i'm candy crowley. john king is off tonight. mitt romney talks with cnn, answering newt gingrich's latest attacks and weighing in whether he'd vote for ron paul. also, we'll talk with a former republican who is switching parties as a matter of principle, or is it political opportunism? on the high seas what would become the biggest international crisis of the new year. a whop that will hit your car in the gas tank. good evening, from des moines. we are only six days out from the iowa caucuses, and politically, at least, the ground here is shifting. tonight, mitt romney's riding on top of a new condition cnn poll of iowa republicans, laughing off the scathing criticism coming at him from newt gingrich. cnn's wolf blitzer climbed aboard romney's campaign bus today and asked about the attack ads that romney supporters are running against gingrich. >> this is part of the process. i'm not going to be -- we could all wish we had a utopian type political process but the campaign process that exists is the way it's been for a long time. if you're going to get in a campaign like this, you've got to have broad shoulders. if you can't take on the negative that's part of a primary, you're sure as heck not ready for what's going to come from barack obama. if you can't handle the heat in this kitchen, wait until barack obama's hell's kitchen. >> newt gingrich appears to be trying to have it it both ways when it comes to negative ads. letting others do the dirty work for him while staying positive in public appearances. cnn political correspondent jim acosta spent the day with the former speaker. jim joins us a few hours northwest of here in spencer, iowa. jim? >> reporter: hi, candy, that's right. newt gingrich said again today, at an event in mason city, he said it a few moments ago here in spencer, he will continue to wage a positive campaign. you can only look at what is flying here in iowa to see that some of what's happening on behalf of the former speaker is anything but positive. keep in mind that this is going on for the last couple of weeks, that gingrich has said he would run a positive campaign but just the last 24 hours, take a look at this mailer that has come out from a pro-gingrich super pac, it's one that was little known until 24 hours ago. it's called strong america now, and it shows the mailer shows basically an attack on mitt romney. and in the mailer it says that mitt romney is the second-most dangerous man in america, after barack obama. and the former speaker was asked about this at a media event in mason city. here's what the former speaker had to say. >> i would discourage them from sending out that nextive information. i think that's wrong. >> reporter: so there you go. he said he would discourage that organization from putting out that kind of information. he didn't condemn it, something he challenged mitt romney to do about his own super pac about ace week ago. so it's interesting to see the former speaker try to have it both ways. candy, he's in a box right now because he would like, i would imagine, to go after mitt romney and go after ron paul but that would mean going back on his pledge to stay positive. so i asked the former speaker at that same media veil, why don't you put that aside and go after your rivals? >> why not come out fighting for this nomination? >> i think if you saw the crowd here, i know this is hard for some of you to cover, you can fight in a positive way. you can be very strong in a positive way. >> reporter: and so now newt gingrich finds himself in a box with less than a week to go until the iowa caucuses. as you know in that new cnn/time/orc poll his number have eroded dramatically but he has this pledge that he says he's sticking to to run a positive campaign. as we know, sometimes negative attacks can work. they've worked against him rather well in the last couple of weeks, candy. >> certainly seem to have done so, right. thanks so much. nice guy or not, newt gingrich is plunging in the polls. a new cnn/time/orc poll shows him down nearly 20 points. but that's not the biggest surprise. for that we want to bring in cnn political director mark preston. the top of the poll is interesting, mitt romney back up there, the 25%, he seemed to have had for a year a half, two years now. but the bottom you found interesting. the headline tomorrow is the rise of rick santorum, fall of newt gingrich. if you look farther down into the poll, we look at the middle of the pack, what i fine interesting in this is that if you look at what happened to rick perry and michele bachmann over the last month we did a poll a few weeks ago of iowa caucusgoers asking them where they were on the race, asked them the same question in the new poll it shows neither rick perry nor michele bachmann have moved the needle. if they haven't moved the needle in the last couple of weeks is there enough time now for them to get enough support to have a strong showing in iowa and big argument is, candy, we are only six days away from the caucuses and if they don't show strong, is their campaign over? >> they probably point out there are a large number of people that say i can change my mind or i'm undecided. it's under 50% but it's high 40%. how about in new hampshire? there's also stagnation there for some folks. >> there is. jon huntsman, who staked his campaign on a strong showing in new hampshire, kind of following the john mccain mod until 2008, not participating in iowa caucuses, not campaigned here, shown no interest in iowa. she's in new hampshire campai campaigning. we did a poll a few weeks ago compared to the poll released a few hours ago, he hasn't moves the needle. jon huntsman who staked his presidential campaign on state of new hampshire has not moved the needle one bit. >> not as much about who win