(laughter) but out of the billowing smoke and dust of tweets and trivia emerged gingrich. (laughter) (cheers and applause) once again, ready to lead those who won't be intimidated by the political elite and are ready to take on the challenges america. nation! (cheers and applause) >> stephen: john lit go! -- lithgow! (cheers and applause) usa! usa! usa! usa! (cheers and applause) >> stephen: i know who i am voting for in 2012. wow, i am sure that won back all of newt's supporters that haven't just watched the dexter marathon. you're welcome, newt. go get em, buddy. folk, swimsuit season is right around the corner and there's one place i always turn for my fitness tips, the house of representatives. (laughter) just check out this month's issue of the very not gay men's health magazine. that's illinois republican aaron schoch showing off his six-pack abs. and if you look closely you can also see his pathway to prosperity. (laughter) (cheers and applause) >> stephen: now congressman schoch is partnering with men's health to promote a fitness initiative called the fit for life

newt gingrich is running for president -- what's next for 2012? we tackle it all tonight on "washington week." >> osama bin laden will never again threaten the united states of america. gwen: but nearly two weeks later, the fallout from the death of public enemy number one continues, especially in afghanistan and pakistan. >> pakistan is not the birthplace of al qaeda, we did not invite osama bin laden to pakistan or even to afghanistan. gwen: as the u.s. braces for retaliation we learn more about what bin laden planned and what happens next in south is asia and the middle east. on the domestic campaign trail, more candidates join the republican fray. >> i'm newt gingrich and i'm announcing my candidacy for president of the united states because i believe we can return america to hope and opportunity. >> there is an old saying, three's a charm. gwen: and others edge toward the ring. how long can the democratic president capitalize on the g.o.p.'s uncertainty? covering the week, nancy youssef of mcclatchy newspapers, david sanger of "the new york t

where does that go, to a groupon discount on gingrich bummer stickers? actually, that's a pretty high-tech way to roll out your first campaign ad. i hope the youtube announcement itself measures up. >> i'm newt gingrich, and i'm announcing my candidacy for president of the united states because i believe we can return america to hope and opportunity, to full employment, to real security, to an american energy program, to a balanced budget. >> jon: back up 3 ( laughter ) so who thought it was a good idea to do your statement of the art campaign computer launch in a sears photo studio booth? ( laughter ) with a casio accompaniment. that's not music to launch a hip presidential campaign. that's the music for a mother-daughter walk on the beach in a massengil ad. still, gingrich announcing on twitter and youtube instead of on television and a newspaper it's as though newt has abandoned old media while it was sick or possibly dying to take up with newer, younger, more ( bleep ) media. ( laughter ) ( applause ) i-- i'm a little baffled as to why he's doing it.

that was newt gingrich. then yesterday on abc, texas congressman ron paul also announced he is a candidate for the gop nomination. >> today and at this moment i'm officially announcing that i am a candidate for president in the republican primary. >> why? >> because time has come around to the point where the people are agreeing with much of what i have been saying for 30 years. so, i think the time is right. >> all right, then there is tonight on his fox news program, former arkansas governor mike huckabee expected to announce whether he is running for president. indiana governor mitch daniels who hasn't said what he is going to do and chris christie. chris christie has said repeatedly that he's not getting into the race. so, joining me now, my favorites to talk about this and the rest of the world of power of politics maria cardona in washington for us and republican strategist lenny mccallister in chicago. guys, good to see you, as always. as we always do here, first question first. maria, what was your p

>> newt gingrich to cain. >> you went from gingrich to cain. who did you switch from? >> it allowed me to take a closer look at everybody else which may hurt them. because with were allowed to see what the other people stood for. >> again sean, there's a mistake, political calculation made by some candidates it was too early. i would argue they made a mistake. for these republicans you want obama out? >> yes! >> you want the campaign now? >> yes! >> i think they made a mistake by not showing up. >> sean: i don't want to be contrary to the audience. there are some legit miss reasons. donald trump would have to finish the apprentice. newt gingrich stated he has unfinished business before he can legally jump into the race. i want to get their reaction to that? >> do you feel sorry for donald trump that he has to finish "the apprentice?" how many of you want trump to run? six. do you think it is okay for romney not to have participated? >> i think he has to work much harder to convince the south carolina republicans to vote for him. >> it is disappointing i expected more f

