been a little bit difficult for his patrons to come in and out and he has been an absolute gem as well as the folks here, really wonderful. we truly appreciate him and appreciate the fact that he let us start "starting point" right here at the waveland cafe. we thank him. "cnn newsroom" with kyra phillips begins right now. >> i wish i had the hash browns. soledad, thank you so much. maybe we can get her to bring some back. we begin this hour with the presidential race and a photo finish. mitt romney screaks past rick santorum with a mere eight votes. the closest finish in the history of iowa caucuses. santorum was barely a blip on the political radar just a couple weeks ago and today he's the latest contender to challenge romney. >> game on. >> and we're covering all the angles of the game. john king has the big picture and dana bash and joe johns look

at the winners and losers and dan lothian and david mattingly looking ahead to the battlegrounds that are now more important than ever. all right, let's start with dana bash. dana? >> well, we have some potential news this morning about what this caucus has did to the field on the republican side. michele bachmann who, of course, came in a disappointing sixth, effectively dead last here in iowa is going to hold a news conference in a few hours. her campaign is not saying what it is about, but it is hastily arranged news conference. it is hard to imagine that she's going to have something and not give us news about the future or maybe lack there of of her campaign. so, kyra, we're waiting to see exactly what she says. obviously, she is somebody who was one of those who is riding very, very high in iowa. not that long ago. she actually won the first contest here. the ames straw poll only to see her popularity absolutely plummet in the last few weeks.

that will be probably, potentially, some kind of result from the iowa caucuses last night. excuse me, kyra. >> hey, it's been a long night, you're tired, i understand. and it's cold out there. no problem. so, dan, we're going to stand by and wait for that. we'll take that live when it happens at 11:00 a.m. eastern time as you mentioned. let's talk about rick santorum and that surprise finish last night. what's your take? >> wow. i mean, look, this is an example. example of a few things. number one is that the idea of retail politics still lives here in iowa. this is the way jimmy carter, years and years ago first put iowa on the map as a place that really does matter in terms of the primaries in both parties, obviously. and rick santorum, at the very end, came from behind doing it the old-fashioned way. he did it, also, by capturing

and galvanizing the very important kevati aticonservativ evangelical vote here. and, no surprise, he was incredibly happy at his victory party last night. take a listen. >> you, you by standing up and not compromising, by standing up and being bold and leading. leading with that burden and responsibility you have to be first. you have taken the first step of taking back this country. >> so, dana, what about mitt romney and how is he reacting to this pretty narrow win? >> he's also elated. i mean, look, let's be honest. it was effectively a tie, right? but from someone like mitt romney who i can tell you that i was here covering him extensively four years ago. the fact that he did as well as he did here really after getting trounced, they're absolutely thrilled. not only with the fact that he

had an effective tie, but the fact that the people who came in next to him, rick santorum and ron paul, they honestly don't see as major threats down the road. listen to the way mitt romney described his victory. >> well, i'm actually feeling terrific because, as you know, we were well behind several weeks ago. i don't think many people gave us a shot of meeting speaker gingrich. we, obviously, won last night. it was very, very close. rick santorum and ron paul also had big nights. we all come out of iowa much stronger. >> so, that is going to be one of the main questions, kyra. obviously, new hampshire is a place that mitt romney has historically been doing very, very well. he continues to do well there in the polls. he's from the neighboring state of massachusetts. he has a house in new hampshire. it is unheard of, really, historically, for a republican candidate, definitely not a republican nominee to actually

win both iowa and new hampshire. so, he would be in very, very good standing and good shape going on to get the nomination, but this is a year like we have never seen before. they are very happy inside the romney campaign that santorum certainly did well here, but they don't think he has the kind of organization to give him longevity in this race and ron paul is the one that they're a little bit worried about, mostly him being a potential spoiler as he continues to go down the road and they hope inside the romney campaign, eventually, clinch the nomination, kyra. >> dana, thanks so much. the iowa caucuses and all the early races in this primary season are not just about who wins. you know that. also about where other candidates finish. with romney and santorum at the top, ron paul came in third. that's just what recent polls predicted. newt gingrich who was once leading the pack finished a distance fourth. ron paul is where he needs to be

heading to new hampshire. >> i think we're in second place and that's a good place to start. so, i think we're going to have some momentum and we're going to continue to do what we're doing. it's a live free or die state. very freedom oriented and that message will spread there and i'm confident we're going to do quite well. >> as for gingrich, he said that earlier this week that his campaign would be fine with a finish in the top four. he managed that. now, he's already looking ahead to rally conservatives in south carolina later this month. all right, let's go ahead and talk more about how iowans voted and why. christine romans here to break it all down for us. let's start with the issues that mattered most and we had some pretty interesting results. >> it shows you that things are so different from 2008. voters were asked, what were the most important things, it was things like terrorism and illegal immigration. health care. 4% said this is the most important issue. the economy, 42%, budget deficit, 34%. and here you can see abortion.

now, this was a strong suit for santorum. he won this category handily. the budget deficit, voters in iowa thought, republican voters in iowa thought that and it was mitt romney. another thing that inest thering about these entrance polls. as the people were coming in to their caucus sites and this is what we found out what they were thinking on the way in. we also asked them when they decided who they're going to support. how iowans were searching. take a look at this, ron paul did very well here among the people who thought he was, move that over there so you can see. look at this, before december is when people who were ron paul supporters decided they were going to support him. they are die hards. they are young, they are die hards and been around a long time. they have made up their mind. what about people in december. who did they decide to support? let me get rid of this.

santorum. this is the surge we're talking about here. what about in the last few days. santorum and romney. what about on the actual day of the caucus. santorum and romney. you can see that santorum surge over the past month say and even at the last minute, romney supporters were deciding whether they would come out for him. bears out what we have been saying for at least for that top spot, people were making up their minds at the last minute. except for ron paul. those folks made up their minds a long time ago. >> you talked about those signs throughout your neighborhood. >> my anecdotal evidence is now born out. >> christine, thanks. we'll talk more at the bottom of the hour. here's a look at how the bottom of the hour finished. he finished in iowa 10% of the vote. michele bachmann who had earlier won the iowa straw poll won 5% of the vote and dana bash is going to hold a news conference and we will take it live and then jon huntsman who ignored

the state ended up with less than 1%. joe johns is in des moines for us this morning. joe, we're actually hearing rumbles that this might be the end of rick perry's bid. what do you know and is he heading back to texas? >> well, you know, he hasn't said that. the thing about him was, it is pretty remarkable what happened with rick perry. he went from flying so high to flying so low. actually just a fall from grace in the polls that was almost epic for the texas governor now that 10%, fifth place finish is just not good news for him. but, still, he is not saying he's dropping out of the race, at least not yet. let's listen to a little bit of rick perry here and talk about in a moment. >> with the voter's decision tonight in iowa, i decided to return to texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus,

determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race. >> rick perry was supposed to be in south carolina today and so far we don't think he's going. so, it doesn't sound like good news for rick perry, but he hasn't said anything other than he's reassessing at least right now. kyra? >> all right, joe, you let us know as you hear things. appreciate it. because you're there on the ground. you're connected. mitt romney is the only republican who has sat at or near the top of the iowa polls in recent months. so, many ways he went into last night's caucuses with a simple goal, don't lose. did he really accomplish that? john is laughing. cnn contributor and contributor for "newsweek" and "daily beast." we were talking about this. all this enthusiasm and the video from last night and you're saying, if you look at it, romney flatlined when he came to the numbers. >> turn up was not up, not

