u.s. oil companies, are raking in near record profits, so why are they still getting huge taxpayer subsidies? i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." he skipped the last presidential debate and sidelined himself in iowa saying he wants to focus on the first of the nation's primary state. jon huntsman is betting almost everything on new hampshire, but is trail ng the state while romney is enjoying a substantial lead and now, huntsman is joining some of romney's sharpest critics in questioning romney's conservative credentials. jon huntsman is joining us now from salt lake city. thanks very much for coming in. >> thank you, wolf. an honor to be with you. >> george will, the conservative columnist writing in an upcoming edition of "the washington post" says this about mitt romney. he says -- you agree with george will on that? >> those are pretty tough words, wolf. all i can say is this is the time when this nation wants leadership. we've been looking for leadership for some time in the white house. we haven't found it. this is when the candidates need to stand up and show a little bit of leadership. you can't be a perfectly lubricated weather vane on the issues of the day, whether it's libya, the debt ceiling, the casic bill in ohio where governor romney has been missing in action in terms of showing any leadership. i do believe that the elect rat this go around will be looking for clearly defined presidential leadership and i'm not sure that we're seeing it. we're putting out our own economic proposals. next week, i'll have an energy speech i'll be giving in new hampshire. we're calling for clear cut leadership positions for the united states to be taking that will get us back on our feet and secure the american century for the people of the united states. >> when you say he's a perfectly lubricated weather vane, pacically, you're both saying he's a flip-flopper on some of these most important issues. >> listen, you don't get anymore important than the issue of life. that is central to a lot of people's core beliefs and political philosophy and when you have an epiphany that central, that's going to strike a lot of people as being highly political. >> you're talking about abortion rights for women. what is your exact position on abortion rights for women? are there any exceptions for a woman getting an abortion? >> incest, rape and the life of the mother are the exceptions that i can live with. >> let's move on to talk about new hampshire. you're basically ignoring iowa. throwing all your eggs into that new hampshire basket. our new poll has romney away head. almost living there. got a second home there. he's at 40%. cain, 13%. paul, 12%. you're at 6%. but cain, he's intriguing. he's spent little time in new hampshire or iowa, but is doing pretty well in both states, even better in iowa and he comes up with these crazy ads including this one. watch. >> we can take this country back. ♪ >> that's his chief of staff having a little puff of a cigarette there. but he's at 13%. you're at 6% in new hampshire. you spent a lot of time there and he hasn't. why is he doing so well? >> well, oftentimes, you can spike for the moment you're the flavor of the week or the month. i remember when governor perry was at 20% in new hampshire. he came in with great fanfare. now, he's in the low single digits. we're just trying a steady, gradual, substantive rise in new hampshire based upon real support, based upon 80 events we've done so far. we did a telephone event yesterday. we've got a couple of very, very important months ahead in new hampshire and the vibe i'm getting, the way in which we are connecting with our message about rebuilding and getting people back to work is resognating with the all important people of the first primary state. >> would -- the nominee? >> i think herman cain is an outstanding person. he's a friend. he has the prerequisites for understanding how the free market works. that's why these early primaries are so very, very important because ultimately, the people get to decide. who ever the people decide is the nominee for my party, i will stand by that. >> so, you will feel comfortable if herman cain, you'd feel comfortable? >> well, as i say, anyone who gets through this rigorous primary process, i think our chances are excellent for get ing through this process. i'm going to stand behind. they deserve it because it's not an easy process to endure. you've got to win over the will of the people and by the end of that process, you're pretty much up to speed on a lot of issues that matter. >> business background, the economy, still struggling, but 2.5% growth in the last quarter. the stock markets are doing well. above 12,000. 7,000 when president obama took office. do you see a trend that a double dip recession now is unlikely and that things are going to move in the right direction? >> i think we're going to muddle along until such time as we're smart enough to put forward some bold, visionary proposals that attack the structural elements standing in the way of knocking the cover off the ball of our economic growth. when i say that, i look at the jobs proposal package and it amounts to half steps and half measures. it's going to be incomplete, a temporary fix. we need a long-term fix and that means tax reform. that means regulatory reform and really hitting on the issues that the investor community is looking at being cleaned up like health care reform, obama care and dodd frank and ensuring that we can build manufacturing plants and power plants in this nation that will fuel our manufacturing revival. it can be done, but until you get to the structural fixes, you're not going to have the confidence in the innovator class. in the entrepreneurial class and indeed in the global economy. to be able to get this, to be able to get this country moving in a direction that is long-term sustainable. >> quickly, you're the former u.s. ambassador to china. china's played a very important role in the u.s. economy. this week, they've played a significant role helping the europeans bail out greece and some of that enormous debt crisis there. our viewers in china. we have a lot of viewers in china as you probably know having living in beijing. say something to the people in china in mandarin then translate it. what would you say to them given this opportunity? >> i basically said despite our challenges that china-u.s. relationship is the most important