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US Troops Leave Iraq; Simplifying the Tax Code; GOP Contenders Clash; Payroll Tax Debate Still Lingering

Aired December 18, 2011 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We'll look at 2012 presidential contenders in this political hour. But first an update on some of today's top stories.

No more combat troops in Iraq this morning. The remaining U.S. units there convoyed across the border into Kuwait that ended the largest U.S. military withdrawal since Vietnam.

In this country, still no end to the payroll tax debate. The U.S. Senate passed a two-month extension yesterday, but don't expect a rubber stamp from the U.S. house. Speaker John Boehner accuses the Senate of kicking the can down the road and says he's holding out for a full year extension. The House takes up the Senate bill tomorrow.

A major snowstorm is brewing in the southwest. Travel will become dangerous if not impossible across much of the region tomorrow. Texas and Oklahoma are expecting up to 15 inches of snow.

So we begin our political hour with some key endorsements for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. The latest comes from former GOP presidential nominee Bob Dole. Dole announced his choice in an advertisement in today's "Des Moines Register." He says the former Massachusetts governor is the best candidate suited to beat President Obama in 2012. Dole's public backing comes a day after the Des Moines paper announced its support for Romney. The state's largest newspaper says the former Massachusetts governor is the most qualified candidate competing in the caucuses.

The conservative Christian group, the Family Leader, is expected to release its endorsement in the next 24 hours. CNN political reporter Shannon Travis joins us from Des Moines. So any word on who the Family Leader will be supporting?

SHANNON TRAVIS, CNN POLITICAL REPORTER: Yes, Fred. No firm word on who the Family Leader will endorse yet or whether it will endorse. It is important to note that sources tell me that they're kind of deadlocked right now between four candidates essentially. Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich. They have been that way for a few weeks right now. We reported on this a few weeks ago. My sources tell me that that's essentially still the same that they're not quite sure, the board - the seven member board of this group, the Family Leader, has yet to really firmly coalesce around one person. Just a point of interest, this is one of the most coveted endorsements that all of these Republican candidates here in Iowa are campaigning here in Iowa are seeking. So it will be a big deal. We hope to hear something by tomorrow, but it may even be pushed to Tuesday or early in the week, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And I wonder how much does it matter that there is this "Des Moines Register" endorsement or perhaps a notion of winning the Iowa caucuses altogether. How much weight do these things carry?

TRAVIS: It is an excellent question. Let's talk about pros and cons of both. In terms of the "Des Moines Register" endorsement, you know, it is bragging rights, Fred. You know, people are waking up this morning seeing the newspaper, and they say, "Oh, Mitt Romney won the endorsement or what have you." There are a lot of undecideds here, the polls are fluctuating. Some people can still be swayed at this late moment two weeks before the caucuses. So it is bragging rights and they're saying very strong positive things about the governor.

At the same time, the paper itself hasn't had a good track record in terms of pick - endorsing people who are going on to win. Only three of its endorsees, pre-caucus endorsees, have gone on to win the caucus. Only three have gone on to win the Republican nomination and only one, that would be George W. Bush in 2000, has gone on to win the White House. In terms of the Iowa caucuses, there's a debate about how much the Iowa caucuses matter at this point, Fred.

Some people say, "You know what, it still is very important in terms of momentum, absolutely." Even if the winner isn't the eventual winner of the presidential race, but will win some press. But other people say, "You know what, maybe Iowa is not as important," although you won't hear any of the caucus voters or many people here say that, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks so much. Shannon Travis in Des Moines.

Meantime, Mitt Romney - he spent the weekend in South Carolina. He campaigned there after picking up the endorsement of Governor Nikki Haley. Haley was elected last year with large supported from the Tea Party, a group that Romney says shares many of his views.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I line up with a smaller government, a less intrusive government, regulations being pared back, holding down the tax rates of the American people, maintaining a strong defense. And so many Tea Party folks are going to find me, I believe to be the ideal candidate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Rachel Streitfeld joins us now from Washington. All right. So you were with Governors Haley and Romney on the campaign trail. Did anyone see this endorsement coming?

