"war on religion." you're in "the situation room." but first, this just coming in right now at this moment, our brand new poll shows newt gingrich leading the pack in three of the first four states to hold republican presidential contests. with less than a month to go before republicans start voting, newt gingrich has double digit leads in iowa, south carolina, and florida. he trails mitt romney in new hampshire but they still have some competition. ron paul essentially tied with romney in iowa and double digit support in new hampshire. let's discuss these numbers. they spell it exactly the same but they pronounce their names differently. >> he pronounces it incorrectly. >> we won't discuss the history right now. iowa is coming up january 3. here is what we have in our cnn time magazine poll numbers. gingrich, 33%. romney 20, ron paul 17, perry 9, bachmann 7, santorum 5 and huntsman 1. it's a rather dramatic lead in iowa for newt gingrich. >> and a rather difficult state to apply to what happens in caucuses. a couple of cautionary notes there. probably ron paul is stronger structurally than that poll is showing, at least we are led to believe that. it is also dangerous to look at a poll and somehow try to extrapolate it into the caucuses because it has no reliability. >> ron paul does have a strong organize in iowa. >> no, that's true. but we have seen that organization has carried the day. newt's numbers may be exciting, but does he have that organization to get people out to the caucus sites? the other thing that i would say, rick perry has room to grow there. he is just starting to go big with advertising on television, targeting a conservative audience. i wouldn't count romney out entirely. >> they could take both. santorum as well, don't count him out. most people have. very different picture in new hampshire. romney 35%. newt gingrich 26%. everybody else in single didn'ts but huntsman is doing 8% in new hampshire. he could take votes away from mitt romney in new hampshire. >> he could and that's not a very big lead giving where romney has been before. this is a troubling poll for romney. he has to go big here. certainly if he does not win in iowa, and he could come in in third if he moves in new hampshire. none the less, there is a very troubling poll for him. >> could you see huntsman's numbers going up and romney's going down at his expense? >> yes. i think romney is a little more fragile than it may appear. huntsman is going to go all out there. the super pack may be putting a lot of money on the air there and the voters are naturally to come from romney. romney could fall and huntsman rise. >> as important as iowa and new hampshire are, south carolina may be more important. take a look at these numbers. gingrich 43%, romney 20%, everybody else single digits. perry 8, bachmann 6, paul 6, santorum 4 and huntsman 15. that is an impressive lead. >> what happens in iowa and new hampshire will necessarily move what happens in south carolina. i think we should also point out that in all of the seats there are a huge number of people who say i could still change my mind. it is still a fluid race. south carolina is not necessarily friendly territory for mitt romney. was not last time and is not this time but again, these two things will play into the third. >> i don't think romney was expecting to win south carolina but hoping to compete strongly there. this won't break his heart. you make a good point. if you look at all the numbers in the states, 48 to 55% of the people responding are able to change their mind. still very fluid. >> florida comes at the end of the month in january, right now gingrich again 48%, romney 25%. everybody else in way low, low single digits. r paul, bachmann, huntsman, perry and santorum. very big lead. >> very dramatic. this affects new coverage. the candidates have not had a lot of time in florida doing retail. not a ton of people on the ground. that has got to be a scary number. voting in january, the very end of the month. if romney loses badly in january in florida, he is in trouble. the road to recovery is not clear. >> i was surprised. >> it is impressive. but who has got the money to plan for it? that's the most expensive state that we have talked about so far. you have got to put up ads in various markets. the folks have not done their retail this is a wholesale state. you have got put ads up and who has the money? right now it's romney. >> that sounds like a tv show coming up. newt gingrich may have a double digit lead in key states but his campaign is already in debt after spending on luxuries like private jets. he is scrambling to attract more money. joe johns has been looking into this part of the story. joe what are you finding out? >> newt gingrich has probably got the most frugal campaign of modern times though the big bill in the early days has raised eyebrows. now he is switching gears to fry to pay off old debts and get going on the fund raising front. >> presidential campaigns got their own credit score, newt gingrich 2012 was facing challenges. he was in debt $1.2 million in the red between may 11 when he announced he was running and the end of september. money owed to a private jet company call ee ee eed moby dic. and friends are quickly coming to the rescue with a big fundraiser. he is now raising money for gingrich's campaign. $1,000 a person. >> his first washington d.c. fundraiser. i have no idea how many people will show up but probably about 12 to 14 people who are co-sponsors. i'm one of them. my wife is one of them. and so we're going to throw a big party. hopefully a lot of people will come. i think he will do well tonight. it remains to be seen how well. i don't think he will ever have the same money that romney has got because romney has been at it for six or eight years. >> the question is whether he can put enough money to get out the vote and match the front runner status in the polls. >> we won't have as much money as mitt romney but we will be able to be very, very competitive. >> with less than a month to go, republican strategist says gingrich may have to depend on voter enthusiasm. >> romney is sitting on a mountain of money and gingrich is trying to catch up. every day that goes buy y is a less that he can use to spend that money. tv ads are being