hoping to take on the candidate who may pose the greatest challenge to president obama. we are talking about mitt romney. herman cain is live with us here in the situation room this hour. we will talk about what is behind declined in the recent polls. criticism of his 9-9-9 tax plan and much more. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in the situation room. he's the only candidate whose been consistently at the top of the polls in the volatile republican race for the white house. that has mitt romney increasingly targeted by president obama's supporters. now in an unusual move, the democratic national committee is targeting romney in an effort to sway the gop nominated contest pmt cnn's joe john says working the scene for us. joe, what is going on here. >> it raises the question, whose primary is this anyway. it was much easier to keep track of this when it was just republicans fighting among themselves. >> the latest in the republican battle comes from the democratic national committee, the committee who want to bring you four more years of barack obama. the democrats are weighing in, those the choice is up to republicans. you can see by running a slickly produced attack ad in battle ground states pointing out contradigs in romney's record on things like healthcare, abortion and immigration. they would like to shut it down, leaving candidates with piles of baggage. leaving gingrich and cain. >> there's going to be a republican nominee, no matter who it is. >> we do know that romney has gotten the obama campaign's attention. just last week they an ad, they say, was misleading. it raises questions on whether voters can trust him. >> during the primary, they are enormous, liabilities because at end of the day i think a lot of republicans are concerned about romney because they feel he puts ambition above principle. >> the latest position of a romney switch is on the position of immigration. in the last is cnn national security debate romney went after gingrich for proi proposig humane treatment. >> amnesty is a magnet. people respond to incentives and if you can become a permanent resident of the united states by coming here illegally, you'll do so. >> problem is, romney used to sound more inclusive. the gingrich campaign pointed out this 2007 romney appearance on meet the press. >> those people who come here illegally and are in this country, 12 million or so here illegally should be able to sign up for permanent residency or citizenship but should not be given a special pathway, special guarantee that all of them goat stay here for the rest of their lives. >> and in 2006 interview with bloomberg, romney was quoted as saying that law abide people who pay taxes learn english and the don't get government benefits should be allowed to get in line for citizenship which sounds pretty close to what "the gary radnich show" -- what gingrich proposed. wolf? >> joe johns reporting for us. thanks joe for doing a terrific job filling in for us on friday for me. appreciate it very much. >> glad you got some time off. >> have another critically important store story breaking right now. fiery protests on the streets of pakistan with demonstrators burning both the american and fato flags, outrageous boiling over the wake after nato airstrike on saturday that killed two dozen pakistani troops. the country's prime minister is warning this is the end of business as usual with the united states. we will hear from the prime minister in a moment. in an exclusive interview but first let's bring in our pentagon correspondent barbara starr with plor on this deadly airstrike the fall out, barbara, what is the latest information you are picking up? >> well, wolf, pakistan is saying it is another violation of their national sovereignty by the u.s., bit u.s. military, and they're tired of it. the death of two dozen pakistani soldiers in a u.s. airstrike along the pakistan afghanistan border is the most serious cross border incident since u.s. troops were sent to afghanistan a decade ago. a senior u.s. official tells cnn the situation with the pakistanis is so sensitive, public comments from the administration are limited to announcing an investigation and offering condolences. >> we mourn the grave pakistani service members who lost their lives. >> with anti-u.s. demonstrations already under way in pakistan, the u.s. military hopes an investigation into what happened may ease pakistan's anger. but that's not likely. >> business as usual will not be dead. >> pakistan holds a vital card, access into land locked afghanistan. the pakistanis quickly shut down two border crossings, about 30% of the supplies for the war, into afghanistan, comes through the checkpoint. >> if they hold it for more than a week or two to have a notable impact on u.s. operations in both eastern and southern afghanistan. >> they have an alternate route, about 40 percent of supplies coming through rail and truck routes. pakistan also called for the u.s. to leave an air base where cia drone operations targeting al qaeda and taliban in pakistan have taken place in the past. but with billions of dollars in aid and military sales, senior u.s. lawmakers are also warning they are out of patient with pakistan. >> they need to understand that our support for them financially is dependent upon their cooperation with us. >> now either side may miscalculate as pakistan vows to protect its sovereignty. pakistan's radars on the border are focused on any threats. >> i would suspect there is popular support now for a pakistan retaliatory strike. this is a very, very dangerous period we're add between the united states and pakistan. >> and of course there are other security implications as well. the united states is trying to get pakistan to crack down on al qaeda, taliban and other militant groups for months now. don't expect to see the pakistanis moving very fast on that any time soon. wolf? >> level of support in pakistan for the united states is dwindling rather quickly. lots at stake. thanks very much. barbara, let's continue the story. there is warning the deadly incident changes everything between pakistan and the united states. he spoked exclusively, he was very candid with the relati relationship with the united states. update