i'm drew griffin in today for randi kaye. we got a real busy hour ahead. being first means an awful lot in politics. that's why so much is riding on a few hundred informal gatherings across iowa. 31 hours from now, the iowa caucuses. the first contest of the republican presidential nominating season. most of the major names have led the polls at some point but the prides for best timing may go to this guy. rick santorum made a move last week and now seems firmly in the top three and drawing crowds he

only dreamt about a month ago. >> i'm asking you to not settle for someone who as your nominee, who might be able to win the election, but the election would be a victory where we wouldn't have a candidate that's elected president who will do what's necessary of what america needs. >> romney, gingrich, perry and bachmann all have campaign events in iowa this hour. we'll dip in live where and when we can. cnn of course, the place you want to be tomorrow night. we begin getting results from the iowa caucuses. america's choice 2012 special coverage tomorrow night 7:00 eastern on cnn. a person of interest is

being held for questioning in california after another night of arsons. the flames have spread to buildingings, started from parked cars. we'll get the latest on this arson spree from l.a.'s biggest -- since those riots back in '92. the mayor will join me live. mr. nis washington state have a definite suspect in yesterday's shooting death of a park ranger at rainier national park. this is the guy. 24 years old. he's believed to be not only heavily armed but wearing body armor and somewhere in the vast and rugged wilderness surrounding rainier. a park ranger was gunned down trying to stop a car that refused another ranger's order to pull over. the suspect fled and is also

wanted in an earlier shooting that wounded four people. iran flexing its muscles again. interpr iran's state media roared iran successfully test fired two long rain sea to shore and surface to surface missiles today. yesterday iran test fired a medium range raymmissiles in th gulf. if sanctions are imposed intended to force iran to curb nuclear am bbitions for that country. the el paso times says there's been a drop in homicide in juarez amid the ongoing drug cartel battle. they report 38% fewer in 2011

than in 2010. still, 1,900 homicides. the east coast will start feeling like winter. live pictures from cleveland and indianapolis where it has started snowing. a cold snap is expected to move in tomorrow, temperatures will be 10 to 20 degrees below normal from new york to florida. three arson attacks being investigated in new york. police say molotov cocktails were thrown at an islamic center, a mexican convenience store and private home sunday night in queens. nobody was hurt. a possible fourth incident, fire damaged part of a house but police aren't sure if that's related. governor andrew cuomo condemned the attacks in a statement saying such acts go against everything we stand for as new yorkers and as americans. another year, same strange story in central arkansas prp

200 birds found dead after the new year's fireworks. people have been finding them in yard and driveways but this time, not as many. last year 5,000 fell from the sky. wildlife official says someone may have mumpsly set off fireworks near the birds who were roosting in trees. back to iowa now. the gop candidates have one day left to show caucus goers what they've got. but does it even matter? some say conservative republicans have finally picked their antimitt romney candidate. who is it? a live reminder, we're just minutes away from a live campaign event from mitt romney. we're going to bring that to you when it gets unwder way. three kids trapped in a car after their father lost control plunged into a river in utah and landed upside down. witnesses saw it, came to the

rescue in those icy waters. they had to flip the car over. all three kids were pulled to safety and are now in fair condition. a case of strangers helping strangers. to the good smar tans who came to the rescue, we want to say -- you are today's rock stars. hello, how can i deliver world-class service for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you knowledgeable customer service 24/7, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. is the pain reliever orthopedic doctors recommend most for arthritis pain, think again. and take aleve. it's the one doctors recommend most for arthritis pain...

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aspercreme breaks the grip, with maximum-strength medicine and no embarrassing odor. break the grip of pain with aspercreme. looking at live pictures of an event where mitt romney is about to speak in dubuque, iowa, the eastern side of the state. we'll bring that to you live when he shows up and begins speaking. earlier i mentioned the santorum surge in the pre-caucus polling in iowa.

not everyone is impressed by santorum. the surge or the polls, for that matter. case in point -- ron paul. he is polling somewhere in the top three and who headlined an event last hour in des moines just before that event you are looking at, he and his son, gop senator rand paul, spoke with cnn's dana bash. >> reporter: rick santorum is a former senator. you know serving in the senate is like serving in the congress. why wouldn't he be a good republican nom snee. >> he's very liberal. >> santorum's liberal. >> have you looked at his record? >> what makes him liberal if. >> he spent too much money. he wasn't leading the charge to slash the government and vote against rig government. >> dana joins us live from des moines. he also said he was inexcited by the enthusiasm for his campaign. really? is there a huge enthusiasm out

of him today? he looked kind of down in the dumps, tell you the truth. >> i think he -- maybe that tends to be his personality but he certainly was very, very different, drew, when he got behind the podium and spoke to his supporters here. there was a big crowd in des moines. this is first of several stops he'll have around the state today with his son, senator rabid paurand paul. he honed points that he's a libertarian, will cut cuts more than anyone else and on foreign policy he wants to bring troops home from all overseas posts. i asked him about the fact that republicans by and large are very worried with his candidacy for a number of reasons but what they're worried about i think long term is the fact that he might either stay in this race too long or even leave the

republican party and run as he has before as a libertarian and take votes away from republicans. i asked that. take a listen. >> if you do not succeed in this republican contest or contests, will you continue to be a -- >> i have no plans in doing that. tomorrow is a big day. we're going to see what happens but i have no intention of doing that, no desire and flat-out i don't want to. >> okay. because before you've been a little bit circumspect. you've run as a libertarian before. >> right. i've never spoken in absolutes. i have no plans to do and no intention of doing it. i would not see myself as doing that. >> reporter: >> reporter: he came closer to saying that he will not do it which may have some republicans breathing a sigh of relief. the other thing i was talking about leer is he does reach out and appeal to independents and democrats because of what he calls his libertarian views and

anti-interventionists. he doesn't like the term isolationist. he calls it antiintervention ais views. we'll see if that helps him tomorrow. drew, i talked to a lot of republicans in and around the state who have been here for a long time who know what it takes to get ow people out to the caucuses and they do say they believe that ron paul really does have the tremendous organization in place that really could help him big time tomorrow. >> dana, thanks. tle is no question he had some true believers. roland martin joins us now. we've been herein him say everything but no, i won't run for third party nominee. is he dancing around the issue? >> no, first of all, why would he want to have a conversation about a third party nomination when you're trying to win republican nomination? you don't get to that until you are actually out of the running for the gop nomination. here's a guy at the top of of the polls in iowa for quite some time. it makes perfect sense to deal with this later.

i'm focused on this right now. >> what's interesting about ron paul supporters is they are ron paul supporters not looking for anybody else. i wonder if he does get out of this race eventually -- do they go anywhere or just stay home? >> first, we really don't know. look, folks obviously support him. p i would believe they would still look to who is the best person that would fill the void in other areas. you look at gary johnson. former governor of new mexico, he's said he's going to seek the libertarian nomination. >> does it really matter. >> iowa does matter but there is more than 50 states. frankly, i'm sick and tired of these media people acting like if you lose iowa, you should jump out of the race, that's it.