bought up already. what he really has to rely on is what he has been doing before. generating that type of voter excitement around his candidacy and using the media to try to promote himself in iowa. >> the early spending could come back to haunt. they had a seemingly high roller lifestyle, including big bills at tiffany's jewelers and more. the $450,000 bill for private jets could be used against him and any other cash outlays that look extravagant. the campaign says it has paid off a lot of debt. we asked for clarification today but they didn't get back to us. >> thank you very much joe johns. let's get to jack right now. >> lots of things come into play. our country set serious problems. we're broke, not creating jobs the way we need to and congress is a divided dysfunctional measumess. like if candidates themselves, some of the ideas are good and some not so good. it is often the candidate's attractiveness to the voters that makes the difference think back to the kennedy nixon debate. at the end of the day, likability and ability to connect was very important. one study found interesting differences. a focus group of republican primary voters done from the early bird public policy sent echlt. when asked what newt gingrich reminded them of, many said a favorite uncle. they described romney as a missing father or a second cousin. not exactly warm fuzzy feelings. political reports on the many reasons he may win this thing. gingrich's message being perfect for the anti-washington time. the obama campaign doing a lot of the anti-romney dirty work, social conservatives trusting romney and gingrich has momentum on his side in the states voting in january. what does it mean when they say gingrich reminds them of a favorite upgle or grandfather while romney reminds them of a missing father or second cousin? >> we have a good deal indeed. >> my full interview with newt gingrich is coming up later. does he now believe the race is on? what newt gingrich has to say, the full interview coming up later. my interview with rick perry. despite the serious rise in the polls, he still sees a path to victory. then i'd be like, you rule! and my kids would be like, you rule! oh, load up the sleigh; this is going to be a great christmas. 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[ female announcer ] to nurses everywhere, ♪ when the things that you need come at just the right speed, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ medicine that can't wait legal briefs there by eight, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ freight for you, box for me box that keeps you healthy, that's logistics. ♪ ♪ saving time, cutting stress, when you use ups that's logistics. ♪ usa prime credit... this peggy... hi, i'm cashing in my points... peggy? no more points - coupons now. coupons? coupons. coupons? next, you convert coupons to tokens. tokens? then you trade tokens for credits. and then i get the cash? then you call back. bye bye. peggy? hello? what just happened? want rewards that make sense? switch to discover. america's #1 cash rewards program. it pays to discover. >> our latest time magazine poll shows that romney is behind. i sat down with the republican governor a while ago and i asked him to give us his assessment of where the contest is right now. >> i think we are -- i was the real focus. obviously we're going to be in south carolina a good bit over the course of the next two weeks. >> do you believe all the polls that show you in a distant third or fourth? >> we have internal polls that show us with a nice path to victory in iowa. >> if you come in in third or fourth, what happens? >> we're campaigning away. they will be seeing us in florida. we will be working there. i feel good about it. this is a very fluid race. think about it, we have had four different front runners at least. it's newt's time in the barrel now. we'll see how that works out. i just saw a poll as we were coming in that had me in second place. >> for where? >> it was off the internet. i think hot gas was -- >> was it a national poll? >> just iowa. just in iowa. iowa caucus is different. >> you have a pretty good relationship with newt gingrich? >> i have a great relationship with newt. >> he wrote the introduction to your book? >> he did. >> do you think he can implode? >> by watching the last four of us at the top, it is possible for anyone. it is a very, very fluid race in iowa in particular. the evangelical christians are looking for the candidate that they think can win and has their values and i think i fit their mold quite well. >> let's go through issues. the payroll tax, 150, 1560 million americans could be affected if you are making $50,000 a year you could save $1,000 or $1500 a year. >> temporary tax cuts, long term tax hikes are bad for the economy. >> that would be a tax increase on the middle class. >> he needs to be working on getting rid of the things impeding job creation. that is the tax burdenen and the regulatory climate that we have got. if you want to get americans back working they don't mind paying a payroll tax if they have got a good job and that is what wi nehat we need to be focg on. over the decade i have been governor we created over a million net new jobs. i know how to create jobs and it's not by giving temporary tax cuts that will end up being permanent tax hikes. >> why will they be permanent tax hikes? >> because they won't go away. that's why i wouldn't take the unemployment dollars. i said no. they wanted to change our program. i know how washington functions. they bait and switch on you. >> the argument he makes, a lot of democrats and some republicans makes is $1,000 for a middle class is a lot of money if you're going to tell them the government is taking more money from you next year than this year. >> americans don't trust washington any more. they are looking for an outsider that will come in and really shake this place up. if idea that somehow or another, this president is telling people trust me this time i'm going to get it right is on deaf ears. >> you want to make sure this millionaires don't pay a little more. >> i'm looking for a president that will get this job working. we are not even close. >> what about extending unemployment benefits? >> no. that is given incentives. that is what we have