RACHEL STREITFELD, CNN POLITICAL PRODUCER: Well, I think this did come as a surprise to a lot of people. Many of those GOP candidates would have loved to have gotten Haley's support. As you said, she was backed by Tea Party groups and she's known for her conservative views, which could help Mitt Romney with conservative voters there in South Carolina. The other thing to remember, though, is she did endorse him in 2008. Also Romney was one of the first Republicans to go down to South Carolina and campaign for her when she was running for governor. There was that in his favor.

WHITFIELD: So, you know, this endorsement, is this more important locally in South Carolina than it is nationally?

STREITFELD: You know, I have to say it is pretty important nationally. It helps Romney with this narrative. He's trying to create this sense of inevitability for his campaign and this is a big endorsement, helps him do that. On the local level, I think the jury is still out. Haley has dropped a little bit in the poll numbers in South Carolina. So I think we're going to have to wait and see how much this endorsement helps Romney with voters there in South Carolina.

WHITFIELD: All right. And meantime, as we see a lot of the candidates who we're also getting to know their spouses. Newt Gingrich, we have been seeing a lot of his spouse and even more of Mitt Romney's as well. Is this intentional to get the wives out in front to get their take on their husbands as candidates?

STREITFELD: Yes, I think it certainly is. We have seen a lot of Ann Romney. I have to tell you on this two-day trip that we had through South Carolina, those two are like a couple of teenagers joking around with each other. And so I think one reason she's there, just to support her husband, Mitt Romney. But in a larger sense, yes, we're seeing more of Ann Romney, both campaigning with her husband and then campaigning by herself, often in Iowa.

And so in Iowa she can talk about their long marriage, their five children, their 16 grandchildren and that's a state where voters really look to the values of the candidate. And so, you know, it presents an interesting comparison to Newt Gingrich.

WHITFIELD: Yes. We saw pictures of Newt and Calista, at her book signing yesterday, she authored a children's book. How does she, I guess, paint a different picture of the people, of who people think of when they think of Newt Gingrich.

STREITFELD: Well, you know, Newt Gingrich said he has learned from his mistakes and turned his life around. He converted to Catholicism, which is Calista's religion. I think he called her his rock. They seem very close and obviously he would like to present that image of happy marriage.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rachel Streitfeld, thanks so much for joining us in Washington today.

Joining now to talk more about the status of Mitt Romney's campaign in particular, Republican analyst Lenny McAllister and democratic analyst, Danielle Belton. Good to see both of you. OK, so let's talk about Mitt Romney and his endorsements that he's receiving in Iowa with the "Des Moines Register," endorsements coming from South Carolina, from the governor.

So Lenny, you first, how meaningful and important is this when it seems as though Mitt Romney is having a hard time being embraced by the Republican party, the conservative base, as a whole?

LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN ANALYST: Well, I actually wrote a piece on this talking about him being the establishment guy in a non- establishment era. I don't know if it means as much as it might have 10 or 20 years ago. For example, you look at Hillary Clinton four years ago, she was the establishment candidate, it was her coronation. Then this young state senator by the name of Barack Obama became senator in 2004. And by 2008, he overtook her and became the president of the United States.

Mitt Romney's kind of going after the same type of thing right now. He's going against a momentum where people don't want the establishment, they're frustrated with the establishment and here is this guy that keeps ringing up all these endorsements, but Gingrich is still in the lead in Florida, still in the lead in South Carolina and still, barely, but still in the lead in Iowa. So although it is good for him to get these endorsements, it still doesn't mean quite as much as it might have been just a couple of years ago.

WHITFIELD: And so Danielle, how do you see it? How much of these endorsements, particularly the "Des Moines Register," how much of that is a barometer for the kind of support that he may get in the Iowa caucuses, just two weeks away?

DANIELLE BELTON, DEMOCRATIC ANALYST: I feel like the thing that Mitt Romney is struggling with is authenticity and people having a good feeling about who he is and what he actually stands for and believes in. As wonderful as these endorsements are, like any candidate wants to get some high quality endorsements, his bigger problem is voters being able to connect with him and relate with him and feeling more human and predictable in how his opinions will come across and his views on things.

There has been so much of this picturing of Romney as the career politician, of this guy who is always on point, who is always on message, but that message is constantly evolving, that makes a lot of conservative voters nervous. That's more of the bigger issue for Romney, to find a way to humanize him so people can relate to him.

