deadly string of assassinations. and the first lady of the united states reacting to a controversial new book about the obama white house, saying she's not the stereotype of, quote, some angry black woman. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." with back-to-back wins in iowa and new hampshire, mitt romney has now done what no other republican incumbent candidate has ever done, once again no republican candidate except, i should say, for a sitting president. romney, of course, wants to be sitting in the white house next year, but that road leads through south carolina. that's the next primary state in ten days. his opponents are digging trenches and putting up barricades there in an all-out effort to halt his momentum. south carolina has a representation for rough and tumble primary and for picking winners. jim accost ha has the latest. jim? >> reporter: if only the south carolina primary could be tomorrow for mitt romney, it's going to be potentially a brutal ten days before the voters go to the polls here in the state, but mitt romney, no question about it, is coming off a big win in new hampshire. his campaign says they've raised $21 million in the fourth quarter. that's fresh ammunition to go to war against these other candidates here in south carolina. then the next primary state florida, we caught up with rick santorum, who is going to appeal to a lot 6 the social conservatives in this state. when we caught up with him, senator santorum said, it's not over yet. hey, senator, the conventional wisdom is mitt romney has wrapped up all the by the republican nomination. how do you stop it? >> you know what? this is a long process. half the people voting yesterday weren't even republicans, so the idea he's wrapped up the republican nomination, because he won by eight votes in iowa and he won his home state, is just silly. >> reporter: are you going to challenge his record? >> we're going to challenge everything, not just here, but fla in and beyond. rurp during some remarks at an event after we talked to him, he basically chalked up romney's victory to the fact he's been campaigning in that state for six years, noting romney ran for president unsuccessfully in 2008. so senator santorum is ready to go. the former massachusetts governor will face a lot of questions here, wolf about the time he spent running the private investment firm bain capital. rick perry is talking about a factory that was closed in this state by bain capital, and some of the layoffs that occurred there, and romney was asked about this question of bain capital, and whether he's prepared for these attacks on his press charter earlier today, and he said we understood for a long time that the obama people would come after us on this issue, but he said he was surprised that newt gingrich, and he singled out newt gingrich, would be the first witness for the prosecution, in his words. but let's boil down why this may not be all that easy for mitt romney here in south carolina. take a look at the results back in 2008. mitt romney did not finish first here. that went to john mccain. he finished in fourth place. look at these results. mike huckabee very popular with social conservatives. fred thompson was at 15.7%, and mitt romney at 15.1%, but what romney can hang his hat on, wolf is the hope he can be like john mccain in 2012, the front-runner while others spread out the social conservatives among several candidates, really split that vote, allowing mitt romney to come out on top of this state. if he does, wolf, this state has a pretty good history of picking presidents. this state has picked the eventual winner in every presidential contest here since 1980. that's a pretty good track record, wolf. >> excellent track record. ten days from now. jim acosta will be there every step of the way. a quick note. i'll interview rick santorum live coming up in our next hour. i'll ask him if there's any chance to stop mitt rom 234i. i suspect his answer will be yes. while mitt romney's republican rivals continue to attack his record as a financier is president obama joining? >> i don't want america to be a nation that's primarily known for financial speculation and racking up debt buying stuff from other nations. i want to be known for making and selling products all over the world stamped with three proud words -- made in america. we can make that happen. >> our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is joining us. jessica, that was a thinly veiled attack on romney, wasn't it? >> wolf, the president didn't need to name mitt romney by name, because the attack there, or the criticism is implicit. today was all about drawing contrasts. the big picture for the president's campaign aides is this. they believe this fight that just happened in new hampshire, with so many republicans attacking mitt romney arecord damaged his image as a jobs creator in a way that did some of the democrats' work for them. but what the obama campaign is not pointing out is this. last night mitt romney won the best ig pinch of voters concerned about the economy by star. that's good news for the romney camp. if governor romney wraps up the nomination fairly quickly. if he's able to do it after florida, and able to turn his attention and considerable fund racing ability to the president, that worries them most. >> that would be good new for romney, speaking of fund-raising, the president is doing it virtually nonstop, isn't he? >> he's doing quite a bit of fund-raising. he's spending a good bit of time at the white house, too, but he keeps hitting the trail. this evening he's in chicago doing three fund-raisers tonight. let's look at the numbers so far. the obama campaign tore with what they call their victory fund has raised $155 million through late last year. they set a goal of raising another $60 million by the end of the year. they have yet to announce their total, but we'll see if they hit that $60 million figure when they announce it shortly, maybe later this week. we'll see. the romney campaign said they raised $56 million. that's a lot of money for a primary candidate to raise. impressive