. >> biden. >> i'd have to go with biden. >> either. both. >> who do you prefer? this is "hardball". >> clinton. >> i'd go with biden. >> clinton. >> clinton. >> hillary! >> joe biden to secretary of state, and jennifer granholm, former governor of michigan as his running mate. >> boy, you're original. >> who do you think, biden or hillary. >> i'm sorry, i didn't hear? >> biden or clinton for vice president this time running as president. >> i like them both. >> you're tough. >> aarp is a nonpartisan -- >> okay! you got your name in there! aarp, i have never heard of the organization in my life! >> you could be one of our -- >> no, but i'm eligible. >> sir, biden or hillary clinton? >> neither one. >> either one? >> neither one. >> clinton. >> hillary clinton. >> i think we're moving towards clinton. definitely clinton. >> clinton or biden? >> definitely hillary. >> stay with joe. >> stay with joe. are we having a correlation of male/female here. everybody here who's÷skñ"jbk4j hillary clinton, raise your hand. all the women raise your hand and keep it up. the m

, biden? look, i get it. a long speech, a calming voice, right around afternoon nap time, i get it. biden might as well washed down ambien and nyquil with warm milk while listening to sade in a sleeping bag fresh out of the dryer while chamomile tea was being administered intravenously. i get it. but isn't it a huge part of any politician's job to stay awake while other people are talking? >> and elected a democratic legislature. and in 2005 -- >> hey, expediency asked the question is a position politic -- >> willing to work in a collaborative fashion with the federal government. >> could we please get some red bull to the capital stat. maybe it's our problem. maybe we need to think about our politicians the way we think about babies and puppies. maybe we could learn to think they're adorable while they're falling asleep. look at this dog falling asleep on his darling little feet. huh, huh? i haven't seen anything that cute since this afternoon when joe biden could barely keep his eyes open. i

, biden? look, i get it. a long speech, a calming voice, right around afternoon nap time, i get it. biden might as well washed down ambien and nyquil with warm milk while listening to sade in a sleeping bag fresh out of the dryer while chamomile tea was being administered intravenously. i get it. but here's the thing, isn't it a huge part of any politician's job to stay awake while other people are talking? >> and elected a democratic legislature. and in 2005 -- >> hey, expediency asked the question is a position politic -- >> willing to work in a collaborative fashion with the federal government. >> could we please get some red bull to the capitol stat? maybe it's our problem. maybe we need to think about our politicians the way we think about babies and puppies. maybe we could learn to think they're adorable while they're falling asleep. look at this dog falling asleep on his darling little feet. huh, huh? i haven't seen anything that cute since this afternoon when joe biden could barely kee

, biden? look, i get it. a long speech, a calming voice, right around afternoon nap time, i get it. biden might as well washed down ambien and nyquil with warm milk while listening to sade in a sleeping bag fresh out of the dryer while chamomile tea was being administered intravenously. i get it. but isn't it a huge part of any politician's job to stay awake while other people are talking? >> and elected a democratic legislature. and in 2005 -- >> hey, expediency asked the question is a position politic -- >> willing to work in a collaborative fashion with the federal government. >> could we please get some red bull to the capitol stat? maybe it's our problem. maybe we need to think about our politicians the way we think about babies and puppies. maybe we could learn to think they're adorable while they're falling asleep. look at this dog falling asleep on his darling little feet. huh, huh? i haven't seen anything that cute since this afternoon when joe biden could barely keep his eyes open. i

vice president biden took time today to speak with me here in washington. we are leaving iraq with no residual force left behind. everybody's coming home. >> correct. absolutely. >> had the iraqi government requested that 10,000 or 15,000 or 20,000 american troops stayed behind on an indefinite basis, would you have supported that? was there any u.s. objective that would have been met by keeping more troops there for longer? >> no, not troops in that number at all. i don't think that would have ever -- i don't think we would have responded positively to that. had they come back and said we need some troops to help us train in country these troops or finish this, that we would have considered. but the idea of keeping 20,000 troops there, no. and i don't think would have had any impact. >> the -- >> any positive impact. particularly in -- look, one of the things about iraq is, we made a commitment we were going to leave. the iraqi people, who've been occupied in the past, looked and really wondered, do these guys really mean it? didn't they come for our oil?