significantly up where it was four months ago. that hillary/obama campaign. pretty steady at 110,000. that shows certain enthusiasm deficit after all the attention on iowa and after the wake of the tea party surge that drove the 2010 election. second of all, mitt romney didn't win iiowa by eight votes. i think in some cases a moral victory for rick santorum in that david versus goliath situation. he lost votes. he got six votes less. he especially flatlined, but not been able to build his base despite campaigning for president over the last four years. certainly over the last cycle in the last two months, as well. not only an enthusiasm deficit but romney realizing he will have to remain. >> you and i were talking about endorsements and it's interesting. a number of people out there. the analysts who say, who cares about these endorsements. however, you say, no, we need to

listen. we need to hear from john mccain, probably mike huckabee. what do you think? you're looking at those two, right? >> john mccain is scheduled to endorse mitt romney today in new hampshire. that will be big news today. >> how much will that really matter? >> john mccain is a hero in new hampshire. he beat george w. bush by 19 points there. defeating mitt romney, making mitt romney the only statewide elected official to not win the new hampshire primary. so, it's a significant healing of a 2008 rift. it signifies that the center right and the establishment is rallying around mitt romney. it does raise that question. santorum is playing the mike huckabee role. >> he is being called the 2012 mike huckabee. looking for a social conservative to mitt romney. one of the open questions is, would mike huckabee, who sat out so far, you know, actually endorse the person who's filling in for him so to speak.

his protege in this race. rick santorum. one of the interesting open ended questions. but then the gauntlet for the rest of the month. south carolina and then florida. >> i know you're writing about that in "the beast." you'll be with us at the top of the 10:00 hour. who knows what can happen in 60 minutes. >> the world could change. >> john, thanks. let's go on to new hampshire will voters there actually take a second look at rick santorum? we're live in the nation's first primary state with new poll results and we're live from south carolina, which is also holding another early contest. one of the most interesting moments in iowa. delayed results finally reported after a gop wake-up call. listen to this. >> i came to edith's home and pounded on the door and woke her up and got her up. >> cnn's exclusive interview with two gop officials who solved the mystery of the missing votes.

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as you know the political battleground shifts from iowa to new hampshire. our dan lothian is already in manchester. dan, you've been there a few days now, what's the buzz? >> well, the buzz really is that mitt romney has really had a lock on this campaign season here with a large double-digit lead. overall his republican competitors. but, you know, the reason for that is because he's a well-known commodity here. he's the governor, former governor of a neighboring state and he has a vacation home here and you also recall he was

placed second here in 2008. so, he spent a lot of time campaigning here. but the question is, how will that dynamic change now given what has happened in iowa. take a look at a little window into perhaps what could be happening based on a cnn/orc poll conducted last night with those who were actually watching the caucuses. mitt romney, the polling numbers from early december was he was up 47%. as of yesterday, last night, he continues to be at 47%. paul is at 17%. the same that he was at in december. jon huntsman at 13%, again, he has not changed at all. but the important number to focus on is rick santorum. his number back in december was at 5% and, now, based on those who are watching the caucuses it has jumped to 10%. that's fairly significant. if his supporters are hoping that that momentum, that caused

that last-minute surge in iowa will translate right here in new hampshire. the big issue is, will he have the money to really seriously compete and already he's asking his supporters to donate money saying it's urgent and asking him to donate, 75, 50, it is cash he will need in this big battle, kyra. >> dan lothian in new hampshire, thanks. all eyes on the new hampshire primary and the best political team on television have it covered for you. wolf blitzer, erin burnett, john king all joining us for live coverage tuesday night. then after new hampshire, the republican campaign moves south. first stop, the south carolina primary on january 21st. ten days later it's florida's turn. david mattingly in florida for us. david, tell us what the candidates have planned for the palm meadow state. >> whatever they might have had planned is going out the window. the landscape changing by the

hour. i'm in akins, south carolina, right now. we were anticipating a campaign event today by governor rick perry, but he's now in texas reassessing his campaign. when the fallout of iowa, candidates themselves are going to be reassessing their strategies and what they need to do here. but the chairman of the gop here in south carolina was voted saying yesterday this state is wide open. and nothing happened in iowa last night that is probably going to change that. you're going to see mitt romney coming here tomorrow. he's going to be positioning himself, driving the point home with voters here that he is the one candidate who can beat president obama in november. you're going to see rick santorum coming here, probably, focusing on his support among social conservatives and the large block of evangelical voters here in south carolina. so, candidates who are strong in iowa are going to find strong pieces of support here in south carolina, as well. but at this point, the people in

south carolina feel like they are the ones who are the winners. they went through a lot of trouble to move their primary up ahead of florida after florida moved theirs up this year. just so they could be the first voice in the south to make a decision in this primary contest. so, they wake up this morning, maybe not seeing a frontrunner, but they are exactly where they want to be and making sure that their opinion is heard across the country during this primary season. >> david mattingly for us there in south carolina. we're continuing to look forward. david, thanks so much. the conservative wloe torch of iowa radio might need more butane gas? why? kind of flamed out last night. not exactly a repeat of the 2008 caucuses. we're going to talk to mr. blowtorch in just a few minutes. the obama campaign launching a lightning attack against republicans after the iowa caucus. we'll have that reaction, also.

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well, the iowa caucuses aren't exactly comedy gold, but conan o'brien gave it a shot on his show last night. sxwr of course, everyone is excited today the republican iowa caucuses. or as it is also known, old white guy mardi gras. >> well, steve, the so-called conservative blow torch of iowa radio joining us again this morning. steve, if the caucuses were like mardi gras, he didn't get the most speed. what happened to your guy? >> what happened is, i know this is going to sound like spin and maybe it is, but his people

think, i talked to one of his key people in iowa who think i might have saved him from fifth place. i had one radio program from the time i endorsed him and between the time he went to the caucuses and my hope was that we could help him at least stay stabilized enough to go on to south carolina and florida where he's got far better organization and is far more competitive and where i think this nomination is going to ultimately be decided. >> here's what newt had to say last night and then i'll get your reaction. >> i want to take just a minute and congratulate a friend of ours and that's rick santorum. he waged a great, positive campaign. i admire the courage, the discipline, the way he focused and i also admire how positive it was. i wish i could say that for all the candidates. there will be a great debate in the republican party before we are prepared to have a great debate with barack obama.