sometimes in these early contests, as to who's done? >> that's right. >> thanks so much. drama on the high seas that could affect what you pay for gas. the navy's using strong words of warning to iran over military exercises that threat tonight disrupt oil shipments in the persian gulf. jill dougherty has been closely monitoring the escalating situation. jill, we want to start with this narrow vital channel of water known as the strait of hormuz. what's going on there right now that the u.s. finds threatening? >> reporter: candy, we've got another -- maybe they can fix that audio and we'll be back. >> we're clearly having some technical difficulties here. we'll get back to jill later on in the show. every year the gallup poll asks americans to name the men and women they most admire. the results just came out. we're counting down the top five for you tonight. number five, on the list of most admired men is businessman warren buffett. this is the first year he's cracked the top ten. number five on the list of most admired women, former secretary of state condoleezza rice. we'll have the next name on the list in about ten minutes. but next, the gingrich campaign reacts to what mitt romney just told wolf blitzer about the state of the race for the gop nomination. t t nk you car o pi 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. 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[ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, thank you, from johnson & johnson. what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. mitt romney's joking about the gingrich campaign failure to collect enough signatures to get on the ballot. he compared it to the episode of "i love lucy," lucille falls behind working on the assembly line the chocolate factory. cnn's wolf blitzer asked romney to get more serious about gingrich's campaign. >> if he couldn't get on the virginia ballot, couldn't get the 10,000 signatures he needs, what does that say about his campaign? >> well, you know, i can't speak to his campaign but obviously that's his home state and we knew what the rules were when we got into this. we had to organize our effort in each state to get on the ballot. you've got to be able to play by the rules if you're ultimately want to become the nominee that beads barack obama. >> i interviewed him yesterday, newt gingrich. let's go through a couple of point his made and give you a chance to respond because he wanted to really challenge you to one-on-one, no holds barred, no moderator like me, no -- just a full debate, just the two of you. and i said to him, you know, i'm going to speak with governor romney tomorrow, look in the camera, tell us what you want to say to him, and he looks in the camera and he said this -- let me read it -- he said, mitt, is what you run -- he said all i'd say, mitt, you want to run a negative campaign and attack people. at least be man enough to own it. >> i don't know why he's so angry. look, this is a campaign about things i believe in. i believe the country's being led in an unfortunate and destructive way by a president that done understand our economy or understand america. i can get america working again. that's why i'm running. as for a one-on-one with newt gingrich, if he and i end up being two finingists, we'll have that opportunity. but right now i don't know, we've debated ten times. we'll do more debates in january. until he and i are the two finingists, other people still beserve to be on the stage. ron paul i think is leading here in iowa as of today. the idea that this is all about newt or mitt is just not right. >> joe desantis joins us now with reaction to mitt romney's interview with wolf blitzer. let me ask you, first, does newt gingrich think this is a rate that has boiled down to him or mitt romney? >> obviously that's up to the voters. but if you look at the national polling i think that the governor romney and speaker gingrich are tied around the mid-20s and everyone else is in the low teens or below. obviously, you know, we started in iowa and go to new hampshire and then head to south carolina and florida, where we're very strong. we think that by the end of florida, where we still have i think 15, 20-point lead, that is going to come down to a two-person race between governor romney and speaker gingrich. >> governor romney criticized gingrich for not playing by the rules when it comes to getting on the virginia ballot. i know you all think differently. you say, look, we had a guy who frankly i think the speaker said was guilty of fraud, making up the signatures. but doesn't that point out that there is a weakness within the chain of command in the gingrich campaign? >> what it says is that we made a mistake in virginia and we're accepting responsibility for that. we are trying to rectify it. it's not a fatal one. it's one state. we think by the end of the process, 2 out of the 6 candidates who tried to get on got on. we don't think that the state of virginia is going to, in the en, tolerate that. whether it's a write-in campaign or letting or conditions on we're encouraged to think that in the end speaker gingrich will be on the ballot. but you know, even if not, there are a number of other states that -- >> joe, let me interrupt you. why do you think -- first of all there can't be write-ins in virginia and state party said it was fair you didn't come up with enough signature. are you hopeful? >> we're not saying it was unfair. we think that ultimately the legislature and the governor of virginia are going to err on the side of democracy giving people of virginia a chance to vote for the candidate that they want. >> and let me ask you, joe, in our latest poll, which i'm sure you've seen, speaker gingrich has dropped 19 points in less than a month. why is that? >> $9 