the first i think is it's joe biden versus mitt romney here. if you talk about two guys that are fighting for the middle class, you put joe biden against mitt romney, is the calculus not immediate lly evident? >> i think, first of all, if i was mitt romney, i would not have fought joe biden. i would only fight barack obama. somebody in his campaign should teach him you don't punch down, you punch up if you're running for president. so that's -- >> which, of course, you know having run for president yourself. >> exactly. the fact that he could be baited into a fight with joe biden tells you all that you need to know what's going on wrong with his campaign. but the other thing to getç in this fight a week after they fought against the payroll tax cut extension which is right at the middle class, the timing of this -- i would have -- if i was romney, this was not the right time and biden was not the right guy to fight. all of that spells that he knows they're vulnerable with the middle class. they're looking at the poll numbers of the middle cla

>> greg: it's impossible to take joe biden out of context. when joe biden himself is out of context. we don't know what context he is in. the left loves redefining things with the modern euphemism, terrorist activities and terrorist violence and they don't like to call the enemies, enemies. >> dana: this occurred to me possibly that what maybe the president and the vice president biden are working on some sort of reconciliation agreement. i can understand that part of it if that were true. i don't think extremists can be reconciled. what is your take? >> andrea: i agree. if you are the taliban and you invite al-qaeda back, i don't see the threat to them of the united states poses by president obama to get them out. just say we frown on you harboring terrorists? i don't think it will work. to negotiate with them. i think what they were trying to say if taliban isn't with them, soldiers are gone then they won't be a threat to the country in that way. harboring the terrorists they did. they are actively plotting. >> dana: not to mention how they

>> neil: right. >> joe biden? you have got to be kidding today when you say the taliban is not our enemy. i fought in korea, front line. i knew who the enemy were. the enemy were the people who were firing at me. and shooting at me. and so for some guy to come back and today, incidentally, to meet with the returning veterans and their families and i don't believe he would tell them oh, look, the taliban is not your enemy. just like they would have told us in korea, well, you know, the chinese are not really your enemy. they are just helping out the north koreans. get ahold of yourself, joe, not just that. look what happened just last week or so in europe when you go and you make the joke, guess who i have with me. i have representatives from the treasury department hundreds of millions of dollars. are you going to give this money to us? no, what do you have to say to these people? hang in there it's tough. when you find these gaffes, the question is who is going to be in place president in these instances. last ye

. >> joe biden urges iraq's prime minister to work to resolve a deepening crisis. as scientists discover some of the most significant planets outside our solar system. it is 10:00 a.m. in singapore. >> it is 10:00 a.m. in london. broadcasting to viewers in america and around the world. welcome to "newsday". in north korea the country's new leader met mourners. he died on saturday at the age of 69. concerns about the transition of power. >> kim jong il, a site familiar to others, now mourned. this is the new guardian, kim johnn un. with a few years at the top council, he is the man america and china will be negotiating with. many of them poorer and hngrier. more critical of those who lead them. their tears appeared just as real. ere they the last time. >> you could not not cry in public. you had to pinch yourself. others were laughing. it is even more fake. >> the great fear is not in sincerity on the streets of pyongyang. >> how well they will manage will be a test of his inability to manage the country. >> the governments are straining to get a clear picture of ho

not only would obama retain joe biden, but he thinks joe biden is doing a very good job. and, in fact, he is doing a very good job by what vice presidents do, what presidents ask them to do, for the type of advice he's been giving the president, i would say that he's an asset politically. >> reporter: so we called the vice president's office to say we want someone to talk about this. and we call hillary clinton's state department and say we want someone to talk about this. and at the end of the day, no one talked about this. derek and anita. >> all right, gary. thank you. >>> now to the republicans less than a week before the iowa caucuses, the republican presidential race seems to be changing by the day. the latest poll shows mitt romney as the front runner with ron paul right behind him. but rick santorum has moved up to third while newt gingrich has moved into fourth. kent sorenson has now defected to one of her biggest rivals ron paul. >> in 2010 i was running for the state senate congressman paul came and did three separate events for me and i felt like he was by my