>> what's your reaction and are you going to stick with newt? >> i am going to stick with newt until someone comes up with bigger and better solutions, i'm going to stick with newt. i do think that what is interesting some of the best days the republican party has had in the last 25 years, since reagan left office, were in the mid-1990s. rick santorum in the senate and newt gingrich in the senate the last time we moved this country to the right. i know this, as long as mitt romney has a flooded field, he's likely to be the nominee. if mitt romney has to go one-on-one with mitt romney he is going to lose this nomination. four years later, he got 66 more votes in iowa than he got four years ago. i think that tells you, he is a static frontrunner and now it's about what the challenger would and should be. >> what kind of feedback did you get from your listeners last night? you were live through the night and what are you expecting to

hear from them today? they helped huckabee win there in '08 when you endorsed him. >> you know, i didn't really get nearly as much blow back for this as i thought. a lot of my listeners, even if they didn't vote for newt want to see his voice be prominent in the race and i think a lot of my listen listeners, if they were rick santorum supporters and i think the idea of a gingrich/santorum ticket is something that would appeal to a lot of them. >> steve, thanks for joining me. i appreciate it. we'll talk more. the british guy who replaced steve in des moines. simon. conway. he's not giving up on rick perry just yet. democrats held their own caucuses last night showing support for president obama. the president addressed them in a video teleconference making sure they remember his achievements like ending the iraq war and pushing health care reform. >> i'm actually more optimistic now than i was when i first ran

because we've already seen change take place. what kind of country are we going to leave for our children and our grandchildren? there is no problem that we face that we cannot solve. >> well, the obama campaign also e-mailed a message to supporters right after the iowa caucuses. "the extremist tea party agenda won a clear victory. no matter who the republicans nominate, will be running against someone who has embraced that agenda in order to win. vowing to let wall street write its own rules and medicare, as we know it, roll back gay rights and leave the troops in iraq indefinitely and restrict a woman's right to choose and gut social security to pay more tax cuts for millionaires and corporations." well, up next, behind the scenes in perhaps the most thrilling iowa caucus in history. our soledad o'brien was there every step of the way. she joins me live about how it all unfolded. two breakout stars were not candidates, but two republican women who recorded the final

votes. >> they gave me a name and i tried calling because it's late here. they were in bed and the chair was also in bed. >> but not for long. hear what happened next, right after the break.

checking top stories now. they call themselves the free syrian army. cnn can't independently confirm this video of syrian troops in hama but five more protesters were killed by troops across

syria. an accused arsonist in court this morning in connection with 52 fires set in the los angeles area over the weekend. the fires fires. he is under investigation in his home country of germany for arson. ohio is a battleground state that the president needs to win in november. well, as we've told you, the closest margin of victory in iowa caucus history. mitt romney edges ahead of rick santorum by only eight votes. watching it all unfold in iowa. soledad o'brien joining us live from des moines. soledad, quite a night. what is your take on rick santorum. >> quite a morning, actually. technically. you know, interesting. you know, i think a lot of people the days before the caucuses actually begin were telling me, watch rick santorum. that is the headline and to a large degree it was.

romney wins but it was those eight points and those eight votes were really the rick santorum difference. it's due to a couple of things. the first that he did the very traditional way that people like to be campaigned to here in iowa, which is know out and meet people. he went to all 99 counties and did a lot of hand shaking and really met people. here in iowa, people will tell you they really appreciate and value that. i think that was very important for him. the second thing he did while he really had the social conservatives behind him to a large degree, one thing he started doing in sort of the days after he got his bump was to start talking about blue collar job issues. start talking about the economy. moving out of those values issues and moving into the economy, which, as you well know, polls show people want to talk about. doing that very effectively. i think that was a big deal for him. earlier this morning you had a chance to speak to mitt romney. looking ahead to january 21st,

florida primary. what did he say about the huge hispanic vote there? >> i asked him about the dream act. he said he would veto the dream act, if he's in a position to do so. florida has 22% of the population is latino. here's what he said when i asked him, does he feel like he might be handing election over to president obama with his position on the dream act? >> hispanic-american voters that i speak with are overwhelmingly concerned with opportunity. they want good jobs in america and rising incomes and if they want a president who's going to talk to them about a handout or more benefits for free, they got that guy. if they, instead, want a president who understands the economy, who has lived in the economy and understands what it takes to help people get jobs again, then i'm nat person. >> so, he was really underscoring, kyra, the difference between legal and illegal immigration. he said you can tell that's what he's setting up for in the

future to really try to campaign on that. >> soledad o'brien, "starting point" every morning 7:00 a.m. eastern time every morning. thank you so much. certainly was a nail biting evening with everyone waiting for the last votes of course to come in from clinton county. why? well, gop officials there had compiled their results, but one precinct's numbers didn't apparently get to the state republican party and cnn wolf blitzer talked to two officials in clinton county who went out of their way to get the results. >> we got two women calling in from, we've actually called them from clinton county, from the republican party. in clinton county. edith, can you hear me? >> yes, i can. >> carolyn is with you, too. >> yes, i received a call at about 12:20 from the state central committee asking if i knew how to get a hold of someone from 2-2.

at that time they gave me a name and i tried calling because it's late here. they were in bed and the chair was also in bed. >> so, what you're saying is -- >> gave the information so i came to edith's home and pounded on the door and woke her up and got her up. >> who won? >> mitt romney won with 51 votes. rick santorum and ron paul tied with 33 votes each. >> so, that's 51-33. if this is the missing precinct, wolf, add it up there. mitt romney wins by 20 something votes. >> what is the total for clinton county, romney, santorum, paul? >> oh -- i haven't -- oh, i added them up. i added them up a couple times. oh, man. i showed romney. >>ing up with a total of 437

votes for clinton county. santorum had 354. . perry had 73. paul had 292. huntsman 12. gingrich 151. michele bachmann 62. and there were 5 votes for herman cain. >> the numbers we just received from the county chair woman right here in clinton county. >> what do you mean the numbers don't match? >> just to be precise. we didn't wake you up, the state chairs in des moines they called you and they woke you up, is that right? >> no, i woke her up. this is carolyn. >> carolyn woke her up to get the numbers because the state was -- >> waiting for the results when i was told by the party. so, i came to wake up edith who didn't answer her phone. >> you ladies don't have any fresh coffee brewed, do you? >> no, but i think i'm ready for

it. >> guess what, joining us now, on the phone, edith and carolyn. let's give her a big round of applause. let me start with edith, edith, thank you so much. on behalf of all of us, on behalf of the american people, we want to thank you for clearing up this mystery. tell us how you feel right now, edith? >> i'm just overwhelmed with all of this. >> you're trending worldwide apparently on twitter, i just learned from ali velshi. are you big on the twitter? >> not so good. i just got an ipad for christmas, but i don't know how to work it yet. >> would you ladies like to be the co-anchors of a new cnn program, "cnn after dark." >> as you can see, edith and carolyn did save the day and the numbers were right. well, in politics it's possible to lose and still win. just ask rick santorum who came up tantalizing short in the iowa

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talk about drama from the iowa caucuses. mitt romney wins by a mere eight votes and rick santorum igniting new enthusiasm and merging to a close second place. we want to talk more about how iowans voted and why. our resident iowans, christine romans. core values proved to be pretty decisive here. >> they did. so did independents. independents really broke for ron paul and the evangelical

born again christians really broke for rick santorum and we use this entrance polls to show you how that worked. this is the party i.d. here. 23% of that turnout was independent. 75% was republican and we looked at how that went. obviously, for santorum here and for ron paul over here for the independents. now, let's talk. we want to show you how specifically that was. 43% of that independent vote went for ron paul and then 19% of the independents went for mitt romney who, of course, his critics would say he's too moderate. he's too moderate when you can see the independents like that. i want to take a look at born again christians or evangelical christians. santorum got 32% of that evangelical or born again vote here. the values go to that christian values voter. ron paul came in second here with 18% and rick perry who spent an awful lot of time and money in the state came up with

