MSNBC’s Long Form unit will premiere two new documentary specials chronicling the lives and political careers of Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney and President Barack Obama in advance of the Republican and Democratic National Conventions. “Mitt Romney: The Making of a Candidate,” hosted by NBC News Chief White House Correspondent and Political Director Chuck Todd, will air on MSNBC on Friday, August 24 at 10 PM ET. “Barack Obama: Making History,” produced by Peacock Productions and hosted by Chris Matthews, will air on Monday, September 3 at 10 PM ET. 

“Mitt Romney: The Making of a Candidate,” produced by MSNBC’s Long Form team, follows the former Massachusetts governor through the trials and tribulations of a prolonged 2012 Presidential primary season as he eventually emerges as the soon-to-be Republican nominee for President of the United States. The one-hour special features an exclusive one-on-one interview with the candidate while on the campaign trail, conducted by “Daily Rundown” host and veteran campaign reporter Chuck Todd. The documentary examines Romney’s coming of age; the role of the Mormon religion in his life; his rise as a successful businessman and politician as well as his relationships with his family and staff.  Key people interviewed for the hour were drawn from all phases of Romney’s life – a high school classmate, Sidney Barthwell; a close campaign advisor from his 1994 run against Ted Kennedy, Rick Reed; a Bain partner, Geoffrey Rehnert; Governors Tom Kean (R-NJ) and Bill Weld (R-Mass.) and Romney advisors Sen. Jim Talent (R-Mo.) and Dan Senor. 

“Barack Obama: Making History,” produced by Peacock Productions and hosted by Chris Matthews, features high-profile interviews that are a signature of Matthews’ smart reporting. The one-hour documentary places President Obama’s election and presidency into a thoughtful historical perspective, examining his rise to the highest office in the land and highlighting what President Obama has accomplished during his first term and what he has yet to accomplish going forward. “Hardball” host Chris Matthews interviewed key players in the Obama story including Vice President Joe Biden, Obama Campaign Advisor David Axelrod and Caroline Kennedy, among others.

Don't miss these two original documentaries, only on MSNBC.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold President Obama’s signature health care law today, Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) sat down with MSNBC host Ed Schultz to discuss the decision.

When asked about Mitt Romney’s response to the Supreme Court’s decision, Pelosi told Schultz when listening to him, “I was confused because it was as if he was for it before he was against it and now he’s both. He supports the decision of the court, to overturn the entire bill and yet he said but if they do that, you still cannot be discriminated against on the basis of pre-existing medical conditions. How does that happen? Is he going to pay for it? Maybe he’s volunteering. The fact is, you cannot have it both ways.”

Catch a sneak peek of the interview below and be sure to tune in for the full interview with Nancy Pelosi tonight on ‘The Ed Show’ at 8PM ET on MSNBC. For more please visit, http://www.ed.msnbc.com. You can also follow Ed on twitter at @EdShow.

Get the popcorn out! Special guest Newt Gingrich will join Chris Matthews on 'Hardball' tonight. This will mark the first major appearance on MSNBC for the Former House Speaker and the Republican Presidential candidate.

Chris is expected to ask Gingrich about his endorsement behind GOP frontrunner Mitt Romney, his thoughts on President Obama’s campaign strategy and the overall 2012 presidential-race battles.

The exclusive interview will air at 5PM and 7PM ET on MSNBC. Keep up with the latest on the show by following Hardball on twitter at @Hardball and on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/hardball.

For more, please visit http://hardballblog.msnbc.msn.com/.

"Look, if you can't handle the heat in this little kitchen, the heat that's going to come from Obama’s kitchen will be a heck of a lot hotter."

Gov. Mitt Romney appeared on "The Daily Rundown" (weekdays 9-10a ET) where he discussed negative campaign ads, Scott Brown’s recent comments on the payroll tax cut fight, and domestic and foreign policy issues. Clips/transcripts are below.

CHUCK TODD, HOST: Well, Mitt Romney is here with me now. Governor Romney, so, Newt Gingrich not happy with the Super PAC ads. Let me get you to respond. He says that he doesn't believe your explanation about the coordination.