WHITFIELD: So I wonder in Mitt Romney's case, does it seem to prove best for him when he does not spend a lot of time some place and he ends up getting endorsements, you know, hence Iowa and South Carolina, yet he spent all this time in New Hampshire and much of that support, at least according to local newspapers, has gone by way of Newt Gingrich, Lenny?

MCALLISTER: Well, here is the thing with that. I mean if it works out it's a great strategy because if Romney can come in second place in Iowa and then start gaining momentum in South Carolina, his campaign doesn't have to look at what they were facing just a week ago, which was basically behind in Iowa, losing a lead in New Hampshire and really far behind in South Carolina and Florida.

However, at the same time, you have to look at it from this perspective. The "Register's" endorsement, they endorsed John McCain who lost to Huckabee, they endorsed Hillary Clinton, who lost to President Obama, and Hillary Clinton came in third in the caucuses. So you have some papers that have more of a reputation for being able to get their endorsement to mean something. And if you even look at what Newt Gingrich was saying in the Sunday shows today, he was spinning it and saying, "Listen, this is a liberal paper, endorsing a moderate. I had a conservative paper in New Hampshire endorsing me. I'm the true conservative in this race." That's how he's going to try to spin this latest endorsement for Romney.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lenny McAllister, Danielle Belton, thanks so much. We'll talk with you again momentarily. We're talking about the two candidates who seem to be neck and neck. Mitt Romney and now front-runner Newt Gingrich. Well, Gingrich is focusing on the economy. But his rivals are targeting him. Michele Bachmann is among them. We'll explain after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY LENO, HOST "THE TONIGHT SHOW WITH JAY LENO": Mitt Romney attacked front-runner Newt Gingrich again this week. He said "Zany is not what we need in a president." He said Newt was zany. Newt Gingrich zany? How boring are you if you think zany is Newt Gingrich? Oh, he's just mad cap. What a wild, crazy guy that Newt is. Oh!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back to the special hour of the "CNN Newsroom." We're taking this time out every Sunday to let you hear from the 2012 presidential contenders in their words out on the campaign trail.

The political bickering, however, continues in Washington, just a day after President Obama praised a Senate vote to extend the payroll tax cut. House speaker John Boehner is expressing his opposition. The Republican leader says the two-month extension is just, "kicking the can down the road."

Meanwhile, earlier this week, Republican front-runner Newt Gingrich touted his own record on the economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it is very, very important that we get the deficit under control. You can't run up multibillion dollar debt on the scale President Obama has. It simply doesn't work. And the credential I offer you is that I have had four consecutive balanced budgets came out of the policies I developed. It is the only time in your lifetime that we had four consecutive balanced budgets. I think we can get back to it again and it requires increasing economic growth and controlling spending and reforming the government.

I very much like the strong American effort to apply lean Six Sigma, to modernize the entire federal government. I agree it would save probably $500 billion or more a year. And I think it is well worth looking at as a way of approaching things.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So despite that record, Newt Gingrich continues to be under fire for his dealings with Freddie Mac when he left Capitol Hill. He had an exchange with Representative Michele Bachmann during Thursday night's debate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRICH: You know, many things governments do. I did no lobbying of any kind for any organization and that was a key part of every agreement we had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, let me pick up with that. With you, Congresswoman Bachmann because you accused Speaker Gingrich of peddling his influence with congressional Republicans to help the companies that paid him tens of millions of dollars since he's left office. Given his denial over time and again tonight that he's denies ever having lobbied, what is your evidence, hard evidence that he engaged in influence battling?

MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Well, it is the fact that we know that he cashed paychecks from Freddie Mac. That's the best evidence that you can have. Over $1.6 million. And frankly, I am shocked, listening to the former speaker of the house, because he's defending the continuing practice of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. There is a big difference between a credit union and Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and they were the epicenter of the mortgage financial meltdown.

I was trying to see these two entities put into bankruptcy because they, frankly, need to go away. When the speaker had his hand out and he was taking $1.6 million to influence senior Republicans to keep the scam going in Washington, D.C. that's absolutely wrong. We can't have as our nominee for the Republican Party someone who continues to stand for Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. They need to be shut down, not built up.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Speaker Gingrich?