i think that's a fantasy. you live in tennessee, washington state, oregon, the rest of the states, somehow you don't get a opportunity to choose a nominee. you have to get nearly 1,200 delegates to get the nomination. i think it's idiotic for anyone to drop out of the campaign after tomorrow night. you don't know what's going to happen in new hampshire or in south carolina, or in florida. we have to stop this nonsense of putting all the emphasis on one state when there are 49 other states an americans who live in those states and republicans who live in those states who should have the right to choose their nominee, not just the people in a couple of states. >> real quick, about romney and anti-romney. it seems like this is coming down to and where are the anti-romneys going to coalesce. >> romromney's been pretty stea polling. at some point do those people

get together and say we just don't want you, mitt romney? i believe this campaign will go through april, may because of that strong sentiment. those people vp money and they might keep a san form -- santorum and perry in the race. he is going to have to earn this nomination the same way senator obama had to he shall tearn then against senator clinton. guess what? if you don't like romney, someone will open their checkbook if he stays in the race. cnn is the place to be tomorrow night. we're finally getting results from the election. iowa caucuses.

special live coverage of the iowa caucuses beginning tomorrow night at 7:00 eastern right here on cnn. there is a manhunt under way for this guy. suspected of shooting and killing a park ranger. >> we know at minimum he's got an assault rifle, he already shot some people at a party earlier, he's killed a law enforcement officer an he's out there and armed. >> the search for the suspects in the rainier shooting next. nyquil (stuffy): overachiever. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. where they grow america's favorite wpotatoes. idaho, everyone knows idaho potatoes taste great. but did you know they're good for you too? they're high in vitamins and potassium. and idaho potatoes are now certified to carry the heart checkmark from the american heart association for foods low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

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there is a man hunt under way right now in washington state. police are searching for this man, named benjamin colton barnes, 24 years old, the main suspect in the new year's day shooting at rainier national

park, believed to be hiding somewhere in the park. barnes suspected of shooting and king margaret anderson, a park ranger. rangers attempted to pull over the driver to see if he had snow chains. he failed to stop. anderson set up a road block. anderson got out, opened fired and fled on foot. the park's been closed ever since. i want to ask you, lee taylor, are you active live going into the woods and finding this guy or are you cordoning offer an area of the park or waiting to see what else? >> it's actually both. we've cordoned off the park and watching all of the places with war person could swhere -- wher could exit on foot. >> is there any contact with this person at all? do we know if he has a cell known that you are able to find

and try to call and make can't? >> no. there's no cell phone that i'm aware of and no effort to try to contact him. >> finally, if i could just ask you, we're told he is armed and dangerous. did somebody see him fleeing into those woods with weapons? >> he was seen fleeing into the woods. we're confident that he has a weapon. he is armed and very dangerous and it's a huge challenge for the officers who are out in the field because obviously we're looking for someone who does not want to be caught and who may retaliate with deadly force if someone gets near him. >> lee taylor, we know you have a very big park to protect by a very, very small family of people who do that and our condolences certainly out to the family of the ranger and you as well as you try to get over this tragedy and try to catch this guy. >> thank you. forget with the smog, folks in los angeles say the air smells like burnt rubber. somebody has been setting 54

fires acros that city in the last two days. car torched and homes burned as a result. a man is being questioned. up next, l.a.'s mayor antonio villaraigosa to talk to me about what the heck to going on there in a day, quite frankly, you guys should be celebrating new years an worrying about the rose bowl parade. see you in a minute, mayor. and this is in due wuk, iowa, a mitt romney campaign right now. coming up. d more. if you replace 3 tablespoons of sugar a day with splenda®, you'll save 100 calories a day. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. and now get even more with splenda® essentials, the only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitamins in every packet. just another reason why you get more... when you sweeten with splenda®. ♪ when you sweeten with splenda®. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through.

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who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a $3 coupon. in today's crime and consequence, we want to take you now to los angeles. scenes like these have explode in the city, a wave of suspected arsons began on friday.

right now investigators have detained and are questioning a man in connection with suspected arson fires -- 54 fires of concern is what they are calling them. many of them are concentrated in the hollywood area. this fire along with ten others like it just from this morning. the whole situation as you can imagine has a lot of people in los angeles on edge and the mayor there antonio villaraigosa both join us live from los angeles to take a closer look at this. mayor, they got a guy, they're questioning him now. is this the guy? is this over? >> at this point they're calling him a person of interest. he's detained in the city of los angeles. sunset and fairfax. he was detained by a sheriff deputy in the city. i can tell you that the police, lapd, sheriff's department, atf, there are hundreds of

investigators working on this following what could be thousands of leads when it is all said and done. they have not called this person a suspect yet but he is paea pen of interest. 43 fires in the city of los angeles. the other two in west hollywood and burbank, surrounding cities. it is unfortunate, you said it, it is an absolute adomination that this person would do this in a very densely populated area of los angeles. we're very fortunate that nobody was killed. there was one firefighter who was slightly injured. more than $2 million in damage and it could have been much worse. but again, at this point this person is only a person of interest. >> it certainly could have been a lot worse. in l.a., a lot of these carports are under buildings.

when a fire starts in a car, it can move up into a garage and building itself. it appears all 53 of these fires were extremely similar? or is it possible that there are copycats out there or more than one person doing this in more than one way? >> it is possible that there are copycats. there were two other people arrested earlier in the week that may have been involved. at this point i can't speculate on that. again, this person is not a suspect. only a person of interest. but there's some reason to believe that the vast majority of these fires was started by the same person. >> based on serial arsonists in the past, why would this happen? why would a person do this? >> well, there is a lot of motives and reasons why people do this type of thing.

example, some being thrill seeking, some for excitement, some for recognition. some for revenge. so it's typical at this point, as the mayor said, to really profile this person of interest. but there are a lot of reasons why people set fires which is very unfortunate. >> is it also true that a serial arsonist of this magnitude would not stop but would have to be stopped? >> well, in this case, yes. i mean you have to follow every lead and you have to vigorously pursue the investigations by processing the fire scenes and just following every lead until you finally do stop this person. >> but in other words, this person, whatever set him off or whatever started this would not just stop on his own. >> i don't believe so. i believe that until he gets caught, that's when these fires will stop. >> mr. mayor, there is a lot of nervous people in your city and

the surrounding area. obviously this guy has struck mostly in the night from what i gather. will there be some relief for residents of los angeles or the coming hours where they can kind gf to sleep without peering out their window? >> i certainly hope so. i've been briefed threw the night over the last few nights. i can tell you that there are a couple of hundred investigators working seamlessly together from various local and federal departments. these people are very dedicated. they take this very, very seriously as well. we also believe this person will to indo what he's doing or she was doing -- i don't want to make it -- don't want to say at this point that we know for sure if it was male or female. but we do know is that there is a person of interest.

we've done everything we could and will continue to follow every single lead. we want to make sure that the person that we have is the person. if we believe that we need to follow those leads somewhere else, we will do that as well. >> mayor, you're telling those people who may know something who keep dialing in, keep sending tips in because this may not be the guy but we certainly hope he is. mayor, thank you so much. happy new year to you. i hope it is a quiet night in your city. richard grove, thank you as well. thank you. this is dubuque, iowa and mitt romney on the stump. >> -- 10% in the last four years. this president's failed the american economy. and the american people. and as you know, those numbers are not just statistics. people out of work. that's kids who can't start a job coming out of college. that's young families that can't get started.