GOV. MITT ROMNEY: Well, you're not allowed to coordinate with these independent committees, these Super PACs. It's a strange part of American law. I don't like the way the law was written. I think a campaign ought to have all the funds and run its own ads as opposed to these independent expenditure committees being set up. We can't coordinate that. At the same time, I know the speaker thinks that all negative ads should end, but this is, after all, a campaign, and campaigns do point out differences between candidates, draw out those distinctions. It’s important they be accurate, tell the truth. But, you know, I’ve been the subject of some pretty tough attacks that have come both from the speaker but also President Obama’s Super PAC. We have to make sure what's going to fight what comes from him.

TODD: You can't coordinate, but you have appeared at some events for Restore Our Future. You spoke to some donors a few months ago. A former associate of yours is involved with Restore Our Future. I know you’re not violating the letter of the law, but doesn't that not violate the spirit of it?

ROMNEY: New York City you -- no, you actually -- there was what you can do. They can help in terms of fundraising but cannot in any way communicate a course of advertising, suggest when ads run, where they run, what's in the content of the ads. Those are things that are prohibited so we're being very careful in that regard. I know that the speaker would like to say, look, we shouldn't have any negativity. Look, if you can't handle the heat in this little kitchen, the heat that's going to come from Obama’s kitchen will be a heck of a lot hotter. We need to show that we can stand up to the barrage that's going to come from the Obama world.

TODD: Do you think the decision by the Supreme Court which essentially created this landscape was a bad decision?

ROMNEY: Well, I think the Supreme Court’s decision was following their interpretation of the campaign finance laws that were written by Congress. My own view is now we tried a lot of efforts to try and restrict what can be given to campaigns, we'd be a lot wiser to say you can give what you'd like to a campaign. They must report it immediately and the creation of these independent expenditure committees that have to be separate from the candidate, that's just a bad idea.

TODD: Bad decision, though, or no, the Supreme Court?

ROMNEY: I'm not going to criticize the Supreme Court, I’m going to criticize Congress for passing a law that limits what campaigns can receive and opens the door to these Super PACs and to PACs which have now been around for a while. This is where I think the most damaging allegations arise.

TODD: If you ever thought Restore Our Future went over the line, would you publicly tell them not to do it?

ROMNEY: I'd have to check with what the law tells me.

TODD: You can publicly critique them.

ROMNEY: What I am allowed to say and not allowed to say. But obviously the key to me is making sure people tell the truth.

TODD: What we're seeing going on in Washington right now, this is what your senator, Scott Brown, he called what the House Republicans are doing with the payroll tax holiday irresponsible and wrong. Charlie bass is going to be on your bus trip. He voted against the republican bill that essentially killed the Senate compromise. What say you in this?

ROMNEY: Well, we're deep in the weeds. Should it be a two-month extension, one-year extension, which element should be involved. I hope that both the House and the Senate, Republicans and Democrats, are able to get this resolved as soon as possible. I’d like to see the payroll tax cut extended. Two months is not very long.

TODD: Nobody seems to want the two months but if this is all you can get done, do you want to see it done?

ROMNEY: You'd like to get as much done as possible. You’d like to see it go a full year. You’d like to recognize at the same time that this is not going to turn the economy around. It’s a very helpful feature for a number of families and that's why we don't want to raise taxes on people, particularly in the middle of an Obama economy. But let's hope that these guys are able to get the job done.

TODD: So you don't agree with Senator Brown's irresponsible and wrong comments?

ROMNEY: Look, come together. I’m not going to throw gasoline on what is already a fire. What we really need is a president that's a leader that can stand in with the members of both parties and work together on finding a common solution. But this president has been intent on attacking, and attack mode is not the way a leader tries to get people to work together.

TODD: I want to talk about Newt Gingrich for a minute. You’ve used some tough words about him, zany, unreliable, inconsistent, loose cannon; you believe he might be tearing up the Constitution about this idea about judges. Just this morning I got my usual daily email now with the headline on Gingrich called unreliable leader. Do you think he's fit to be president?

ROMNEY: Of course I think Speaker Gingrich has the qualifications to become president. I’ve said before that I think anybody on the stage would be a better president than the one we have. I happen to think that I’d be better than Speaker Gingrich. If not, I wouldn't be running. I think he has proven that when the big issues of the last decade or so came to the fore, the cap and trade issue he sat down with Nancy Pelosi on a sofa to argue about it. When Medicare was brought forward by Paul Ryan, he larked out and said this was right wing social engineering. He has been unreliable in his support of conservative initiatives, such as those. Pointing out distinctions and differences in a campaign is not something which is unusual or something I’m afraid of. The Speaker, by the way, has been pretty critical of me and has laid a whole series of attacks on me. That’s the nature of a campaign, point out those differences. The American people are pretty good at sorting out what's real and not real and they'll come to know us based on the things we say about ourselves and the things others say about us.

