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Welcome back to "hardball." after a big win for mitt romney in nevada, newt gingrich took to the stage to announce hes in the fight for the long haul. all the way to the convention. he also used the opportunity to knock his chief rival. lets watch. >> i am a candidate for president of the united states. i will be a candidate for united states. we will go to tampa. i also believe that the vast majority of republicans across the country are going to want an alternative to a massachusetts moderate ...

And most troubling, israeli leaders continuing to hint that military action by them is coming against iran. could that be an october surprise? the chief washington correspondent for "the new york times" joins us. david, lets go through the relatively easy. syria, why are we worried about so much? >> this has been a huge humanitarian disaster. when you think that up until january, the estimates were 5,000 killed by the syrian regime. they have lost count now. >> but from the beginning, we wanted ...

>> all that matters now is whats ahead. how do we come from behind? how do we come together? and how do we win? detroit is showing us it can be done. and whats true about them is true about all of us. this country cant be knocked out in one punch. we get back up and when we do, the world is going to hear the roar of our engines. yeah, its halftime, america. and our second half is about to begin. >> i like that guy. "national journal" headline summed up one take on the ad. clint eastwood makes ob...

Nuclear reactor that one assumes was for a nuclear weapons project. but as soon as the arab spring came, he showed his true stripes. were not in the land of lousy options. were in the land of no options. without a resolution or military option, theres little the united states or others can do to stop whats happening. >> why did susan rice get so emotional today? i was watching her over the weekend. she was calling it despicable. why is she getting so enraged? i think its been fabulous. taking on...

>> hes the cover of the new yorker. it has the picture of you watching the big game on tv. there you are sitting there. on the screen, its not the patriots and the giants, its mitt romney and newt gingrich. look at the smile on your face there. is art imitating life here? >> ive been through the primaries. they are tough. i think ultimately, this will be forgotten by the time they make a decision by the time they decide the nominee. the american people will decide on my platform and where you wa...

Looks good. thanks. i live claritin clear. back to "hardball." now for the sideshow. first up, taking it all in stride. the nevada caucuses didnt bring good news for newt gingrich. sunday morning rolled around, and he faced another topic. what did you think of ""saturday night live." lets watch. >> the year 2014 is a time of turmoil for america. comfortably serving his second term, barack obama no longer hides his agenda. the unemployment rate skyrockets and foreign armies gather their forces ...

Politico and michael scherer is joining us. nobody wants to admit they are made. one shot is to win. something could happen to mitt. the other is he could do damage to make sure hes never going to be president. give me other thinkings going on here. >> if romney gets the nomination, we cant nominate a moderate. if they take it to the convention, that means a lot more headlines for newt gingrich. hes running for a tie. >> no cost in staying in. hes not going to be vice president. >> hes a histori...

Our interests are very aligned with israels, and thats the incredibly important point. in time horizons, we have different times because we have different capabilities. >> were exposed all around the world. if the iranians decide to strike back, they have an amazing forest around the world that can strike at us. they can go after missionaries, tourists, all kinds of weaponry. but if they decide to go to war with us for a long period of time, they can do a lot of things with us. is there somethin...

So the u.s. position is theres a lot more time. and a lot of other options. remember what else hit iran in recent times. the computer worm, sanctions that are beginning to be felt. >> and assassinations. >> the assassinations of the scientists. so those have all been underway. the u.s. has said give this a little bit of time to work, particularly the cutoff of revenues to the iranians. >> i want to go to you on this. is there any way to know who is right? how much time we have? >> in a sense, i ...

I think when you look at this whole picture, its emerging in a good shake for the president. in a way that a lot of us wouldnt have predicted necessarily. first, the economy may get better. it may be getting better. were not going to change horses in the middle of a recovery. and secondly, in terms of the contrast with the republicans and romney, the president, i think, is in a good place. hes defined a narrative that fits romney and you can use to push off against romney and against the congres...