it's the scene setter for the florida primary five days later on january 31st. i'm wolf blitzer in the cnn election center. stay with cnn for the latest on the presidential race. our coverage of the iowa caucuses begins tuesday night, 7:00 p.m. eastern. you're in the cnn newsroom. hello, everyone. i'm natalie allen in tonight for don lemon. our top story, a multi-agency manhunt going on right now on and around mt. rainier in washington state. this woman is the reason why. united states park service ranger margaret anderson, somebody shot her dead today in mt. rainier national park. a suspect said as she was doing her job conducting a traffic stop on park property. officials say her killer then ran away in to the forest. authorities have a name and they have a picture of the man they

are hunting. this is him. benjamin colton barnes, 24 years old, believed to have military experience and an assault rifle somewhere in the sprawling national park. and there's one other thing. police say barnes is their only person of interest in a shooting earlier today that left four people wounded outside seattle. so let's get more on this story. to mt. rainier national park and to komo tv. what's the latest on the manhunt? >> we just stepped away from a police briefing seconds before we hit air here. what they are trying to tell us is the severity of barnes, the power and danger he potentially poses. they have not fully named him as a suspect, but the only person of interest in this particular shooting and, obviously, the shooting earlier this morning when it comes to the new year's eve shooting. barnes has a military background. definitely some familiarity with military weapons. we were told the car he owns was

found at the location that had a cache of armor. also other weapons and survivalist gear is what they are telling us. the pierce county authorities are saying. so this is a guy that definitely knows what to do with weapons and has a background. we'll have some pictures later this evening for you as well of a tattooed barnes with his shirt off, posing with weapons. we've just been handed some of those pictures. we'll try to turn those around for a little later. but this person definitely has some power and danger. and they want to make sure that if he is out there, and is in these mountains right now walking around that the hundreds of people that are up there right now locked away in some of the lodges and cabins and visitors centers are going to be all right. >> well, that's got to be terrifying for them to think that somebody could be in their midst with an assault rifle. what else do you know about the shooting earlier in the day in skyway that he could be a part of, according to some reports? >> according to what we've been told by sources, this was a situation, a typical new year's eve party.

obviously, seattle is a big spot for that up and down the sound. and so what happened was, according to what we've been told by king county was that there was some sort of fight at this party, and apparently the suspect in this case, barnes, was asked to leave. there was some sort of fight. and then there was apparently someone who came back with weapons and started firing, hitting four people. and from what we've been told, three of them are dead. so this is a serious situation that this man has been on the hunt essentially from the very early morning hours and coming to the park if it is the same man involved in both cases, as authorities believe, this is a man who definitely wanted to do nothing with any sort of authority figure. even so much as a gentle, docile park ranger. >> yes, and thanks so much. we appreciate it, john humbert from komo tv there out of seattle. thanks so much for your information. now on the phone from near mt. rainier, park spokeswoman lee taylor is with us. first of all, what about the visitors now in the park? are they aware of the man hunt?

we know this is a very large park and there are a lot of people there on a holiday. >> yes, it is. it was a busy day today. one of our busiest winter days ever. luckily, we've been able to evacuate most of the people who were in the park safely. and those who are remaining are holed up in our primary visitor center, the jackson visitor center at paradise. there's over 100 people there. they are -- we believe -- in a safe location. they've got everything they need for their physical comforts. food, water, et cetera. and they are in the presence of five law enforcement officers who can provide some, you know, some security and protection. and we are going to keep them there until we believe that it's safe to travel down the road. given everything that you just heard about the suspect in this case, we don't want to try to have those people get to their vehicles and caravan down the parkway where there could be danger of being sniped at by a

gunman. for now, they are going to sit tight in the visitors center. >> absolutely. what kind of square mileage are we talking about as far as the mt. rainier park, and what are conditions like for a person on the run in this park? >> the park itself is huge. it's hundreds of square miles. the paradise area, the area that's accessible by road this time of year, is substantial. and the terrain that the suspect is traveling in is mountainous terrain. there's a lot of snow on the ground. in fact, there's about, oh, gosh, probably four or five feet of snow on the ground, including two feet of fresh powder. so it would be difficult to be able to move through quickly. and it's heavily forested. >> my goodness. and tell us about the park ranger, margaret anderson, who was gunned down. how long was she at the park and what can you tell us about her personally and her commitment to the job that she was doing. >> margaret worked at mt. rainier for about four years.