this fight today between joe biden and mitt romney? >> very sharp words. you can tell we're getting pretty close to the iowa caucuses. mitt romney had a few hard knocks lately as the lead has changed hands every couple of weeks or so, but as the christmas holidays approaches, he's still a huge factor in the race while some of the others have lost traction. >> we have to grow -- >> now that the newt gingrich boomlet has started showing signs of fading, mitt romney is thrust back into the spotlight. he's getting pressure from all sides. a lot thanks to some powerful newspapers. new hampshire's union leader slammed romney for doing events with seemingly scripted questions, taunting him to debate gingrich, who happens to be the guy the union leader has already endorsed. and in iowa, where some of the latest polling suggests romney, gingrich and ron paul are statistically tied for the lead, it was romney who was being singled out for special attention from the democrats. after mostly walking softly on the sidelines of the republican fight, the incumbents in the

vice president biden is on a visit to iraq just a few weeks before u.s. troops there complete their withdrawal. among the more than 1 million americans who have now served in iraq over the past eight years, biden's own son beau in the delaware national guard. ann curry is traveling on this trip with the vice president and is with us tonight from baghdad. ann, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. that's right. vice president biden is marking the final weeks of the eight-year u.s. war in iraq. he's saying the obama administration is fulfilling a promise to the american people. he reaffirmed the final withdrawal will happen before december 31. and after meeting with iraq's prime minister malaki today he said the u.s. is about to begin a new chapter launching a civilian mission to help iraq rebuild but it's unlikely that u.s. troops will ever return here. we were able to grab a few moments with the vice president today. he became passionate when asked whether americans have a moral obligation to thousands of iraq war veterans now returning home. >>

vice president joe biden takes a shot at mitt romney in op-ed of the "des moines register" biden writes, "how could anyone forget the economic catastrophe brought about by the same policy that mr. romney is proposing? the same policies that deregulated washington and turned it in to a casino that gambled recklessly with hard hard-working americans' money." >> dana: would those be the same policies in place when he was a senator for all those years? delaware? it's so over the top. preposterous that right now they are going to fire -- they will use ammunition to fire against mitt romney. have some dignity. >> greg: this was an accident. biden didn't know he was writing an article. he was writing an e-mail. the entire thing was a subject header. >> i hate when people do that. >> eric: biden is trying to slam romney for the economic policies but spot on with healthcare, right? >> juan: romney -- wait a minute. wait a minute. which side are you on? >> eric: i'm saying the hypocrisy here. he is wrong for economy but we like him on healthcare. >> juan: i don't see the inconsistency. they like

it's joe biden's turn. in the register he writes, his policy prescription for opportunity society leads to less, not more opportunity for middle class americans. how can anyone forget the economic catastrophe brought about by the same policies mr. romney is proposing. romney responded. >> it's astonishing to have the vice president trying to describe how good things are. you have 25 million americans that are out of work or stopped looking for work or only find par t time work. >> reporter: a poll shows republicans think mitt romney best represents personal quality the president should have. voters were asked who is most likely to win the gop nomination. as romney showed, he is ready to fight back. >> they are going to fight to hang on to power. i think the right thing for them to do is recognize they failed. >> reporter: that's probably not going to happen. if you look at the latest, hypothetical matchup tween president obama and mitt romney, what you are going to see is obama edges out romney 52% to 45%.

also, joe biden in iraq as the troops prepare to leave. >> who is this guy? can we trust him? >> and is this a great season for campaign ads or what? >> we do not always see eye to eye. >> no, but we agree our country must take action to address climate change. >> newt gingrich says he is the only one in the room than i did not know i was dead. this week, he received the endorsement of the conservative manchester leader. this is the same degree choose campaign staff walked off the job in june. the same one that mark shields has characterized on this program has carried more baggage than united van lines. here is gingrich in south carolina. >> i have a very long record of persistence. >> i have a very long record of consistency. does anyone have a problem with that sentence? the chair recognizes dr. krug hammer for about 20 seconds. >> i think there is no doubt he is on a rocket ride right now. the party, for a few weeks, was considering herman cain as a serious candidate for the presidency. the man who says the country needs a leader, not a reader. certainly, they can nominate

