mitt romney is coming off his second place win in south carolina with nonstop attacks on the rival who beat him. newt gingrich. with the biggest contest to date just eight days away, even his temperment are talking points for mitt romney. he s gone from pillar to post like a pinball machine, from item to item in a way that is highly erratic and does not suggest a stable, thoughtful course which is normally associated with leadership. so far three republican contests have picked three different winners ron paul will take part in another debate in tampa. a state of emergency is in effect in alabama after storms in late january. two people are known dead in the birmingham area. dozens of people are hurt in what appears to be one or two tornadoes. many homes are damaged or destroyed and many thousands don t have power. a possible tornado touchdown in arkansas as well. overseas now, europe tightening the jus on iran. eu foreign ministers say they won t sign any more contra
video statement online today saying she has to focus on her recovery. i don t remember much from that horrible day, but i will never forget the trust you placed in me to be your voice. thank you for your prayers and for giving me time to recover. i have more work to do on my recovery. so to do what is best for arizona, i will step down this week. i m getting better. let s bring in cnn s athena jones from washington. what kind of reaction are we receiving? the reaction has been swift here on capitol hill from both sides of the aisle. democratic leader nancy pelosi said i join all my colleagues in congress in thanking gabby for the honor of calling her colleague and wishing gabby and mark great success and happiness. and house speaker john boehner said in his statement, i salute congresswoman giffords for her service and for the courage and perseverance she s shown in the face of tragedy. she will be missed. we also saw a statement from representative steny hoyer saying i
from the cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of italy. rescue workers finally resuming the search for missing passengers. let s go outfront. good evening. i m erin burnett. tonight, we are live in charleston, south carolina. tonight, newt gingrich, whose performance tonight here will make or break his run at the presidency. no doubt the former speaker is surging in the polls. you can look around, you see that left, right and center. the latest show him within striking distance of mitt romney. he s also ignited a fire storm, slamming the media over his ex-wife s allegation that he wanted an open marriage. i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office and i am appalled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. i caught up with newt gingrich today about an hour and a half away from here in a town called orangeburg, sou
mitt romney is admitting that tomorrow end in defeat for him. speaker gingrich has come back, had a strong performance in a debate monday night and a strong performence last night. your ex-wife gave an interview with abc news. in it, she said you came to her in 1999, at a time where you were having an affair, she said you asked her, sir, to enter into an open marriage. would you like to take time to respond to that. no, but i will. i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people to run for public office, and i m appalled that you would begin tapresidential debate on a tuppic like that. is that all you want to say, sir? let me finish. please. every person in here knows personal pain. every person in here has had someone close to them go through painful things. to take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary, a significant question in a presidential campaig
charleston. [ cheers ] it s one of the most beautiful colleges i have seen. a lot of enthusiasm here on campus tonight. a lot of enthusiasm in the state of south carolina for what s going to take place tomorrow in this state. newt gingrich the surging. mitt romney says tomorrow may end in defeat for mitt romney. nearly a week ago it was expected to be a coronation. that s how quickly things have changed. speaker gingrich s comeback began with a strong performance in a debate monday. and then last night s strong performance on cnn. as you know, your ex-wife gave an interview with abc news and the washington post and the story is viral on the internet. she says you came to her in 1999 at a time when you were having an affair. she said you asked her to enter into an open marriage. would you like to take time to respond to that? no. but i will. [ cheers and applause ] i think the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the news media makes it harder to govern thi