us on what he told you. >> yes. consider the situation the prime minister is in. on one hand he has to address the public outcry here. a public that doesn't like the u.s. government, u.s. foreign policy. on the other hand he has to see how he can salvage an important relationship with with a washington. these are two countries that would add a lot of low moments. today the prime minister said this is the lowest moment he has seen in his administration. he said it will never be business as usual until things change because public support is fading fast. >> is your prediction that this relationship will continue with washington? >> that will depend on mutual respect and mutual interest. >> are you getting the respect? >> at the moment, not. >> you're not? >> if i can't protect my country how can we say meu trul respect and mutual interest. >> this was clearly a prime palestinianster angry after this incident. but it is important know he wasn't shutting the door on washington. he was very diplomatic. he delivered some very thoughtful statement. he says he doesn't want to cut ties with washington but things have to change. what changes have to be, it is not clear at this point, he said. that is up to pakistan's parliament, wolf. >> have you been covering this story for a few years now in islamabad, reza. how do you see the dire situation playing out in coming weeks and months? >> i think a lot has to do with what u.s. centcom investigation shows. they are not exactly corroborating pakistan's version of what happened. there is still a question of whether the nato forces drew fire first from pakistan's side. but if indeed u.s. forces made a mistake, they are going to have to go into diplomacy overdrive and be let critical pour pakistan in the time being in an effort to win back goodwill and do damage control. in the past these two countries have overcome seemingly ininsurmountab ininsurmountable problems. it is unlikely they will do it again but expect a very rough patch least in the short term, wolf. >> thank you, reza. go to cnn.com/situationroom. michele bachmann said that pakistan is too nuclear it fail. read my blog if you're interested. let's go to jack cafferty. he has the file. jack? >> newt gingrich might just have it, timing. just as former house speaker surges in the hol polls he is also getting key endorsements. for starters the new hampshire editorial leader is backing gingrich. they say he has improved washington before and in this race he has the best shot of doing it again. this conservative stamp of approval can do a long way in helping gingrich, especially at a time when many conservatives are taking aim on his stand with immigration. sarah palin, remember letter? she could throw her supported behind gingrich as well. one suggest, atds to palin, say gingrich is the most likely to score her endorsement. and it is not just conservatives who have nice things to say about newt gingrich. former president clinton praises gingrich in an interview with a website news max. calling gingrich articulate. saying he tries to think of an idea that will solve a legitimate problem. that's a clinton quote. he suggests that it will make independent voters take a hard look at him. all of this has to be keeping mitt romney up late at night. however it is yet to see if gingrich will peak only it fade way like other candidates before him. but so far at least, it seems that he's got some momentum that other lack and it seems to be holding. as for gingrich he may have his eyes set own another opponent, one in the white house. as many nominee, gingrich says would he challenge obama to lincoln douglas style debates and says obama, can use the teleprompter. cold. here is the question, will bill clinton's praise help gingrich win the nomination? go to my blog or our post on the situation page. >> when gingrich was speaker, that was a very, very complicated very lagsship. i would say a love/hate relationship between clinton and gingrich in the 90s. we will assess that late fler the week, jack. thanks very, very much. good question. he surged to the front of the republican pack only to fall back within recent weeks. herman cain is here to talk about the roller coaster race for the republican presidential nomination. what is behind the recent rise and fall? herman cain live in the situation room. that's coming up next. ones i've made. ones we've all made. about marriage. children. money. about tomorrow. here's to good decisions. who matters most to you says the most about you. massmutual is owned by our policyholders so they matter most to us. massmutual. we'll help you get there. 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[ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm. he virn was a front-runner. he isn't right now but herman cain remains in the top tier of presidential candidates. he is working to regain front-runner status. only five weeks away. herman cain is joining us here in the situation room. mr. cain, thanks very much for coming in. >> mr. blitzer, i'm happy to be here. >> call me wolf. >> okay, wolf. >> one of the key national security issues facing the country right now, pakistan. michele bachmann, on our debate the other night, said pakistan is, quote, too nuclear it fail. do you agree with her? >> i do agree with her but i would state it differently. we can't make pakistan our friend but we can make them respect us. our relationship with pakistan hasn't been clear, least from my vantage point and the vantage point from a lot of other people. >> what would do you differently. >> what i would do differently is better define the relationship. what aid are they getting from the united states of mer ka. what do we get for that aid. it's been very unclear. as a result we have a very unclear relationship with pakistan right now. >> they have a huge nuclear arsenal right now. it if pakistan were to become an extremist islamist state supported by al qaeda, that could have enormous ramifications. not just for the region but for the record. >> the only thing that helps us is that the general in charge of that, is a man of principle. he would not let that happen frivolously and he would do everything he can to make sure he did what was in the best interest of pakistan. so