Polls Shows Gingrich Weak against Obama; Showdown Looms over Payroll Taxes; Ban on Cell Phone Use
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: I think that little baby Hudson there, he needed a little Dippidee doo. That's the talk of the town right there. Thank you, ladies. Good morning, everybody. It's the top of the hour. Newt Gingrich, well, he's surging in the polls and he's racking up the endorsements but there may be a bit of a dark cloud on the horizon. More on that in just a moment, but first his fight for the GOP nomination. A new NBC News and "Wall Street Journal" poll actually shows him with a commanding lead over Mitt Romney, 40 percent to 23, with the other candidates trailing far behind. Deputy political director Paul Steinhauser is in Washington. So, Paul, the same poll actually shows Gingrich struggling in a head- to-head race against President Obama. Tell us about that.</s>PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN DEPUTY POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes, I guess it's good news/bad news as you just showed that horse race poll and two others, Pew and Reuters/Ipsos, indicate the same thing. Way ahead in the horse race. But look at this. Here's a hypothetical matchups next November. President Obama versus Gingrich and President Obama against Mitt Romney. And look at this. President Obama 11 points ahead of Gingrich, according to NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll among all voters. But, basically, dead even with Romney. So the NBC/"Wall Street Journal" poll indicating as we have at hours and others maybe an electability problem for Newt Gingrich. You know, Kyra, you've seen the Obama re-election team, you've seen the Democratic National Committee really go after Romney left and right over everything. Not so much about Gingrich. But yesterday, this is interesting, Jessica Yellin and I were at a briefing, some of the top Obama re-election advisors are right here in Washington giving us their briefing. And this is what David Axelrod, the senior, the senior strategist, said about Newt Gingrich. He talked a little -- he said a little story, he said, the higher a monkey climbs on a poll, the more you can see his butt. So, you know, the speaker is very high right now on the pole and we'll see how people like the view. David Axelrod there, taking a little jab at Newt Gingrich. Interesting stuff.</s>PHILLIPS: Well, what do you think? How worried is the Obama camp about Gingrich?</s>STEINHAUSER: They're concerned. They're still directing most of their fire, more of their fire at Romney, but, listen, they, just like the rest of us, has seen Newt Gingrich surge in the polls and they're prepared, they say, to deal with Newt Gingrich if he eventually becomes the nominee. But for now it seems they're still directing more of their fire at Romney rather than Gingrich even if Axelrod used some colorful language there, I think to say the least, against Gingrich. Hey, talking about Gingrich, Kyra, his top new guy in Iowa is no longer on the team. This just happened last night. The -- this gentleman had to resign his post as the political director for Gingrich in Iowa after he made comments earlier in the week before he joined the campaign that -- suggesting that Mormonism was cult, at least in the eyes of a lot of Iowa evangelicals. And that is troublesome for Newt Gingrich because remember it was yesterday that Newt Gingrich sent out an edict to all his campaign staffers that hey, no more going on the attack, we're not doing that any more. We're not going to go negative. This is what the campaign said, and I quote, "Craig Bergman agreed to step away from his role with Newt 2012 today. He made a comment to a focus group prior to becoming an employee that is inconsistent with Gingrich's pledge to run a positive campaign." There you go, Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: All right, Paul Steinhauser, thanks so much. And a reminder for all the latest political news, you can go to our Web site, CNNPolitics.com. Well, on Capitol Hill, lawmakers are racing the clock to extend the payroll tax cut which saves the average American about $1,000 a year. The White House's countdown clock continues to tick towards the January 1st deadline. House Republicans say that now they passed their extension, President Obama needs to rally his Democrats in the Senate.</s>REP. JOHN BOEHNER (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: You know, in recent days, the White House Web site has had this helpful countdown clock to highlight the need to extend payroll tax relief. Well, now I think the White House needs to update their clock because it's now time for the Senate to act.</s>JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: What the president is not willing to do is leave town or allow Congress to leave town without ensuring that 160 million Americans do not see their taxes go up next year.</s>PHILLIPS: Congressional correspondent Kate Bolduan on Cap Hill. So, why are Democrats lining up against the House bill, Kate?