TODD: Does he possess the qualities that you would look for in a vice president?

ROMNEY: I haven't thought about the vice presidential nominee. If I’m lucky enough to get the nomination myself, I’ll give that a lot of thought. For me is this a person who could be seen as a person that could take over if necessary.

TODD: I assume you wouldn't want somebody that was a loose cannon.

ROMNEY: I'm not going to characterize anybody's qualifications for vice president. Obviously if I think the people on the stage could currently do better than the current president, I sure as heck they could do a lot better than the current vice president.

TODD: After the break I want to get into some issues, some foreign policy, some domestic policy. We’ll have much more with Governor Mitt Romney after the break. He’s sticking with us here at Keene, New Hampshire. You’re looking at a shot outside the restaurant here. More of my live interview with Governor Romney ahead next.

TODD: And we're back here in Keene, New Hampshire, where we've joined former Governor Mitt Romney on the campaign trail. He starts a three-day bus tour today. Governor Romney, let's talk policy. You said something interesting to Chris Wallace about the bin laden decision by the President. You said any president would have made that decision. What did you mean by just any president? It seemed a little whimsical. Maybe you didn't mean it to sound that way.

ROMNEY: I just mean that -- and I went on to say but I give credit to this president for actually having made the decision. I don't think it's unusual on the part of this president to have finally taken out Osama bin laden. After all, we had been looking for him for some time. Intelligence finally gave him a good indication of where he was. He gave the order. I do think prior presidents would have done the same thing had they been in the same position.

TODD: Are you comfortable with a policy of this sort of unilateral -- you know, four years ago this became a debate an issue. Do you act unilaterally in Pakistan? Are you comfortable to act unilaterally without maybe telling an ally like Pakistan that you might be firing drones in their country?

ROMNEY: I think in a setting like this one where Osama bin laden was identified to be hiding in Pakistan, that it was entirely appropriate for this president to move in and to take him out. I have no compunction about that at all. That was the right course for him to take. I supported that at the time and do now. In a similar circumstance, I think other presidents and other candidates like myself would do exactly the same thing.

TODD: Let's talk about Iraq. You wouldn't -- you wouldn't answer the hindsight question, and I understand that. You don't have all the information at the time. But the way you answered the question about whether if you knew everything then that you know now, that maybe the war would have gone differently or maybe history will judge this war badly. Is that your sense on this?

ROMNEY: Well, if we knew at the time of our entry into Iraq that there were no weapons of mass destruction, if somehow we had been given that information, obviously we would not have gone in.

TODD: You don't think we would have gone in?

ROMNEY: Of course not. The President went in based upon intelligence that they had weapons of mass destruction. Had he known that that was not the case, the U.N. would not have put forward resolutions authorizing this type of action. The President would not have been pursuing that course. But we did not know that. Based upon what we knew at the time, we were very much under the impression as a nation that they had weapons of mass destruction, that Saddam Hussein was intent on potentially using those weapons, and so he took action based upon what he knew. But to go back and say, well, knowing what we know now would we have gone in. Well, knowing what we know now, they did not have weapons of mass destruction, there would have been no effort on the part of our president or others to take military action.

TODD: Let's talk about Syria. Given the role the U.S. and NATO played in protect civilians, do you think at some point NATO or the United States and some coalition of the willing is going to have to go in there and protect civilians in Syria?

ROMNEY: You know, I don't want to speculate as to what the conditions might be and raise alarm bells. I am, after all -- I'm not a president, but I'm looking for that job. I do believe that we should act very aggressively to try and encourage the dissidence within Syria, to remove Assad and to bring a more representative form of government.

TODD: Support them militarily if that's what's necessary?

ROMNEY: Certainly support them covertly. We should support Turkey and Saudi Arabia as they're putting pressure on Syria. I won't rule out military support of some kind but I don't want to describe exactly what we might do because the circumstances can change. But Syria is very different than Libya. It is the only key ally for Iran, its route to the sea. A key satellite to Iran. Its link also with Lebanon. So Syria plays a key role for Iran. Any action we might take will certainly be met with an opposite reaction from Iran. And Iran at the current time is almost assuredly involved in Syria trying to protect the status quo.