relationship in the world today and it is incumbent on the leadership in both countries in order to ensure the economic insecurity of not only our two countries, but the region and the world as well. having a president who can actually understand those issues and who knows well our most significant economic challenge and opportunity as well as our most significant security challenge would be a glaet thing to have in the white house, wolf. >> governor, thanks very much. your mandarin's pretty good. not that i understood what you said, but it sounded pretty good. >> thank you, wolf. a pleasure to be with you. >> former governor of utah, now wants to be the republican presidential nominee. thank you. let's talk about what we just heard from jon huntsman with our chief political analyst, gloria borger. a perfectly lubricated weather vane. those are pretty strong words. >> do i have to answer in mandarin or can i answer -- it's clear, that's not a phrase that just comes to you off the cuff. this is -- this campaign now has to dif wrenn rate between themselves and mitt romney and they're going to do it by talking about how romney is a flip-flopper, blows in the wind, whatever you want to say. they put out an ad minutes ago called back flip, which has a mechanical monkey doing back flips. yes, and flips mitt romney changing his upon on things. he's 34 points behind romney in our poll in new hampshire that you showed and that's a lot of ground to make up. so he's now got to go on the attack and that's exactly what hees doing. >> it's not just huntsman. george will called him a resit vis revisor. >> this is all grist for the barack obama campaign because they can take a look at these clips. they can read george will's column and say look at what republicans were saying about mitt romney if he becomes the nominee. >> his tax plan, his economic ideas were praised by the editorial writer at "the wall street journal," but his campaign hasn't gotten much traction. the question is why? >> those conservative voters, while they may like the takz plan and "the wall street journal" did, they don't believe that he is conservative enough. for example, wolf, he was the only republican presidential candidate to say he actually supported the debt ceiling agreement. he supported civil unions and then he's got one other big strike against him. which is that he used to work for barack obama. and not sometime way back in the past. but actually until last spring when he was the ambassador to china. so of course republicans are looking at him saying, can we trust you. >> he's got a lot of work ahead of him. thanks very much. this note by the way, in our next hour here in "the situation room," we'll speak with another candidate, michele bachmann. she'll join us live here in "the situation room." also some calls from some tea party activists for her to drop out of the race. michele bachmann here in "the situation room" in the next hour. they're not ready for prime time, not even meant r for tv. these web ads are getting away with no traditional commercial can, so why did they go viral? stand by. also, details of talks between the fugitive son of gadhafi and prosecutors who accuse him of crimes against humanity and now, a surrender. yes, a surrender may be in the works. and in our next hour, erin burnett, she'll join us as well to talk a lot about what's going on. much more in "the situation room" when we come back. i heard they found energy here. it's good. we need the jobs. [customer:] we need to protect the environment. [worker:] we could do both. is that possible? [announcer:] at conocophillips, we're helping power america's economy with cleaner, affordable natural gas. more jobs. less emissions. a good answer for everyone. well, if it's cleaner and affordable. as long as we keep these safe. there you go. thanks. [announcer:] conocophillips. borrowed technology from ferrari to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. he's wanted for crimes against humanity and now, he is talking about surrendering. the chief prosecutor for the international criminal court in the netherlands says informal conversations are taking place. he was a key player in his father's inner circle and tapped to issue this dire warning as civil war erupted months ago in libya. >> translator: instead of crying over 84 killed people will be crying over thousands. blood will flow. rivers of blood in all the cities of libya. >> as rebels closed in on tripoli, there were reports that he had been captured. reports he defiantly debunked with a surprise appearance at a hotel full of western journalists. >> and we broke the backbone of the rebels, and so, we -- >> our senior international correspondent, dan rivers, is joining us from the libyan capital. first of all, any word of where he is right now? >> reporter: the honest answer is no. there is a lot of speculation, that he is in the south of the country. possibly towards the border with nyjer. we have no idea if that is true. everyone we're speaking to really has no idea either. it is a vast area we're talk in about. huge desert. akin to i guess looking for someone in alaska or someone like that. it is massive. there is no delynn nated border. he may not even realize he's crossed over. it is a vast, open wilderness and frankly, what we think, we guess, he could be hiding out from the south, but we don't know. >> what do we know about these possible negotiations between saif al-islam and the criminal court? >> reporter: well, it's very mu murky. it's not clear. it's not overt and formal. but we did get a slight more bit of information today from louis moreno, he's the chief prosecutor with the icc. here's what he said when asked whether there were talks underway. >> there are conversations, i think they are exploring the possibility to appear before the court. we offer them we can help you to surrender to the court and if he is considered innocent, he has all the right to present his argument. we have evidence. we believe he was part of the crimes against humanity committed in libya. >> reporter: there's no real idea whether this is just the icc saying look, we would like you to come in and we would like you to answer these charges or whether there is generally some direct conversation for an intermediary or third party, informal conversations to me doesn't sound like they have his phone number and are are talking to him regularly. i'm guessing there may be proof