newt gingrich will hit the deck running. he has campaign speeches lined up in washington and atlanta. >>> more than 300 billboards that could help find the person who beat a giants fan will soon go up along los angeles free ways. it shows two sketches of the men who beat brian stow. it also reminds people about the $100,000 reward. brian stow is still in a hospital in a coma. doctors hope to have him moved to a bay area hospital. >>> the navy seals report an ongoing problem, counter fits, guys who claim to be navy seals so they can pick up women. and they expect this problem to get worse after reports of seal team 6 taking out osama bin laden. there are genuine seals who investigate reports of fakes. one says he gets 4-50 inquiries a day. >> at the white house tonight, michelle obama is hosting a poetry event that is raising controversy. she kicked off the celebration, she praised the power of poetry and said writing played a big role in her own life. >> i was a passionate creative writer and a -- sort of a poet. that is how

. >> i'm newt gingrich and i'm announcing my candidacy for president of the united states. there's a much better american future ahead with more jobs, more prosperity, a better health system, longer lives, greater independent living and a country is decentralized under the tenth amendment with power once again back with the american people and away from washington bureaucracy. >> lehrer: the former house speaker is widely viewed as one of his party's most prolific policy thinkers. but he also brings a polarizing past. his 1995-'96 budget battle with president clinton resulted in a shutdown of the federal government. a few years later, he led the republican charge to impeach clinton. ultimately, he lost support within party ranks and resigned from the house in 1998. with today's move, gingrich will be the first full-fledged candidate to enter the republican field. others have gone part of the way, by forming exploratory committees. they include former massachusetts governor mitt romney, who was a candidate for the nomination in 2008; former minnesota governor tim pawlenty; f

. >>> gingrich glittered. a tough start to the campaign for the newly-announced presidential candidate. >>> and in chicago, it was oprah's big night. the queen of daytime talk had all of her a-list friends along for an unforgettable good-bye. >>> good morning, everybody. thanks for being with us today. we begin, now, with new details following arnold schwarzenegger's admission that he fathered a child outside of his marriage. reports now say the child is a boy. in fact, a teenager, about age 14. >> and also, reports now that the boy's mother and schwarzenegger's wife, maria shriver, were actually pregnant at the same time. john hendren joins us this morning from washington with more as these details emerge. pretty tough, john. >> reporter: indeed. good morning, rob and peggy. being a public figure often means enduring private humiliations in public. as schwarzenegger is discovering, when you're an action hero and a politician, that's doubly true. now, it's the schwarzenegger's family's turn. what they're sayin

but gingrich starts down in the polls, weighed down by political and personal baggage. he admitted mistakes. including an affair with one of his congressional aides who he went on to marry. >> whatever the republican problems are, jon, the president still does have his problems, though? >> 9% unemployment, $4 a gallon gas. in the latest abc news poll, diane, 45% said they would definitely not support barack obama for re-election. so they know he's got some big problems as well. the question is, who will the republicans put against him. >> so their poll numbers are still current under the water on all of this. good to see you, jon. >>> and there is word tonight from north carolina that evangelist billy graham is in the hospital. graham is 92 years old. he was admitted today near his home in asheville. his doctors say early tests point to pneumonia and that he's been given antibiotics. they say he's resting comfortably and he is fully alert. >>> and still ahead on "world news" -- a young boy accused of shooting his white supremacist father lifts a veil on a secret world o

i'm as anxious as anybody else to see all of the candidates come out. >> reporter: as for gingrich? on paper, he looks like a top contender. a former speaker of the house, who actually produced balanced budgets. a conservative known to all republicans. for all the republican problems, if gas stays near $4 a gallon, unemployment anywhere near 9%, they still believe that barack obama is eminently beatable. in fact, in the latest abc news poll, 45% said they would definitely not vote for obama. jonathan karl, abc news, washington. >>> well, the president and mrs. obama hosted a controversial event last night, celebrating poetry and the spoken word. the inclusion of grammy award winning rapper, common, was blasted by conservative critics like sarah palin. also former white house aide, karl rove. they labeled the performer a thug. in his presentation, common celebrated the rise of president obama and mourned for young people who find it, quote, hard to see blessings in a violent culture. >>> a nevada courthouse has released video of a navy s.e.a.l. on a bloody rampage on the las vegas st

