[John King, Cnn Anchor:] Good evening, everyone. I'm John King. And we're reporting live tonight from the River Music Experience in Davenport, Iowa, beginning a weeklong visit to the state that in just 22 days casts the first official votes of the 2012 presidential campaign. New polling out tonight confirms the Newt Gingrich surge here in Iowa. And the former House speaker's appeal was also evident at a lunchtime conversation with three Republican voters here today.
[Mike Whalen, Iowa Voter:] Obviously, if you could have a cloning machine, and you could put the passion of Herman Cain with the policies of Newt Gingrich and the steadfastness and the president thing of Romney, you would have the perfect candidate...
[King:] If only it worked that way, huh? Much more on the Iowa stakes and the state of play here in just a moment. But, first, as always, we begin the news you need to know right now. We will shift up to New Hampshire, where the campaign is in full swing there as well. Newt Gingrich just wrapped up a debate with the former Governor Jon Huntsman. But it seems the real sparring today was between Speaker Gingrich and the former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney. Romney threw the first punch saying on TV this morning that Gingrich should return the nearly $2 million in fees paid to him by Freddie Mac.
[Mitt Romney , Presidential Candidate:] One of the things that I think people recognize in Washington is that people go there to serve the people and then they stay there to serve themselves.
[Question:] Do you believe they should give that money back?
[Romney:] Oh, I sure do.
[King:] From the former speaker, this counterpunch.
[Newt Gingrich , Presidential Candidate:] If Governor Romney would like to give back all of the money he has earned from bankrupting companies and laying off employees over his years at Bain, then I would be glad to then listen to him. And I bet you $10, not $10,000, that he won't take the offer.
[King:] And responding to characterizations by the Gingrich camp that going negative is a sign of desperation, Governor Romney added this.
[Romney:] We are not running any negative ads at that point, but we may. This is after all politics. There is no whining in politics.
[King:] Get that? There's no whining in politics. Let's bring in Jim Acosta now. He's in Manchester, New Hampshire, site of the Gingrich-Huntsman debate. Jim, take us to that moment first. The old Lincoln-Douglas-style debate. Governor Huntsman is struggling. Speaker Gingrich at the top. What was the highlight?
[Jim Acosta, Cnn Correspondent:] Well, John, I think you put it right just a few moments ago. This was really a sideshow between the fight that was going on between Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich earlier today. But it did get interesting at times. Newt Gingrich at one point advocated regime change for Iran during this debate. Governor Huntsman would not go that far, saying only that all options should be on the table. But this was less Lincoln-Douglas and more of a love fest. It got so mind-numbing at one point that Jon Huntsman quipped on stage one of his own daughters was nodding off in the audience. And then Newt Gingrich chimed in, well, just to be fair, she was nodding off when I was speaking. So this was really more of a gentleman's, I guess, discussion than a debate, I would say.
[King:] And, so, Jim, take us inside the Gingrich-Romney feuding. Governor Romney for months has led in the state. He has a vacation home there. He was governor of the neighboring state of Massachusetts. Gingrich has closed the lead dramatically. Does the Gingrich camp think it can actually catch Romney in New Hampshire as much as everywhere else?
[Acosta:] They do. In fact, they're going to pull out the heavy artillery here in the next couple weeks. I confirmed with a Gingrich spokesman, R.C. Hammond, earlier today that the Gingrich campaign will borrow a page from the John McCain playbook. You will recall, it went pretty well here in New Hampshire. They will launch a Straight Talk Express-like bus tour in the early voting states, didn't offer whole a lot of details and didn't say whether or not it would come to New Hampshire. But suffice to say that R.C. Hammond was saying earlier today that they're already starting to look at which way the seats should face inside the bus and how much time Speaker Gingrich would get talking to reporters. This is very much like what John McCain did back four years ago. He spent a lot of time in that bus, crisscrossing the state talking to reporters. It's a contrast the Gingrich campaign likes to put out there. He is talking to reporters. Mitt Romney at least in recent weeks has been more standoffish with the press John.
[King:] And Governor Romney is starting to come see us more a little bit, Jim, because of that. Jim Acosta tonight in Manchester, New Hampshire, 29 days until New Hampshire votes, 22 days until Iowa kicks it off, where I am tonight. Jim, thanks. We will see you soon. Should states have the individual authority to enforce immigration matters? The Supreme Court said today, it intends to take on that controversial topic. At question in this case, whether Arizona can enforce its immigration laws, over the strong objections from the White House. Federal courts have already blocked key parts of the law but Arizona argues illegal immigration creates a financial hardship and safety concerns for its residents. The Obama administration counter that immigration issues are under the exclusive authority of the federal government, that Arizona's interference as the administration calls it only makes things worse. Joining us to help sort it all out, CNN senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Jeff, the Arizona case has generated a lot of national controversy. A handful of other states have copies. Other states are debating it. What is the key question now before the justices?