GINGRICH: Well, the easiest answer is that's just not true. What she just say is factually not true. I never lobbied under any circumstance. I never went in and suggested in any way that we do this. In fact, I tried to help defeat the housing act when the Democrats were in charge of the House. If you go back and talk to former congressman Rick Lazio, he'll tell you when we were passing housing reform when I was speaker, I never at any time tried to slow down reform effort.

In fact, I helped him pass the reform bill and I think some of those people ought to have facts before they make wild allegations.

BACHMANN: Let me -

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Congresswoman?

BACHMANN: Well, after the debate that we had last week, Politifact came out and said that everything that I said was true. And evidence is that Speaker Gingrich took $1.6 million. You don't need to be within the technical definition of being a lobbyist to still be influence peddling with senior Republicans in Washington, D.C., to get them to do your bidding. And the bidding was to keep this grandiose scam of Freddie Mac going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So while former speaker is out front, the margin between Newt Gingrich, Romney and Ron Paul is shrinking. Let's bring in our analyst Lenny McAllister and Danielle Belton back. Danielle, you first, will Newt Gingrich's record or history just as we saw on display there during that debate help or hinder?

BELTON: I can't see it doing anything but hinder. I mean the more you learn about Newt Gingrich, first of all, I can understand how people have forgotten the '90s. I know people have short attention spans but I mean, it is interesting to me of that class of '94 that he was speaker of, you know, it is very hard to find anyone that will vouch for them and back up all the claims of the hard work that he said he did and all the accomplishments that he had. It is hard to find people that would go on the record, back him up who actually worked with him.

The other half are actively, you know, calling the guy scary or corrupt on television. I mean Joe Scarborough with a whole rant against Newt Gingrich. So I think the problem is his past. I mean he's trying to run from the outside, he's a career politician. How outside can you be when you're the former speaker of the House?

WHITFIELD: So Lenny, this is interesting, just underscoring what Danielle is talking about, forgotten, it seems that maybe the electorate, some people have forgotten. But it also seems like many Republicans, particularly those on the hill, those who once worked alongside him, have not forgotten him and have made it very clear that they are not looking to back him, at least not publicly.

MCALLISTER: Well, you know, there are people that are actually backing him publicly. One of the people that have been advocating for him and giving him kudos is actually on the debate stage with him. There has been more than one instance where at the time, Senator Rick Santorum, who worked with him not only as a congressman but also as a senator back and forth was able to sit there and acknowledge the good things that Newt Gingrich did.

He said he looked up to him as a role model as well. There are definitely conservatives out there that advocate for him, but, yes, there was a harsh record. Again, people don't forget the fact that he was being extremely hypocritical going after President Clinton about the affair at Monica Lewinsky while at the same time courting his third wife while cheating on his second wife. That rubbed people the wrong way.

He did step on a lot of toes with that impeachment process as well as some of the other things that he brought to the table when he came into the class in 1994. And even when we go back to the Bachmann question, Congresswoman Bachmann also has been known for taking subsidies from the federal government and then railing against the federal government. So even though she was going after the former speaker in regards to the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae issue there also was a little bit of hypocrisy there from Congresswoman Bachmann when it comes to the issue.

So you saw how the former speaker took it. He was able to sidestepped it, saying "Listen, factually this is not true" and the congresswoman has a tendency to get some of her facts wrong and again she's sitting there looking a little hypocritical herself.

WHITFIELD: Let's talk about Newt Gingrich and you know, he has been rising in the polls. However as of late, maybe within the past week or two, we're seeing that the distance between he and Romney and Paul has been shrinking a tad bit. Danielle, why? And is it his display of confidence or perhaps even his kind of toned down confidence in recent days? Is that behind that?

BELTON: You know, I mean, I got to be honest, I don't think Newt Gingrich is that likable. I think initially because the fact he is so smart, because he is so aggressive and charismatic and he does most certainly believe in himself and his abilities, if you're not paying that close attention, you know, he looks pretty interesting, looks pretty good. But the more and more you watch Gingrich, the more and more you start to see things you don't like.