done again in the state of texas. i'm going to go back to it. it's work. we only meet for 140 days every year. we're approximate 13 lt largest economy in the world. we are part time. they go back home. they have a real job. they live under the laws that they pass and it works really well. we need to do that in washington d.c. that's what our founding father s we have seen washington now become the centralized all powerful one sized fits all and americans don't trust them. they don't trust washington or wall street. >> let's talk about the new ad that you have. you call it president obama's war on religion. we're going to play a clip from it. >> you don't need to be in a pew every sunday to know that there is something wrong in the country when gays can serve in the military but kids can't pray in school. i will fight against attacks on our religious heritage. faith made america strong. it can make her strong again. >> what is president obama's war on religion? >> when you talk to bishops, there is clearly an agenda by this administration to go after the catholic charities that are offering health care and doing work for trafficking. administration is clearly sending messages to people of faith and organizations of faith. that's one of the examples right there. i'm very comfortable with that ad for one thing. my faith is part of me. the values i learned in my christian upbringing will affect my governing. i asked people which one of the ten commandments do you not like? why are our children not allowed to pray in school? why can they not celebrate christmas? those are traditional and solid american values that we're seeing trampled on by this administration. >> semiration of church and state. does that mean anything to you? >> it means we need freedom of religion not freedom from religion. >> but you can practice whatever you want. >> kids could not use invocation at school or use the word invocation at their commencement? >> is that president obama's war on religion? >> i am just giving you suggestions after what we are seeing from the left and president obama is a member of the left and substantial left of center beliefs that you can't even have a christmas party. you can't say a prayer at school. >> so when president obama lights the national christmas tree and sing christmas song, christmas carols is that part of his war on religion? >> i'm not saying that everything he does is not associated back to his faith. what i'm saying is his administration and the people he has associated with and when you start seeing the catholic bishops with their great concern about this administration, then i think that is a war on our religious traditions in this country. >> i think the argument on that specific issue that if some of the organizations discriminate against gay americans they might not beel lidge nl for federal funding. do you have a problem with that? >> i'll be honest with you. it's like the boy scouts. the idea that they spend millions of dollars defending themselves from the aclu who have sued them because they will not allow openly gay scout masters is they are a private organization. this is a church. >> do gay americans have human rights? >> sure. the issue is this. a private organization has the right to decide who they're going to -- >> should the private organization get federal taxpayer dollars? >> if those dollars are being used in an appropriate way. the catholic church just basically being chris criminated against because of their anti-choice, if you will. their pro-life position on the issue of abortion. that is where that issue is being addressed from. >> if you were president, would you go back and not allow gays to serve openly in the united states military? >> absolutely. i think don't ask don't tell worked just fine. i wore the uniform and i think the don't ask don't tell policy was working fine. this president to use the military -- and he has used the military twice now. both times, i think to get support from his base. but particularly on the gays in the military issue. he made the decision that he was going to respond to his base by pushing through and pushing through congress when he had the votes to allow for individuals to openly serve as gay members in the military. the problems that that can cause, those are real. >> military commanders tell me since the policy has changed, they have had no problems. including the commander of the marine corps who was originally opposed. >> i didn't talk to anybody who was for it. >> all of the nato allies, they allow gays to serve. >> you know what? this is the united states of america. >> the israel military is good, too right? >> i'm telling you that i think don't ask don't tell was the right policy. this president wanted to use our military as a political tool and he did. the other issue is the $600 billion being cut out of the military budget. he is showing no leadership. if we allow this super-committee because of the president's lack of leadership, to pull a half a billion dollars -- excuse me. half a trillion dollars away from the united states military, you can see another pearl harbor. >> the souper committee failed unless congress takes specific action. >> but the president said he would not allow them to take specific cuts so that's on the president. my point is this. if we allow our military to get cut as much as the president is talking about, you could have another pearl harbor. >> what does that mean? >> a north krorea or iran or syria could attack the united states. we have got an iran that is working towards having a nuclear weapon. they have clearly said that israel is first and the united states is second. >> but don't you think if iran or north korea or syria attack the united states they would be obliterated by the united states? we have thousands of nuclear warheads. >> my point is why have that -- why give it -- we're sending messages that we're weak. >> we have much more of my far reaching interview with rick perry coming up. ahead, strong feelings about a vice presidential run. is that possible if he loses the battle? more of the interview with rick perry. and later newt gingrich, my special interview with him. ♪ my hair is gone ♪ cheap cologne ♪ motor home ♪ i'm the rocket man! 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