14% tying romney and gingrich, as well. let's look at how it is by gender. these are evangelical women, kyra. 36% going for santorum and 17% for ron paul and then you have this perry/romney/gingrich cluster right there for the third, fourth and fifth spot. you look at for men here and you can see that santorum 31% and ron paul 21% and this sort of 14% for these three here. these are evangelical voters, again. really interesting in terms of the independents breaking over there for ron paul and that surge being fueled by the core values voters in iowa. also we showed you earlier in the hour, but for the santorum movement, as well, those are voters who were deciding they were all starting in january or starting in december to now right up until the last minute, that santorum surge continued, kyra. >> christine, thanks so much. those numbers actually caused us to want to do more on faith, family and the evangelical vote. david broedy, christian

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went to every pizza ranch in iowa and eked out a second place finish in iowa. as david brody puts it, rick santorum is a remarkable story. the mike huckabee of 2012. chief political correspondent

for the christian broadcasting network and he joins me live from des moines. david, santorum is a devote catholic and talking to evangelicals who tend to vote their beliefs. >> yeah, i mean, look, not only did he spend time in the trenches, but he has street cred and he has been playing in the culture wars for several decades and a resume. two-time united states senator. the reason evangelicals broke for santorum, they broke late for him is because they looked at michele bachmann and said, you know, we don't see a president when we look at her and rick perry, oops, a couple too many oops moments for rick perry and he was not ready for primetime in presidential politics. and here comes rick santorum who had no oops moments and not much fired at him. here, rick santorum doing very well with evangelicals. >> you mention the authenticity

and no measurable mistakes and he captured a portion of what you call the teavangelicals. leave it to you to name a new party. >> look, the teavangelicals. who are they? evangelicals who support the tea party and its agenda. it's really that simple. a big crossover in this country and what we saw, as you saw in that previous segment with some of these evangelical numbers. rick santorum did well with that crowd and ron paul did well with that crowd, too. tea party ron paul, we know all about that. a married of different reasons. these two have a distinct reasonsen, a couple different reasons for why teavangelicals like what they're hearing. >> in a state like new hampshire where the evan yellical vote is not as strong, does that predict

another hurdle for where santorum is already ahead? >> heavy lifting for santorum just by the fact that romney has a sizable lead there. but rick santorum has been able to do and what he needs to do is take this outside the evangelical sme evangelical sphere, if you will. he has been talking about not just faith and family, but weaving all of that into a message about american exceptionalism. i think if he goes down that road and starts to talk about that in new hampshire and south carolina, it's going to bode well for him. i think, personally, kyra, the way that this is going to work for rick santorum is that he is going to have to define the narrative. i'm the authentic conservative candidate and i'm going against the candidate that does that and if that narrative sticks, he's got a shot. >> david, good to see you. thanks for joining me this morning. >> thanks, kyra. >> much more coverage of the

iowa caucus ahead. a reminder for full results and all the latest political news, just go to

let's take a look at what's happening later on in the day. mississippi governor will address state lawmakers for the last time at noon today. the two-term governor leaves

office next week. barber's to do list for now, launching a speaking tour. also making his first major speech of 2012, president obama is scheduled to speak at a high school in ohio at 1:15. his focus, state of the economy. later this afternoon a private wake will be held in new

york for three connecticut children killed in a christmas morning house fire. a funeral service will take place tomorrow. we're following lots of developments next hour. let's go ahead and start first with dana bash. she's in iowa. dana? >> reporter: well, this certainly was an exciting night and it is an important kickoff to the presidential race on the republican side. some big winners and some people who probably woke up going home. we'll have more at the top of the hour. >> reporter: i'm dan lothian in manchest manchester, new hampshire. this is a state that will house the next big test for the republican presidential hopefuls, but will the results in iowa impact what happens here? i'll have more on that in the next hour. and i'm david mattingly. in south carolina where the political landscape seems to be changing by the hour after what happened in iowa. val that story after the top of the hour. thanks so much.

we're also going to talk to the influential iowa radio host simon conway. he was born a britt. he has a lot to say with where the race goes from here. also the 745 iowans who voted for jon huntsman. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. okay... is this where we're at now, we just eat whatever tastes good? like these sweet honey clusters... actually there's a half a day's worth of fiber in every ... why stop at cereal? bring on the pork chops and the hot fudge. fantastic. are you done sweetie? yea [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. hey, i love your cereal there-- it's got that sweet honey taste. but no way it's 80 calories, right? no way. lady, i just drive the truck. right, there's no way right, right? have a nice day. [ male announcer ] 80 delicious calories. fiber one.

all right. she's got a pretty good swing. everything about the presidential candidates is getting scrutinized these days. even the dance moves. michele bachmann still showing off last night taking a spin with her husband on stage at a rally in iowa. the candidates' fashion choices also get a lot of attention from the public as well. cnn's jeanne moos explains. >> reporter: it's not exactly a priel miscarriage prime marry concern when a normally buttoned up candidate starts wearing jeans. >> all pause allowed. >> reporter: he risks evoking the dreaded "m" word. lately's there's been some talk on twitter. mitt romney stumbled into wearing rom genes. the co creator of the daily show went so far as to tweet, i think mitt romney wears lady wrangler

jeans. >> there's a family affair. >> reporter: but romney's mom jeans look like tights compared to the ones president obama once woer. >> and these look frum py. >> i'm a little frum py. for those of you who want your president to look great in his tight jeans, i'm sorry. i'm not the guy. >> reporter: apparently neither is mitt romney, though he was no slouch when it came to sprucing up cnn's very own wolf blitzer. >> you've got something on your coat. maybe you know. right on the front there. see that? >> reporter: primary season has brought out another dubious fashion trend. >> all of a sudden the sweater vest was like fear the vest. >> reporter: that's presidential candidate rick santorum answering questions from laura inning gram. >> is it geek she can? >> reporter: about his penchant for sweater vests. this is the one that set things off. >> the internet lights up with what's this with the sweater vest? >> reporter: now rick's sweater vest has a facebook page and a twitter account with the sweater vest tweeting gems like rick

santorum is such a fiscal conservative he doesn't buy sleeves. santorum told "the new york times" he buys most of his sweater vests at discounter joseph a. bank. there's even a sleeve slow me down montage down on line. ♪ 6. >> reporter: mom jeans, sweater vests, what's next, a guy rancher jacket? after texas governor rick perry released this ad. >> know that there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military, when our kids can't openly celebrate christmas. >> reporter: he was parodied and his jacket ended up with perry's outer wear compared to a gay cow boi. whether it's jackets or sweater vests or mom jeans, at least even the most titillatiang fashion faux pauxes are bipartisan. jeanne moos, cnn, new york.