like other park rangers, she was in the job not for money or for glory, but out of a love for the wild places in the national parks and because she believed in providing good service to the public. she was a person with a quick smile, a very gentle person, a very competent ranger, and i might add that she's also -- was also a young mother with two small children at home. so this gunman took the life of somebody who had a great deal to live for and was making great contributions to society by being a national park ranger. >> absolutely. such a tragic loss. we thank you so much. we know it's a very sad day for you. and you have a very serious situation on your hands with this gunman on the loose. park spokeswoman lee taylor. the suspect they are looking for right now, benjamin colton barnes, 24 years old. fled on foot through mt. rainier

park. also tonight, police in a san diego suburb believe a shooting that left four people dead may be a murder-suicide. officers responded early sunday to a call of shots fired inside a condo. they found one body in a doorway. inside there were three more bodies. two men and a woman. police did not take chances when they got to the scene. >> upon the initial arrival of the coronado police department, they observed a male lying in the walkway in the doorway of the residence. our s.w.a.t. team did respond to the scene and with the assistance of a robot entered the residence and discovered the bodies of two additional deceased males and one deceased female. >> police do not believe there are any outstanding suspects, although they caution it is early in the investigation. a 12-year-old florida boy is in critical condition after being hit by a bullet apparently fired during a new year's celebration. the boy was sitting in the front

yard of his home in ruskin, south of tampa, watching fireworks when he was hit. his relatives and neighbors say no one was firing a gun near the house. police believe the shot could have been fired from miles away. the new year began in flames in smoke as an arson spree in southern california intensified. seven more suspected arsons overnight bring the total to 39 that have scorched neighborhoods in the hollywood area since friday. los angeles investigators say cars are being torched with the flames spreading to houses. and one of those homes once belonged to jim morrison, lead singer for the doors. >> every lead, every possible rumor, you know, perception, whatever it is. our investigators are active. they are taking this real personal. and they are going to commit themselves. and they aren't going to just discard any kind of rumor whatsoever.

>> so far, only one injury to a firefighter. the mayor of west hollywood, the site of seven of the fires, says his city is densely populated and burning a car next to a house is like setting off an explosive. >> many of these buildings with open car ports of rent-controlled apartments. they are very dense. they are in parts of hollywood and west los angeles where we have 20,000 people living for square mile. each of these buildings contains hundreds of residents, many of them frail seniors. many families with children that can't move as quickly as young people. it's this new form of urban terrorism that we are seeing in our community. >> a $60,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest. in the wake of saturday's earthquake, state officials in ohio have ordered four wells be blocked from opening out of fear they could cause earthquakes. the wells pump fluid deep underground and were supposed to open in the next few weeks. an official explained the fear.

>> what happens is the water acts as a lubricant. they were pumping water down at about 9,000 feet and it was working its way down in, and it wound up serving as a lubricant which then reduced the friction and we had the earthquakes. >> a magnitude 4.0 tremor struck ohio saturday. it's one of 11 to hit in the past year. the first test of the 2012 election season is less than 48 hours away. the iowa caucuses could set the tone for the rest of the race for the gop. but those who are strong in iowa may not be as strong elsewhere. the cnn political team is here to break it all down for us in two minutes.

