[applause] blitzer: i'm wolf blitzer. blitzer: want to get right back to the rest of the debate, but first, on a lighter subject, i want to ask each of these gentlemen why they think their wife would make a great first lady. congressman paul? paul: well, she's been my wife for 54 years. and we're going to have an anniversary on february 1st. blitzer: congratulations. paul: so -- but she's the mother of five of our children, and she's a grandmother of 18 grandchildren, does an excellent job. and she's also the author of a very famous cookbook, "the ron paul cookbook." blitzer: governor? romney: i've got to take a little bit more time, a little more seriousness. my -- nothing wrong with what you said -- i'm sorry. my wife is also a mom, as i pointed out early on, but in some respects, she is a real champion and a fighter. she was diagnosed in 1998 with multiple sclerosis, and more recently with breast cancer. she has battled both successfully. and as first lady, she will be able to reach out to people who are also strugglin

wolf blitzer was ready and he went right back. give you the last word. >> you can only get away with that kind of thing if you are a candidate. if you are in the right. if you are picking at every little thing and you are not in the right, and the person asks you a legitimate question and you pull that, it may work inside the building, but it doesn't work with the broader audience. >> bill: that's my column by the way a plug-in on bill o'reilly.com newspaper column this week. bernie goldberg, everybody. be back the following monday we hope. plenty more ahead as the factor moves along this evening. trying to get acto the bottom of a conversation with governor jan brewer and president obama. see that finger? that looks like my finger there. not easy to get to the bottom of this story. a lot of subterfuge. we have the report. lou dobbs on whether money will ever prevent mitt romney from >> bill: factor follow up segment tonights, as you may know there was an intense conversation this week between arizona governor jan brewer and pre

essentially sided with wolf blitzer. at the same time called newt gingrich out as a bully saying if you're going to say that off the stage, i want you to say it to my face. that exchange showed me just how well prepared and determined mitt romney was in this debate. >> chilling stuff. great battle motion there and battle action. by the way, susan, you are a real pro. george will once told me years ago, the great columnist, that as an opinion writer, you have to be willing to walk through the locker room if you're writing a tough column on the team. that's part of the job. wolf walked through the lion's den last night. >> he did. one of the things that was working in mitt romney's favor is the audience was with him. one of the things that's given newt gingrich a lot of energy, especially in the big south carolina debate a week ago monday, was that the crowd was with him. that boosted newt gingrich and changed the dynamic of that debate. in the debate last night, the crowd wasn't entirely with mitt romney, but some of it w

> wolf blitzer was immovable. don't mess with wolf blitzer. >> his name is wolf. what are you going to do? >> your name is wolf blitzer. don't mess with him. before we go, i want to play a moment from the debate that stuck with me. i want to know whether it's possible mitt romney didn't know about this ad. here it is. >> i haven't seen the ad, so i' sorry, i don't get to see all the tv ads -- did he say that? i doubt that's my ad, but we'll take a look and find out. there are a bunch of ads that are being organized by people, but i think our position on english is the same. >> that ad was from -- i mitt romney approve this ad. is it possible he didn't know about it? >> it's absolutely possible. they would have cut that disclaimer early in the process. campaigns are large, complex moving pieces. it's very possible that he didn't know about the ads sisters and tep mother comes "outfront." >>> and dr. sanjay gupta joins us with a look at concussions. >>> was it a horrific murder or tragic accident in that is the deci

> wolf blitzer was immovable. don't mess with wolf blitzer. >> his name is wolf. what are you going to do? >> your name is wolf blitzer. don't mess with him. before we go, i want to play a moment from the debate that stuck with me. i want to know whether it's possible mitt romney didn't know about this ad. here it is. >> i haven't seen the ad, so i' sorry, i don't get to see all the tv ads -- did he say that? i doubt that's my ad, but we'll take a look and find out. there are a bunch of ads that are being organized by people, but i think our position on english is the same. >> that ad was from -- i mitt romney approve this ad. is it possible he didn't know about it? >> it's absolutely possible. they would have cut that disclaimer early in the process. campaigns are large, complex moving pieces. it's very possible that he didn't know about the ads specifically and the campaign's media team and that was that. >> erin, i got to jump in here because i've been on campaigns. i've been in the limo or van when you pull ou

