its own brutal crackdown, that's it's running out of money. i'm wolf blitzer. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com it could get lonely being the front-runner especially if you're way out front in new hampshire as romney is now. the first in the nation primary is only five days away. that makes him the prime target of his rivals, but they're also squabbling among themselves and while romney can afford to look ahead to south carolina, some candidates can't afford to fall further behind. let's go to john king in new hampshire. john, you're on the scene for us. give us the lay of the land right now. the big picture. what's going on? >> five days out, wolf, you would have to say new hampshire is romney country. just like in iowa, you have the campaigns now gearing up for their final push. we see more lawn signs than we did in iowa, but nowhere near the level of past campaigns. the reason, people here are pretty well considered to believe that romney will win. he won by eight votes in iowa. he's up by 30 points here. 48% for romney. 28% for ron paul. the question is, can rick santorum build on his iowa momentum? he's third with 8% support. jon huntsman at 7%. go by the romney campaign headquarters here and you see a careful effort to protect that lead. volunteers not identifying themselves, calling around to republican voters saying, who are you going to vote for? trying to make sure people they've identified as romney supporters stay that way. that's to protect that lead. the most activity after romney you find at the huntsman headquarters, yet, he's still struggling in the polls. he needs to win or show here or most believe he'll be gone from the race and today, you saw what you just talk ed about. romney is drawing most of the fire. gingrich and santorum, knowing how important ss to prove they have what it takes to stay in the race. the south carolina, florida and beyond. gingrich and santorum going back and forth at each other. the speaker saying santorum was a big player in the congress. so wolf, with five days out, there's no question here. no question. governor romney is the heavy favorite and even though the iowa win was abt votes, there's no evidence the big lead here is slipping. >> the republican presidential debates have been so important over these many months. you did one of the first ones in new hampshire. i think that was way back in june if i recall, but there are going to be two republican debates this weekend. those could still even at this late moment in new hampshire, shake things up a bit. >> the candidates, especially if you're romney or santorum, bring your battle armor. there's no question that speaker gingrich, santorum, governor hunt man, are going to turn their attention on romney, trying to bring him down. they want to bring him down. get him under 40% so they could say that the man under 40% or higher in the polls for months struggled here. speaker gingrich, fourth in iowa. he knows he probably needs to win south carolina to prove his viability. if he comes in behind romney, paul, santorum again, it's hard for him to make the case that he's a strong national candidate for the republicans, so look for speaker gingrich to be aggressive, focusing on romney, number one. there's a lot of bad blood brewing there, but speaker gingrich realizes rick santorum is a threat as well. >> what's coming up at 6:00 p.m. eastern right after us? >> we're going to have governor huntsman right here. he ignored iowa. insulted iowa. he's going to be here, we're going to ask him, it looks like new hampshire first strategy might not have been such a great idea. we'll also get insights from the former state republican party chairman here. he's a big romney guy here. he's a long time conservative. we'll ask him what he thinks of the criticism and e get his assessment op the state of the play here. >> sounds like a good show. thanks very much. as his conservative rivals pound away, mitt romney just arrived in south carolina, but critics on the right haven't exactly rolled out the red carpet for him. let's go to joe johns. what's the latest? >> well, mitt romney has the endorsement of the state's tea party backed governor, nikki hailey. he's certainly got money. he's got a very good organization, but hey, this is south carolina, where the people like their politics raw and we've already gotten some examples of that. welcome to south carolina mitt romney. tea partiers here despise you. that was the message an organizer was sending to the count when he took a day off to swing by the palmetto state. martin said in a telephone interview that except for the people who have signed on for romney, almost no one she knows in the state is supporting him. >> we don't really think too much of mitt romney here in south carolina. i don't know any tea party people in the states. one i talked to this morning who is supporting him in his presidential bid. >> like many tea partiers who say they don't like romney, martin cited the public health plan in massachusetts, which is similar to obama's plan. >> the republican party didn't like him in 2008. not much has changed about him between then and now, but the electorate has changed a lot. we're more conservative. we're take iing a deeper look a the constitution. we're more focused on smaller government and fiscal responsibility and we don't think mitt romney brings those values to the table. >> of course, that's not good news for romney since 57% of south carolina respondents in the last cnn poll said they were spoert supporter of the tea party movement. by the way, romney has said that tea partiers nationwide would eventually come around when they got to know him better. >> as they get to know me better and understand how it is, i'm devoted to shrinking the size of government and encouraging the growth of the free economy. i think i get great support from the tea party. >> according to entrance polls of people on their way swoo is into the iowa caucuses, he got decent support. santorum had the best showing with 29%. and romney has a strong organization. backing from people like republican utah congressman, jason chapin. he