it is people in their 50s in the prime of their life that are worried that if they lose a job they won't be able to find another one. it is people in the retirement age that wonder whether they'll be able to retire. this is a tough time. then of course, another failure -- the budget and government. he was critical of president bush. he said that 450-some-odd billion dollar budget shortfall deficit was outrageous. and in fact it was. but he put in place budgets -- deficits three times that large. matter of fact, he's on track by the end of his first term -- his only term -- by the way -- he's on track to amass as much public debt, almost as much as all the prior presidents combined. this president's failed. he went on the "today" show shortly after being inaugurated and saidfy can't get this economy turned around in three

years, i'll be looking at a one-year proposition. i'm here to collect. we're going to take it back. we're going to take it back. you see, when it comes to jobs and the private sector, i think it helps to have have one if you plan on creating some. and i have. let me play you what i'm going to do to solve the kinds of problems he was unable to solve. first with regards to getting our economy going again. there are some things that have to be done. one, we have to make sure that america once again is the best place in the world for entrepreneurs and inventors, for business creators, for people who want to hire other people. that's how it works. government does not create jobs. free american people pursuing their own dreams is how we create jobs. how do i do that? i made america an attractive place for bern. t the ic

small business people tell me almost every day that they feel under attack from this administration. i want to get our employer tax rates competitive with other nations. want to get regulators to see their job acetone courage business, not to crush it. i will impose a block -- i'll put a hold on every obama era regulation and get rid of those that kill jobs in america. we've got unlimited resources -- coal, gas, oil, let's stop acting like a energy poor nation and start developing our own resources here and become energy secure! and i want to open up more markets for american goods. want to make sure the products that we make can be sold around the world. this president has made it harder in some respects because other nations have been doing that.

europe, european nations and china have put together some 44 new agreements between themselves and other nations to open up the sales of their products around the world. during that time, guess how many agreements president obama put in place? zero in the last three years. i want to open up marc markets for our goods. and when people cheat, when people like china steal our intellectual property, our patents, our designs, our technology, our brand names been when they steal those things, hack into our computers and manipulate their currency,ly crackdown on them to keep them from killing american jobs. i also got to balance the budget. it is time are for to us cut federal spending and cap it. you hear that day in and day out. let me tell you how you can have

confidence that i know how to get the job done. one, because i spent my life in business. 25 years. tim, if you don't spend less than -- are you going to let those people come through? you can't spend more than i take in every year or you'll go broke. right? that's with families. if you spen more than you take in year after year, you're in trouble. i've learned in the private sector that you can't spen more than you take in. i ran balanced budgets. i ran two differences. we balanced our budget, and made a little profit in addition. the olympics, i came in, we were in trouble and i balanced the budget. in massachusetts, i came in and we actually cut spending. then we balanced the budget every 1 of the 4 years i was there and put in place a rainy day fund of over $2 billion. i've done it. ly do it.

how? well, i mean look at all the programs we have in government. i'm going to get rid of a lot of them. i'm just going to to slow down the rate of growth, i'm going to stop them all together. here's my test. is this program so critical to america that it's worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? on that basis i'm going to cut out some things that i know we like but we just can't afford. some i don't know we like. i'm going to get rid of obama care on day one nap one we know we don't like. some programs i'll send back to the states where i think they could be better run. i'm also going to take the federal government that remains and 14 rink the work force by 10% through attrition. then link the pay of government workers with the pay in the private sector. i don't think government workers should make more than the people who pay for them. this is an election about jobs,

about our economy. about the budget. the state of government about it is about something more. it is not just an election about policy and procedures, or dollars and cents, or even election just about a person replacing president obama. it's also an election about the soul of america. this country was founded with an extraordinary set of principles. these principles i think are what defive america and what have driven there country to be the shining city on the hill. we were given political freedom from the outset, the right to choose the people who would represent us. we were also given opportunity, freedom to choose our course in life. not just free to choose who would represent us but free to choose what dwee in life. we are an opportunity nation. when the founders crafted this country they saw such extraordinary vision that they were cognizant that if you gave people the ability to pursue their dreams an they did so

successfully they'd lift the entire nation and that's what's happened. we're a merit society, and opportunity society where people, through education or hard work, risk taking, dreams, can build enterprises, can build farms, can build places like this that jim's grandfather began. that's the story of america. >> that's romney on the stump today, one day before the wig iowa caucus. senator john thune from south dakota in back of him who has obviously endorsed romney. who is this going to play out tomorrow? will will and ed espinoza are standing by, also to weigh in on newt gingrich, hammering mitt romney over neglect tative ads iowa. all "fair game." but first, which candidate grabbed the highest percentage of the iowa caucus vote in history? the answer just ahead. people with a machine.

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before the break the question was -- which candidate got the highest percentage of the vote in iowa caucus history. the answer -- tom harkin, veteran war senator. he got 76% in 1992. part of the show where we go to the heart of the political

debate where all sides are "fair game," are we are one day away from the iowa caucuses. the first test that really matters. but does it matter too much? cnn contributor will cain joins me and democratic political consultant ed espinoza. guys, florida pushed this all down the line when they moved their primary to the end of january. iowa is tomorrow. so they stay first. but does staying first carry too much weight in this process? >> absolutely. i've been on this war path for a while now. winner of iowa, is going to come out with second delegates. second place comes out with six. one delegate difference. new hampshire a week later, not much difference. the winner has a one or two delegate lead on the other in second place. reminder here -- you need 1,100-plus to win the

nomination. you're playing for buzz, for conversation, for the question you are asking right now, drew. that's what you're playing for. >> but, it is about that buzz, and i think that is why it may be important, because the person who comes in second to the top or unexpectedly third is probably going to get two or even three days of chatter about this heading right into new hampshire. >> yeah, it matters. will and i went back and forth on twit ber this earlier today. there's actually very good points to be made on both sides. if iowa waits too much or the early states wait too much. this is what i like about early states. having worked in iowa and been a superdelegate for obama, having gone through this process. when you go to a small state, candidates like rick santorum, like every other republican who's lead, have a chance to make their name with the people. there is some process and value to that. there's also another thing that's to be gained from early

states which is what kind of momentum do these candidates pick up. that does show what their durability is in this process. the donors are watching that and that's going to matter in the long run. >> i want to follow up on the durability question. you did write about romney and how he has pretty much stayed mid 20s throughout all the games that have happened underneath him, whether the candidate was rising or falling underneath him. is there -- i asked this to roland martin as well. is there a chance after iowa there is a definitely coalescing around a specific anti-romney guy that could go across the 24%, 25% mark? >> typically in the republican primary you see voters start to coalesce around a front-runner. but as we talked about before, i know will has made a point about this as well, we -- delegates are allocate oond proportional basis now for the first time