gingrich, a supporter of same-sex marriage dumped glitter on him at a book signing. joining me live to talk a little bit about the week we have seen, two of our favorite political players. our favorite, not two of our favorites, these are our favorites. maria cardona in washington and lenny in washington. good to see you guys, as always. we'll start like we always do. you tell me, lenny, what was the your political headline of the week? >> false start. >> false start. >> maria? >> that it might be the end of days because democrats are feeling sorry for gingrich. >> feeling sorry for him. let's pick up on that point. maria, some are actually saying he's done, literally. days after he got in the race, some are saying it's over. can we go that far? >> you know, it's hard to say because, clearly, a day is a lifetime in politics. but after the week that he's had, he doesn't need democrats beating up on him. he doesn't even need his own gop rivals beating up on him. newt is his own worst nightmare and he doesn't clearly understand what it takes, the kind of discipline it t

is newt gingrich an exciting candidate? you have said recently that there was a place and a time for him. do you think he's the right candidate for the republican party right now? will he win the nomination? >> you know, i think the press always tries to paint a dark picture on everything. i think every candidate has their challenges. i think what we've seen with newt gingrich, he's had great ideas in the past. what we're already starting to see, he's coming out and showing how his ideas today match the feelings of what they're dealing with today. whether medicaid mandates, whether it's food stamps, whether it's the unions. he's come out and talked about the unions. that's what we want to hear about are the issues of the day. that's what every candidate has to do. i was pleased to see him start to do that this week. >> how do you square that, saying he did have a time and a place. does he speak to the future to you? >> you know, i think that will remain to be seen. that's what he has got to tell. i think the people in south

and newt gingrich. damage control on the 2012 campaign trail. and sex scandals that rock the public here and abroad. scandals that rock the public here and abroad. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] doctors have been saying it forever. let's take a look. but they've never actually been able to do it like this. let's take a look. v-scan from ge healthcare. a pocket sized imaging device that will help change the way doctors see patients. that's better health for more people. >>> those shouts of human dignity is being heard throughout the region. through the moral force of nonviolence, the people of the region have achieved more change in six months than terrorists have accomplished in decades. >> president obama on thursday, in his first major speech on the uprising in the middle east. israel, of course, ate up most of the headlines but in many respects the arab uprising presents the white house with an urgent set of questions. revolution is happening now and my guest is caught right in the middle. he's king abdullah of jordan a key american ally

say what about newt gingrich. that is what i appreciate about what newt gingrich says. host: this tweet -- we will let that stand as a comment. next is a river field, florida. caller: i just wanted to say that i did not understand -- when you first came on, you said that you liked newt gingrich. for the past few days, he has been making comments which were racial in tone, and not to mention he cheated on his wife. his intelligence should put him on a level or a plateau of both gop members because a lot of the gop members that are now candidates do not really actually fit the criteria of being the president of the united states at this time. we have newt gingrich, one of your colleagues in the gop -- this guy is constantly throwing daggers at mr. president obama for no apparent reason but just to gain some political atmosphere. host: i want to ask you a question. he suggested that newt gingrich has been making comments recently with racial overtones. what is an example? caller: he spent of president obama's kenya race. we all know from donald trump and everything that pr

newt gingrich is not a fresh face. he has a lot of name i.d. people know newt gingrich. maybe it's not a good thing, when you look at those numbers, those unfavorable numbers are pretty high. people know him and may not like him. stay tuned on newt gingrich. >> if people are looking for a fresh face, they got one yesterday. this new, young guy declared yesterday that he also is getting into the race. this texas guy from ron paul, is that the name? >> young guy. 75 years old. this would be his third bid for the white house for ron paul. he did it as a libertarian candidate in 1998 and four years he ran for the republican nomination. he has some pluses. his followers very energetic and i've seen them on the campaign trail and they love this man and he also can raise a lot of money on a dime, t.j. remember the money bombs in the last campaign, he did it a few weeks ago. he could raise money. the down sides, maybe his policies are out of line with most main stream republicans. take a listen to him yesterday when he announced. >> one thing the american people want and i agree