[Jeffrey Toobin, Cnn Senior Legal Analyst:] This is really one of the oldest issues in front of the Supreme Court. What powers belong to the states and what powers belong to the federal government? The Supreme Court has been dealing with that issue in various forms since the 18th century. In this issue, in this case, you have the issue of immigration at the heart of it, which is both politically and legally fraught. And as you pointed out, many states have used the Arizona law as a model. And if states get the green light in this case, we can look forward to a lot more laws restricting what immigrants can do in a state and also allowing law enforcement more powers to stop, detain and perhaps even expel illegal immigrants.
[King:] Is just the fact that the high court took the case, is that a setback to the administration? Or does the administration as much as Arizona need these questions answered?
[Toobin:] I think this is one reason why we have a Supreme Court. There are so many laws like this now. The court really does have to sort out the law. I think the politics of this are really fascinating, because I think with swing voters, most of those voters are generally supportive of these sorts of laws. But Hispanic voters are overwhelmingly against these laws. And as you have reported many times, the Obama administration is making a real push in states like Arizona, Colorado, to embrace and support Hispanic voters. And they are going to have a very high-profile support from the Obama administration in this case. So I think the politics are not entirely clear in terms of who is helped in these cases.
[King:] We will watch this case before the court. Jeff Toobin, thank you. A decision likely in the middle of next year's presidential election. So we will keep our eye on this one. Jeff, thanks. A somber moment today at one of the nation's most sacred sites. President Obama and the Iraq Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki laid a wreath at Arlington National Cemetery, that to pay respects to the nearly 4,500 U.S. troops killed in the eight-year conflict. Earlier, the two leaders held a joint news conference to declare the war formally over now that all U.S. troops are scheduled to come home, that all done by this month. But there was an uncomfortable moment for the president. For more, let's go to CNN White House correspondent Dan Lothian. And, Dan, that uncomfortable moment, the president reminded of something he said much earlier in his political career. Take us inside.
[Dan Lothian, Cnn White House Correspondent:] That's right. He was then state Senator Obama of the state of Illinois. It was back in 2002. And he was making some remarks at an anti-war rally. He was criticizing the planned invasion of Iraq by saying quote "What I do oppose is a dumb war." A reporter today asked the president if on this occasion, as the administration was marking the end of the war in Iraq, if the president still felt that it was a dumb war. The president saying that he would leave it up to history to decide whether or not it was the original decision to go in was the right decision. But he did add that because of the sacrifice of not only the military, but also civilians, that a lot of progress had been made in Iraq and that that country has enormous potential.
[King:] And one of the big questions now is how does this relationship continue and in what fashion does it continue once the U.S. troops are out? I understand the subject of continuing some military-to-military relationship, including weapons sales what happened there?
[Lothian:] That's right. What we won't see are boots on the ground there once the remaining few thousand troops pull out at the end of the year. But what we did hear at the news conference today is discussion of a sale of additional F-16 fighter jets to Iraq. And later, national security spokesman Tommy Vietor told us that the administration today had notified Congress of interest to sell an additional 18 F-16s to Iraq. As you know, a lot of Iraq's airpower was destroyed during the war that lasted almost nine years. Vietor pointing out that this shows, this decision of asking for this Congress for the sale of these F-16s, shows that Iraq is in a good position to carry out its own security. But as you know, there are a lot of questions still about whether or not Iraq indeed can handle its own security once U.S. troops do leave that country for good. Today, Prime Minister al-Maliki saying they're saying.
[King:] Dan Lothian live at the White House Dan, thank you so much. Iran, more specifically, that downed U.S. intelligence drone, also on the president's mind today. President Obama has asked Iran formally to return the drone which Iranian TV claims is seen in these pictures right here. In addition to the propaganda victory, Iran is also claiming it is already gathering intelligence from that craft. Iran says it has no plans to give it back. A shocking figure from the United Nations tonight about Syria. It says more than 5,000 people have now been killed in the months-long uprising against the government of Bashar al-Assad. And in the city of Homs, it appears a clock is ticking. Opposition leaders say the city is surrounded by forces loyal to President Assad, that an all- assault is imminent, and that rivers of blood will run in the streets. They say electricity and water have been cut off. Food and medicine are scarce. The latest now from CNN's Jim Clancy.
[Jim Clancy, Cnn Correspondent:] John, in the embattled city of Homs, Syria, people are on edge and they have good reason to be. The city is surrounded and they are facing a deadline to lay down their arms and hand over defectors or members of the so-called free Syria army. They have no intention of doing that. And it looks like a showdown is looming. We talked to Homs a short time ago. Listen to what one of the leaders of the opposition has to say.
[Abu Faris, Opposition Leader:] The gunfire started from the early morning. There are a lot of tanks inside the city. But security forces and the
[Clancy:] John, Abu Fairs also told me that they couldn't leave the city even if they wanted. Militiamen have set up checkpoints around that city and he said the freedom of movement has been limited. They are hoping that they can stand up against all of this. They say they're still optimistic, but they are predicting a very bloody showdown.
[King:] Jim Clancy monitoring the latest in Syria from Beirut. We promise we will keep a close eye on that as it plays out. Still to come here, Lowe's bows to conservative pressure and pull its ads from a show documenting Muslims living in the United States. We will talk to the organization that pushed for the move and a Muslim member of Congress who now wants to punish Lowe's. And next, inside the Iowa campaign, including a unique look at how this weekend's debate was scored in the Twitterverse.