ever. that changes the dynamic. when candidates start to drop out of this race, others who may have come in this second or third tend to be more viable because they've got as many delegates as the next guy. romney, who was at 24 pshs in the "des moines register" poll on new year's leave was at 23% in the same poll in june. he's got to break through and right now we haven't seen what that way will be for him. >> drew, i'd like to touch on that real quick. ideas that candidates like perry and bachmann and santorum are all going to get together and buy an anti-romney candidate. among the candidates i actually don't see a ton of an muss towards romney. and conversely, a ton of love between bachmann and perry. don't know just because we see them all fractured anti-romneyed we can see them come together

and say we should come together and all oppose him. i think some are holding back to hold potential placement within a romney win or romney administration. >> if they come around to romney, it will be reluctantly. the problem is when we keep seeing these flavor of the month candidates, it is because one drops out or one falls from the front-runner position and instead of gravitating towards romney they go to the next selection, then the next selection, then the next one. i think that's demonstrating a lack of commitment to romney. maybe they'll come around but we don't know for sure yet. >> let me ask you both real quickly, any bombs tomorrow night drop out on wednesday or you just want to hang around as much as you can in this race and wait for the other guy to topple? >> i don't see anybody dropping out. with proportional delegation, i think we could see bachmann and such hang around for a while. >> this iowa primary is as

unpredictable as the ncaa tournament first round. if somebody has the money to stay in, they stay in. >> oh, you shouldn't say that about the ncaa. it's not about the money. thanks, guys. that's "fair game." america's choice 2012, special live coverage of the wwiowa caucuses tomorrow night beginning at 7:00 eastern on cnn. you'll hear a lot more from president obama. the first family's vacation in hawaii officially ends later this evening but iowa is now in his sights. male announcer ] t, dayquil doesn't treat that. really? [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus fights your worst cold symptoms, plus it relieves your runny nose. [ deep breath] awesome. [ male announcer ] yes, it is. that's the cold truth! can you enjoy vegetables withs. sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables.

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r&b singer cee lo green has some fans singing red of lennen. he sang "imagine" for folks on times square in new year's. there's nothing wrong with that except he decides to take some artistic liberties with the lir rish lyri lyrics. listen to this. --

>> that was deliberate. here's the original lyric -- nothing to kill or die for and noreligion, too. cee lo saying this, nothing to kill or die for and all religions true. lennon blasted the guy on twitter. cee lo eventually responded by saying this, yo, i meant no disrespect by changinged lyric, guys. apparently in this world, lennon fans believe what you did was pretty unbelievable. back in a moment. so, this is delicious

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here is a look at stories making news street level. first to joint base pearl harbor in honolulu, president obama and family will go back to washington after vacation. he'll turn his attention to iowa. he's taking part in the caucuses tomorrow. running unopposed in the race, he will face democrats over a live feed. also in honolulu, a historic

moment just minutes into the new year. >> we now pronounce that you are legally joined as partners in life. >> and, with that, several same-sex couples became the first in the state's history to enter into civil unions. online applications for civil union licenses became available at midnight, hawaii along with delaware the latest of five states now recognizing same-sex civil unions. six other states in washington, d.c., allow same-sex marriage. in a texas airport, explosives an army soldier charged with attempting to board a plane with explosives. police arrested 30-year-old trey atwater over the weekend at midland international airport. he was said to have military grade explosives in his carry-on. the airport was evacuated for about an hour. big sports news out of tampa

florida, the tampa bay buccaneers have fired head coach raheem morris. he gets the ax after the bucs end a season with a ten-game losing streak. the general manager said this -- i have a lot of respect and appreciation for the passion coach morris gave to our football team, but this change is one we felt was necessary. we're going to get more details in about an hour when the team mak makes it official at a news conference 3:00 p.m. eastern ni time. we're a day away from the iowa caucuses, but don't tell that to the nearly half iowa caucusgoers who haven't made up their mind. what's up with that? paul steinhauser in des moines, we'll ask him. stand by.

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paul steinhauser is in des moines. paul, we have new numbers to talk about at this very, very late hour. >> we do, just out in the last hour or two, drew, this is a poll of people likely to go to those caucuses tomorrow night by american research group. let's look. look who's on the top, same guy in the other polls including our cnn poll. mitt romney, 22%, ron paul 17%, santorum at 16%, gingrich at 15%, everybody else in single digits. this poll very much in line with our poll that made big news wednesday. santorum's numbers are going up but not the only thing going up for the former he senator from pennsylvania. so are his fund raising numbers. his campaign telling us in the last week they've raised more money than they have online pretty much all of the last six months. pretty incredible stuff. he was in polk city, iowa, earlier today and he got this question from the mayor of the town. he said, listen, your poll

numbers are going up. but if you win the nomination, can you really take on president obama come next november when it comes to campaign fund raising? listen to his answer. >> sir, i'm one of those people here in iowa sitting on the edge trying to make up my mind. >> come on over. come on. >> this is the mayor of polk city. >> mr. mayor, please. thank you. >> i like what you've got to say. >> thank you. >> but i also know that obama's pockets are really deep when it comes to finances. home fully you have those finances to carry on after you win tomorrow night, you go on to new hampshire. >> i like what you're saying. >> hopefully you've got the finances and the support out there to carry your campaign forward. >> i would just say this -- we've raised more money in the last few days than we have in the last few months, and going from zero to 60 in the polls, if you will, will help those resources a lot. >> rick santorum used to be an

afterthought in this campaign, drew. not anymore. >> paul, look forward to your reporting all day tomorrow and into the night as we look at the first votes in this long race yet to come, the iowa caucuses start tomorrow night. of course, cnn is the place to be on any election night, specifically tomorrow, as we begin gitding results. "america's choice 2012," special live coverage, iowa caucuses, begins tomorrow night 7:00 eastern. right now, we'll keep the news flowing with brooke baldwin in the "newsroom". hello to all of you. let's go. i'm brooke baldwin. on this first monday of the year, "rapid fire". beginning with iowa, huge news. we are hours away from folks speaking up, the first for the republican presidential candidates coming down toed iowa caulk uses. that happening tomorrow night. take a look at this. the latest poll by the "des moines register," mitt romney in a statistical tie with ron paul.

rick santorum on the rise from single digits, now in third place. >> still half the people in iowa are undecided. i just think they're going through the serious process of makie ing analysis of who the rt person is. also, president obama and his family about to end their holiday vacation in hawaii. they are expected to return to the white house tonight. the obama campaign is planning for the president to speak to his iowa supporters online. that is tomorrow night, of course, as the gop caucus results come in, the president supporters say they don't see how much excitement among republicans here with the choices for a nominee. >> there seems to be a lack of enthusiasm for a republican nominee. i mean, they have the flavor of the month. we now have rick santorum. we've had newt gingrich. we've had cain, perry, bachmann. we have the flavor of the month and then mitt romney, if he's a flavor, it's been stale. >> also should tell you the president rehe luck tantly

signed the defense authorization bill over the past weekend. he said he had serious reservations with certain provisions within this bill to regulate the detention and interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists. the white house lifted a veto threat after congress made changes in language involving detainees. los angeles for this one, day four of an arson spree scorching the streets there. 53 fires thus far, 11 of them just happening overnight. also overnight investigators detained a man for questioning. they have yet to confirm if he is in fact the same man in this surveillance video authorities released to the public. we'll go live to l.a. within half an hour. iran says it has successfully test-fired a new long-range missile designed to evade radar. iran's ten-day navy drill ends today when the military practices what it calls a new tactic designed to protect any

movement in the strait of hormuz. in the meantime, it's reported sunday that iran built and tested its first nuclear fuel rod. police in new york are investigating three arson attacks there. a molotov cocktails were thrown several different places. no one was hurt. governor andrew cuomo is condemning these attacks. police are called to increase security around mosques there. in texas, an active-duty soldier is charged with trying to board a plane with military-grade explosionives on him. tsa spotted the explosives saturday at midland international airport. as a result, part of the terminal was evacuated. the fbi said there was no way to ignite the explosive and also say no one was in danger at the time. and this coming in. it appears the manhunt inside mt. rainier national park in washington state is over.