He's kind of smarmy. He can be very dismissive and condescending. I mean just - in the exchange with Bachmann, it was very awkward during the debates. He often did not refer to her by her name. You know, he called everyone else by their name, and would ultimately refer to her as she. So there is a lot of things that make people uncomfortable.

WHITFIELD: OK. I missed that one. Lenny, did you catch that one? During the debate?

MCALLISTER: Listen, yes, but they say the same thing about now President Obama where he was professorial and a little detached. They come across as elitist -

(CROSSTALK)

MCALLISTER: Oh, they said the same exact thing about President Obama. You know how he talked down to people that are linked to guns and religion. He claimed that - he said that during the campaign trail and it still wasn't enough to overcome -

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Interesting. All right. BELTON: (INAUDIBLE) he said it with a hot mic in front of a microphone. So it lived back and forth throughout the news cycle. Just the same.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Hold it.

MCALLISTER: You're always being recorded, Danielle. You know this.

WHITFIELD: This is why this race is so contentious. But we're not done. We have got more air time for you guys to expound on these views here. We'll see you in al little bit.

In the meantime, all the Republican president candidates are trying to court the conservative vote. Each says they're more conservative than the other. Rick Perry's push, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We continue to delve into the issues on the presidential campaign. Every Sunday, at this hour, we're spending the "CNN Newsroom" allowing you to hear from the contenders as they spell out their future for what they see as the future for the United States.

Republican contender Rick Perry is on a bus tour across Iowa. He's needing a strong showing in the caucuses that are just two weeks away now. He's pushing a part-time Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK PERRY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: There is no debate about whether or not this president has failed. The only debate is going to be about whether we're going to settle for marginal change or we're going to really change Washington, D.C., put laws into place, stop these individuals from going, from being congressman to lobbyists overnight, stop the corruption that we're seeing between Washington, D.C. and Wall Street. I want to work with the Congress. And I do work with Democrats and Republicans in Texas now for some many years. And we - I know how to get things done.

One of the first thing I want to do as president of the United States is work with congress to repeal Obama care. Those Catholic charities, simply because they won't perform abortions, their values are important to them, but this president said, we'll stop the funding.

The Justice Department is trying to impact long-standing law that basically says whether or not a church can hire or fire a minister and other staff because of their values. Think about that. That's a war on values. That is a war on religion. And Americans are not going to accept this assault of their values anymore.

I'm a conservative fighter. I will get up and fight every day and I'm a Washington outsider. I'm not afraid to step on some toes if that's what is required. And, you know, as I said, put that flat tax in place, close those corporate loopholes, create a part time Congress. I think it is time to spend - we want to overhaul Washington, that's one of the ways to do it. You can't do that. I mean, it is too important of work what they're doing.

Let me share something with you. My own state was a stand alone entity, 13th largest economy in the world, and yet our legislature meets for 140 days, every other year. And we come in and we do our budget work. We get our balanced budget because we have a balanced budget amendment to our Constitution. We passed the laws that need to be passed. We - for my perspective, we have become the most dynamic pro jobs creating state in America because we had those principle approaches of keeping our taxes low and our regulatory fair and predictable, a legal system that didn't allow for over suing and then those members of the legislature, (INAUDIBLE) paid U$600 a month, they go home and they live with their citizens that they represent. They have a real job back home. And they live under the laws they passed. And I think it is time that the United States Congress to live under that same type of system.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The U.S. military reaches a milestone by crossing a border. The politics surrounding getting out of Iraq coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to this special hour of the CNN NEWSROOM. We're focusing on politics, allowing you to hear from the 2012 presidential contenders. Sixteen hours ago a U.S. troops left Iraq and entered Kuwait. More than 100 heavily armored trucks and vehicles carried 500 soldiers across the border. It is the largest troop drawdown for the United States since the Vietnam War.

President Barack Obama marked the end of the war with a trip to Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, last week. He told the men and women of the U.S. armed services that their commitment and bravery are appreciated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PRES. BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE U.S: We know too well the heavy cost of this war. More than 1.5 million Americans have served in Iraq. 1.5 million. Over 30,000 Americans have been wounded. And those are only the wounds that show. Nearly 4,500 Americans made the ultimate sacrifice. Including 202 fallen hero's from here at Ft. Bragg, 202.