s finest well blitzer has been a journalist since the seventy's and he's been one of c.n.n.'s most recognizable hosts since one thousand nine hundred so over those years he has provided us with the news that he thinks affects our everyday lives in the most dry boring way possible but just recently he did take a little break from boring us to death for a moment to salute presidential candidates on his c.n.n. blog and his salute all seems a little more like a love letter than an actual blog post if a piece which was written on january tenth starts out with will saying i know will probably sound weird but i admire these politicians who put themselves out there before the american public knowing full well that all their warts will be exposed big time i think god we have wolf as a member of the media who suppost of that question these candidates to express admiration for their willingness to air their dirty laundry in front of the american people then will goes on to say most of them already have lots of money they could easily coast at this point in their lives and sit back and r

is that wolf blitzer is tonight's tool time where. guys it's time for happy hour joining me this evening is our team producer jenny churchill and our t. correspondent christine. hello ladies you guys are matching here it looks better with you cute very often outfits the very different outfits but this is a can we can we talk about what you're wearing really quick because of the kentucky look. i don't know i feel like it's more than the analog ok we can we can go to kentucky if you i've never been so i thought maybe you could it really feels already and to me ok possibly and i like it i love it let's move on though to ban and. sorry this story was a larry is because what is c.-span known for race these band is a little dry a little boring and at the moment c.-span seems to be suffering from a spate of prank callers that call in pretending like they're going to ask a serious question about mitt romney and then it ends in a totally different way take a look. my question is regards to how turnout will affect the electoral results and that

blitzer would approve, of course. wolf blitzer, see you next hour. >>> elections, serious? not necessarily. we'll explain next. tired eye relief with hydroblend™, only from visine®. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours. visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3. can you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. on my journey across america, i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. i habe a cohd. and i toog nyguil bud i'm stild stubbed up. [ male announcer ] sorry, buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. wh

wolf blitzer, thanks so much. of course, we'll continue to watch you this week with the florida primary, just two days away, tuesday night, our coverage led by our wolf blitzer. thanks so much, wolf. >>> ron paul says he thinks we should be trading with cuba, but first his response to gingrich's idea of colonizing the moon. >> well, i don't think we should go to the moon. i think we maybe should send some politicians up there. >>> welcome back to this special hour of the "cnn newsroom." we're focusing on politics, allowing you to hear from the 2012 presidential contenders. absent from the campaign trail today, gop candidate rick santorum. he canceled his events today in florida to be with his 3-year-old daughter who was in a philadelphia hospital right now. she suffers from a chromosomal condition that can cause serious medical problems. spokesman says santorum intends to return to florida and resume campaigning as soon as possible. at thursday night's debate, he talked about an issue near and dear to floridians'

last night, he had wolf blitzer to tagle with and he lost. blitzer asked newt if he was satisfied with the transparency -- that's the word wolf used -- about mitt romney's tax returns which have been given out now for those two years which the governor released earlier this week. let's watch this back and forth which had become a losing battle for the media. here's wolf standing up for his craft against a guy who is trying to bully him. >> this is a nonsense question. how about if the four of us agree for the rest of the evening, we'll actually talk about things that relate to governing america. >> mr. speaker -- you made an issue of this when you said he lives in a world of swiss bank and cayman island bank accounts. i didn't say that, you did. >> i did. i'm perfectly happy to say on an interview. this is a national debate to get the four of us. >> if you make a serious accusation against governor romney, you need to explain that. >> you want to try again? >> wouldn't it be nice if people didn't make accusations somewhere else that they were

. >> mike: how did wolf blitzer handle being attacked by gingrich in the debate? time for the report card. handing out grades today, man mancow muller and kimberly guilfoyle who is cohost of the five right here on fox news channel. all right, guys. first of all, let's take a look at your grade. we'll start with you, mancow. what grade do you give. >> do i write it now. >> mike: yeah. >> for who? who am i judging. >> mike: how did wolf blitzer handle it. >> keep it from them. >> as soon as you write it hold it up. >> an f. >> i'm sick of watching this guy and john king is the worst and that chuck todd with his lips planted on obama's backside. these are puppets. these are puppets of the media and of the left. they are mouthpieces for obama and look, i think wolf did an okay job. newt is not -- >> mike: you you gave him an f? >> i gave him an f, though. >> mike: what kind of grade do you give wolf blitzer. >> john king, i love john and wolf learned a lot from him. i gift wolf an a because he did his job. woo it all you want. try to do a better job than wolf blitzer

if you want to get up your numbers, have an audience. >> wolf blitzer was propelled. he came after newt gingerich. one was flummoxed by newt's adversarial position and wolf said i'm not saying anything you haven't said. >> are the questions designed to get answers to issues that people want to know about or are they designed to create fireworks and conflict? >> they're designed for fireworks and conflict but i can see how the media and democrats are delighted. but if your 19, you're getting bored by the answers. not to say i'm for these things but they're not breaking new ground, except for newt when he talks about space. >> the replay element you get on tv are all about the candidates attacking each other, not about their ideas. >> they're not about issues. >> or their ideas versus president obama. will that change once we get down to one nominee? >> when we get to one nominee, there will be comparisons. because the debates are focused a little more on comparisons of issues, the presidential debates, they're done by presidential commission and i think they're good. >