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less than 48 hours left until the first votes are cast in the 2012 presidential race. the iowa caucuses. they are tuesday night. many of the republican hopefuls spent their holiday making their last sales pitch to voters. here's how the field looks in the latest closely watched des moines register poll. take a look at the top three. mitt romney in the lead, 24%. ron paul close behind at 22%. rick santorum, one of the biggest surprises now up to 15%. i'm joined here in the studio by cnn political director mark preston and in des moines, iowa, dana bash is standing by. dana, to you in a moment. mark is fresh off the airplane from des moines here to atlanta. welcome. >> thank you. >> and you have the front page of the "des moines register." so you should know what the pulse is and what the feeling is back in iowa.

>> absolutely. spent the last weekend in iowa. this is what's going on out there right now. the voters are trying to figure out who they want to support in this race for the republican presidential nomination. out of nowhere, multiple story lines. out of des moines, rick santorum has shown he's a strong contender right now. the des moines register poll which is considered the gold standard for the iowa caucuses shows that rick santorum has a good shot at it. winning the iowa caucuses. >> he hasn't been speed dating in the state either as he accused the other contenders. he's been there on the ground -- >> a long time. >> -- boots on. yeah. back to you in a moment. for dana, ron paul is running close to mitt romney, but why won't some in the republican establishment support mitt romney? they just won't. >> oh, i mean, where do we even start. look at the things he supports.

the fact that he supports legalizing drugs. the fact he wants to bring all troops that are stationed abroad home to the united states. the list goes on and on from there. the issue, though, with ron paul is that he does also and has for a very long time, before it was cool, supported anti-government -- anti-debt kinds of ideals and positions. and so the electorate, the republican electorate has moved in that sense economically towards him. and that's why he is gaining -- has gained popularity because he talks about things that we saw the republican voters go for back in 2010 when they elected a house -- republican house. so that's the issue. but look. you definitely see so many republicans in the quote/unquote establishment trying very hard to stop his candidacy, particularly because of his views on foreign policy. >> we'll see what happens on tuesday. mark, let's talk about 12:01 wednesday morning. who is going where after iowa do you think?

>> traditionally what you would happen is the winners out of iowa first, second or third would head into new hampshire. that would be the traditional path. however, what we're going to see this time around is that michele bachmann, who is the minnesota congresswoman, as well as texas governor rick perry, they are going to go to south carolina because that's where they feel that they have a stronger bond with those voters down there. meanwhile, rick santorum just said a short time ago on our air that no matter how he does in the iowa caucuses, he will go to new hampshire and compete in new hampshire. the problem for rick santorum in new hampshire, perhaps it's not a problem, is that mitt romney is considered to be the walk-away favorite in new hampshire. if rick santorum can show pretty well up in new hampshire, that could provide a little more fuel to his candidacy. he doesn't need to win new hampshire, but if he places well up there it could go a long way to help his campaign. >> in iowa, as well, perhaps that's helping him move toward

iowa. dana, newt gingrich has deflated in iowa. how does that have to do after turning the cheek after his rivals went negative on him? >> it has a lot to do with that, and a lot to do with the fact that these outside groups, the quote/unquote super pacs spent so much money with the strategic hit, really a hit, on newt gingrich. and he actually said today that he was -- he actually told jim acosta he was too slow to respond. listen to what he said. >> well, i was just struck by the politico analysis that -- of this sheer volume of anti-gingrich ads run by romney's pac. i'll let you decide how you would describe it. it's pretty -- for a state this size to spend that number of dollars in negative ads aimed at one candidate is pretty amazing. >> and i think he said he got romney boated, an illusion to

really the first time we saw these kind of clandestine groups go after a candidate. of course, back in 2004 when john kerry got swiftboated. so there's no question about it. i'm sure mark can attest to this because he's spent a lot of time here over the past few weeks. that actually was intentional. that the romney campaign, they were very nervous about newt gingrich doing so well. so they took him out. and now even if mitt romney is second or third, if the top three are mitt romney, rick santorum and ron paul, the romney campaign thinks they are in pretty good shape going forward. >> dana bash, thank you for iowa. and thank you for coming to atlanta. we'll see you as the -- our coverage, of course, presses on. mark preston, thank you. tuesday night, the country's first real votes. the candidates' first true test take place. cnn's live america's choice begins tuesday night, 7:00 eastern. we have been talking a lot about who the voters of iowa will support.