TODD: All right, on health care, it's ground that's been plowed a lot with you, I understand that. Do you still believe in the idea of a mandate as a conservative idea? One of the defenses you've made of this is saying, hey, this was a conservative idea in 1993, that the heritage foundation and then Speaker Newt Gingrich-- or actually he was not yet speaker, were touting as a conservative alternative to what then the Clinton administration. Do you still believe a mandate is a conservative idea, the idea of the personal responsibility aspect?

ROMNEY: We, there were two options in my state. One was to continue to allow people without insurance to go to the hospital and get free care paid for by government, paid for by the taxpayers. And so that is a government-dominated, government-provided free service. The alternative that we had as an option in our state is people who can afford to buy insurance themselves should do so rather than relying on government. Given those two options, the option that we chose was a more conservative approach. At least that's my view. Personal responsibility is more conservative in my view than something being given out free by government.

TODD: Is there another conservative idea out there that you think can cover 30 million Americans?

ROMNEY: Well, the best –

TODD: For people that can afford it?

ROMNEY: The best idea is to let each state craft their own solution because that's the heart of conservatism is to follow the Constitution, the Tenth Amendment of the Constitution gives this responsibility to states. Now, states could look at what we did and maybe improve on it. I noted in my book, for instance, that one way to encourage people to get insurance who can afford it is to give a break to people, a tax break to people who do have insurance. Mathematically that creates the same incentive as a penalty. I think Republicans tend to be inclined to giving breaks to people who have insurance.

TODD: Are you concerned, though, that that could create, and i know this is an awkward term to use, sanctuary states, where some states are going to just cover more people than other states? Massachusetts versus a Mississippi, say?

ROMNEY: Well, that's something that would be worth looking at for any state to consider. People have to look at Massachusetts and to see what the record has been of its experience. But my own understanding is that under federal law, people are able to get covered. Virtually in any state in America, someone that is seriously ill can go to the hospital and get treated even if they can't pay for it. In my opinion that's a big government solution.

TODD: So how do we stop that? That's how the mandate came in, right?

ROMNEY: That's how it arose, how do we get individuals to take responsibility for their own care. There are a lot of different models. One is to have clinics where people are treated at low cost or no cost. The other is to do as I suggest, which is to have, if you will, tax breaks given to people who have insurance. There are a number of ways of encouraging personal responsibility.

TODD: Speaking of taxes, that's something I want to tackle when we go on the bus trip. But one final question, is there something about you that you think the public doesn't know yet, that you wish they did?

ROMNEY: Well, my guess is they're going to come to know me on a more personal basis as time goes on. So far most people have only seen me in debates. Debates are fine but they're a series of 60-second answers. As you get to run a campaign and people really focus on what you're doing and you get chances to speak with people like you, they see you in a setting where you're not confined to 30-second or 60-second answers but you can instead speak on a more extensive basis, so I think people get an understanding of why I’m running for president. Very fundamentally, I want to restore the greatness of America. I’m concerned this president has put us on a path of decline and is making us more like Europe. And that's a choice America faces. And I believe that my experience and background will help America become stronger again, creating good jobs and good incomes for the American people.

TODD: Well, that debate is going to be ongoing and we will continue to talk later on the bus tour. Governor Romney, thanks for doing this.

ROMNEY: Thanks everybody here, very nice hosts.

Republican presidential primary candidate Mitt Romney was a guest on today's Morning Joe. Embeddable video of the interview is below, along with a transcript of Romney's interview with MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough:

Transcript:

Romney on "Morning Joe"

[VIDEO CLIP FROM THE LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN]

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE:. Isn't it time for a president who looks like a 1970s game show host?

DAVID LETTERMAN:  Yes.

What's up, gangstas?

It's the ---

(LAUGHTER)

ROMNEY:.  it's the M-I- double tizzle.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMNEY:.  my new cologne is now available at Macy's. It's Mitts-tified.

LETTERMAN:. Mitts-tified.

(LAUGHTER)

ROMNEY:. Newt Gingrich, really?

LETTERMAN:. yes. Yes. That's right.

(LAUGHTER)

LETTERMAN:. And the number one thing Mitt Romney would like to say to the American people.

ROMNEY:.  It's a hairpiece.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MIKA BRZEZINSKI, COHOST:.  It was well done.

Top of the hour.

Welcome back to MORNING JOE.