we'll begin the hour with fashion. we are beginning with the presidential race in a photo finish. mitt romney, the long-time front-runner squeaking past rick santorum with a mere eight votes. it's the closest finish in the history of the iowa caucuses. it could change the gop race going forward. rick perry says he's reassessing his bid now. michele bachmann is going to hold a press conference in just about an hour. we're going to see what she has to say. we'll take that live. it wasn't so long ago that santorum was barely a blip on the political radar. today he's the latest contender to challenge romney. >> i'm feeling terrific. we were well behind. i don't think people gave us a chance. we won last night although it was very, very close, obviously. rick santorum and ron paul had big nights. we all come out in iowa a lot stronger. >> there's going to be a rematch

and we're going to go to new hampshire and take them on. we're going to run a campaign talking about my vision for this country. of course we're covering all the angles for you this morning. john king has the big picture. dana bash and joe johns taking a look at the winners and losers. dan lothian and david mattingly looking at political battle grounds that are more important than ever. john, start with you. little bleery eyed this morning having left a few hours ago. >> bleery eyed, sleep is overrated. once they start voting, sleep is overrated. i want to tell you just spoke to a republican source familiar with congressman michele bachmann's plan. she's going to make an announcement later this morning. this source telling us moments ago she, quote, will acknowledge the reality of iowa's vote later this morning. i asked that source if that means she's dropping out of the race. they said she deserves the chance to say this in her own words. it's safe to say we don't see a

viable way forward. it planned a post south carolina chance this morning. it's canceled. we're seeking more information on that. why? well, this is why. if you look at the race right here, congresswoman bachmann down here at 5%. remember, kyra, she was born in iowa. she won the straw poll. this was her one state. this was her chance to prove she was a serious republican contender. what are we looking at? history is what we're looking at. mitt romney, 30 jurks 015 votes. rick santorum, 30 j 007 votes. eight votes, eight votes look at that. how did it happen? the purple is rick santorum. you can see it's quite stunning. mike huckabee, conservative evangelical small town rural voters in iowa. four years later rick santorum, pretty much the same base. not quite by the volume though of huckabee. why? because ron paul ran very strongly in a lot of these small

counties as well in placing third. if you notice, there's not a lot of romney on this map. not nearly as much as, again, four years ago. romney did very well out here, out here, ended up, this is kind of eerie, 25%, 30 j 021 votes. mitt romney last night 25% 30015 votes. six votes fewer than four years ago. how did romney do it? one of the reasons he eked this one out is he performed strongest where the people are. the larger population centers. polk county, romney carries it with 28%. santorum ran third there. right there in that one county is your margin of victory. the county was over here, clinton county. one precinct had not reported although the nice ladies of clinton county say they did their job just fine and rorted all the information to the state committee. there was a mixup in counting the votes. we only had 98, 99% of the vote. mitt romney was still a little bit behind. when the final votes came out in

this small county, 437 votes, 357 for rick santorum. that was enough to put governor romney over the top the closest iowa contest in history. as you noted just a moment ago when you talked about david and dan, that's where we go next, the state of new hampshire. one footnote on that. i'll let them discuss it in more detail when you get to them. the reason rick santorum is talking about blue collar politics, huckabee went on a christian evangelical message in new hampshire. not a lot of them in new hampshire. if rick santorum is to follow up iowa with a boom in new hampshire he has to spread it out and start talking about the economy. >> it was such a great moment back in clinton county. i guess during this time things can become very repetitive. we need a little action now and then. it was that moment in clinton county that really i guess sort of turned the tide and woke everybody up. let's take a look back at that and i want to ask you about that. >> just to be precise, we didn't

wake you up, the state chairs in des moines, they called you. they woke you up, is that right? >> no. i woke her up. this is caroline. >> caroline woke her up. >> cnn is waiting for these votes. i was told by the party. so i came to wake up edith who didn't answer her phone. >> you laid digs don't have any fresh coffee brewed, do you? >> no, but i think i'm ready for it. >> quite a switch from a hanging chad, i guess. but it was one of those moments, right, where we got a little nervous about what was going on? >> right. it's one of those moments and it's kind of funny. mark preston, our political director deserves a lot of the credit here, he was looking at the mapped and said where are the presixth? we'll do old-fashioned foot leather journalism yourself. mark found the number, wolf made the call. we went straight to the source of where the mixup was and we got the numbers before the state

was ready to report them. that's why we're here. we do some reporting and every now and then an experience, a good rolodex and making a phone call. good old-fashioned reporting coming up. >> i think now edith and caroline may have a sitcom. >> we'll be on their shows. >> thanks so much. great stuff last night. let's get the view from iowa now. dana bash and joe johns are in des moines. dana, start with you. romney may have won by the numbers, it's santorum who's declaring victory. he's the one a lot of people are talking about this morning. >> reporter: there's no question that he deserves the ability to declare victory because he came from virtually being an asterisk to doing incredibly well, virtually tying last night. so he is very happy. his campaign is insisting that he is going to be able to go on. listen to what he said last night.

>> you, you by standing up and not compromising i by stanting under and leading with that burden and responsibility that you have to be first, you have taken the first step of taking back this country. >> reporter: so the question now is what is he really going to be able to do long term, kyra? rick santorum put all of his eggs in the iowa basket t. paid off for him, but he doesn't have necessarily an organization in new hampshire where mitt romney is very, very strong. obviously he's next as a social conservative, his next big stand will likely be in south carolina. he will likely get help from the fact that he's not going to have the kind of competitors vying for the social conservative vote that he had in iowa. likely to see rick perry and

michele bachmann not being real competitors in south carolina. on the romney side of this, very interesting going forward of what we're going to see even today from him in new hampshire. he is going to have a guest with him on the campaign trail, kyra, and that is john mccain. you remember the two of them had a very, very hard-fought battle in the 2008 primary. they actually became quite close and quite friendly because mitt romney helped john mccain in the general election back in 2008. helped him in a tough primary he had for his senate seat in arizona. another thing you can't estimate here and i know this from covering john mccain and rick santorum in the senate is personalities. i think it is fair to say that there is no love lost between john mccain and rick santorum. it's fair to say also that that is a factor in john mccain yump jumping in and endorsing mitt romney in new hampshire. interesting to see what he says about his frenemy, rick zblum

joe while i've got you there side by side with dana, ron paul and newt gingrich finishing third and fourth last night. let's take a listen to what ron paul said just moments ago and we'll talk about what's ahead in new hampshire. >> i think we're going to have some momentum and we're going to continue to do what we're doing. it's a live free or die state. they're very freedom oriented. that message will spread there and i'm confident we're going to do quite well. >> joe, can his momentum last past iowa? >> reporter: well, i think you can say it was a strong showing but there were a lot of people who were expecting ron paul actually to pull this thing out, to win it or place a strong second and he didn't. he placed third. so that's a problem for him, at least to some extent. on the other hand, he still has a strong organization and he still has potential. it's likely that he can stay in this race just about as long as he wants to. it's funny you played that sound

byte. it's pretty clear he wants to continue fighting. he sort of got into a grudge match, if you will, with newt gingrich this morning. last night at his event newt gingrich said ron paul was a dangerous candidate and so this morning ron paul responded essentially by saying, well, newt gingrich is afraid of danger calling him a chicken hog because he got deferments from the vietnam war. so ron paul apparently in a fighting mood and he's going to go out to new hampshire and see what he can do, kyra. >> all right. dana, joe, guys, thanks so much. mitt romney is the only republican who has sat at or near the top of all iowa polls in rient months, so in many ways he went into last night's caucuses with a simple goal, don't lose. did he really accomplish that? john avlon, cnn contributor, contributor for "the daily beast," let's get to romney.

let's start withback bachmann because john king getting the word from a source that she is going to give her i'm out speech at 11:00 a.m. eastern time. >> reporting very big news potentially. she's canceled a trip to south carolina. that's pretty dispositive proof. like rick perry announced last night, he canceled his south carolina trip going home to texas to re-evaluate. that's code for i'm cutting my campaign off because the support is not there. i think it's a smart decision by michele bachmann if she follows through on that. a little surprising because she's talked about going through. if you have a conservative populist based campaign and you come in almost last, you've got a problem. you have a problem that retooling isn't going to fix. what's fascinating about that though, if perry and bachmann are out, where do those voters go? mitt romney, as we've talked about, is the only guy in politics with the glass ceiling,