what about the power brokers. the people on wall street who have the clout and the cash to make a huge difference in this election. our susan candiotti dug into the numbers to figure out who they are supporting. susan? >> reporter: wall street is already flashing plenty of green for presidential contenders. here's a look at the latest numbers for the gop. so far, mitt romney is way out in front. the center for responsive politics says the former massachusetts governor has received more than $3.8 million from wall street stock brokers, brokerage companies and bond dealers through december 5th. romney's take is about five times more than the rest of his competitors combined. next is texas governor rick perry, followed by utah governor jon huntsman, texas congressman ron paul and minnesota congresswoman michele bachmann with the rest trailing her. >> you want to make nice with everybody, if you are a donor at this early stage in the race. typically, when you talk about the financial sector, you'll see

donors giving more broadly to the establishment friendly kind of republicans. your mitt romneys, jon huntsman, rick perry. all of those candidates raised a lot of money on wall street. >> who were the top donors? remember these are not necessarily the companies themselves. they could also be people working for these companies or their political action committees. at the top, goldman sachs, $2 million. goldman is also romney's top wall street donor. next, bain capital, a firm whose specialties include corporate takeovers. romney is a former director there and still has ties. donors tied to bain give a majority of their money to democrats. how is president obama faring? he's been at odds with wall street from time to time because of regulations in the wake of the financial crisis. so far, gop candidates, including house and senate leaders, are getting nearly three times more than democrats. still, president obama is cashing in, collecting $1.8 million so far.

that trails romney, of course, but it's still early. natalie? >> susan candiotti in new york, thanks. we're warned every new year's eve about the dangers of getting burned by fireworks. but this may be a new one. revelers injured when they swallowed fireworks. we'll have that story in two minutes. ♪ the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer.

new year's celebrations got out of hand in the philippines. health officials say fire crackers injured around 450 people in the capital manila. another 18 people were hit by stray bullets fired into the air. four people became sick after apparently mistaking fireworks for candy and swallowing it.

on the bright side, officials say the number of injuries is down from last year. 2012 is off to an ugly start in syria. government opposition activists say at least ten people were killed today. the arrival of arab league monitors the past week has apparently done nothing to end the violence. and now critics within the arab league say the monitors should leave. muhammad janjum is watching developments for us. >> reporter: reports of more violence and demonstrations in syria. in the flash point city, reports that people gathered there new year's eve, into the new year for an anti-government demonstration in which they were chanting anti-regime slogans and saying that they wished for a new year free of the bashar al assad regime. they were also amateur videos reporting to show cakes that were baked that were on display wishing syria a new year without

its president bashar al assad. also reports on january 1st of demonstrations. also demonstrations in another province. also reportedly on january 1st, a huge funeral procession for a child who was reportedly killed in hama. the arab parliament which is an 88-member advisory committee to the arab league called on the arab league to withdraw its mission to syria because violence continues, even though those arab league monitors are on the ground there. the arab league issued a press release later in the day in which they said it was only the arab council who could stop that mission who could withdraw those observers, and that the observers on the ground there remain committed to their commission. muhammad jamjoom, cairo. the new year is ushering tens of thousands of new laws that could affect you from the funny to the not so much. we'll run through some of them next. ♪