Joining us now, former Republican governor of Massachusetts and presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

ROMNEY:. how are you doing?

JOE SCARBOROUGH, CO-HOST:.  How are you doing, Governor?

ROMNEY:. nice to meet you.

SCARBOROUGH:. It's good to see you.

ROMNEY:.  Thanks, Joe.

SCARBOROUGH:.  It's crazy out there.

ROMNEY:.  It is.

SCARBOROUGH:.  Can you believe how --- how things are just churning and this 24-7 news cycle, you've got a new person rising every week, falling the next week. I was just looking at a magazine article that's still on my desk that says, "The Cain Factor:  Why He" --he's gone.

BRZEZINSKI:.  Remember him?

SCARBOROUGH:.  I mean --- why is this happening?

why is there such a --- such a violent turnover in the Republican Party?

ROMNEY:.  Well, I --- I think our Republican Party voters really want to see Barack Obama out of office ---

SCARBOROUGH:.  Right.

ROMNEY:.  And they make sure they've got the person that can take him out. And --- and so they're taking a very close look at the person who is most effective in going after the president, in some --- in some cases, the most incendiary ---

SCARBOROUGH:.  Right.

ROMNEY:.  --- gets a lot of interest.

SCARBOROUGH:.  Is that --- is that the problem?

Is that why you haven't closed the sell, because you're not a bomb thrower?

ROMNEY:.  Well, I'm not a bomb thrower. I --- I'm happy with the fact that I've been either at the top or next to the top through this whole process. That's pretty darned good.

SCARBOROUGH:.  Right.

ROMNEY:.  Everybody else has come up and down or gone from a very low number to a high one and then back down again. So to be able to be steady through this and build some support over time is a --- is a good sign.

SCARBOROUGH:.  I saw your Chris Wallace interview this past weekend on Fox, "Fox Sunday." I thought the --- the --- the parts that were the most fascinating to me is when Chris started talking about your personal life. You don't talk about it much. You do --- you don't lead with we --- we know your wife and --- and --- and kids and love them. it's not that you're ashamed of them, but you don't lead. It's --- it's almost like you've hidden some of that. You don't talk about your time overseas as a missionary quite so much.

Are you going start doing that more?

ROMNEY:.  Well, part of it depends on what you're asked, of course. So when you are ---

SCARBOROUGH:.  OK. So --- so let me ask you ---

(CROSSTALK)

ROMNEY:.  when you're ---

SCARBOROUGH:.  --- what was it ---

ROMNEY:.  --- when you're ---

SCARBOROUGH:.  --- what was it like being a Mormon missionary for two years overseas?

ROMNEY:.  Well, it was a --- a dramatic experience, a great shift in what I'd known. I'd been in America. I came from a family that was prosperous. and then I found myself in a lower middle income kind of category, the homes I lived in. The --- the ---

SCARBOROUGH:.  No indoor plumbing?

ROMNEY:.  No. No, well, it depends. Some of the apartments, yes. Some of the apartments, no. At the end of my mission, I lived in a very beautiful place, the church headquarters. But the first two years, we lived quite poor. And --- and a lot of rejection being an American. This was during Vietnam. And I'd come to the door and they'd --- they'd interrupt me as I was speaking in broken French. And they'd say, "Are you American?"

And I'd say, "Yes."

and they'd just slam the door or say ---

SCARBOROUGH:.  And how ---

ROMNEY:.  --- "Get out of Vietnam."

SCARBOROUGH:.  --- how many --- how many rejections?

I thought it was fascinating when you talk to somebody that is a stock broker. They'll tell you that they open phone books and they'll make 100 calls and if they get one, it's been --- it's been a good hour. So have ---

ROMNEY:.  That's nothing.

SCARBOROUGH:.  Talk to us more ---

ROMNEY:.  That's nothing.

SCARBOROUGH:.  Talk about your rejections as a missionary knocking on door after door after door in a hostile environment.

ROMNEY:.  Well, I spent five months in a city called Le Havre, France. Five months there. I think the population was about a quarter of a million people. In five months, we knocked on doors from morning until quite late in the evening. We didn't convert one person in five months. So if you --- you understand rejection, you know, that's a pretty --- a pretty high level of rejection. And you get used to it. And you say, OK, you know, what do I believe, what's important to me. And you don't measure yourself and your success by how other people react, but instead by how you're doing and how you feel about the things you --- you care about.

