad thing. that is all the talk now of newt gingrich pulling back on that a little bit, perhaps showing more hypocrisy to his advisors, saying, maybe you should soften the blow a little bit? >> that is true, who would have thought there would be too conservatives in the race going after the front-runner they have complained is not conservative enough. onbeing too pro free ...

Get their message straight on this and defend romney in the primaries. im looking ahead to september, october, right before the election. im thinking the ad the obama campaign is going to run and all its going to be is newt gingrich, you çknow, talking about how terrible mitt romney was at bain. how heartless he was and how he wasnt a job creator at all. or rick perry talking about vulture capitalism. the ad s write themselves. and when you can quote the people in his own party making the case...

For him to say something like that, maybe it makes him feel better but it is not the truth. the fact is that fred thompson was viewed as a viable candidate. it is not necessarily so that he took all of huckabees votes. all i can say to governor huckabee, good luck in your program on fox, but youre not telling the truth. >> well, there you go. lets bring back the panel. i couldnt help myself. this was yesterday. you had john mccain, mike huckabee talking about this issue of rallying around an alt...

and for now at this point, kyra, ive reached out to some republicans here on the hill. theyre reserving judgement at this point. as you know, they frequently talk about wanting smaller government, so on its face this seems like something that they could go along with but, of course, theyre waiting right now to see what president obama says. theyre waiting to see if there are any catches. you see president obama here doing a couple of things. hes trying to make good on some promises abo...

For possible fake signatures and names on these petitions and to try to prevent any possible election fraud this time. bill: what prompted this? this was a big deal in 08? >> they dont want repeat allegedly happened in indiana in 2008 during the presidential race four years ago. weve been reporting how prosecutors in south bend, indiana, are investigating allegations that signatures on democratic primary presidential petitions were faked back in 2008. so many names faked, they claim that preside...

And there is a theory that he might do well because the conservative vote is split among so many candidates. i want to ask you about this. mike huckabee who had won iowa back in 08, lost in new hampshire. then you went down to south carolina for the big battle. he says he thinks you convinced fred thompson to stay in the race and you won south carolina that way. >> mr. huckabee hung in for a long period of time. wouldnt accept defeat. but thats totally false. for him to say something like that m...

Unemployment. the state cut medicaid spending by 2% and has cut $708 per student since 2008. one wonders, perhaps rhetorically, if the money could not be used for better purposes. but, of course, that is not for us to answer at this moment. after the break, is ron paul a rhino? and is he confusing an already confused republican çrace? the answer is next on "now." piro.obert

Opportunity for the republican party. >> true. and i actually agree with david. because i think the -- >> youre just doing that because it makes you feel smart. >> no, its because -- do you want me to get my new yorker tote bag? thats how i feel smart. >> i bet you take that down with you. >> its the one place you could. i think the -- when you look back at these races, 76, hugely important, emergence of reagan. you look at 88, which has more in common with this moment than any other analogous y...