our seattle affiliate kcpq is reporting via the washington state patrol that searchers have found the body of a man. the park has been closed for the last two days as people have been looking for this guy. he is benjamin barnes, he's wanted in connection with two shooting, one at the park, killing 34-year-old park ranger margaret anderson. a park spokesman says barnes was trying to get away from another ranger when he attacked her. three other shooting -- the shooter injured three people at a party in a seattle suburb. the number of homicides in mexico's most violent city reportedly dropped by more than a third last year. the el paso times is reporting that juarez just across the border from el paso saw a little over 1900 murders in the year 2011, down from a little more than 3100 the year prior. homicides in juarez are oftentimes blamed on two violent drug cartels fighting for turf

there. and now to that small arkansas town, bebe, arkansas, where hundreds of black birds were found dead this new year's eve. last year the same thing happened, we were talking thousands of birds. >> i back out of the driveway and it was like freaky, man. i mean, there were dead birds laying everywhere. i mean, this year is not nearly as bad as last year. >> about 200 black birds were found dead this year. the arkansas game and fish commission blames fireworks set off near trees where the birds roost. and lebron james pops the question and she said yes. the miami heat star proposed to longtime girlfriend savannah brinson new year's eve. brinson and james are the parents of two children. we are just getting started. a lot more to com cover for you in the next two hours, including this.

just hours from now, voters will have their say in iowa. but get this -- a whopping 41% of them say they could still change their minds. i'm brooke baldwin. welcome to the heart of the cnn election center. the news starts now. after months of campaigning, weeks of different faces on the leaderboard, one of the most volatile political races in history comes down to the wire. >> we could make a perfect candidate out of the candidates that are there. in california, a city on edge. nearly five dozen fires breaking out in los angeles, and one city leader is calling this a new form of urban terrorism. >> a white male emerging from a structure. >> reporter: now police are talking to a person of interest. plus, iran flexing its military muscle as tensions rise with the u.s. find out where the missile iran is testing could actually hit. o,

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aspercreme breaks the grip, with maximum-strength medicine and no embarrassing odor. break the grip of pain with aspercreme. all right, this is really the final stretch here in iowa. just to let you know, obviously we are going to be dipping into these different candidates as they're making their closing arguments, if you will. in fact, you're looking at live pictures, this is tex convias congressman ron paul's son rand paul, he's speaking. as soon as the texas congressman speaks we'll tune in. i do want to go now to marion, iowa, where joe johns is standing by with the romney campaign. joe, we talked about this last week. he's also been out with his wife speaking, and i caught some of

what romney was saying this morning. he's specifically going after the president, talking about how once when it was senator obama, right, back in iowa, pointing out the gap between promises and reality. >> reporter: right. that's all part of the romney inevitability campaign, fu will. he's been sort of projecting to make the case for the voters here in iowa he will be the eventual nominee so why not get on the bandwagon now rather than later. he sa i am in marion, iowa, this is a workspace where we'll see an event for romney in a couple of hours. he's been around the state to a number of places, some of the other candidates have gone to, been to dubuque and he's going to continue on to one more stop that happens late, something like 9:45 eastern time this evening, a full day for mitt romney. but yes, you're right, he really has been pushing on president obama hard, but i have to say,

in listening to all of the speeches to far today, he's played it very safe. he stayed with the stump speech the he really hasn't diverged in it in any significant way. and what i can tell you hasn't answered a single question, whereas some of the other candidates have actually stopped for questions to sort of try to get a leg up. romney is playing it safe. >> playing it safe, not taking questions today. where you are, joe, i know it's quiet, but in different stops where you've seen mitt romney, give us a sense of just his confidence and the energy there. strategically this was not a must-win initially for the romney camp. >> reporter: right. they're projecting a lot of confidence, but they're being very careful not to say that they expect a win. in fact, if you talk to some of the people at the campaign publicly or privately, they'll say they did not expect to win iowa and of course that will be their excuse if they don't.

so it's good for them in that way. they've focused so much, so much on new hampshire. just the same, i think a lot of people will agree there's something of a stealth campaign. they haven't ignored iowa. they've had people on the ground working here all along. and they very much would like to see a win, brooke. >> let me go back to his wife ann. we have seen more and more of her, along with her husband mitt romney, is that to just help soften his image, you think? >> reporter: yes, and that's very important because i know you've heard a lot of people say that mitt romney is robotic on the campaign trail. she very much is not. she's sort of a gentle spirit. she's very spontaneous, fu wiif will. watching her this morning, she made some comments that seemed very spontaneous about the crowd feeling as though -- telling her that her husband is the guy to beat president obama in

november, even though some people were telling us privately there wasn't very much energy in that room and it wasn't filled up and it may have been a mistake by the events people or whatever, but it didn't look like a lot of people were there according to people on the ground. and that, brooke, as you know is the one thing we really look for. we look for energy and enthusiasm on the day before the caucuses because that could be some indicator of who's going to turn out for whom tomorrow night. >> joe johns in marion. joe, thank you very much. we want to remind everyone, tomorrow night the big night, the country's first real votes, the iowa caucuses, watch what happens from all sides, special live america's choice 2012 co r coverage starting right here at 7:00 p.m. eastern time. now, firmly in second place in the most recent cnn poll, who we saw live a moment ago, ron paul. coming up in about ten minutes, we'll speak live with ron paul's national campaign chairman.

we want know if they're worried about this last-minute surge by santorum. we also want to know how ron paul is being treated by the other candidates on the trail. in other news, homes, look at this, businesses, cars torched. we are talking about someone setting dozens of fires in california. coming up after this quick break, we'll bring you the latest on the investigation and the new information about a man now detained by police. also, a park ranger is dead after a shooting at a national park in washington state. later this hour, the search for the gunman and what's being done to xeep tourists safe.

before we go to los angeles, we want to dip in, texas congressman ron paul speaking,

saying less government is better government. davenport, iowa. take a listen. >> we're going to have a great depression therefore we have to bail out everybody. but guess what, people who were ripping us off and making bundles during the boom times, they got the bailout and the bad debt got dumped on the people. and that's what we have to reverse. we need to take care of the people and make sure the people who get all the privileges and the benefits and bailouts, that should stop. i'm convinced if one understands the principles of liberty they understand the market, they understand property rights, they understand the foreign policy. and this is where i'm encouraged. people are starting to understand this, that that is and was supposed to be the purpose of the government. part of protecting individual liberty in a limited fashion, the federal government has very

little to do. they should provide a strong national defense. quite frankly, i do not feel safer because we have become the policemen of the world and have gotten involved in way too many wars. it's time we look after our own national defense and start getting our troops back home here. we spend a lot of time overseas dealing with the internal problems of other nations and regional squabbles that go on. we worry so much more about the border between afghanistan and pakistan than we do about our own borders. i think it should be reversed. we should think about our borders. >> all right, ron paul standing alongside his son rand paul. you know, dana bash, our congressional correspondent, caught up with him earlier today. you know which candidate he called too liberal?

