2012 campaign, freezing out Iran, a Furious investigation

This weekend's talk shows are splitting time between the 2012 presidential race, Iran's alleged involvement in an assassination plot on U.S. soil and the investigation into the botched gun-running operation known as Fast and Furious.

Adviser David Axelrod will represent President Obama's reelection team on ABC's "This Week" while some of the Republicans vying to knock Obama out of the White House take to the airwaves elsewhere.

Herman Cain, who is the GOP front-runner in recent polls, will be on NBC's "Meet the Press." He'll be followed by two high-profile surrogates for other top-tier candidates: Former Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R-Minn.) will speak for Mitt Romney and Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) for Rick Perry.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) will take his campaign to CNN's "State of the Union" and will be followed by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of Democratic National Committee.

CNN will also host Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to talk about the plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in Washington, which was uncovered by U.S. officials. Elements of the Iranian government are accused of backing the operation, and that is stirring the debate over U.S. foreign policy.

Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, will be on "Fox News Sunday" to talk about the foiled assassination attempt.

Fox kicks off with House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.).

CBS's "Face the Nation" take a different tack by talking to the top members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee: Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Ranking Member Elijah Cummings (D-Md.). The topic will be the investigation into the botched Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms operation called Fast and Furious.

Source: TheHill.com