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along with the new year comes a slew of new laws. nearly 40,000 of them from the controversial to the, well, quirky. josh levs has the highlights for us. >> a couple of interesting ones. hawaii and delaware began allowing same-sex civil unions today. in honolulu. some couples gathered for a ceremony. take a look. >> we now pronounce that you are legally joined as partners in life. >> that was just after -- that was just after midnight in honolulu. five states now have same-sex civil unions. that's six states including washington, d.c. have same-sex

marriage. that's not including california where same-sex marriages are currently not allowed. that followed a big debate. also controversial is this. a new law in new hampshire requiring parental notification for a minor who wants to get an abortion or that minor can seek a court order. to avoid parental notification. governor john lynch had vetoed it saying he wanted an exception for rape, incest or abuse. the state legislature then overrode that veto. that's in new hampshire. one more really interesting one is about immigration. different states have new laws that contradict each other that showed the split in this country over this program, e-verify which is used to check a prospective employee's citizenship or immigration status. what happened now is louisiana, south carolina and georgia are requiring businesses to enroll. california, meanwhile, is saying the state and local governments cannot require employers to use that program unless they have to to receive federal funds. supporters say it helps businesses make sure they aren't

hiring illegal immigrants. opponents say it's not 100% accurate. it's expensive and pushes undocumented workers further underground. all those enacted today. some of the most controversial ones for you. >> the subjects of some of these laws are as varied and interesting as americans themselves, right? >> i like that. >> two others involve pets and tanning beds. tell us about that. >> pets and -- i didn't see this coming. i was looking through this list of what's coming out. this new california law makes it a crime, and i have the words here. to sell a live animal on any street, highway, public right of way, parking lot, can val or boardwalk. and the reason for this. animal rights groups have pushed for this. often animals that are -- maybe have problems, that are ill, some try to sell them on a boardwalk and then impulse buyers will buy the pet but then regret it later and then you end up with abandoned pets. they are hoping there will be fewer abandoned pets if they put in these restrictions. we'll see how that plays out.

and tanning beds. check this out. it's now illegal in california for minors to use ultra violent -- ultraviolet tanning devices, even with parental consent. for a while they had to have parents' permission. now even if your parents say it's okay, you cannot use a tanning bed in california if you are under 18 years old. so that's just a few of them. i want you to see the language on this and see thousands more, which is why i posted them online here on this megalist. it's on my page on facebook and twitter. >> happy reading. 40,000 new laws there. fireworks go up and dozens of birds go down dead from shock apparently. we'll have that story right after a break. and maybe you are one of the lucky ones getting another day off monday. if not, we have your back to work travel forecast. ing. which one is right for me? then i found new pronutrients omega-3. it's from centrum. a name i trust. it goes beyond my heart

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some headlines across the country now. start with the mystery in bebe, arkansas. birds falling dead from the sky on new year's eve for the second year in a row. wildlife officials say about 200 dead black birds have been reported. the same thing happened, you may remember, in beebe last new year's eve. but on a much bigger scale. 5,000 birds dead in a square mile area. in both cases, officials believe fireworks startled the birds. last year's incident was considered an accident. this time around, investigators

think someone intentionally went into the bird's roosts and set the fireworks off. a north carolina man is in federal custody charged with trying to board a commercial flight with an explosive device. it happened saturday in midland, texas. tsa agents say they spotted a suspicious item in the man's carry-on bag. they arrested trey scott atwater, briefly evacuated the airport, then declared an all clear. it's currently carrying military grade explosives, but he did not have a detonator. that same source tells cnn this incident is, quote, nothing nefarious. and other news, banana sam is back. you may remember the squirrel monkey that was taken friday from the san francisco zoo. our affiliate ktvu reporting a good samaritan spotted the 17-year-old animal in a tree at stern grove park and coaxed it somehow into his backpack, then notified police.

zoo staffers noticed the little guy missing after spotting holes cut through the mesh fence of banana sam's exhibit. in florida, a pirate-themed party boat ran aground saturday hours before midnight, and the planned ship for new year's eve celebration. another tourist boat tried to ferry passengers to shore but it also hit bottom. about 100 wannabe pirates ushered in the new year on shore, not as planned. we're thinking they probably still had a good time. and town officials in western pennsylvania are laying down the law on sledding in local parks. in beaver borough, sledding is banned altogether in one park following an accident. in other park, it is still okay to sled, but it's restricted to local residents only and kids under 12 must wear helme. no real commute. headaches expected monday. it is a federal holiday.