so the question now is how does gingrich survive? with all that's happened this week, will he be able to hold on to some of those big money donors or are they going to take a walk? katie? >> couric: jan crawford. jan, thank you. turning overseas, something happened today that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago. britain's queen elizabeth flew to ireland, a visit made possible now that peace has been made possible in president north but police diffused a pipe bomb outside the royal capital. more from mark phillips in dublin. >> reporter: it takes about an hour to fly from london to dublin but this trip took 100 years. 100 years since an english monarch walked the ground her ancestors had ruled for five centuries. and, my, how things have changed in their absence. no bowing to british monarchs now. from president mary mcaleese just a hand shake, gratefully accepted. not everyone welcomed the visit. perhaps 100 protestors made their feelings known. as did the irish government, no protests allowed. in fact, almost nobody al

newt gingrich has formally announced he will be running for president. scuffles have broken out near the greek parliament in athens as thousands of trade union activists marched to protest against government austerity measures. the greek unions have been facing a 24-hour strike which has caused a major disruption around the country. this was called after the government announced another austerity package in an effort to reduce the deficit. we have a report from the greek capital. >> their goal was to bring greece to a grinding halt. the general strike largely achieved that. the public service workers were trying to buy their private- sector counterparts. -- were joined by their private- sector counterparts. tens of thousands of workers marched on the parliament to tell the government to think again about yet another round of austerity measures which have already pushed the country deeper into recession and have forced many to take 25% average pay cuts or a quarter hours. the ugliest scenes were when protesters hurled missiles at police and responded with

with trump and huckabee gone and gingrich flailing, who's going to yell out loud for the mad as hell crowd? can bachmann resist the call of the wild? with us today, hdnet's dan rather, rachel madoow, kelly o'donnell and michael gers inn. president obama has put out a new plan for the middle east and now he's headed to europe. what's at the center here is the push to put the economy back on track. that's why there's a focus on the debt compromise and that's what the election will hang on. i want to do something different this week. usually we bottom-line things with our regulars, but let's start there this week. we asked the meter, which includes kelly, what is the better position for parties to prepare for 2012, hold firm for your party's priorities like medicare or tax rates, or compromise to get a deal? it's unanimous. all 12 say compromise is the smarter presidential politics for both parties. kelly, explain that, because so far you've seen the republicans holding hard. no taxes. dismantle medicare. democrats holding back, not ready to make a deal, you're saying they're smart, bot

top democrats tell abc news they are far less worried about gingrich than more centrist candidates. the republicans they would least like to face, huntsman, and other formidable candidates include indiana governor mitch daniels and former massachusetts governor mitt romney. rob and peggy. >>> floodwaters are spilling across the mississippi delta pa week m today.e thn a t abtheo threat. the mississippi river is expected to crest in vicksburg, a week from today. more than a foot above the 1927 record. more than a dozen casinos have been shut down, impacting thousands of workers. downstream another spillway could be opened to relieve pressure on levees. >> will be watching that for another two weeks. not expected to crest in new orleans until may 24th, at least right now. so days more to continue to watch that. >> the casinos, all of those jobs. >> some lost revenue. >>> here's your thursday forecast now. thunderstorms from minneapolis, down to memphis. another stormy day from texas to iowa with hail, gusty winds and heavy rain. mountain snow in western colorado and the northern rockie

let's talk about newt gingrich, mary. he's causing waves, as he always does, and i've been covering him for 20 years or more. he said this at a speech. i'm going to play the clip and then the explanation that he gave he to charges of racial bias, if you will, towards the president. the answer that he gave in part on "meet the press" yesterday. listen to these two clips. >> president obama is the most successful food stamp president in american history. more people are on food stamps today than at any point in american history and he's proud of it. i would like to be the most successful paycheck president in american history. >> this kind of automatic reference to racism, this is the president of the united states. the president has to be held accountable. he follows the same destructive political model that destroyed the city of detroit. i follow a model that rick perry and those used to create more jobs in texas. >> the charge that there's a racial overtone here, mary, go ahead. >> you know, sometimes newt does invite co