santorum. we'll play a little bit of that interview coming up. i'll be speaking with ron paul's national campaign chair and see how they feel about the sudden santorum surge. that is coming up in a matter of minutes. i want to move along to california because now one los angeles city leader is calling what is happening in and around the hollywood area and i'm quoting him here, a new form of urban terrorism. an arson spree over the course of the last four days now involves 53 fires that have burned cars, apartments, homes, including one where jim morrison of the doors used to live. but what makes today different than the last three? this. investigators are questioning a man seen in the -- see this? this is the guy in the back seat of this car, could he be the figure seen in the surveillance video here that authorities released to the public? casey wian is live at the fire command center for us in hollywood. casey, got to ask.

is the man they've detained the same person in the video? >> reporter: law enforcement officials are not saying whether he is, brooke, but what they have told us, according to a law enforcement source, is that a reserve sheriff's deputy spotted this person very early this morning in an area of west holly wlood not too far from where i'm standing at the fire department command center. now, what happened overnight -- let's back up a little bit -- it started out as a with very quiet night. we arrived 1:00 a.m. local time. arson investigators said nothing is happening. in the next two hours, though, things dramatically changed. nearly a dozen fires were set on fire here, cars, buildings, crews were fanned out all over the area. at one point there were so many fires burning at one time they didn't have enough arson investigators to be at every one. then when this person was taken into custody for questioning and then transported away from the

scene, according to the los angeles fire department and according to what we heard on the fire scanners, all of these suspicious arson fires came to a halt. there were no more fires in the next several hours until daybreak. so that's what we know at this point. we're expecting a news briefing later on today. we're not sure of the exact time. we're expecting to have more details about this investigation. it's still tinge, brooke. >> what about these fires, specifically you mentioned homes and cars, is there any kind of pattern emerging? >> reporter: the one thing that investigators tell us is that incendiary devices were used. now, they were very careful about not giving too many details about those incendiary devices, where they were placed in the car, whether it was inside the car, outside the car, because they did not want to, first, thirp hand in the investigation. they also did not want to encourage copycats. officials are saying they don't know how many of these fires, 54 by last count, were actually may

have been set by more than one person. >> and also, casey, just the sheer force behind this investigation. from what i've read, we're talking atf, police, homicide, and also now federal agents, part of this investigation. yes? >> reporter: absolutely. atf has been brought in, investigators from the los angeles fire department, the sheriff's department, several city police departments. and we should point out that today was a big day for law enforcement in terms of keeping this community safe. we have the rose bowl football game going on later today. we had the rose parade earlier this morning. so to say that resources around the los angeles area have been strained over the last couple of days is a little bit of an understatement, brooke. >> once that news conference happens, let us know if they do, enact, connect the dots between the man seen in the video and the man in the back of that car. casey wian for us in los angeles. casey, thank you. republican presidential candidates are cutting ruts across iowa right now, trying to drum up support for tomorrow's

caucuses. the candidate with some of the most unconventional appeal, ron paul. standing by live right now, ron paul's national campaign chairman. we're going to talk strategy for iowa and beyond. stay right here. [ male announcer ] sorry, buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. really? [ male announcer ] you need a more complete cold formula, like alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. it's specially formulated to fight your worst cold symptoms, plus relieve your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. ♪ oh what a relief it is! ♪ ♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪

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or high blood pressure before taking it. [ whistle ] with copd, i thought i might miss out on my favorite tradition. now symbicort significantly improves my lung function, starting within 5 minutes. and that makes a difference in my breathing. today i'm back with my favorite team. ask your doctor about symbicort. i got my first prescription free. call or click to learn more. [ male announcer ] if you can't afford your medication, astrazeneca may be able to help. joining me now from des moines is jesse benton, ron paul's national campaign chairman. jesse, nice having you on. question out of the gate, will ron paul win the iowa caucuses? and by that win, i mean finish first? >> we're gunning for it. we're poised to do very, very well and we've got a good shot at it. >> how good of a shot? >> 50/50.

all depends on whether our people turn out. we've got to turn out our voters better than the other guys. >> i want you to listen to something that your candidate and also his son, senator rand paul, said to cnn today to dana bash about senator rick santorum and the family values conservative. take a listen. >> rick santorum is a former senator. you know what it's like to serve in the senate, what it's like to serve in the congress. why wouldn't he be a good republican nominee? >> because he's very liberal. >> reporter: rick santorum is liberal? >> have you looked at his record? go look at his record. >> reporter: what makes him liberal? >> he spends too much money. i mean, he wasn't leading the charge to slash the budgets and vote against big government. >> reporter: what do you think? >> well, he voted to double the size of the department of education. he voted to expand medicare and add free drugs for senior citizens and voted for foreign aid. those are not conservative principles. >> so your candidate calling rick santorum too liberal.

i mean, did you all anticipate, you know, the "s" word, the surge, the santorum surge, how worried, how much does that factor into the 50/50 figure you just gave me? >> well, we think our main competition is mitt romney. we see this as a two-man race, both in iowa, in new hampshire and nationally, quite frankly. rick santorum is doing quite well, but if people start to look at his record and see just how much money he spent and really how corooked he's been with his pipeline to "k" street they'll realize he's not the guy we need. >> how much on your radar, though, is rick santorum? >> look, i mean, just as much as anybody else. we wanted to make sure we got out the word about what newt gingrich had done when he was in power and then out of washington. if we need let people know just about what rick santorum did siding with pro-abortion candidates, spending, giving government new ways to take over control of the family's education and will things like

that, we'll let them know. at this point we have no plans to do this. this is a race between ron paul and mitt romney. >> jesse, as of late last week, when the romney folks were putting out word that they hardly give a hoot what ron paul does, i mean, they were saying their targets are these two guys, newt gingrich and rick perry. so the romney folks say gingrich and perry are the only ones left who have a fighting chance. just hearing that, jesse, does that dish don't know -- get under your skin a little bit? >> well, they're trying to do the same thing we are. we've had several candidates try to pretend they're real limited government people and represent real change. we've had to try to knock them off. at the same time, the romney people are trying to take out the other establishment people so they're going after newt gingrich, rick perry. and they want to consolidate all the establishment support. i think they're doing a good job of that and it's going to come down to mitt romney and the establishment versus ron paul, the candidate of real change and candidate of the people.