</s>KATE BOLDUAN, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Kyra, well, it's not because of the payroll tax extension provision, Democrats very much support extending the payroll tax for, they estimate, 160 million Americans next year. It has to do with some of the central elements of -- the other central elements of the bill that the House passed last night. One major obstacle that Democrats are definitely opposed has to do with the provision that Republican leaders added that would speed up approval of the Keystone Oil Pipeline. The White House had put off approval of that pipeline saying it needed further environmental study. It's not related to the payroll tax or any of the year-end issues that we're dealing up here. House Republican leaders added this to their bill in order to win over -- win over more support from conservatives who had really been lukewarm to the idea of extending the payroll tax cut really until last week or just the week before. Democrats say it is going -- this bill is going no where in the Senate. They're very much against that provision. Just listen here to Senate majority leader Harry Reid following the House vote last night.</s>SEN. HARRY REID (D-NV), MAJORITY LEADER: The bill just passed by House Republicans tonight is a pointless, partisan exercise. The bill is dead on arrival. It was dead before it got to the Senate. The Senate will not pass it. And the sooner we demonstrate that, the sooner we can begin serious discussions to keep taxes from going up for middle class Americans.</s>BOLDUAN: So today we could see a vote in the Senate on the House passed bill. Democratic leaders, as you heard right there from Senator Reid, they're confident it will not pass. So then the question is, what's next? And there is some thought that maybe once they put this bill aside, if you will, get through voting on this to show in the Senate that it cannot pass, then maybe leaders will sit down and really start negotiating. But the battle continues, Kyra, and the -- and the clock obviously is -- is ticking down.</s>PHILLIPS: We'll follow the battle and the clock, Kate, thanks. Well, if you talk on your cell phone while driving, you're not going to like this. The NTSB actually wants a nationwide ban on all cell phone use and, yes, that even means your hands-free devices. Christine Romans, why make this push now?</s>CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: You know, they've been investigating accidents, accidents related to distracted driving, Kyra, and one accident in particular in March 2010 that was a distracted teenage driver ran into a school bus, the driver and a student were killed. Lots of lots of people were injured. And as they've investigated that crash and others, the NTSB says that they've come to the conclusion that driving while using a cell phone, even with the hands-free device or while texting is something that is simply too dangerous and they're making the recommendation, quite frankly, that this -- that this end right now. It's just a recommendation. You know, it is a federal government making a recommendation. Some states have already been pushing back saying, no, it goes too far. Some libertarian groups have been saying, what's the difference between, you know, distracted driving and talking to your passenger? But the NTSB says there is a difference. And I want you to listen to what the chairman of the NTSB told me earlier this morning.</s>DEBBIE HERSMAN, CHAIRWOMAN, NTSB: I used to talk on my phone, as well, until I understood the dangers of it. And two years ago we put a ban on all of our employees from talking and texting hand-held or hands-free. Now I'll tell you, when I hung up my phone and I stopped talking on the phone while I was driving, it was like becoming sober and seeing that everyone around you was drinking.</s>ROMANS: The NTSB says at any given time some 13.5 million people are on their phones talking or texting on the roads. And it's simply too dangerous and it's not a risk that people should take. No text, no text or tweet, as she said, is worth it. The other thing here is there's a different kind of technology that they say is pervasive now in the car. You've got GPS, you've got texting on the phone, you've got talking on the phone, you've got different kinds of hands-free devices and they're not saying that the other distractions are better. Those are also distractions. Thousands of people die every year because of different distractions inside the car. They're just saying this one, they hope, can be prevented if there is an overall ban on using the phone and texting while driving, Kyra.</s>PHILLIPS: OK. Christine Romans out of New York for us. Christine, thanks. And coming up, the presidential race through the eyes of Steve Forbes. The business icon and two-time presidential candidate answers a critical question, which candidate can lead the nation out of its economic gloom? His answer might surprise you. And when it comes to marriage, more people are saying, I don't. Find out why it's dropped to a record low, just ahead.