big newton gingrich 2012-- figure newton gingrich 2012. >> stephen: if only abraham lincoln had shown the leadership to name check corporations that baldly perhaps he could have averted the civil war by declaring a house divide kd not stand, unless it's constructed with-- satisfactory oak roof beams, chinaman built since 18230. we'll be right ba [ male announcer ] it was forged from the fires of imagination. sculpted by an unyielding passion for design. ♪ and tempered by 125 years of legendary performance. introducing the all-new 2012 cls from mercedes-benz. where the world's greatest automobiles take shape. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing. >> stephen: welcome back, everybody, thank you so much. thank you, folks. before the commercial break i broke the titanic news that both donald trump an and-- let's see, ah, i want to say hoyt axton-- mike huckabee, whooo, both of these gentlemen have dropped out of the presidential race to spend more time with their tv shows. of course whoever is the eventual republican nominee is going to need a lot of money. because it is estimated that bar

newt gingrich, on his third marriage. mitch daniels whose wife divorced him, left him with their in our daughters and then returned three years later and then they remarried. and of course donald trump. howard, this is a strange story. let's start with the personal ones and strange for people even thinking of running for president. maybe a situation of desperation they're in. mitch daniels, his story was in every paper this week. they decide to put it out. somebody did. his wyche many years ago left him, left the four daughters in his care, split, married some guy who got divorced himself, then came back three years later, they married again. is this going to be the kind of -- for lack of a better word ickey discussion that no wife or husband really wants to spend a year talking about? >> well, there are a lot of republican leaders who want mitch daniels to run. and my understanding is that he wants to run. and in his own mind has decided to run. but this is what he's dealing with right now. i think this story is out beca

question, how strong is newt gingrich's grassroot support. >> it's not strong. the difference between him and mitt romney in addition to supporting a single pair and the wall street bailouts, newt gingrich also supported medicare part d and individual mandate in health care and global warming cap and trade. so he has lots of ideas. i don't think he has any convictions. he is like mitt romney, a managerial guy without any core beliefs and he's not like mit nit mitt romney in that he doesn't have the picture perfect family. i think that when you saw the tea party, you grassroots, people getting riled up. half of what they got riled up at last election was republican offenses against limited government. and medicare part d was -- it wane as big as the wall street bailout, but medicare part d and no child left behind are things people in tea parties wouldably up. republicans say this is part of the problem. and newt was onboard, lobbying the right at the time. coming to conservative meetings and coming to journalists saying you've got to go along with the prescripti

today former house speaker newt gingrich who embodied the republican party of the mid'90s declared his bid for the white house. at the same time, chris christie, a major new face of the gop, said emphatically he will not run. we bring in steve handelsman with the latest on the race. >> reporter: he's a republican with name recognition, 93% of americans have heard of newt gingrich and he's got experience. but the former house speaker has baggage. two divorces, one reason he's putting his current wife calista front and center. but declaring his run for the white house on twitter does not make gingrich the front-runner, says karl rove. >> he could earn his way into the top tier, though, and that's what is going to be interesting about this contest. new jersey governor chris christie urged by many republicans to run said today in d.c., no way. >> no. >> i'm kidding. >> my god, i'm not running for president. >> reporter: mitt romney is seen by some as the front-runner. donald trump in new hampshire today did poll number one. till he challenged president obama's birth, trump has lost 69% of

newt gingrich gets glitter bombed. he had a bit of a week, did he not. >> it's incredible the week that he's had. the video of him getting covered in glitter is almost symbolic. you think, what is the caption? when it rains, it pours. first gingrich goes on "meet the press" and slams the medicare plan and he has gotten so beat up about that he's had to apologize and that was from people in his own party and now this. i mean, the glitter culprit is named nick espinoza. he's in his 20s and calls himself a political activist. >> that's a lot of glitter. >> yeah, a lot of glitter. he's apparently best known as a prankster. thousands of pennies making political points all along the way. this is another one of his 15 minutes of fame. >> how did his bodyguards handle it? >> it's glitter. some people said that he was all smiles, which we know is important. a big scowl does not play well for the cameras. >> and then the guy runs off. they ran him off. >> okay. rick santorum, another presidential contender and john mccain. what