but there's still some severe weather to keep an eye on. meteorologist bonnie schneider is here with that. so if there is some sledding weather out there you have to wear a helmet in some places. >> looking back when i used to go sledding as a kid, that probably would have been an idea. >> we're still here somehow. >> i know. we are looking at snow, unfortunately. this isn't the fun kind of snow. what we're facing for the morning commute is a lot of lake effect snow into parts of the great lakes and michigan. a dangerous blizzard. let's get try to your morning commute tonight. we can show you what's happening. we're going to count down five cities where we're looking at some of the worst weather that may cause slowdowns. in seattle, rain. that may give you a slowdown. atlanta, it's the wind. we've had rain here. wind will be strong. a wind advisory in effect for monday. new york city, blustery. the high about 43 tomorrow. it will feel like it's in the 30s because of that brisk wind. and that will likely cause slowdowns at the airport. now the big stuff. cleveland, heavy snow. blowing snow. when you have wind and it's blowing snow, you are looking at the potential for high snow

drifts. it's fascinating about cleveland. i want to mention, 50 degrees there earlier today. and the temperature is 38. high of 29 tomorrow. buffalo, the same for you. blowing snow accumulations will start tonight. a very, very strong wind. that's a look at your commute. it's going to be a tough one due to this. it doesn't look as menacing but i can tell you with the wind whipping, snow that's hitting michigan right now, upstate new york and ohio is just fierce and problematic. it's actually dangerous in many locations as that wind works its way across the warmer waters of the great lakes. it pulls up that warm, moist air and then plummets it down as heavy, heavy snow, as soon as it hits land and some of the worst of that will be in northern michigan in places like travers city. a blizzard warning in effect straight through tomorrow night. look for blowing and drifting snow and very high snow drifts that could be well over a foot, maybe two feet. >> stay indoors if you are there and just enjoy the day off, perhaps if you have it. thanks, bonnie. he was once considered an

also-ran candidate. now rick santorum is near the top of the polls in iowa. next, we are asking our political analysts, is it because he's gaining traction or because the leaders are losing it? . ♪ sea bass... ♪ ooohhh! ♪ i like it. yeah, i love the kitchen. [ male announcer ] the epa-estimated 42 mpg highway chevy cruze eco. from looking for your perfect home to finding it. chevy runs deep.

one of the biggest surprises in these final days before the iowa caucuses is the rise of rick santorum.

for months he struggled to gain traction, but in the most recent polling, he is in third place behind front-runners mitt romney and ron paul. so is santorum's rise an indication of growing popularity, or is it a result of so many of his rivals falling flat earlier in this campaign? i posed that question to elsie granderson, a contributor to cnn.com and senior writer at espn and cnn contributor will cain. >> santorum's rise has correlated with newt gingrich's fall. some of that support is going over to santorum. let's not take away what santorum has accomplished. he's put in a lot of hard work. he's visited every county in iowa. his campaign seems tailor made for iowa. social values, family values, social conservativism. that plays well to iowa. you'd expect that rick santorum could do well in iowa and now looks like he is doing well. >> i want to play this sound from nbc "meet the press" this morning. david gregory pressed santorum

about his endorsement of mitt romney back in the 2008 campaign. >> the nominee and -- >> so romney will stand up to the -- >> you didn't say compared to -- >> of course i'm not going to say compared to. i'm trying to advocacy for -- advocate for his candidacy at a time when i thought -- >> so you didn't mean that then? >> i was saying it relative to john mccain. and that's what i meant then. it's not like i was an early supporter of romney. i endorsed him seven days before he dropped out of the race. maybe i was a little bit of a -- >> does he have conservative values? conservative principles? >> of course. everybody on that stage that is in these debates has conservative values vis-a-vis president obama. >> do you buy his explanation there that he endorsed romney purely for political reasons? >> absolutely not. you know, rick santorum, i've been trying really hard not to call him a nob, but i don't know what else i can use. because the guy continues to just put himself in these positions in which he looks like a very weak leader.