>> obviously we're talking so much about iowa and you look at your candidate's numbers in the polls they're pretty strong. you have plenty of people saying, no matter what happens in iowa, ron paul is one and done. he can't build beyond the base. i hear you laugh. i have to ask, we have new hampshire coming up and your guy is way -- we have the numbers here -- behind romney, where is, jesse benton, ron paul's mass appeal outside of the state you're sitting in right now? >> well, you just showed a poll and public polling shows us in a strong second place in new hampshire. we're going to continue to do very well in new hampshire. we've got a great organization, great ground game, some great ads. in addition that, we are poised to do very very well in multiple caucus states moving forward after that. we have professional operations and campaign staff that have been in place for six months in louisiana, nevada, north dakota, minnesota, kansas, washington state, colorado, just to name a

few. we'll do very very well in caucus states and we'll move delegates. we're the only candidate besides mitt romney with a comprehensive plan to win the 1100 delegates it will take to be the nominee. tweer executing the plan and working very, very hard. >> i know ron paul support hes are dedicated and enthusiastic. but you have to think, he is 76 years of age. should americans, yoult side of this realm of supporters of your candidate, worry that he's just too old to be president? >> well, you have to look at the man, first all. he is the fittest man i've ever been around. he routinely walks three miles a day and bikes 15 miles a day. he's young, sharp and most importantly his ideas are young. he's young enough to be president. he'd be a great president. he'd also bring the wisdom and experience to be steady, to guide us through these really tough challenges we're going to face in this country, that we are facing in this country. president paul will have to deal with a lot of problems and he

will have the courage of conviction and the wisdom behind him from his years to be able to stay on course. >> jesse benton, ron paul's national campaign chairman, thank you very much. stakes obviously very high. remember our live coverage of the iowa caucuses starts in full force tomorrow night, cnn election center 7:00 p.m. eastern. in other news today, the latest on the hunt for the man responsibility for killing a pooshg ranger inside this park in washington state. patrick ottman is standing by on the phone. he'll bring you details after this quick break. i want healthy skin for life.

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all right, let's talk politics and continue talking about this big iowa caucus that happens tomorrow with wolf blitzer. hey, happy new year. >> i'm glad i'm here at the cnn election center. this is a fab tuls place you have here. >> it's amazing. >> very exciting. you go from new york to nashville to atlanta within, what, two, three days? >> two, three days. >> new year's eve in nashville with brooke was fabulous. >> it was wonderful. >> your producer organized some video to show our viewers who may have missed what you were dog in nashville. >> oh, they're gloelting in my ear right now. >> do we have something to show them. >> always the twitter love from you. i appreciate it. you know, maybe we'll work on it. >> we want them to see that hat.

>> you're here because of iowa tomorrow. first, why does iowa go first? >> it always, at least for 30 or 40 years, has gone first and they fight so hard, iowa and new hampshire, to make sure they go first. every four years they try to change it. iowa is not necessarily representative as the country as a whole, very different demographic, economy and stuff like that, new hampshire so small. but i hear this argument every four years, we've got to change it, never happens. >> what kind of track record -- it doesn't have the best track record among republican candidates. >> it has an excellent track record in whittling down the number of candidates on the democrat side four years ago, a fiercely fought battle for one, two, three between barack obama, hillary clinton and john edwards. they came in one, two, three, actually hillary it came in third. but all the other democratic candidates got the message, whether it was joe biden or chris dodd or bill richardson, they all dropped out. iowa has a good record of

narrowing the field, not necessarily a great record in predicting the winner. >> is that really what we're looking for, who's losing? >> i'm looking who might drop out. >> yep. >> if michele bachmann comes in last, she was born in iowa, she represents a district in minnesota next door. if she does really badly, does they go on? if newt gingrich does really badly, does he go on? what about rick perry? you know, he spent the most money of any of the candidates in iowa. if he comes in dead last, what happen snz i don't know if that will happen, but those are things we'll be looking at. >> when you look at the polls -- we can throw those numbers up -- you have romney at about 25% right now and then you have ron paul, then you have rick santorum. as rick santorum sort of continues this rise, come tomorrow, whose support may he be drawing from? >> from mitt romney and newt gingrich, the collapse of newt gingrich has really benefitted rick santorum.

i don't think there's any doubt about that. it's interesting, some people are already suggesting -- let's say santorum does really great in iowa. it looks like he'll do well. >> and they're buying ad time in new hampshire. >> will he be the anti-romney, the candidate that all those conservatives are looking for because they never really liked mitt romney to begin with. will it be rick santorum? some thought rick perry, then newt gingrich. we're looking closely at rick santorum. >> i was reading earlier some of our articles from our team in iowa and some of the consensus on some of the political tickers is, some people in iowa like the political values of santorum. but they think ahead, would santorum be able to beat obama? therefore, they're thrusting support behind mitt romney. >> a lot of people think mitt romney is it the most electable. many republicans in the end will probably vote for romney in these primaries and caucuses because they think he's the most electable, not necessarily they agree with him anymore than the

others. >> this is it very exciting for you, isn't it? >> it is. >> i see the sparkle in your eye. >> i'm a political news junky. you know that. >> we'll see you next hour, talk about your blog. >> cnn.com/situation room. north korea, very worried about north korea. >> meet the blitzer blog. we'll see you next hour, sir. thank you very much. we're going to move along. just in case i can't say enough, i'm going to say it again. live coverage of the iowa caucuses begins right here on cnn 7:00 p.m. eastern time tomorrow night with wolf blitzer and company. and we will be right back.

for the rest of their lives, the new year will be heartbreaking for two little girls in washington state. their mother, national park ranger, margaret anderson, spent yesterday away from her 4 and 1-year-olds to do her job, and she never came home. now the manhunt for their mother's suspected killer may be over after searchers have now found the body of a man in a ditch. this is kworgd to our affiliate out of seattle kcpq. a park spokesman says benjamin barnes shot and killed anderson while on the run from another ranger. we're still awaiting confirmation that the body is in fact that of barnes. authorities believe that barnes, who also fought in iraq, is connected to a shooting in a

seattle suburb earlier in the day. three people were hurt during a party. in iowa, this is the last full day of campaigning before tomorrow's republican caucuses, and polls show uncommitted voters could decide this race. one candidate has spent more than a year reaching out to them and these days rick santorum has been feeling their love. joe johns takes a closer look. >> i have done, what, 358 or 359 town hall meetings in the state of iowa, all 99 counties and we weren't speed dating. >> reporter: rick santorum's polling number's surge in iowa is starting to look like love. though the question is, what took so long for a staunch conservative who's been courting the state for months, to finally get some traction? >> the crowds are bigger, but i think they'd be bigger in any circumstance because people are focused. >> reporter: for some of those evangelicals and social conservatives he's been with them on all of their issues for so long, it's like they're just

remembering he's in the race. anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, pro-national rifle association. on the far right side of many things that matter to them most. one santorum selling point is that he appears to have no serious baggage compared to others because he was vetted during his years in congress. >> you know, i got a thorough cleansing, if you will, when i ran in 2006. i had everyone look at everything, national profiles and everything else. the answer is, i've been through this. >> reporter: that 2006 senate reelection campaign haunts him. he got crushed in his home state pennsylvania, a battleground state. so why would the republican party risk giving the nomination to a guy who got bounced out of office like that? answer number one -- it was a tough year. >> it was the worst election for republicans in, you know, probably -- maybe in the history of the republican party in pennsylvania. >> reporter: answer number two, to explain that drubing in the senate election, principle. he got advice to moderate his