has recruits dozens of members of congress to the republican campaign. >> this is going to come down to jobs in the economy. we need somebody from the outside who's going to turn around the economy. we have to beat barack obama and mitt romney is clearly in the best position to do that. >> meanwhile, senator john mccain, who won this state last time around and is now supporting romney, is actually traveling the state as well as reaching out to some of his own contacts in the state. not so much pitching them we're told, saying hello because this is an election year. back to you. >> that's the way it happens. thank you. newt gingrich left iowa with a chip on his shoulder, stunned by all the negative ads. he's made it clear he'll go after mitt romney. he's keeping up the pressure today. >> we have a difference of opinion, you know, about which will be the last conservative standing. but i think eventually, you'll get down to one conservative in governor romney and he'll continue to get 25%. now, by definition, at some point in that game, somebody else is going to start getting a lot more votes than governor romney. if he wins at 25%, this would be a weakest front-runner in hisry. >> let's bring in gloria borger. is newt gingrich right? how vulnerable is mitt romney? >> newt gingrich is hitting him right where he is vulnerable. that's the question joe johns was getting out earl yes, just how conservative is mitt romney? when we looked at those entrance polls that we took in iowa, only 14% of the voters in iowa who self-identified as very conservative were for mitt romney. 14%. as joe was saying before, santorum won with the tea partiers. santorum won with a very conservative voters. what gingrich is really trying to do is chip away at the notion that romney is a conservative. now, that may work in south carolina. the question is whether that will work in new hampshire or independent voters can vote in a republican primary and they might like somebody who's moderate, but those independents could also go for ron paul, so what these folks are trying to do is chip away at that 40% number. get him back down to where he normally is and then they can claim a victory even if they don't win in new hampshire. >> that's a good point. now, we know a lot of money being thrown, but it's only just beginning. this year, there's a new twist. >> right, there is a new twist, it's not just the money the campaigns are raising, but it's the money for what we call super packs. and these are outside political action committees that are funded by outside contributors who can raise unlimited amounts of money and what we've been seeing is that they've been doing the dirty work. take a look at the names of some of these political action committees. restore our future. make us great again. red, white and blue fund. winning our future. our destiny pack. who do they represent? nobody knows, so when they go on the air with negative ads, nobody will know, but restore our future. is for romney. make us great again. for perry and on and on. those two packs, let's take a look at the money here. how much these outside super packs spent. for romney, 1.2 million. that's what newt gingrich has been so upset about because those are negative ads. same thing for perry. 844,000. santorum, the red, white and blue fund, only 289,000, but now that he's in the top tier, you can be sure they'll be raisinging more money. >> but the pressure's going to be on -- >> absolutely, his super pack. there are reports that his super pack is going up with ads in south carolina. so what we see here, wolf, is that these are the attack ads. so you have a situation where the candidates have deniability. you know, mitt romney says, i'm running positive ads, but guess what? the restore our future fund is running the negative ads and romney can say, you know, i have nothing to do with that. by law, he really isn't supposed to have anything to do with it, but guess what? a lot of his friends are running his super pack. >> the names are great. i love my mother. >> they're a little generic, wouldn't you say? >> jack cafferty is up next. here's a question about the campaign. the campaign contributions are some, some being wasted and rick santorum under attack from his rivals over pork barrel spending. how much cash did he really take? we're getting back in shape. oh! try these. i sprinted here... wow! from your house?! from the car. unh! ooh. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. nyquil (stuffy): just reading ad mawhatyour label.ing? wait! you relieve nasal congestion? tylenol: sure. don't you? tylenol (another bottle): hmmm...no... nyquil (stuffy): dude! anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. jack? >> if you go to the racetrack, do you bet your money on a three legged horse? of course not. you bet your money on a four-legged horse, one that has a chance of winning the race. why is it when it comes to politics, some bet on horses that have no chance of winning? several of the presidential want to bes making lots of campaign cash despite the fact they have no chance of being the nominee. rick santorum raised more than a million dollars since the caucuses on tuesday and yes, santorum placed close second in iowa, but that was largely due to his appeal among social conservatives and evangelicals. that's not something that's going to translate. for example, he stands to lose badly in new hampshire. meanwhile, ron paul raising $13 million in the last three months. that tops the 8 million he raised in the previous corner. he, too, ran well in iowa, but once again, the chances are he's not going to be the republican nominee. newt gingrich, he raised $10 million in the last quarter, but a lot of that came when he was spiking until polls and that's a long time ago. of course, none compare to romney's expected haul of 20 million over the last three months. that's the thing. you can understand why people might want to plunk their money down on romney to win. he's looking more and more like the party's nominee every day. he's expected to win in a landslide in new hampshire and it seems unlikely at this point there's anything