25% support. 75% of the party wants someone else. with those two folks out you have a narrower field. the question is will their support going go to newt, perry? how will it split? santorum? they're interesting questions that could dramatically impact south carolina and florida in particular. it changes the field and it moves that 75% around in ways that we can't quantify yet but will have a dramatic impact. >> looking ahead to new hampshire, this represents the nation much more than -- >> very much so. >> -- iowa does. >> very much. independence can vote. new hampshire is a state where 42% of voters are registered independents. they can vote in the republican primary. that makes the whole state primary look more like the nation in terms of its overall representativeness. it's a better gauge of what candidate can be a more competitive general election candidate than the iowa caucus which is high intensity, low turnout and disproportionately

dominated by conservatives. mitt romney, former neighboring state governor, powering lead. jon huntsman trying to get in there as the other center right candidate. >> here's my question. we know that romney pretty much, if you look at everything right overall, he's going in there pretty much with the win. however, look at the surprises that we've been seeing. could we possibly see a surprise in new hampshire? >> look, last night reaffirmed something important. >> anything is possible? >> every vote counts. decisions and democracies are made by people who show up. mitt romney -- >> so does that change things then for romney or some of these other candidates? >> it could. nobody should take anything for granted, especially if we have a narrower field and that base of support going to look for other candidates. nobody should rest on their laurels. we are at the beginning of the january gauntlet. we've gone through iowa. it is a punishing, intense political month.

anything is possible. every vote counts. we were shown that again last night. that's what makes this so exciting. politics is history in the present tense. >> so different this year. gives us a lot to talk about. john, thanks so much. >> thank you. coming up this hour we'll also take you next toward the republican nomination. we're going to go to new hampshire and south carolina since john and i were just talking about that. we'll see how iowa's results might impact things there. also, we're talking again with influential iowa radio host simon conway. he'll talk about where the gop race goes from here, the value of endorsements, and the 745 iowans who voted for jon huntsman.

jon huntsman isn't winning many friends in iowa. take a listen to what he said yesterday in new hampshire. >> a message to the winner of the iowa caucus. it would be welcome to new hampshire, nobody cares. >> and here's what he got for ignoring iowa. 745 votes. in addition to a place in simon conway's dog house. the iowa radio host with the lovely british accent can't believe huntsman even got that many. simon huntsman dised the state again. when we talked to you earlier after your 10th or 11th liter of coffee. you had some words for those people who voted for huntsman. >> absolutely. good morning, kyra. the stockholm syndrome is apparently a real thing. i'll be talking to the governor of the state of iowa today

asking to remove the state citizenship from these morons who managed to vote for jon huntsman. >> you also said, you told me yesterday, that romney would, quote, edge it. did you think that edge would be wafer thin? >> how brilliant are you for having me on and predicting that? i know that was absolutely fantastic. yes, romney edged it exactly as i said he would. eight votes. i don't know, i thought maybe nine or ten might have done it. i'm satisfied with eight. >> what about your guy, rick perry? you're going to tell me you didn't endorse him, but you did tell me you liked him and he was on your show for an hour. here's my question. is rick perry finished? >> uh-huh. i think there's a path for rick perry. whether he chooses to take it is another matter. conservatives will not play well in new hampshire. i think everybody knows that. there is something in south carolina that might be there for him if he chose to take that road. i don't know that he's going to. there's a good conservative in

the field in rick santorum. the question is does he have any ground game there? we'll find that out very shortly. >> now our john king telling us through a source that michele bachmann is going to be holding this news conference in less than an hour from now and the word is that she's going to say good-bye. what's your take? >> i think she should. unfortunately i don't think the united states is ready for a woman leader. i thought we were more enlightened than that. we're not ready. it's a shame. we'll have to wait for another year, i guess, till we try that. we've had men since our foundation. it hasn't got us in a very good place. i'm certainly ready to try a woman as a president, aren't you, kyra? maybe you should run. >> too many skeletons in the closet but then again -- >> really? >> you bring that up though. your native uk was ready for a strong woman leader in the '70s, right? we're still waiting here in 2012. >> absolutely. absolutely. it's not just the uk either. >> yes. all right.

before we let you go, you're expecting your drive-time listeners to be, of course, contributing quite a bit today. what do you think the conversation will be about? >> absolutely. i think the conversation's going to be about there was all this call for conservatives to drop out of the race and coalesce around one candidate. well, i was always let the people decide. vote your conscience. the people of iowa have, indeed, delivered one conservative. his name is rick santorum. he's a great guy. i've spent many hours for him. he will carry that conservative flag in new hampshire. he won't do great there. he'll carry it forward. then he'll get to south carolina and he'll do fantastic. >> who is the station. simon conway is the guy there in iowa. see mornings great talking to you again this morning. >> you too, kyra any time. come on up to tropical iowa. it's a balmy 38 degrees right here now.

>> you got a deal. the republican campaigns move on to new hampshire as you know. newt gingrich is actually making a stand there after a fourth place finish in iowa. he's holding a town hall this hour. we're going to join it as soon as it happens. she said pie. pie. [ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. on my journey across america, our ad match guarantee. i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. place finish in iowa.

wall street started the year with quite a bang. the dow dropped nearly 200 points yesterday. the first trading day of 2012. today we're seeing some hesitation. alison kosik at the new york stock exchange. alison, what are investors thinking about. >> kyra, just because it's a new year, no, no, no doesn't mean the european debt issues are gone. they're back on the front burner. today there's talk that spain

may need more rescue funding. the spanish government is denying it. balancing out the bad stuff is good stuff. ford and chrysler, they're reporting double digit sales in december. ford had its best december since 2005. shares of ford are up almost 2%. ford's not the only thing on the rise. that drink you buy at starbucks, that's also going up, too. about 1%, which means about 10 cents a cup. those price hikes are only happening in the northeast and sunbelt states. that does not include southern florida or california. it does include big cities like boss storngs new york, atlanta, and dallas. this follows price hikes that happened in the midwest and northwest back in november because starbucks has these costness front of it, costs for distribution, fuel. those prices are going up. prices for coffee beans, they're also rising. ten cents doesn't sound like a lot, you know what happens? they sort of take an inch and they keep opening the door. it becomes a mile. that cup of coffee that used to

be $3.69 is now $5.69. >> that's why we bring our own coffee. >> exactly. i'm all for that. >> thanks. he closed fast in iowa. now rick santorum is challenging mitt romney in romney's own backyard. >> game on. >> we'll take you to the game in new hampshire to see if santorum is gaining any ground.

with the iowa caucuses over the battle for the gop presidential nomination moves east and south.