So today we pause to say a prayer for all those families who lost their loved ones. For they are part of our broader American family, we grieve with the them. We also know that these numbers don't tell the full story of the Iraq war. Not even close. Our civilians have represented our country with skill and bravery. Our troops have served tour after tour of duty with precious little time in between.

Our guard and reserve units stepped up with unprecedented service. You have endured dangerous foot patrols and you've endured the pain of seeing your friends and comrades fall. You've had to be more than soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and coast guardsmen. You also had to be diplomats and development workers and trainers and peacemakers. Through all this you have shown why the United States military is the finest fighting force in the history of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Texas congressman and Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul is outspoken about American forces going overseas. Hear his comments about the Iraq war ending.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RON PAUL, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Why are we going to pretend that we're leaving Iraq and we really aren't and we're going to maintain the biggest embassy in the world and have 17,000 personnel there that are contractors making twice as much as our military? You can save billions of dollars doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Michele Bachmann calls Ron Paul dangerous when it comes to his policy on Iran. More of Bachmann's comments on next in this special hour of the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, CNN brings you politics each Sunday during this hour. We're bringing you the 2012 presidential contenders in their words. So sparks fly among the Republican contenders when the topic is the threat of a nuclear Iran. National security is a huge issue. Here is a contentious exchange between Ron Paul and Michele Bachmann.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RON PAUL, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You know what I really fear about what is happening here? It is another Iraq coming. It is war propaganda going on. And we're arguing -- to me the greatest danger is that we will have a president that will overreact and we will soon bomb Iran and the sentiment is very mixed. It is very mixed.

Even in Israel. At the greatest danger is overreacting, there is no evidence that they have it. And it would make more sense. If we live through the cold war, which we did, with 30,000 missiles pointed at us, we ought to really sit back and think and not jump the gun and believe that we are going to be attacked. That's how we got into that useless war in Iraq.

REP. MICHELE BACHMANN, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: With all due respect to Ron Paul, I think I have never heard a more dangerous answer for American security than the one that we just heard from Ron Paul. And I'll tell you the reason why, and the reason -- the reason why I would say that is because we know without a shadow of a doubt that with Iran will take a nuclear weapon, they will use it to wipe our ally Israel off the face of the map, and they stated they will use it against the United States of America.

PAUL: I think -- I think this wild goal to have another war in the name of defense is the dangerous thing. The danger is really us overreacting and we need a strong national defense and we need to only go to war with a declaration of war and just carelessly flouting it and starting these wars so often.

BACHMANN: And the problem would be the greatest under reaction in world history if we have an avowed mad man who uses that nuclear weapon to wipe nations of the face of the earth and we have an IAEA report that just recently came out that said, literally, Iran is within just months of being able to obtain that weapon. Nothing could be more dangerous than the comments that we just heard.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right, 30 seconds.

PAUL: There is no U.N. report that said that. It is totally wrong on what you just said.

BACHMANN: IAEA report.

PAUL: That is not true. They produced the information that led you to believe that. They have no evidence. There is no -- no enrichment.

BACHMANN: And if we agree with that, if we agree with that the United States people could be at risk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Once again, let's bring in Danielle Belton and Lenny McAllister. It was almost like you two a moment ago. Like you were Bachmann and Ron Paul arguing on those points. Let's talk about this foreign affairs. Now the president may be an easy target on issues of the economy. But on foreign affairs, Lenny you know what has to be a Republican candidate strategy, will it be that Iran will take the focus just like we witnessed?

LENNY MCALLISTER, REPUBLICAN ANALYST: Well, what I think is this. When we start looking at for example Iraq, you know it being spun as a victory, but this is not a victory. This is President Bush's agreement to leave in 2011. The reason why America is leaving Iraq at this time is because the Obama administration was not able to successfully negotiate an extension of our military to be in Iraq without certain security measures being in place for our military personnel being there. So they're doing an excellent job of spinning this as a victory. It is a happy moment when our troops come home safely.

But this is not necessarily a military victory and how they come home. Now when it comes to foreign affairs, I think we have to be very careful, particularly even these Republican candidates with this isolationist type of perspective. The last time we had a European war, we let people deal with things on their own. People forget in the 1930s, there was an isolationist movement when it came to Nazi, Germany and how they dealt with Europe.