or anyone out there that's going to be able to stop him. here's the question. why do people give money to candidates who have no chance of winning? post a comment on my blog or go to our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. you wouldn't bet on a three legged horse, would you? >> no, but i did write on p my blog post, i'm not yet ready to crown mitt romney the winner. who knows what could still happen between now and the end of the game. that's just me though. >> well, romney's going to win, but i don't want to wreck your party. >> thanks. rick santorum is riding high after iowa, but that's made him a bigger target for his republican rivals who are now slamming santorum for spending on pet products. when he was in congress, he was in the house and senate for 16 years. dana bash has been looking into this for us. what are you finding out? >> when rick santorum was in congress, it was certainly a very good thing for lawmakers to say they're spending money on their constituents. lawmakers begged to be on the appripriations committee, but this is a different world. santorum's opponents are using earmarks that he got to paint him as a typical washington politician. >> we're in a financial crisis right now. >> stumping in new hampshire, rick santorum fwigives his prescription for reducing the deficit. >> we have to do it in the areas where the deficit has been created and that is spending. >> but the former senator's opponents say he was part of the problem. >> very liberal. >> what makes him liberal? >> he spends too much money. >> they really hit him for taking earmarks. a dirty word in tea party lexicon. >> who personally demanded more than $1 million in earmarks? >> rick santorum. >> right. >> i have had a lot of earmarks. in fact, i'm very proud of all the earmarks i put in bills. >> the reality is, it's hard to know if santorum got a billion dollars in earmarks because he was defeated in 2006, before lawmakers were required to disclose their earmarks, but steve ellis says -- >> i think it's pretty clear if you look at the an ek doe tall evidence that he got at least a billion dollars and probably much more. >> pennsylvania received $483 million in earmarks for 872 projects and during his years in congress, santorum issued press release after press release, bragging about bringing home the bacon. like an expansion project for a job training center and $50,000 for gateway fasteners. and santorum voted for the infamous bridge to nowhere in alaska cht. >> to go against the bridge to nowhere was to go against senator stevens. >> right. if he would have voted against the bridge to nowhere, bye bye money for pennsylvania. santorum still defends his pork barrel projects. >> when you go to congress, you make sure when taxes go from your state to washington, d.c., you fight to make sure you get your fair share back. >> and to be sure, he was hardly alone. until recent years, even for republicans, spending federal funds on folks back home was a path to re-election, but now in a gop primary, it's fodder for opponents. >> i believe that earmarks is a gateway drug to corruption and senator santorum supported it and engaged in it as much he could. >> there's no evidence that santorum's earmarking led to corruption and he now says he supports the senate earmarking ban, which went into effect long after he was defeated from the senate and santorum also points out, this is important, that earmarking when it existed, it was less than 1% of the budget. he says the real issue should be entitlements and other areas. >> and just be precise, this is not money in his pocket. this is money that went to various projects in pennsylvania. >> exactly. bringing home the bacon to your constituents to say i'm in washington, working for you. look, i got you this bridge. >> nothing illegal about this. >> and now, it doesn't exist. >> that's correct. thank you. important changes in the job market. details of a new report on hiring. what's inside caught a lot of experts by surprise and chilling allegations by a syrian defector. he says the government of al assad spent so much money slaughtering its citizens, it was forced to make huge budget cuts. tired eye relief with hydroblend™, only from visine®. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours. visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3. thrilled. wait. we can have shakes? 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[ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. a former president now on trial for his life. lisa sylvester is monitoring that and other top stories. >> that's right, wolf. mubarak could face death by hanging. today, the death penalty was requested along with the country's former interior minister and four aides, he is accused of ordering protesters killed during the uprising. he denies the charges. and the private sector went on a -- 325,000 were added last month. the biggest gain of its kind in a year. the government's jobs report will be out tomorrow. the news will have little impact on wall street. the dow jones was down just under three points at the closing bell just a few minutes ago and casey anthony's attorney is confirming that a video circulating on the internet is in fact the florida mother who was acquitted last july of murdering her daughter, caylee. the video diary marks the first time the world has heard from her since then and it reveals a different look. anthony doesn't say where she is, but doesn't mention her daughter. >> just a little story of how much things have changed since july and how many things haven't changed. the good thing is that things are starting to look up and starting to change in a good way. >> definitely a different look there. anthony's attorney says the video diary is part of her counseling, but she didn't authorize its release. >> thanks very much. the pentagon is ordered to tighten its belt as the u.s. prepares to make major changes in military strategy. we'll also hear from a siyrian defector who offers a chilling insider's view of the slaughter that's underway on the streets of syria. 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