first up, the nation's first primary in new hampshire. just six days away. mitt romney, former governor of neighboring massachusetts, leads in the new hampshire polls. then the focus shifts to south carolina for the state's 21st primary. we'll take you there for a look at how the campaigns are going there. let's start in manchester, new hampshire. dan lothian. dan, you've been there a few days. what's the buzz? how will the iowa results impact things there? >> reporter: well, the buzz really has all been about mitt romney ever since this campaign really got underway here in new hampshire he has maintained a very strong lead above his republican contenders. in fact, the most recent polling conducted last night, not of all voters here but of those who were paying attention watching the iowa caucuses, he remains at 47%. that's where the poll placed him in early december. all of the rest on that list as well pretty much where they were in december with the exception of senator santorum who back in

the december was at 5% but now after those who were watching the caucuses saw his surge, saw his performance no doubt, he has jumped to 10%. the question is can that momentum continue here in the state of new hampshire? one potential hurdle for him is that you don't have the large number of social conservatives that you had in iowa. you had those evangelical christians there. here in new hampshire it's the second least religious state in the country. so that could be a factor, but santorum supporters believe that the voters here will give him a second look and will see what the voters in iowa saw as well. the big question is does he have the money to really push through a strong campaign here? he obviously knows that's an issue. sent out an e-mail to his supporters last night telling them that there's a sense of urgency here, that they should

donate to his campaign 35, 50, $75. he will need that to boost his ground operation here and also wage a war on the air. >> dan lothian in new hampshire for us. dan, thanks so much. after new hampshire the republican presidential campaigns head to south carolina, the site of the first southern primary on january 21st. david mattingly is there in aiken. david, michele bachmann had a big push scheduled there. now we'll have this news conference coming up at about 11:00 a.m. eastern time. what are you hearing? >> reporter: well, kyra, we talked to the people who are working here on the ground for the bachmann campaign. they're a little bit in the dark right now. they are going to be watching and listening to what comes out at this press conference at 11:00 today just like the rest of us. of course, you heard john king reporting earlier, source from the campaign, saying it very likely looks like it's going to be over here. the south carolina voters are probably wondering what's going to be next for their state if

bachmann does drop out. they're also looking at rick perry. we're in aiken, south carolina, right now where perry was supposed to be coming today. those events have been canceled. he's retreated to texas where he's going to be reassessing his campaign. so at this point south carolina wondering who's going to be left in this field by the time their primary rolls around on the 21st. kyra? >> just about half an hour from now we will take that news conference live when michele bachmann steps up to the mic. david mattingly, thanks so much. also still ahead, we're going to ask our political buzz panel about the importance of being dull. it could be the key to the white house apparently. their answers won't be dull, i'll tell you that. portant to d he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values.

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looks like michele bachmann is going to call it quits. dana bash working her sources along with john king. let's get to dana in des moines. what did you find out? >> reporter: kyra, literally as we were pulling up to this press conference that michele bachmann is having i got an e-mail from a source familiar with her decisions saying that she is -- does intend to announce that she is going to suspend her campaign. this comes after, of course, john king reported otherer from a source also familiar with her decisions that it's very clear that she doesn't see a path forward. we know that this was a crushing finish for her last night after

she came in so strongly in the aims straw poll over the summer. to come in virtually dead last by the people who actually competed here in iowa, it's just something that she clearly feels that she cannot overcome. not just because of the fact that she doesn't see a path forward in terms of the votes in new hampshire, more specifically south carolina. what happens when you finish this poorly is the money dries up. the organization goes away. so it is very, very hard to succeed. she had a public schedule set for today, kyra, in south carolina that has already been canceled. so we expect to hear from her in her own words shortly, in about 25 minutes, but our understanding is that she is no longer going to be a candidate. >> okay. our dana bash. keep working the story for us. once again, we are expecting a live news conference 11:00 a.m. eastern time where michele bachmann is expected to speak.

we will take that. that should happen about 25 minutes from now, but we are getting now double sourced here from dana bash and john king, michele bachmann planning to announce that she's going to suspend her campaign. let's get to political buzz, shall we? your rapid fire look at the best political topics of the day. we have a lot to talk about. three questions. 30 seconds on the clock. playing today cnn contributor maria cardona. pete dominick and cnn contributor will cain. first question, guys, eight votes tipped iowa to romney. here's conan's take. >> political analysts are saying that mitt romney is having trouble generating enthusiasm among iowa voters. yeah. now, ladies and gentlemen, you know you have a problem when people in iowa find you dull. >> in this race is being dull a path to the white house? maria? >> well, it certainly might be a path to the nomination, kyra, but a path to the white house? it didn't work so well for mike

due kak cass or john kerry d it? if you have somebody like milk toast, i'm going to protect the 1% but i can't sell my own message to my party mitt romney, versus a gifted communicators, someone who saved us from the second great depression like barak obama, i think he was smiling last night. >> will? >> yes. being dull is enough to win your way to the white house. being dull has worked. you want to run. have the campaigns focus on other people. it worked for mitt romney so far. have the campaign be about michele bachmann, have it be about rick perry, herman cain, newt gingrich, rick santorum, and eventually have the voters of america concentrate on barak obama who has the lowest approval rating since jimmy carter. being dull might just win mitt romney the presidency by default. >> pete, i don't know why i'm asking you this because you are definitely not an expert on being dull. >> well, thank you. i disagree with will. it might be a path to the

nomination but it's not a path to the white house. being dull for mitt romney is not going to beat president barak obama who's a pretty exciting guy, when he talks, does a lot of things. maria was right, mitt romney 2012 is what john kerry is to 2004. we see what happens when mitt romney takes a risk and tries to be hip. in 2008 he stood in front of a bunch of black kids and said, who let the dogs out. it's not exciting or presidential. >> on monday i asked all of you for your predictions on the top three iowa finishers. here's a reminder on what you said. >> but i think it's going to be romney, paul, and santorum and probably one of those will be the nominee. again, deadliest catch for america. >> i think conventional wisdom is probably going to hold true here. romney, paul, santorum and romney wins the nomination. >> i think romney will win, maybe ron paul will win. ron paul will be done after. this he's a skeleton with more

skeletons in his closet. either santorum or rick perry. >> okay. maria and will, you were spot on. >> who did pete say? who didn't he say? >> he was very politically savvy there. he even threw in the possibility of perry. he's now reassessing his campaign. now if perry leaves the race, who benefits most? why don't we go there. will? >> well, look, let me say this mitt romney had very good news last night. he won. yes, by eight votes, but he won iowa. the news since that vote tally came in has been bad for mitt romney. michele bachmann and rick perry suspending their campaigns does not help mitt romney. he needs this field fractured up. he needs to have these votes split among five alternatives. now with newt gingrich seeming to be ready to just do whatever he can to take down mitt romney, i think it benefits santorum. michele bachmann and rick perry support i could see easily flowing over to santorum and

creating a more viable alternative to mitt romney. >> maria? >> agree with that. i think as long as the anybody but romney vote is fractured, it helps romney. then as soon as the other conservatives start getting out of this field, it's going to help santorum consolidate that anybody but romney vote. look, last night mitt romney may have won by eight votes, but he spent seven times more per voc than rick santorum and he got less votes than he did four years ago. this is not somebody who is making the sale to his own party that he is the best person to beat barak obama at the end of the day. that's not good news for him. >> pete? >> if perry drops out, who benefits the most? i would say the perry speech writers and anybody who worked or donated to rick perry. of course the people of texas who get their excellent governor back. but i think rick santorum will probably benefit a lot. we saw him surge from behind. he went from bottom to top and now he's right there behind mitt

romney and he's getting that social conservative vote which there isn't as much in new hampshire as there was in iowa. without perry and without bachmann i think santorum and maybe a little gingrich. there i covered it all again. >> he's so safe. here's your buzzer beater. 20 seconds each on this one, guys. the top three spots went to three very different kinds of republicans. santorum the social conservative. romney somewhat of a centrist, and then ron paul who leans libertarian. what do you think, is the gop a house divided? >> absolutely. i wrote about this this morning on cnn.com about how this has become a fight for the soul of the republican party. that's going to be the problem with whoever wins the nomination, they're going to be way too far to the right to appeal to independents, which by the way last night ron paul won. it'll be very tough to compete in a general election. >> yeah. >> i hate i only have 20 seconds. this is being set up as the true hard core conservative versus the moderate. rick santorum versus mitt romney.