and worrying for the obama campaign. the republican superpacs have raised almost $20 million. so clearly the president is winning the fund-raising battle, but democrats insist they're worried about the unlimited funds the opponents will raise from the super pacs or corporations where wealthy individuals can give unlimited amounts. democrats tend to get more from unions, republicans more from corporate donors, and then again democrats' biggest fear is the super pacs will pour a ton of money into negative ads early on when the presidential campaign is saving money to fight later. >> but the democrats have created super pacs to protect the president, to support the president. bill burton, one of the former deputy press secretaries and our own paul begala have a super pac. >> two very talented people, by my reporting, wolf is that the democratic super pacs have not raised very much money at all to date at all. the republican super pacs are raising an enormous money. in the super pac world, dollar to dollar, there's just for competition to date. >> thank you. so far mitt romney has donnell what hi needed to do, win. can he keep it going? a breakdown offers a few klees. our gloria borger is here with more on this. what was different in romney's victory last night? >> well, wolf, put simply, he ran the table. he did what every republican candidate dreams of doing. let me just tell you the groups he won across. he won with republicans, with people who identify themselves as conservatives, tea party supporters, evangelicals, and of course those very important independent voters. democrats are going to point out, and they do, that mitt romney did not win with lower-income people. he didn't win with younger voters, and the turnout, of course, was not as terrific as republicans had anticipated, but overall, wolf, romney did what is so important to any republican running for the presidency. he managed to get hits base together and to track those independent voters. that's the formula for anybody who wants to win the presidency. get yew base. >> we have ten days to california. a lot can happen in ten days, but can he re-create that formula in south carolina? >> it's going to be very, very difficult, as jim acosta was pounding out, for him to really re-create what he did in new hampshire. he had a lot of natural advantages in new hampshire. in 2008, 60% of voters in south carolina identified themselves as evangelicals. they may well be skeptical of his mormonism and mitt romney's position on abortion, which has changed over the years. also those tea party supporters, they're a bit skeptical about mitt romney. here's what i guess is going to come up. we haven't heard a lot of talk about the massachusetts health care plan. tea partiers don't like the idea of mandates. that was in romney's massachusetts plan. he'll have to defend that as well. and of course you have the attack from newt gingrich and rick perry on mitt romney as a corporate raider. that will have some resonance, i believe, in south carolina. >> he didn't say corporate raider, he said a vulture capitalist. i suspect we'll here more of that. >> i think we'll absolutely hear more. it's going to put a lot of pressure on romney to respond. he didn't really responsibility well in new hampshire. when he said to people, you know, i know what it's like to be afraid of getting a pink slip, he seemed inauthentic, but i would bet money that he is going to have some ads up on bain capital, whether it's from his campaign or from the super pac that can spend an awful lot of money on it defending himself on the corporate raider front. i guarantee you he will do that, because they charges cannot be left unanswered. however, wolf, most of the republican establishment is absolutely horrified that there's a class warfare argument going on within the republican party. the question is, does newt gingrich care about what the republican establishment thinks, or does rick perry at this point care what the republican establishment thinks? i think the answer is no. so they'll continue. >> and you and i know these type of guys and gals. they were loving mitt romney right now. >> yeah, they are, and they feel that gingrich and perry are feeding right into barack obama's game plan, not that david axelrod needs any help with that, but now they'll have clips, as you point out the vulture capitalist could well be a rerun. >> and newt gingrich calling him a liar. that's another clip. >> and pious baloney. >> gloria, thanks very much. >> sure. so while we watch the candidates, jack cafferty is thinks about the running mates, the vice presidential running mates. jack cafferty is coming up next with "the cafferty file." two planes much too close for comfort. we have details of a near-collision at a major u.s. airport. eep risks in my teens. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? diet and exercise weren't lowering my cholesterol enough. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications, or if you have any muscle pain or weakness. this may be a sign of a rare but serious side effect. [ man ] still love that wind in my face! talk to your doctor. don't kid yourself about the risk of heart attack and stroke. if lipitor's been working for you, stay with it. lipitor may be available for as little as $4 a month with the lipitor co-pay card. terms and conditions apply. learn more at lipitorforyou.com. so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, take the lead. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. get your first full prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." >> continuing with the theme. with iowa and new hampshire in the rear-view mirror, and looking like two more po templeal victory, mitt romney seems tough to beat. if romney wins the republican nomination, of course the next question becomes who is the best pick for vice president? for starters, nominees usual lip look at their former competitors. a recent column on the street.com suggests the republican winner should look for a vice president with a strong business background, experience and someone who can avoid the so-called palin syndrome. translation -- they ought to name some newspapers they read and a couple supreme court cases t. including people like former mayor giuliani, marco rubio, and chris christie, my favorite. my governor. christie has been campaigning for romney, to standing room only crowds in new hampshire, traveling the granite state as sort of a political odd couple. he brings healthy doses of signature straight talk. when protesters began yelling mitt kills jobs, christie shouted back with this, quote -- really? something might go down here tonight, but it ain't going to be jobs, sweetheart. christie would spice up the ticket a lot and might be willing to go on the attack so romney wouldn't have to. here's my political fantasy for 2012. president obama convinces hillary clinton to replace joe biden on the democratic side, romney puts christie on the ticket, and a series of debates is scheduled between clinton and christie. it will be much more entertaining than watching debates between romney and obama. it would be huge. hey, we can dream, right? here's the question -- if romney wins the nomination, who should be his vice president? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog, or go to our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. >> looking forward to what our viewers think. we're learning new details about a close call between two planes. cnn's mary snow is working the story for us. war you finding out? >> wolf, picture the length of two planes, are you familiarly how close a learjet taking occupy came to striking a 737. it happened december 1st. the ntsb is investigating, and fortunately there were no injuries. the question before the national transportation safety board -- how did a southwest 737 and a learjet get so close to each other on the runway at chicago's midway airport. a southwest jet carrying 79 people had just landed and cleared to cross a runway when a learjet was taking off. according to an ntsb report, it was the copilot of the southwest plane who yelled to his pilot to stop, averting a collision. at its closest point they came within 3 hundred feet horrid zonely and 62 feet vertically. a southwest pilot radioed the control tower with frustration clear in his voice. >> yeah, we just had a plane on 31 right, you clear. just copy, there's a plain was taking off? >> contact ground, please. >> a learjet or some sort was taking off. we have to hit the brakes. >> where the danger point was or the critical point was right here. the 737 stopped instead of gus through here and continues around, it was going to continue to the terminal. >> kevin hyatt is a former pilot now with the nonprofit flight safety foundation. he says while it doesn't appear the smaller jet was aimed right at the southwest plane, the question is why the 737 was cleared to cross of runway. the ntsb isn't assigning blame until the report is complete. this follows a recent government report showing an increase in incidents near airports. hyatt sees two main factors -- increase in air traffic and new reporting system where air traffic controllers and pilots aren't punished for reporting errors. >> these are voluntary reports being submitted by the air traffic controllers in this case, pilots, and they are disclosing events like this in order to help get the data together to prevent something like this from happening again. >> wolf, the union for the air traffic controllers decline comment citing the investigation. southwest did the same. a spokesman for the airline said it's fully cooperating with the ntsb. wolf? >> i would hope so. certainly it's important. thanks very much, mary. democrats are wore worried that mitt romney will wrap up the gnome nails sooner rather than later. we'll talk about why in our strategy session. plus an iranian nuclear scientist assassinated in a killing that seems out of a thriller, and he's not alone. on, one chance to hunt down the right insurance at the right price. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. ready, aim, save! grrr! ooh, i forgot my phone! the "name your price" tool. now available on your phone. get a free quote today. i want to fix up old houses. ♪ [ woman ] when i grow up, i want to take him on his first flight. i want to run a marathon. i'm going to own my own restaurant. when i grow up, i'm going to start a band. 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[ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. almost half a million minivans and suvs are being recalled. lisa sylvester is monitoring that and other top stories in "the situation room" right now. what's going on? >> hi, wolf. the recall covers some 45 thousands fort escape zifs made in 2001 and 2002. leaking brake fluid can cause smoke or even a fire. it's also calling recalling mini israel from 2004 and 2005. they have a torque converter output shaft that can fail, causing the vehicle to lose power. microsoft says it's investigating reports of a mass suicide threat at a chinese factory that makes the xbox game systems. it's owned by a chinese contractor foxconn and, and it made headlines following a rash of worker sue sides believed to stem from harsh working conditions. we are tracking that two-ship convoy trying to bring more than a million gallons of fuel to nome, alaska before the town runs out. the icebreaking and russian tanker are still about 100 miles out, but they only made it 50 feet yesterday. it is the first-ever to supply fuel to the arctic alaska through sea ice. the company that brings us twinkies, ding-dongs, how hos and other iconic treats has filed for bankruptcy, but hostess says it will reorganization. the company was founded at the beginning of the agree depression and employs in 19,000 people. so good news, i know for some folks. the twinkies will survive, wolf. >> it's been a while sing i had a twinkie, but i remember eating many in my day. thanks, lisa. thanks very much. a tale of two campaigns in south carolina. can jon huntsman gain any ground after gambling on new hampshire? can newt gingrich regain any footing? joe johns is standing by to join us. we'll assess as well in our