he looks as if he's always flip-flopping, even with his own principles. he criticizes romney and his flip-flopping. he had very similar views about abortion as romney did. and then he flip-flopped. his own views in regard to abortion. when it got time for him to run for president. so i don't understand the guy. i can find very little with him talking about the economy. talking about very little talking about jobs. it's always about abortion. he thinks about gay people more than i do and i'm gay so i don't get the guy. >> let's turn to ron paul. we'll leave it there for santorum. let's turn to ron paul who is second in that des moines register poll. there's always been a question about whether he's too outside of the main stream to be electable in a general election. here's what he said this morning on cnn's "state of the union." >> i am pretty electable. i was elected 12 times once people got to know me in my own congressional district. i think that may be more propaganda than anything else. so we'll wait and see. we'll know a lot more about how

the election goes tomorrow. >> is ron paul letting the iowa poll numbers get to his head? >> no. i mean, that's perfectly rational reason that he just gave. look. here's my issue with ron paul. is he electable? tim farris wrote a book called the "four-hour workweek." in that book he talked about the principle. you can break most things down to an 80/20 proposition. in business, 80% of your business comes from 20% of clientele and 80% of your problems come from another 20% of your clientele. thing applies to ron paul. 80% of what he says is great. small government, constitutionalism, dedication to liberty. but 20% is a total deal killer. that 20% is different for everybody. for some it's that he would legalize drugs. for others, he'd pull troops out of afghanistan, iraq, germany and japan and south korea. the other is he'd kill the federal reserve. it's different for everybody. but it's a deal killer. that is why he's not electable.

>> there you have it from our guests. tuesday night the country's first real votes. the candidates' first true tests take place in the iowa caucuses. our special "america's choice 2012" coverage of the iowa caucuses begins tuesday night, 7:00 eastern. please join us. 2011 saw plenty of gadgets come on the market. did you keep up? so what will the new year hold in the world of technology? you've got more gadgets to look at. find out about them in two minutes. [oinking] [hissing] [ding]

announcer: cook foods to the right temperature using a food thermometer. 3,000 americans will die from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov.

2012 is only a few hours old, but amazing new technology is already on the horizon for the year ahead. new computers, cameras, gaming consoles, gadgets everyone is going to be talking about. and we've got tech reporter katie to tell us all about them. >> 2011 was all about the year of the tablet. and now get used to this buzz word of ultra books because that's 2012 is the year of ultra books. exactly what that means. it's a buzz word meaning light, portable, compact and efficient. according to intel who has trademarked the word, they say by the end of 2012, 40% of all consumer laptops sold will be an ultra book. now there's certain specifications that make it an ultra book. we talked about how thin it is. taking cues from the mac book era. less than .8 inches thick and going to weigh less than 3.1 pounds. five to eight hours of battery life and around $1,000. so pretty consumer friendly.

but great for any of those college students and people that love to travel. first on the list, ultra books. >> yes, lighter than your starbucks venti, perhaps. we can't talk about tech without talking about apple. i'm an apple freak myself. >> these are merely guesses but probably the biggest question is when's the iphone 5 coming out? probably around fall for iphone 5, maybe as early as february for ipad 3. let's all the about something that people didn't expect and we got an insight of steve jobs' biography. talk of an apple tv and not the setbox, but an apple television. apple can shake up the television market. a lot of rumors speculating there could be use of series so you can control your television with your voice. also have an a la carte lineup. we know that's very tough to do

with cable and licensing. but if any company has the clout to do it, it is apple. so looking forward to that itv, probably later in 2012. >> i got that book for christmas. i haven't gotten to that part. i have to flip ahead and see. and a new kind of photography? >> yes, no camera got more attention than one that isn't even on the market. this is litro. it uses a whole entirely different kind of photography. only has three buttons on i. it has a zoom, a shutter and a power button and it's about using light field gadgetry. it doesn't look like a camera, right? i it gives you the capability to take any photo and to go back and change the focus and gives you more power as an amateur photographer. i will say it's a high price