last night, he had wolf blitzer to tag l with and he lost. blitzer asked newt if he was satisfied with the transparency about mitt romney's tax returns. which the governor released earlier this week. let's watch this back and forth which had become a losing battle for the media. here's wolf standing up for his craft. >> this is a nonsense question. how about if the four of us agree for the rest of the evening? >> mr. speaker -- >> i didn't say that. you did. >> i did. i'm perfectly happy to say on an interview. this is a national debate to get the four of us. >> if you make a serious accusation against governor romney, you need to explain that. >> you want to try again? >> wouldn't it be nice if people didn't make accusations somewhere else they weren't willing to defend here? >> ka boom. there was the important thing was not only that wolf blitzer stood his ground, and i think correctly so, even though boos came, but mitt romney well prepared for this debate sided with wolf blitzer in at the same time called newt gingrich out as a bully sayi

wolf blitzer, thank you so much. coming up next we'll take you inside what police in oakland call the largest mass arrest in the city's history. [ mujahid ] there was a little bit of trepidation, not quite knowing what the next phase was going to be, you know, because you been, you know, this is what you had been doing. you know, working, working, working, working, working, working. and now you're talking about, well you know, i won't be, and i get the chance to spend more time with my wife and my kids. it's my world. that's my world. ♪ >>> i'll take you to oakland, california, where it appears the "occupy" movement might be gaining steam. confrontationtion between protesters and police turned violent this weekend. how about this number? 400. 400 people were arrested. protesters stormed a ymca and gained access to city hall. we have invited the mayor and members of city council to join us live but they have declined. the mayor told our the affiliate, kgo, there was no excuse for this kind of behavior. >> this time

you're going to bigger than blitzer. >> bigger than wolf blitzer? no, that's crazy. i'm not going to work for your stupid network. >> please? >> no. >> pretty please? >> no. >> i've got to deal with kathy griffin, she's bad enough. >> come on. >> are you insane? >> do i look insane? >> yeah. yeah, you kind of do. >> well, yeah, but only in the best sense. >> i'm not going to work for your network. cnn would sue me for breech of contract. they'd sue you, too. >> oh, i'm so scare. >> you should be scared. it's spidey time. ♪ >> sorry it took me so long. times square was a zoo. >> spiderman! you missed me, you spider joke. >> you've got to get some better lines, goblin. >> yeah, we'll see about that, news boy. you'll be singing a different tune when you're all beautiful like me. >> spiderman, would you mind hurrying up a bit? >> yeah, no problem. got you covered. you, too, goblin. >> thanks, spiderman. i don't care what they say. you're the new york hero. >> later, spiderman. >> later. looks like another win for your friendly neighborhood spiderman. >> not so fast, sp

wolf blitzer back with us today. obviously, it's an exciting day. you feel the buzz around here as we're going to be covering all this tonight, but when you -- first of all, when do the polls close? when will we know the results, and what, really, will you look for? >> some of them close very early. the 6:00 eastern hour, the 7:00 eastern hour, most of them close by then. a few close by 8:00 p.m. eastern. we're not going to project a winner, assuming we have all the data, until all the polls in the state are closed. so the earliest we would be able to project a winner would be 8:00 p.m. eastern. most of them close around 7:00, 7:30, around that time. >> what would be you looking for? >> we know mitt romney will win in new hampshire. will he win by 15 points, 10 points, 5 points? that will be significant. we'll also be watching very closely to see who comes in second. if ron paul does well, it potentially could hurt john huntsman. this is a do or die for john huntsman. in new hampshire, he's invested all his effort in new hampshire. he has to do well

blitzer. >> i ran 5 miles this morning, too. >> the blitzer. run five miles in the morning. >> by the way, get ready, guess who is going to be in "the situation room" in our 5:00 p.m. eastern hour? herman cain. >> all right. >> remember what he called me at that debate that i moderated? >> blitz? >> blitz. yeah. >> maybe we should call it a blitz. i did a blitz this morning. >> the blitz. >> he's keeping the 9-9-9 thing going. >> not yet. he's going to be on the show today. >> all right. thank you, sir. we'll see you soon. >>> 200,000, that's the net number of jobs added in december. this is the fifth month in a row that we've added jobs in this country. up next, what this means for the economy and for the political landscape as well. don't go anywhere. it's not the bayer aspirin you know. it's different. first, it's been re-engineered with micro-particles. second, it enters the bloodstream fast, and rushes relief to the site of your tough pain. the best part? it's proven to relieve pain twice