jill biden. >> welcome to celebrate hanukkah. even if we are doing a little bit early. i want to recognize a few folks that are here. the ambassador to the united states from israel is in the house. we are honored to be joined by one of the justices of the supreme court, justice ruth gaidar been spurred is here. -- ruth bader ginsburg is here. she is one of my favorites. [laughter] i have got a soft spot for justice ginsburg. we have more than a few members of congress here. members of my administration in the house including the new director of jewish out reached. i also want to thank the west point jewish choir for their service to our country. i want to thank the rabbis and leaders that have come here. we are jumping the gun just a little bit. the way i see it, we are just extending the holiday. we are stretching it out. we do have to be careful that your kids do not start thinking that, alas 20 nights. that will cause problems. this hanukkah season, we remember a story so powerful that we all know it by heart, even us gentiles. the story of right over might come up

>> i don't think this is a gaffe by joe biden. i think he is articulating what the white house strategy is. i think they know exactly what they are trying to do. they are trying to redefine the terrorist threat to be a limited group of al-qaeda people along the afghan-pakistan border. they are going to redefine the taliban away from that. they are going to ignore taliban in the arabian peninsula and al-qaeda in north africa and it's that one thing, we've killed osama bin laden. war on terror is over. >> greta: i was in afghanistan with secretary of state hillary clinton. she met with the women of afghanistan and i was in the room. i think a lot of people have forgotten what the taliban is doing about women. forcing the wearing burqas and they hit by cars, if you can't afford a burke ka you can't go to school. you can't wear shoes that make a noise because it may excite a man. you can't go to a male doctor or you can't go to school to be a woman doctor. the list goes on. is the u.s. really going to pal up with the taliban and say t

. >> also, joe biden in iraq as the troops prepare to leave. >> i am running for office. >> who is this guy, can we trust him? >> and is this a great season for campaign ads or what? >> we do not always see eye to eye. >> no, but we agree, our country must take action to address climate change. >> newt gingrich says i was only one in the room who do not know i was dead. soaring in the polls, he received the endorsement of the conservative manchester union leader. the same newt gingrich's campaign staff walked off the job in june. the same nuking bridge mark shields has characterized as carry more baggage than united van lines. here is newt gingrich this week in south carolina. >> i have a long record of persistence. i ran twice and lost. i spent 16 years here. i thought it was better for the house that is what a free society is all about. >> i have a very long record of consistency. does anyone have a problem with that sentence? charles krauthammer? >> i think there is no doubt he is on a rocket ride right now, and the party -- a party for a few weeks that was considering herman cain as

. >> joe biden has done a great job as president. why would they change is. >> you want to groom the next vice president for the next presidential cycle. she would be perfect too. can you imagine the reaction of women in this country to have her in that position? that's my prediction. we can put a wager on it. i don't have $10,000, but i can take you to ben ace chili bowl. >> maria, what do you think will be a big surprise in 2012? >> i think that the american voter is waking up and saying washington is broken, but i'm definitely going to start pays attention. i think joe hit the nail on the head, latinos are saying we have to stop racial profiling, and yoll see the average youth voter saying i have an idea and this is nonsense with the voter i.d. laws. >> the year of the voter. steve, what do you think is the big surprise? >> at the risk of going 0 for 2, i'll say ron paul runs as a third-party candidate, and the theory there is basically he's got a very loyal following. it will not be enough to win the republican nomination. he can

and joe biden's a great guy and he loves joe biden, but joe biden would be an excellent secretary of state, too. >> a lot of their base is similar. they do appeal to working, middle class whites. joe biden's done a lot of things for women. i think we're going to get plenty of energy when the republicans nominate who they're going to nominate. >> you're probably right, but i'm not ruling it out. if the economy deteriorates, if he sees his numbers going down, if mitt romney's the republican nominee, got a strong vice presidential candidate with him, he sees himself as a one term jimmy carter, that hail mary pass. >> 2016 for hillary clinton. >> she'll be 68 years old. >> plenty of time. >>> michele bachmann hasn't had the best week. my life interview with her is coming up and rick santorum the surging in the polls right now. that means more scrutiny. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but wi