SCARBOROUGH:  How did --- how did your missionary work shape you as a man when you came back home?

ROMNEY:.  I became more convinced of --- of the things I believed in, more committed to what was important to me and less concerned about how other people thought about me. And --- and that's --- that's something which you --- you'll have as you go through an experience where you're received in a --- not in a hostile way, but in a way people, they --- some people thought I was a salesman. Some people thought I was an American, true. some people thought I was a missionary. also true. And in each case, they were --- they rejected me. And --- and I had to learn to still maintain my confidence in myself.

BRZEZINSKI:.  All right. So I'm taking notes here, because I mean we've --- we've known you. We've covered you now for a couple of years. We love your family. And we love your wife. your personal story is incredibly impressive and your professional story is incredibly impressive.

And yet there is this sort of constant conversation that you can't close the deal with the base.

Why do you think that is, at this stage in the game, given the fact that this is your second run for the presidency, which historically is good for a Republican candidate?

ROMNEY:.  Well, I would think that if you look over history and you say how many people have been able to get to 25 percent of the support in their party this early, when there eight or nine candidates, there are not very many that get that high. The last time around, John McCain, I don't know, 20 to 25 percent; Rudy Giuliani, myself, Fred Thompson. We have a lot of good people running for president.

Some like Rick Santorum the best. Some like Michelle Bachmann the best. And --- and at this stage, with all those candidates, to still be seen typically as number one or number two, I think is pretty darned good.

What my objective is, is to get about a third of the votes in the first month and then about 40 percent of the votes in the next month and then about 55 or 60 percent in the --- in the next month of this process and get the delegates I need to become nominee.

BRZEZINSKI:.  Well, here's what's dogged you, though, and that is that you've changed over the years. The word flip-flopper has --- has come and gone too many times as your name has come and gone too many times.

How do you translate that criticism into a quality that you can sell to the voters, at this point, because the argument is, the complaint is that they don't really know what you stand for?

ROMNEY:.  Well, the nice thing that people have to go for in my case is I have a record. I was governor for four years and you can look at my record. You can see what I did, what my beliefs were, were evident in the --- in the actions that I took. I balanced the budget every year for four years. I fought to put in place a system that made sure that our --- our kids would only graduate from high school if they pass an exam. That was a requirement established years before. I made sure it stuck.

We also had English immersion that we put in place in our schools.

These --- these experiences that I had as governor demonstrate a conservatism that I think people want to see. And then, of course, I ran for office. the positions that I had four years ago are the same positions I'm campaigning on today. And I also wrote a book and laid out in my book my vision for America.

Have --- have I become more conservative over the years? Yes.

I think if you'd been through the experience I've been through, if you've been a governor of a very liberal state and seen the policies that some of the liberals in my state wanted to have put in place, you --- you become more conservative as you become convinced that --- that they're wrong and you're right.

SCARBOROUGH:.  But could you not make the argument, though --- and some of your supporters have --- have suggested that maybe you should make the argument that you were governor of Massachusetts. You weren't governor of Texas or governor of Oklahoma. And so there's no way that if you ran as a pro-life, pro-gun, anti-gay marriage candidate, you would have gotten elected.

Can you just say I had to be pragmatic and now that I'm running nationally, I can talk more about how I really feel on these issues?

ROMNEY:.  Well, you know, I understand in the world of politics that the people around me, that the people who are running against me are going to do their very best to create a narrative that helps them and that hurts me.  That’s the nature of the process.  I’m a big boy, I can handle that.

One can look at my record as governor and my belief is, if you look at that record, you’ll see there is a conservative Republican, and in a state that was 85 percent Democrat.  On the issue of life, I came down very clearly on the side of life.  I said, look, I am pro life.

The first time the bill reached my desk that dealt with embryonic research – we’re going to create new embryos to destroy them, I vetoed that bill.  I vetoed a bill that was going to provide a morning-after pill to young girls. My record was a pro-life record.

Did that change from the very beginning when I ran against Ted Kennedy?  Yes, I became dramatically more conservative when I faced on my desk a bill which would have taken human life.

SCARBOROUGH:  So, Newt Gingrich, obviously is your greatest challenge right now.  Would you still call Newt the frontrunner?

ROMNEY: You know, I think the latest polls show him still leading nationally.  The lead is not as much as it used to be, but that is sort of the process that other people have gone through.  They have gone up.  They’ve gone up, they’ve come back down.  And I expect he will lead until he doesn't lead.