point. it doesn't take any video and it doesn't have an s-card. i want to go to gaming because we can't leave without talking about gaming console. the wii console succeystem, it' nintendo's sixth console. what's different, not only does it give you the capability of 1080 graphics, but the touch-screen controller. you can use it separately. tv doesn't have to be on. you can use it in conjunction with the tv, you can do video chatting with it. it will be backwards compatible with the wii. people looking forward to that coming out later this year. >> lots of good stuff. the night's top stories are next and the major league baseball player risking his life for a cause. but by doing so, he could lose his multimillion dollar contract.

wait a minute...i... [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] the lexus december to remember sales event is here, but only for a limited time. see your lexus dealer. man on tv: ...rbis and 36 homers. swings at the first pitch and fouls it deep back into the stands. [ding] [fans whirring] announcer: chill raw and prepared foods promptly. one in 6 americans will get sick from food poisoning this year. check your steps at foodsafety.gov.

checking some of our top stories we're watching washington state tonight. that's where police are fanning out all over mount a near national park. benjamin colt barnes is believed to be armed and the man they say shot and killed u.s. park ranger margaret anderson. police say her killer fled into the forest and is the ill on -

still on the run. it's nearly 400 square miles. visitors to the park this holiday weekend, one of the busiest weekends they have had in a while, have been either evacuated or taken to safe locations. seven more suspected arson fires in the los angeles fire have boosted the total to 39 since friday. cars are being torched with the flames spreading to houses. so far, there's only one reported injury to a firefighter. a $60,000 reward is being offered for information leading to an arrest. ohio officials are blocking the opening of four wells after an earthquake in ohio. the magnitude 4.0 quake struck saturday. it's one of 11 to hit in the past year. the wells pump fluid deep underground leading some to suspect they are causing an increase in seismic activity. a professor baseball player

for the new york mets is trying to take slavery awareness on new heights. r.a. dickey will be raising money for the bombay team challenge in china. they help rescue and rehabilitate victims of the sex trafficking industry in mumbai. i asked dickey if he was ready for the climb. >> i feel as prepared as i can be. you know? it's -- you don't have any -- i don't have any experience climbing, so i don't really know what -- i don't have an expectation. but i certainly have gotten myself in good shape and used an oxygen deprivation mask to try to help me train. but, you know, it's all going to come down can you do it or can you not? if i started experiencing some symptoms of altitude sickness, i'm not going to try to push through. i'm going to stop right there. i have got a -- a lot on the line. >> right, absolutely.

you have a huge contract with the new york mets. what has been their reaction to you taking on this challenge? >> well, the mets public, you know, can't really get behind it because i'm one of their assets. if they support an asset that goes over to kilimanjaro and gets hurt and can't be of use them on the field, it doesn't make sense. i empathize with them on that situation and i talked to the owner and the general manager and they're encouraging if not supportive publicly. they're encouraging and there's no acrimony there. we're all on the same page. >> we all know a few wheel hape have gotten to the top of mount kilimanjaro. i know you were in part inspired by reading hemingway as a young boy. tell us about that. >> yeah, in seventh or eighth

grade i picked up the short story of hemingways and i was struck by his description of the mountain and the frozen leopard on the summit, and i filed it away as a young boy. i thought i'd like the go visit that place one day. the opportune moment has arisen. and i'm just trying to seize it. >> when do you start? what's the day you start your ascent and how long will it take? >> i start on tuesday. and we fly via detroit, amsterdam, it's about 18 hours on a plane. then we actually step foot on the mountain on january the 5th. and this ascension will take us probably 8 1/2 days. we want to ensure that we'll have the best chance to the summit so we're taking a little bit longer. i'll be writing a blog and article for "the yo