wolf blitzer was in the middle of it. we're going to talk with wolf coming up shortly. gloria borger is standing by with david gergen, donna brazile, and ari fleischer. >> governor romney, what kind of debate did you think you had tonight? >> i thought it was terrific, and i was delighted with the debate. it was a big night for me and for the people who support me. you saw the response of the audience. it's a big step forward and it's going to give me the boost i need going into the last couple days before the primary. >> you were pretty aggressive, i couldn't help but notice, in taking on newt gingrich. you seemed to turn every attack he made on you into an attack on him. particularly the attacks he made on the campaign trail about your finances. >> when i'm shot at, i'll return fire. i'm no shrinking violet. thanks. >> back to you, anderson. >> it certainly was perhaps a more energized mitt romney than we have seen in privious deba s debates. earlier this week in florida, he appeared to be energized. he has a new debate coach. how much of a role that played, unclear.

>> okay, all right. >> jeanine: he wanted to turn it on wolf blitzer and romney turned it on newt. interpret the graph, frank. >> exactly. the republican audience is watching these debates, and have been angry at all of the broadcasters, even to some degree, fox news for the questions they've asked, i want to credit fox for getting really strong kudos, "washington post" and "the new york times," but, there has been frustration with some of the questions that have been asked, nitpicking or trying to get the candidates to debate each other and newt gingrich tries to turn it against wolf blitzer and the line goes up and mitt romney was prepared and who ever is debate prepping him now, deserves kudos, newt gingrich is trying to stick up for mitt romney and he hits him. and they call that political jujitsu and why most people thought that he did well on the debate. >> jeanine: he does have a new debate coach, doesn't he, michelle bachmann's debate coach? >> i think he's having a little bit more success with mitt romney than he had with michelle bachmann, look, romney, the challenge for

i'm wolf blitzer reporting, a his or ttor i'm wolf blitzer reporting, a his or ttoic night in iowa righ now. there has never been anything this close in the iowa republican caucuses. i can say three letters, o-m-g. look at this! look at what is going on. one vote, one vote right now separating mitt romney, rick santorum, and mitt romney has taken the lead. >> it is an amazing moment. mitt romney wins albeit narrowly, and on the other hand, john, a win is a win. >>> o-m-g, wolf. that got as much attention here in the newsroom today as the coverage and the weevils that were on. >> and i love it. omg, is something i love to tweet, and the only part i did not say is lol, and if i had, it would have been good, too. >> thank you. so nice to have you on. get some rest. >> no rest for the weary. when you are young, you work. >> we will catch you in "the situation room" at 4:00. >> you know who going to join me? >> who? >> the two women from clinton county, our two good friends. >> they did not get much sleep either. >> you know what, they were lovely. >> good to see you. >> and a reminder that

i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. the news continues next on cnn. >>> good evening, everyone. from the university of northern florida our cnn final showdown before tuesday's important florida gop presidential primary. warming up, newt gingrich calls the mitt romney campaign dishonest and hypocritical, a sure sign he knows the former massachusetts governor has opened a small lead here. plus debate advice from the former florida governor jeb bush. you won't want to miss his advice to speaker gingrich. we learned today, surprise hillary clinton is not watching the republican debates. but the secretary of state did share some thoughts on her political future. >>> you can seat energy and the excitement here on the university of north florida campus just two hours now until our republican presidential debate here. the last showdown between the four candidates before florida votes on tuesday. polls show a close race between newt gingrich and mitt romney. the house speaker's team knows this could be the final chance to swing the florida momentum. there are some differences on tax poli

i'm wolf blitzer in "the situation room." situation room." the news continues next on cnn. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> good evening in the cnn election center. it's a potentially defining night in the fight for the republican nomination. the polls begin closing in less than an hour. in just a few moments the first exit poll data gives us a sense of what issues mattered most to voters in a state with a lot of surprises. it is a must-win state for mitt romney and a chance to make history to win iowa and new hampshire back to back. and newt gingrich joins us with what could be a turning point. he is aggressively leading new attacks on governor romney but can ill afford to finish in the back of the gop pack. >>> for mitt romney the expectations couldn't be higher. he's declared new hampshire front-runner and nationally as well. his business record has been turned into a target. there's intense pressure on the former massachusetts governor to post a big win. >> if we're able to win tonight, it'll be historic. it'll be the first time