positions in order to suit the voters' moods but he refused. >> yeah, i lost but i stood for what i believed in. my feeling was, there's one thing worse than losing and that's sacrificing your principles. i wouldn't do it, dnlts do it. >> reporter: democrats poked fun, of course, looking at this humorous ad. >> barbara boxer and i want a law protecting open space. i'm even working with hillary clinton to eliminate inappropriate material in children's video games because it makes more sense to wrestle with america's problems than each other. >> reporter: he's also gotten slammed for earmarking while in congress. he argue there's was nothing wrong with it. >> yeah, i did. >> reporter: but, make no mistake, standing up for conservative social issues has defined rick santorum's career, to the point that some republicans who know him point out he's gotten pigeonholed. >> he's really revolved himself around social issues, like abortion, and, when you're talking about the economy as the

number one issue to americans in a republican primary voters, he's speaking one language, but he needs to speak everything to voters right now. >> reporter: joe johns, cnn, des moines, iowa. >> joe joohns, thank you. if you're not in iowa, maybe, if you're not into politics, you could be saying, why in the world do i care about the caucuses? we have the answer straight ahead, also a look back at past elections and the role that iowa played in the race for the white house. we'll be right back. hello, how can i deliver world-class service for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you knowledgeable customer service 24/7, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

want to take you to washington state now as it appears the manthunt for the man suspected of murdering a park ranger is now over. let's get straight to patrick ottman who is there. patrick, what you've been learning as you've been in the national park with these teams is they have now discovered a body. tell me more. >> that's right. we were just told within the last hour a body was discovered in a drainage ditch type area. police have not been able to get to the area, it will take another hour to reach the body. they're very hopeful, though -- who shot margaret anderson yesterday when he drove into the park. [ inaudible ] 200 law enforcement agents

trying to find -- >> too to hear. patrick ottman, we'll have to let you go. he's talking about benjamin barnes, an iraq war vet, who shot this park ranger so it's extra difficult for folks there at this national park. as soon as we get confirmation, if in fact the two are connected, bechb gentleman minute barnes and the body they found, we'll let know and get patrick back online. also, it's down to the wire with only one day left until the iowa caucuses, the republican candidates are fanning out across the state today for this final push in the nation's first contest in the presidential race. our jessica yellin takes a look at really what's at stake here. >> reporter: in iowa, a win can thrust a candidate into the national spotlight. >> thank you, iowa! >> reporter: while a loss can kill a campaign's momentum. just ask phil gramm. >> i want to congratulate the other candidates.

>> reporter: or howard dean. >> then we're going to washington, d.c., to take back the white house! yeah! >> reporter: but, in terms of picking a winner, whether it's the president or a party's nominee, the record for the iowa caucuses is mixed. on the republican side, ronald reagan lost here in 1980, so did george h.w. bush in 1988. eventual republican nominee bob dole in 1996 and president george w. bush in 2000 both claimed victories in the state. you may remember, just eight years later, mike huckabee won the caucuses. >> i love iowa a whole lot. >> reporter: but john mccain went on to become the gop nominee. for the democrats, the original iowa upset went to jimmy carter in 1976 when the little-known georgia governor made a surprisingly strong finish here launching his political rise to

the white house. >> we need to reorganize completely the executive branch of government. >> reporter: in 1984, walter mondale went from iowa caucus winner to democratic party nominee. in 1988, iowa democrats chose dick gephardt over eventual nominee michael dukakis and four years later bill clinton was humbled with less than 3% of the caucus vote. native son senator tom harkin won that year. democratic nominee john kerry won the caucuses in 2004. >> thank you, iowa, for making me the comeback kerry. >> reporter: and, more recently, senator barack obama staged a caucus upset that catapulted him to the front of the pack. recall that senator hillary clinton was considered all but a shoo-in until then. >> hi, this is michele bachmann calling. >> reporter: what the iowa caucuses are good at are

winnowing down the field. the saying is, there's only three tickets out of iowa. >> who comes in second and third as well as first. if somebody else does surprisingly well, it could well launch their campaign. it's happened before. >> reporter: political upstarts have a chance here because caucusgoers really do, as they say, kick the tires. >> what i want to know is, if you get a republican house and a republican senate in two years, will you fulfill all those promises? >> the answer is yes. >> reporter: and iowans take this work seriously, which is why the media and the country follows what happens here so closely.

it is music monday, the very first monday of 2012. and today you're going to see a seidel ick experimental pop group. we give you portugal the man. ♪ ♪ if thaim fame was a color your heart would be blue ♪

♪ which remain a silver >> i'm jason and i play drums. >> i'm ryan, i play keys. >> i'm gach and i play the bass. >> john, i sing and play guitar. and we are portugal. the man. we always knew this was go tock a band and at the same time we wanted it to make it like the city stardust sergeant pepper alter ego. so we decided to do a country for our name, portugal being that, the choice and "the man" just states he is the man. ♪ >> zach and i grew up on the border of russia and wasilla, alaska. and it was -- i guess it was different -- i kind of moved around the state so i wasn't really next to russia as much as zach may have been in wasilla. we left alaska for the sake of

touring, ended up in portland, oregon, and this is the thing about alaska. you take them out of alaska and they realize there are things to do in the world. >> i would say that, in general, it's pop music based, but we are fans of effects on every instrument. >> people like to add in psychodelic to that, which doesn't bother me. i think that's pretty cool. >> a lot of people thought that we were a lot more experimental at the beginning, but i don't really think that's true. i just think we didn't know how to write songs. we're starting to get the hang of it now. especially with this last record. john and i go back to alaska every christmas to hang out with our families, and he lives -- i live in the middle of nowhere. he really lives in the middle of nowhere. so he hangs out at his parents' house and writes songs in his room. then i'll come hoefr and he'll show them to me and we'll start working on them, send them to these guys in oregon with their

families. we'll start talking about where we want the next record to go. ♪ >> thank you so much for putting that music monday together. if you want to see any of my music monday interviews, go to cnn.com/brooke. love you to watch, comment. let me know what bands you're listening to, who we should feature on our next music monday. and want to let you know, live pictures here, this is los angeles, we are watching and waiting to hear from the los angeles fire department. as we've been reporting on these 53, the number we have here at cnn, suspected arsons in and around the greater los angeles area. they do have someone in custody. we'll find out if that person is, in fact, behind these arrest c -- arsons. we'll bring that to you live from los angeles. i want to tell you this story out of utah, amazing. this car tumbles upside down

into this utah river, trapping three small kids under water. watch this report. this is from ktvx our affiliate. hear how a gun helped save the day. >> reporter: the driver of this car tapped his brakes to avoid a minivan, slipped down a ten-foot embankment where the car ended upside down in the frozen logan river. >> we saw some ladies coming towards us. they were screaming something about kids. so i jumped out of the car, ran around, jumped into the river next to the children's father, started helping him get into the vehicle. >> reporter: three children were trapped inside. the driver's 9-year-old daughter, his 4-year-old son and another 9-year-old girl were under water and time was running out. >> felt the windows, all were rolled up. tried to pull on the doors, none of them would open. i pulled out a handgun and shot out a window. i tried to feel for arms or legs and wasn't able