The next thing you know, millions of blood, people's blood was spilled throughout the earth and we ended up being in a world war as well for four years. This is something that I think Michele Bachmann has a point with. I understand where Congressman Paul is coming from. We cannot just completely pull out and then be reactionary without being willing to pay huge consequences in reactionary type of way.

WHITFIELD: So Danielle, is that going to be the strategy that Republicans are going to say this is an example of this president being weak on foreign policy, because of the way Iraq was inherited and how it was being handled?

DANIELLE BELTON, BLOGGER: I think that's a really kind of weak point of attack. Considering that Iraq is a sovereign country. They didn't want us there anymore. The sovereign country doesn't want you there; you have to leave, unless we plan on annexing and making it a territory. I feel like the openings were limited here. I felt any criticism toward the president for not figuring out a way to extend the Iraq war, it wasn't -- it has not been a popular war with the American people. It is kind of ridiculous. It is a ridiculous point of attack, a point of criticism.

WHITFIELD: I wonder if the Republicans are feeling like the candidates really are struggling at this point to be critical of this White House as it pertains to foreign policy. Because we're talking about the war ending on promise, several terrorists captured or killed including Osama bin Laden. And so, you know Lenny, is it not very difficult for these Republican candidates to say this White House has failed as it pertains to foreign policy?

MCALLISTER: You can say that they failed in certain aspects of the strategy from a geopolitical perspective. If they say he's completely weak, it is a bad point of attack. Osama bin Laden, gone. As you said, you know, look at the people who have been taken off the field. I personally as a Republican strategist loved that line. That's what I want to see from my president. Not necessarily being a warmonger but going after people that do threaten America.

So they gave an opportunity to deliver that line and it was a great line. With that said, he has not had the best relationship with Israel. He's done some things and he has mismanaged some of the relationships. Look he tried to extend an olive branch to Iran back in 2009. How has that turned out? Look at what North Korea was doing in 2009 and 2010, firing off missiles even though we told them not to. So there have been some failures.

Let's not forget, we had very near misses when it came to home grown terrorism, when you start looking at Times Square, you look at other things such as the Christmas Day 2009 underwear bombing. Those weren't things that were found by TSA or the government. They were found by citizens in a lack of execution by the terrorists. There are still some points where Republicans can attack this president and say, listen, the president has not kept us as safe as he needs to be.

WHITFIELD: So why aren't some of these milestones resonating Danielle among the voters or the electorate. Look at this recent poll showing that it is fairly close, neck and neck in terms of his approval rating. President Obama's approval rating where the people approve or disapprove, they have only 3 percentage point margin of error there. Why is this?

BELTON: Well, it is the economy. You get bonus points if you're great at foreign policy. Americans have a pretty short attention span when it comes to that. What they're primarily concerned about is whether they pay their bills, whether they can pay their mortgages and their rent and whether they're employed. As long as there is issues with economic inequality and people not having work, the president will struggle in his approval rating. That's really what that rating is about. It is not a -- not a comment on his foreign policy.

WHITFIELD: So Lenny if foreign policy doesn't matter as much as domestic issues, then are some of these candidates, Republican candidates, wasting their time if the economy is what matters most to Americans and less is the case for foreign policy?

MCALLLISTER: Well, they -- still, the bottom line is the president is the commander in chief. And we have plenty of blood and treasure that we have spent over the last several years and what we need to do moving forward needs to be navigated appropriately. And again we're jeopardizing some of the strength of our relationships around the world, when we have gotten ourselves involved in four different wars, when we said that we weren't involved in regime change and then we got involved in regime change in Libya, we have to look at the commander in chief and say when we move forward in 2013, do we have a commander in chief that says what he does and does what he says or are we going to have what we have gotten from the Obama administration, which has been four years of mixed signals, some good results, some bad results.

WHITFIELD: All right. Lenny McAllister, Danielle Belton, thanks so much. Have a happy holiday as well.

MCALLISTER: Happy holiday as well. Thank you. Thank you, Danielle. God bless everybody.

WHITFIELD: Thank you.