(LAUGHTER)

SCARBOROUGH:  That’s about all you can say about the Republican field this year.  But he says he’s more conservative than you.  How would you respond?

ROMNEY: Well, there have been two big issues in the last five or six years that Republicans have faced.  One has been cap and trade.  And the president pushed it, the Democrats pushed it, and Newt Gingrich stood up – well, sat down with Nancy Pelosi and pushed legislation, cap and trade legislation.  Did an ad about global warming.  That is not conservatism.  That is not conservative leadership.

The other big issue was the issue that was taken by almost every Republican in Congress following Paul Ryan to say we need to reform Medicare to make sure that it’s sustainable, that it doesn’t go broke.  These Republicans took a courageous vote.

And what did he do?  Newt Gingrich stood up and said this is right-wing social engineering.  On the two big conservative issues -- not 10 or 15 or 20 years ago, but in our time on the two big conservative issues, he came down on the side of the liberals.  For him to say she more conservative is a bit of a stretch.

SCARBOROUGH:  The third big issue focused on obviously has been Barack Obama's health care plan.  On health care, don't you and Newt Gingrich both share the belief – haven’t you both shared the belief-- in the need for an individual mandate?

ROMNEY:  Actually, the idea of an individual mandate came from Newt Gingrich and the Heritage Foundation.  And we did something different than what they proposed.  They were talking about a federal mandate, which is of course what Barack Obama did.

I opposed the idea of a federal mandate from the very beginning and said no, we will craft a plan that works for our own state and other states can learn from it or can decide to take a different course.  But yes, he had a federal mandate in the history and only recently has changed his view on that.

BRZEZINSKI: OK, I’ve got to -- this is definitely something we can relate on.

SCARBOROUGH:  Oh, no!  That's bad news.  Time to run!  Making his own (INAUDIBLE) by Chris Christie.

BRZEZINSKI:  -- horses and Newt Gingrich.  No, I’m just -- it's an interesting question.  I'm fascinated by this.  Because you look at how he is doing with the polls, and I know you don't live and die by the polls, you can’t do that.  But you can use them as a barometer to daily test the waters and see how things are going.  Figure out if your message is being communicated effectively.

What does this tell you about your party that Newt Gingrich is where he is?

ROMNEY:  Well, we have seen Herman Cain at the top.  We’ve seen Rick Perry at the top.  We saw Michele Bachmann.  We saw Donald Trump -- have all led at one time or another, and then people take a closer look.  At the very beginning when someone really hasn't been inspected closely, you project on them all the things that you think would be true for an ideal candidate  --

BRZEZINSKI:  But Newt’s been inspected closely.  I don’t want to look again.

ROMNEY:  But people who are a little older who recall history because it was close for them. For young people coming along and others who didn't watch it carefully, why they’re not taking a closer look.  Look, I think there is a lot that I learned about Newt Gingrich that I didn't know.  All I remembered was oh, he was the guy that crafted the Contract with America, which turned out to be a very successful approach to get Republicans elected into the House --

SCARBOROUGH:  And I was going to ask you, I mean, as a leader – and I asked Chris Christie before and he sort of swatted it away, but certainly you can appreciate as a leader how hard it was for Newt Gingrich to return to the Republican party, to the majority for the first time in a generation, balance the budget – with a lot of  help from people like Kasich and my class.  But he balanced the budget for the first time in a generation, balanced it four years in a row for the first time since the 1920s, passed welfare reform.  He has done a lot of really good things for the conservative movement, hasn’t he?

ROMNEY:  He sure has.  And you acknowledge that.  There’s no question about it.  The contract and the success of welfare reform was something for which he deserves credit.

SCARBOROUGH:  So – go ahead, Mika, I’m sorry.

BRZEZINSKI:  Well, no, you point out some -- I will say that's very kind of you having said that.  What does that say if your party were to actually move forward and nominate Newt Gingrich?  What would be at stake for this country?

(CROSSTALK)

ROMNEY:  It would have missed a great opportunity to nominate me.

(LAUGHTER)

BRZEZINSKI: There is that.

ROMNEY:  Look, I happen to think I'm in the best position to replace President Obama.  I think the only way we will get President Obama out of the White House -- because it's hard to replace an incumbent – is if we have someone run against him who is different than a lifelong politician.  I think – there’s nothing wrong with being a lifelong politician.  We have one in the White House right now.  Newt Gingrich has spent his life in Washington.