million of negative advertising. you know, iowa's a small media market. you can basically blanket the airwaves if you have enough money. i don't care what candidate's in the race if they have $9 million of negative advertising against them, they're going to drop in the polls. considering we've been outspent 30-1 on the air, still being competitive for fourth place right now, frankly, you know, really not that far off from being in the top tier in iowa still is impressive. we can -- if we can survive iowa we can move on to, like i mentioned, south carolina and florida where we're much stronger, have large leads. >> what is surviving iowa? what is your definition of surviving iowa? >> oh, i think anywhere in the top five would be surviving iowa. >> speaker gingrich had said one point early on, it's clear i'm going to be the nominee, now you know, you're down to we're going to be in the top five. doesn't that suggest his for n fortunes have shifted. >> he's going to be the nominee after south carolina and florida. we are much stronger in south carolina and florida. we have double-digit lead we think that after the florida primary january 31st, newt will be the front-runner, if not the co-front-runner with governor romney. >> joe, thank you so much for being with us tonight. we appreciate it. it is time to reveal the man and woman in the number four slots of gallup's annual poll who americans most admire. billy graham never finished first but has been in the top ten more than any other man, 55 times since 1955. sarah palin is the number four woman on this year's list. for the last three years she's been in the number two slot. before we get to the next people on the most admired list, eye-opening numbers how much time you and everyone else in the world is spending or wasting on facebook. medicare. it doesn't cover everything. and what it doesn't cover can cost you some money. that's why you should consider an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. all medicare supplement insurance plans can help pay... some of what medicare doesn't, so you could save... thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses. call now for this free information kit and medicare guide. if you're turning 65 or you're already on medicare... you should know about this card -- it's the only one of its kind endorsed by aarp; see if it's right for you. all medicare supplement plans let you keep your own doctor, or hospital that accepts medicare. there are no networks and no referrals needed. help protect yourself from some of what medicare doesn't pay... and save up to thousands of dollars in potential... out-of-pocket expenses with an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. call this toll-free number on your screen now... for this free information kit, including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. here you go. driver's license. past five years' tax returns. high school report cards. and i'm gonna need to see a receipt for that watch you're wearing. you know, you really should provide us with a checklist of documents we're gonna need up front. who do you think i am? quicken loans? at quicken loans, we provide a checklist of the mortgage documents you'll need up front. it helps keep you in the know every step of the way. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. wg bachmann. lisa sylvester with the news you need to know. >> the funeral for kim jong-il featured his extra wide coffin atop the hearse. his son and heir marched along the right front fender. reuters reports one of the myth b s about kim jong-il he could control the weather. it's been unusually cole since his death. if you sneak a peek at facebook from time to time you aren't alone. 55% of the world's internet population, everyone in the world who has a connection, spent time on facebook in october. the numbers, which come from facebook, they're the ones who should know, say one of every seven minutes people spent online is on facebook. mark zuckerberg spent part of the christmas holiday in vietnam trying to persuade authorities to stop blocking facebook. i can't remember if you said you're on facebook or not. >> i'm secretly on facebook. unanother name. it's only to see pictures from nieces and kids and all of that stuff. i'm not a facebook writer, let me put it that way. i'm a watcher. >> i am on facebook, but i don't do much with it. maybe that's one of my new year's resolutions, do more on facebook and twitter next year. >> let me know how that goes. thanks, lisa. bill clinton is a regular on the gallup poll's list of people americans most admire. he's number one eight times. this year he places third. number three on the list of most admired women, the current first lady, michelle obama. stay with us. we reveal the next top two. whether mitt romney will vote for ron paul if the congressman is the republican nominee. we'll hear from gary johnson, who is leaving the republican party but not giving up his kneit would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. in this half hour of "john king usa" mitt romney tells us whether he'd vote for ron paul if the congressman turns out to be the republican nominee. the most admired men and women in the u.s. this year. and former u.s. senator arlen specter may have found a new career. would you believe standup comic? newt gingrich made coast-to-coast headlines by flatly saying he won't vote for ron paul if the texas congressman becomes the republican party's nominee. so what does mitt romney think? wolf blitzer asked him about paul's insurgent candidacy during today's cnn interview. >> if ron paul were to be the republican nominee, it's a big if, let's say he wins the republican nomination, could you vote for him? >> you know, i've already crossed that river, if you wi