BELTON: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. Those inside the beltway of Washington, D.C. Have nothing on Rick Santorum. He's encouraging voters to tell Washington what to do.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Just with John King. He was out here from CNN. And we were talking about all these people who sit in Washington, D.C. and tell everybody around the country what you're thinking. All right. What the people of America are thinking and they never leave Washington, D.C. or they never leave their little academic setting. And they're telling everybody, here's what America's thinking. You tell America what you're thinking. Don't listen to what the pundits are saying. You measure the candidates. You make the decision. You lead this country. That's what Iowans are supposed to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) WHITFIELD: All right. We continue to delve into the issues on the presidential campaign. Every Sunday we're spending this hour of the CNN NEWSROOM to allow you to hear from the contenders as they spell out their ideas for the future for the United States.

Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum is focusing on the economy, specifically on small town rural America. He has visited every county in Iowa and here is part of his remark or remarks rather from Bell Plain.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORIUM, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In our economy. So I put together a plan that will get the economy going, generally, but also specifically focus on one area of the economy where we need the most help in revitalizing small town rural and blue collar America. So we cut the tax for all people in America. We take a 10 percent tax rate and then a 28 percent tax rate. And 10 percent tax rate for most people, most income, and then raise it to 28 percent for folks who are higher income. Why do we do that?

Well, we want to simplify the tax code instead of having six rates, let's simplify it with two and then take a very complex and big thick tax code with lots of regulations and simplify it to five deductions, children, charity, pensions, health care, and housing. Notice I did that and didn't pause or lose my -- just wanted to differentiate myself maybe from some other candidates in the race. So there is five. All right. Children, charities, pension, health care, housing. Why? Those are the pillars.

Those are the pillars that we as society said we need to support. We don't want a big disruption at a time of economic stress and removing the support from those very vital areas that we support in our tax code today. We get rid of everything else. We make it a very simple code to -- that's -- that makes it simple, makes it more efficient, makes it easier to comply with and creates a real opportunity for our country to grow as a result of lower rates and simplify code.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Former house speaker Newt Gingrich remains a favorite with Iowa voters, but will his recent rise take a quick fall?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, "SITUATION ROOM:" Watching Republican presidential front-runner Newt Gingrich in action this week brings back lots of memories. I've been covering him for a long time. I've seen his ups and I've seen his downs. While preparing for my interview with the former house speaker in Washington, I reviewed an early interview I did with him; he was then the new speaker of the house back on June 10th, 1995. I was then CNN's senior White House correspondent, also anchoring "Inside Politics" weekend, you might remember our tag line, the events, the issues, the battles, the bites. So much of what he said then is similar to what he says today. At the time he was thinking of facing Bob Dole for the Republican presidential nomination to oppose Bill Clinton for a second term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think I intend to allow the door to stay open probably until close to filing in New Hampshire.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN "SITUATION ROOM:" He insisted though his goal was to be an educator.

GINGRICH: I tried teaching a 20-hour course which I taught for free, which was shown all over the country. I couldn't get reporters interested in looking at it. If we drop the word presidential possibility, we have 15 cameras at a speech.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: In the end as you know he decided not to run. He hinted at that during the interview. Would I like to be president he said back in '96, he said, probably. But not a burning desire on my part. I frankly like being speaker and he added --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH, (R) PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Frankly I'm more interested in getting the ideas out and getting people to look at renewing American civilization and competing in the world market and accelerating the change in the information age.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: That was then. I suspect he now does have a burning desire to become president. Knowing Gingrich I suspect he can also begin to feel there is a real possibility of that happening. And he's pumped. This is all vintage Newt Gingrich. He's been honing his lines for a long, long time and like all of you, I'm curious to see how this all plays out.

Wolf Blitzer, CNN, Washington.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Here is a look at where the contenders, the 2012 contenders will be this week. John Huntsman, Ron Paul and Mitt Romney will be in New Hampshire. Ron Paul then joins Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry and Rick Santorum in Iowa. Newt Gingrich heads to South Carolina Friday.

All right. Thanks so much for tuning in to this special hour of politics. Join us every Sunday 4:00 Eastern Time. Now stay tuned right here for the latest news right here in the NEWSROOM.