i have faith in him because i have actually talked with someone who went to school with him. he h is a man of principle and would he not do something just because of pressure from some extremist force. >> he could be removed too. >> he could be removed. but we can't control that either. he could be removed but right now, the general is the one that i think is going to maintain a certain amount of- >> well this is the crisis unfolding right now. nato had an airstrike, killed 24 pakistani soldiers over the weekend. >> yes. >> it is causing a major rift in u.s./pakistani relations. if you were president right now, what would you do to contain the cries snis. >> the first thing i would do is ask the government of pakistan to, let's figure out the facts of what happened. there is one report that nato forces may have been provoked. we don't know the answer to that yet. so i would say, can we first do a full investigation before we start finger pointing and before we start saying, this is what the united states ought to do, nato ought to do, what pakistan ought to do. let's get the facts first. that's what i would do first and encourage them to do that. >> the other issue, european economy. >> yes. >> the euro zone could collapse and have dramatic ramifications on the united states. because sp american big banks could collapse given their involvement in europe's economy. under those circumstances, and if you were president, would you intervene to try to bailout europe? >> no, i would not. because i would have already made sure we had our economy growing. wolf, the united states economy is 25% of the world economy. as we grow, we are able to help spur growth in other parts of the world the best thing we can do is have a thriving economy and bring our debt down. >> but that will take a while. the economy over there could collapse within weeks if you read the financial reports coming out of europe. a lot of americans potentially could lose their life savings if they invested in banks. >> i don't think they will lose their life savings. will they lose some? yes. the people saying this is armageddon, it fails if f america doesn't act, i simply don buy that? >> because? >> because after the last melt down at end of 2008, banks, if they were smart business people, started to take precautions in the event that something like that happened again. so i can't believe they didn't make some safe guards it make sure they are not totally wiped out like they possibly could have been. >> would you support bailing out the american banks if they were on the verge of clapgs because of what is happening in europe? >> no with. here is why. i don't believe in too big to fail. for example if one of the big banks says we can't go do it with no government help then go through the normal bankruptcy laws and channels. when a company is forced to go through bankruptcy, there they go through restructure. that's why we have bankruptcy laws. >> but there is a limited amount of insurance to rereimburse the people who w life savings there. a lot of folks would lose a lot of money. >> that is possibly the case but i don't believe that all of the banks are going to collapse. >> those are heavily invested in europe would have troubles. >> the ones heavily invested in europe would have be the ones with the greatest trouble. you're absolutely right. >> let's clarify your position on illegal immigration. >> okay. >> we heard what newt gingrich said, if a family's been here 20, 25 years, raised they're kids here, go church, pay their taxes, there should be a way, not necessarily make them citizens, but legal residents of the united states. are you with gingrich on that? >> no, i'm not. we have problems to secure the bored forare real, promote the path to citizenship that's already there. if you have been here 25 years, still go through the path of normal citizenship. >> you leave the country, apply for a visa to come back in. >> i don't know if would you have to leave and apply for the visa to come back in but our biggest problems is the bureaucracy surrounding the process. i have talked to people to a lot of people who have come here legally. they have gone through the ross says aeb they talk about how burdensome it was. i support a path to citizenship, an new path to establish a legal status of something else. >> if you have illegal immigrants in the united states and i'm just three throwing out a number of 8 million established roots in this country, what would you do? what would you tell these people? >> i would empower the states. that's where i differ from other people. when i talk about the four part solution to illegal immigration. support the bored forreal. promote citizenship that's already there. support the laws that's already there. lets each state decide how they want to deal with it. >> there is a million illegal immigrants in new york state, we will let them stay and give them legal residence, if you're president, you're okay with that? >> if they don't break federal law. >> well, if they are here illegal when, that's -- >> right that's broken already. if they want to do something to different to deal with illegals here, i believe we empower the states here. one size fit all is what i'm saying, will not work. which is why i want to send it to the united states. >> the whole notion of illegal immigration, aeb you remember rick perry got into trouble because he said children of illegal immigrants growing up under texas should be eligible for instate tuition. are you with him on that. >> i'm not for various reasons. we are a nation ever laws. we should not do anything that's going compromise our laws or as some people interpret that, put people who are-ksh childr ---ch illegals, in front of others, whose parents were born here. we have to stick to the laws. if you look at mexico, 40% of the people in mexico believe mex ski failed state. why? because of the lawlessness. i do not believe we should go down that road no matter how much it might appear to compassionate. >> stand by because we have a lot more to go over. we have developments of herman cain. there is a breaking new story just developing, stick around. we'll share it with you when we come back. 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