the government or the tribes or elsewhere who may know of his where abouts. >> coming up, one of america's largest banks announcing its verdict on a controversial new fee. you're going to find out which bank has now decided not to charge you with you make a purchase with your debit card. also, the question he's asked may vary, but the answer herman cain often give ss the same. is it okay for a presidential contender to say, quote, i don't have all the facts. stand by. ♪ [ multiple snds ng melodic tune ] ♪ [ malennounc ] at northrop grumman, makthworld a feplace. th's value performance. northr gruan. an accident doesn't have to slow you down. with better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual insurance, if your car's totaled, we give you the money to buy a car that's one model-year newer... with 15,000 fewer miles on it. there's no other auto insurance product like it. better car replacement, available only from liberty mutual. it's a better policy that gets you a better car. call... or visit one of our local offices today, and we'll provide the coverage you need at the right price. liberty mutual auto insurance -- responsibility. what's your policy? shots fired outside the u.s. embassy today. mary snow is monitoring that. >> it was a terrifying scene outside the u.s. embassy in president oba bosnia. a plan firing several shots that hit the building's vault. a police officer was wounded, but there are no reports of injuries among personnel. here in the u.s., jpmorgan chase has decided not to charge customers who make purchases with their debit card. eight months after testing it out, chase joins other banks who say they won't charge monthly fees on debit card transactions. bank of america is under fire over a plan to charge customers $5 a month. and lady liberty is marking her 125th birthday. you can get a up close look at her even if you aren't there. web cams are streaming live footage. the statue will close tomorrow for year long renovations to base and interior. >> love the statue of liberty and what it stands for. the fallout continues over a half million dollar loan from the u.s. government to an energy company that failed. the white house is ordering a review of just what happened. presidential campaigns aren't just battling for votes. they're also for battling for clicks. why they're making videos. not for tv. 165 wendy's restaurants. and i get my financing from ge capital. but i also get stuff that goes way beyond banking. we not only lend people money, we help them save it. 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[ junior ] ...and they've helped build my business. we're builders. sun life financialrating should be famous.d bad, we're working on it. so you're seriously proposing we change our name to sun life valley. do we still get to go skiing? sooner or later, you'll know our name. sun life financial. here are some of the stories we're working on for next hour. residents in the northeast better get ready with their snow shovel. we'll show you where forecasters are saying more than a foot of snow is is forecast to fall. saudi arabia named a new heir to the throne. just who is the man that will be king? and is it time for michele bachmann to bow out of the race? one tea party member thinks yes. she'll respond live. stand by, you're in "the situation room." the white house is now ordering an independent review of energy department loans in the wake of the scandal over solyndra, the company that went bankrupt after getting more than half a billion dollars in u.s. taxpayer money. jessica, what are you picking up? >> in the wake of the solyndra loan mess, bill daily has ordered an outside review of the clean energy loan program. in a statement, he said -- and wolf, alston has a background in republican and democratic administrations. >> so, how will this work? >> the chief of staff has called for a 06-day review that will look at how these loans are doing. the reviewers will recommend ways to monitor and manage the loans. with administrations calling an early warning system to alert the department of energy if the companies are headed for trouble. keep in mind, the total department of energy loan that went out, the total figure, is $35.9 billion in loans. to solyndra was worth $533 million, but they're going to look at that total. now, in terms of timing, 60 days from now mean that is the results would come in right around christmas and you know what else is happening then? the results of the vote on the results of the super committee, possibly a budget fight and the run up to the republican primaries, so you can be sure we're paying attention. >> we don't know at this point of the total $35 billion, how much of that was lost, do we? >> we don't, but we haven't heard of other bankrupt ses. solyndra is the one that everyone's focusing on, so at this point, it's a $535 million loss out of the total of 539 billion. >> i think there are some others as well. i'm not sure how much. thanks very much for that. republican presidential candidate herman cain is generating a lot of buzz with a bizarre web campaign ad that's gone viral and while everyone debates what the ad is all about, there's no question that candidates are using the internet that ways they could never use on television. joe johns is watching. what's going on? >> now more than ever, the candidates are realizing the full potential. this is a way for a candidate to do an ad, get instant feedback and raise money without spending so much of it. you may not like it, you may not understand it, but if you've seen it, you probably remember it. the ad is a real buzz builder. over a million views on youtube. even for people who think it's weird, especially the part where mark block takes a puff on a cigarette. cnn political analyst has spent most of his career coming up with campaign ads and says it's a very effective message to c n cain's target audience. >> that's the kind of message the tea party wants to hear, that you can't tell us what to do, we'll stand up to washington, we won't play by your rules. good message for the tea party. >> a lot of political web ads are funny or cynical or sarcastic and just edgey enough to give a tv ad manager a bit of heartburn. take another ad. >> why has it always got to be about color? >> then, there are the more traditional web ads. romney's attacks on the president's record. >> if i don't have this done in three years, then there's going t