newt gingrich, walker percenty the great southern writer described newt gingrich. he didn't have in him in mind. he said do not be the kind of person that gets all as in an ode living that is future gingrich's fault. will not be president of the united states. he will be an interesting candidate. >> lehrer: michael. >> i think i agree with that he has a lot of baggage from his own personal background. he makes a lot of gaffes. his wind works too quickly sometimes for his mouth. and i think that a lot of republicans view him as kind of the ghost of revolutions past. i mean-- he is identified with the 1990s. not necessarily with the future of the republican party. so you know, he'll be good in the debates. and he'll contribute to the discussion, there's no question. but it's hard to find peep who think he's going to be the nominee. >> lehrer: ron paul, formally announcedded they. he is officially in, he has run before, of course, he is a libertarian. >> this should be his moment, the kind of tea party moment. and he has the most committed supporters in the republican

newt gingrich's official candidacy is only a week old. he seems to be tripping over his tongue. >> reporter: it's astonishing to see what a tough week he'd had so far. part of it, gwen, remember, newt gingrich came into office, the last time he held public office was 13 years ago. we're in a new technological environment. newt gingrich is somebody who embraces this technology. he went right to you-tube to try to clarify but he's operating in a world that he hasn't really had to operate in with this level of scrutiny when he was back the house speaker in 1998. this just wasn't the environment. what he did here by sort of stiff-arming paul ryan, the house republican budget plan that we've talked about that wants to change medicare, by sort of stiff-arming that he just incurreded the wrath of the republicans from the wall street journal editorial page, national review. these are constituencies you need to court when running in a republican primary. when paul ryan's budget passeded, gwen, we commented on all the presidential candidates. they

>>> and it's been quite a week for newt gingrich. he got major flak after the proposal to overhaul medicare. and then he suffered another attack. a glitter attack. [ nurse ] i'm a nurse. i believe in the power of science and medicine. but i'm also human. and i believe in stacking the deck. @@ yet an instant classic." with sports car styling and power, plus the refinement and space of a luxury sedan, the jaguar xf is a timeless blend of performance and craftsmanship. see how jaguar outperforms the competition at jaguarperforms.com or visit your local jaguar dealer. >>> we are learning more and more about the scandal inside the schwarzenegger/shriver home. the ex-govern admitted to fathering a child with a staffer. "the new york times" is reporting the child is a boy. he's 14 years old. they're also saying his mother was working in the home while she was pregnant and while shriver was pregnant with the couple's youngest child. thelma gutierrez joins us. it just gets uglier. >> a source told us last night that arnold schwarzenegger is i

newt gingrich. take a chance on him. take a chance. take a chance. >> i'm newt gingrich. and i think this message is fabulous. >> jimmy: oh, well, that's nice. anti-gay marriage but very pro-gay music. [ cheers and applause ] i've always said, "mamma mia" will change a man. is everyone excited about the premiere of "the bachelorette" on monday? let me see. is anyone excited about this premiere? the bachelorette this time around is a dental student named ashley. she came in third last season on "the bachelor." she'll be here on monday night. when she gets here, i want to ask her about a promo abc is running. because i think the way she's going about trying to find a man might be a little bit off. >> monday, may 23rd, 26-year-old dental student ashley follows her heart to find love among 25 eligible men. for ten amazing weeks, she'll wine them, dine them, romance them -- and drill into their teeth! >> ahh! >> "the bachelorette." >> open wide! >> root canal of love. on abc. >> now spit! [ applause ] >> jimmy: you see what i mean? no place for flossing. and one more thing. an

. >> reporter: when newt gingrich criticized fellow republican paul ryan's congressional budget plan, conservatives went ballistic. >> my god! it's inexplicable. >> reporter: and democratic operatives went to work on television attack ads. >> newt gingrich says the republican plan that would essentially end medicare is too radical. >> reporter: the ad takes aim at presumptive republican front- runner mitt romney, implying he flip-flops on issues. >> but with mitt romney you have to wonder, which page is he on today? >> reporter: and it's not just democrats on the attack. the influential "wall street journal" editorial page, as well as other conservative outlets, have skewered both romney and gingrich. their missteps helped former minnesota governor tim pawlenty, who told me earlier this month that despite their differences, republicans have common ground. >> one thing we all agree on is we can't improve this country with the president that we have. >> reporter: but the early stumbles from gingrich and a lack of enthusiasm for romney also have republicans looking for someone else. popu