when the spotlight shines on rick santorum, you'll understand he's been a proponent of things like equal list popularity. that is not the definition of a conservative for me. if it's about gay marriage and that is the main thing, i guess that is what this battle is. conservative versus moderate. >> pete, bring us home. >> first of all, kyra, describe being mitt romney as a centrist. in what america does he become a centrist? maybe personally but he hasn't advocated for policies. is the gop a house divided? put it this way. if the republicans build a house a third of it would be a church, a third would be condemned because it's violated regulations and the last third, kir ra, would be bought by mitt romney and he'd add an addition to it. >> happy day after iowa. all right. appreciate it. newt gingrich actually holding a town hall right now in concord. >> radical statement 1776. though we are endowed by our

creator. this is the heart of the american system. it means the following, every person in here, each one of you, has been endowed by god. now that means power comes from god to you personally. you're personally sovereign. how sovereign are you? the rights are unalienable. that is, no judge, no bureauc t bureaucrat, no politician can take away your rights. it's interesting in the second amendment people often ask me about the right to bear arms. the second amendment doesn't give you the right to bear arms. important to read it. the second amendment says, the right to bear arms shall not be abridged. because the right to bear arms was given to you by god.

and is unalienable. very, very fundamental question which nobody in our modern day wants to deal with. which why you end up with efforts to pass a small arms treaty at the u.n. and you end up with a worldwide effort by elites to disarm everybody. the founding fathers understood a simple proposition, and i wear this pin, it's george washington's command flag. this flew at valley forge. the person who presided over the constitutional convention understood what commander in chief meant. when they wrote the term commander in chief in the constitution, they had a very clear idea because he spent eight years in the field in the commander as chief leading the army. they knew something profound about the right to bear arms.

at the other concord in massachusetts when the british came to concord and lexington to confiscate the weapons the british knew how to defeat peasants. it was brilliantly captured in a wonderful book called "paul reveer's ride." they marched out very confident because in ireland, in scotland, whales, england, they put down peasant rebellions with ease. they suddenly at lexington and concord discovered armed militia who defeated them. >> live events have already begun in new hampshire. newt gingrich there in concord. we will follow that for you. continue to check in on all the candidates as they head to new hampshire and start addressing voters. we'll take a quick break. more from the "cnn newsroom."

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one of the key stories emerging from the eye owe kra caucuses is the strength of the vank cal vote and it broke for rick santorum. earlier i had a chance to speak to david brody. he says, hey, evangelicals just voted their faith. >> yeah. look, not only did he spend time

in the trenches, but he has street credit with evangelicals. this is a guy that's been fighting a cultural war for a couple of decades. he has a resume. two-time united states senator. i think what we saw here is the reason evangelicals broke for santorum, they broke hard and late for him, they looked at michele bachmann and said we don't see a president when they look at her. rick perry, oops. a couple too many oops moments for rick perry. he was just not ready for primetime in presidential politics. here comes rick santorum who had no oops moments and there wasn't much fire fired at him. here rick santorum doing develop with evangelicals. >> all right. you mentioned it's the authenticity, no measurable mistakes. he captured a portion of what you call the teavangelicals. leave it to you to name a new party. >> yeah. leave it to me to come up with a piffy phrase there, kyra. look, the teavangelicals, what

are they? these are evangelicals who very much support the tea party and its agenda. it's really that simple. there he is a big crossover in this country. what we saw, as you saw in that previous segment with some of those evangelical numbers, rick santorum did very well with that crowd and, yes, ron paul did very well with that crowd too. tea party, ron paul works he know all about that. he's also appealing to evangelicals for a myriad of different reasons which is probably another segment on your show. the point is that these two have a very distinct reason, a couple different reasons, for why teavangelicals like what they are hearing. >> we know how iowans voted but do you know why? turns out lektbilielectability top reason. christine romans will break it down for us. [ panting ] ha ha ha!

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drama from the iowa caucuses. mitt romney wins by a mere eight votes. rick santorum ignites a new enthusiasm and surges to a very close second place. let's talk about why iowans voted and why. christine romans will break it down for us. christine, what was the most important thing? >> it was about electability. it was about who voters thought could beat barak obama. who had the right mix to lead the country. we talked to people some 20 questions. i have narrowed them down for

you. strong moral character. that was about a quarter of voters, as was true conservative. and that they can defeat barak obama. so who filled the bill for those? look at that. mitt romney is the one that iowa voters thought could defeat barak obama. the best experience for a president, that one was interesting, too. working in business was the number one thing here. that also was mitt romney. so i want to take both of these for you and take them over to the other wall, kyra, to examine them a little bit more. look at that. gingrich was the second one that voters thought could defeat barak obama. rick santorum came in at 13%. ron paul, perry, bachmann, huntsman didn't even -- look at that. huntsman didn't even rate in terms of being able to defeat the president. then working in business. santorum also ranked up here, which is sort of interesting because he is the guy who also for being so much in politics, but ron paul, 18%. perry 11%. gingrich drops down to 8%.

bachmann, 6%. nothing for huntsman. he's a big business person who understands the global economy as well. electability seems to be the number one thing here quite frankly, kyra. these voters went in there sort of undecided at the very end. decided in the end, this is the guy we think can beat the president. >> i know you were up all night, so was your entire family in iowa. you were all watching how it was breaking down. christine, thanks so much. >> you're welcome. just a few minutes away from a michele bachmann news conference. we told you that she'll probably announce that she's suspending her presidential campaign. stay tuned for that. that is about five minutes away. we'll be back after a quick break. s 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. so they're good for my family, and for yours. heart smart idaho potatoes.

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we are just about to hit the top of the hour. let's flash forward to events that are happening today. mississippi governor hailey barber addressing state lawmakers for the last time today. the two-term governor leaving office next week. on barber's to do list launching a speaking tour. president obama will speak at a high school in shaker heights, ohio, at 1:15. his focus, the state of the economy. later this afternoon a private wake will be held in new york for three connecticut children killed in a christmas morning house fire. funeral service is scheduled tomorrow. that does it for us. boy has it been a wild ride starting from yesterday all the way into this morning. you know what, it doesn't stop here. suzanne malveaux is going to pick it up. you and i were up throughout

the night, early in the morning. i saw you early in the makeup room. it was riveting. >> this is what we love. these surprises are fantastic. from clinton county where the two women there were -- >> waking each other up. >> all the way to the surprise of santorum. it's going to be an interesting year, no doubt. >> hard to come close to what happened last night. happened last night. we'll see. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com she is dropping out of the race. we are waiting for a press conference from michele bachmann. a source says she is going to announce she is suspending her campaign. the news conference is scheduled to begin any minute now. we'll take you there as soon as it starts live. a republican source familiar with bachmann's plan says, quote, she will acknowledge that the reality of iowa ace vote, she deserves the chance to say this in her own words but it's safe to say we don't see a