And I don’t someone who spent their life in Washington is going to be able to be sufficiently distinctive for President Obama to actually beat him.  I think my background of 25 years in the private sector gives me credibility on the economy and on creating jobs that President Obama doesn't have.  And that distinction is going to make the difference.

SCARBOROUGH:  So, let's talk about that.  Newt Gingrich has attacked you for what you did at Bank Capital? Are you proud of your work at Bank Capital?

ROMNEY:  Absolutely.  We helped created tens of thousands of jobs. I'm proud of the private sector.  There’s no question that Speaker Gingrich and much more significantly the DNC and President Obama are going to put free enterprise on trial.

SCARBOROUGH:  Well, they said you threw people out of jobs, whether it’s in South Carolina or New Hampshire.  You were responsible for people getting fired.

ROMNEY:  What I was responsible for four enterprises, and all of them were successful and ultimately grew.  And we invested in over 100 different businesses.  And in those businesses, many were successful, added lots and lots of jobs.  Some were not successful.

That is the nature of free enterprise.  If someone thinks they can find a way that every enterprise that one invests in becomes successful -- all are successful, why, they are not living in a free enterprise system.  They are living in a system like the old Soviet Union where the government insists that everybody adds employment every year, and ultimately the economy suggests that the people become poorer.

I believe that free enterprise works and I believe that other models have been proven to be failures time and time again.  And I was surprised to have Newt Gingrich pick up the story line that came from Barack Obama and the DNC and go on the attack against free enterprise.

SCARBOROUGH:  Do you win Iowa?

ROMNEY:  I think that's hard to predict at this stage. Everyone wants to win Iowa.  They want to win every state.  But I think --

SCARBOROUGH:  You think you can, though?

ROMNEY:  All things are possible.  And I hope to do well.  But I think when we got into this this time around, we thought, well, Iowa would be a real stretch. New Hampshire, we hope to do well.

SCARBOROUGH:  Do you have to win New Hampshire?

ROMNEY:  I don't think today you have to win anything.  I think the only thing you have to win is 1,150 delegates.  We’ve seen some people have gone down and come back.  If one of the people on the stage doesn't win the first two, I wouldn't write them off.  One of those people could come and surge – we’ve seen people surge from nothing to high numbers very quickly.

SCARBOROUGH:  Is it possible this goes all the way to the convention?

ROMNEY:  Absolutely.  That's possible.  I don't think it is terribly likely, but it's possible that this goes a long way.  We have built enough resources, raised enough money to have a campaign to go to the very, very end.

SCARBOROUGH:  And finally, Newt Gingrich has been complaining – we ran a clip of him earlier talking about you had former aides running your super-PAC that is spending a couple of million attacking them.  He said you should just tell them to stop the attacks against Newt Gingrich.  Would you do that?

ROMNEY:  It's illegal, as you probably know.  Super PACs have to be entirely separate from a campaign and a candidate.  I'm not allowed to communicate with a super PAC in any way, shape or form.

SCARBOROUGH:  So, you’re not coordinating it in any way.

ROMNEY:  My goodness, if we coordinate in any way whatsoever, we go to the big house.  These things you know.

SCARBOROUGH:  And you’re not talking about the White House.

BRZEZINSKI: No, not at all.

ROMNEY:  No, this is a strange thing in these campaign finance laws.  They set up these new entities, which I think is a disaster, by the way.  Campaign finance law has made a mockery of our political campaign season.  We really ought to let campaigns raise the money they need and just get rid of these super PACs.

BRZEZINSKI: You know what I think would seal it?  A little advice here. Pancakes.

SCARBOROUGH:  Pancakes! Right!

ROMNEY:  We know how to make them well, Mika.

BRZEZINSKI: Have a pancake breakfast in New Hampshire and Iowa.  I’m telling you, the secret is buttermilk but nobody can do it.  I tried!  I tried to cook them like Ann did.  It was a disaster.

(LAUGHTER)

BRZEZINSKI:   It was a -- anyhow.  Governor Romney, thank you very much.

SCARBOROUGH:  Thank you, Governor.  Great to see you.

BRZEZINSKI: Best of luck to you.

ROMNEY:  Thank you.

BRZEZINSKI: Thank you for being on the show.

END

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