philadelphia flyers in the winter classic. that outdoor game begins at 1. vacation is over for the first tam family. that does it for us. we are back here bright and early. 9 a.m. eastern time. let's take it over to suzanne malveaux. i asked, where's suzanne. she's in the newsroom. >> kind of cool at the same time. good to see you. >> you're in all the action. >> live from studio seven i'm suzanne malveaux. i want to get you up to speed for this monday, january 2nd. we're in the final countdown. the candidates are taking aim at each other while trying to rally their supporters. rick santorum holding a meet and greet with supporters right now. we're watching that closely. he's gone from back of the pack to running now third in most polls. now some surveys show him ahead of newt gingrich. gingrich and front-runner mitt romney had campaign stops in iowa. that happened earlier today. both focused on their attacks on

president obama. >> remember when he said if we let him borrow $787 billion, almost a trillion dollars, that he would hold unemployment below 8%. >> the obama cookbook is the exact opposite. higher taxes, more regulations, anti-american energy and class warfare to attack the people who create jobs. it's as though the obama cookbook says to get a hard egg you put it in the freezer. it's true if you put it there long enough it will get hard. it's not exactly what you thought you ordered at the restaurant. california police are questioning a man in an arson spree overnight. there were reports of almost a dozen different car fires in hollywood and the san fernando valley. that makes at least 55 suspicious fires around los angeles since friday. we'll get an update from the fire commander center in just minutes. also, everyone visiting mount raniere national park has been cleared out as police fan out to find a killer.

investigators want to question the man in the shooting death of park ranger margaret anderson. they say they believe that man, benjamin barns, is heavily armed wearing body armor and has experience surviving in deep woods and snow. >> at minimum he's got an assault rifle. he's already shot some people at a party earlier. he's killed a law enforcement officer. he's out there armed. we're doing what we can to catch him. active duty soldier is now charged with trying to bring explosives on board a plane in texas. now tsa agents say they spotted the military explosive in his carry on during an x-ray screening. investigators say there was no way to detonate that device. they are downplaying it saying there was nothing nefarious. opposition activists say that government forces killed at least ten more people.

the advisor is calling for the immediate withdrawal of monitors from syria. the advisor says that observers are failing to prevent government troops from killing civilians, but an arab league officials says they are going to remain and more are on the way. former egyptian president hosni mubarak is back in court this morning. the 83-year-old was wheeled in on a gurney. he has cancer and heart problems. he's charged with ordering the killing of hundreds of protesters during last year's uprising. he also faces corruption charges. so we're talking about just a day until the iowa caucuses. republican presidential candidates, they are running hard making their final push for votes. three of those candidates have campaign events over the next two hours. going to be following all of that closely. rick santorum's meet and greet

just underway. it is in polk city, iowa. we're keeping an eye on that. next hour, 2:15 eastern, ron paul campaigns with his son, rand paul, in des moines. and 12:50 eastern mitt romney holding a rally with supporters in debuick. we'll bring you the highlights live from the campaign trail. and political insiders in iowa, they think mitt romney is going to come out on top in tomorrow's caucuses. now cnn surveyed 64 political pros from state local lawmakers, party officials, have right of other activists. what did they say, almost two-thirds think romney is going to win. 17% predict ron paul is going to be the winner. none of them, interesting enough, picked rick santorum despite his recent surge in the polls. go out to iowa. candidates are making the final push for these votes. paul steinhauser in the middle of all of the action from des moines. paul, this is it. this is count joun time.

you've got these guys crisscrossing the state counting the hours. what's the strategy here? >> reporter: this is it. suzanne, it's finally feeling like winter here in iowa. we finally got bab to subfreezing temperatures. yeah, what are the final closing arguments? we've heard some already on cnn this morning. we heard mitt romney in dachb port, iowa, about an hour and a half ago. he was talking about some of the other rivals for the gop nomination. he was going after president obama as well. that has been a strategy of all of the candidates. we heard from newt gingrich an hour ago, the same message in independence, iowa, where he said the president wants to run the country without dealing with congress. that's a message they've all said. they've battled each other right now but they want to take president barak obama out in the election in november. rick santorum, you mentioned him. he's in polk city right around now with his first event of the day. santorum, as you mentioned, has been rising in the polls. he's trying to tell voters that,

listen, i can not only win the nomination, i can beat president obama come november. one thing about santorum, he's raising a lot of money. his campaign tells us he's raised more in the last week than he did in the whole six months before that now as he jumps in the polls, suzanne. these are some of the closing arguments, i guess you could say, with one day to go till the caucuses in iowa. >> covering those caucuses, it's funny, paul, because a lot of people say they're still undecided which is kind of hard to believe. they've heard from these candidates, some numerous times here. is there any buzz that you're hearing about who they think is going to be on top? >> reporter: yeah. it's interesting. i've been getting out of the city of des moines which is more democratic and getting out to the suburbs to talk to voters in coffee shops when i can. what they're telling me is pretty much what the polls are indicating, they like this candidate or that candidate, but they could change their minds. the des moines register poll that came out yesterday indicated the same thing. four out of ten say they could change their minds.

one other thing i'm hearing from iowa republicans, this is true of republicans across the country, they want the candidate who can win in november. that is the most important thing to them. they want to get president barak obama out of the white house. that's what they're telling us. >> paul, i don't think a couple degrees below zero is all that bad. we had 20 degrees below zero when we were out there four years ago. thanks. >> oh, yeah. i remember. >> some cold stuff there. let's listen to rick santorum. he's speaking in polk city, iowa. >> i'm not saying we should change that. senators should be ee likted directly, but it did change the dynamics in washington. when that happened, they changed the rules of the senate. once senators came in, they changed the rules of the senate which allowed for unlimited debate and allowed for something called closure. so there couldn't be unlimited debate. those two things allowed bills to pass easier in the united states senate. as a result of that, government grew. what we need to do is now put not restraints on people to directly elect their senators or

for the senate to necessarily change the rules so things can pass, but we need to put a constitutional constraint on the size of government and that's what the balanced budget amendment would do, in the sense restore the limited government that our founders intended to secure with the united states senate. >> question. >> yes, ma'am. >> what do you propose to do with the foreign policy? >> i would make the argument that the president has made partisan politics more partisan than any president. i with say any president in my lifetime. this president has been the most partisan president. i say that. i served under bill clinton and bill clinton was a tough customer, but he didn't routinely go out and demonize anybody that opposed him. he didn't go out and routinely by name hammer people and ascribe things and feelings to them and positions to them that they don't hold.

this president routinely does that. he routinely divides this country. he poisons the well routinely in washington all because he thinks it's to his political advantage. he blames everybody but himself for any problem that occurs under his watch. i have said, and i'll repeat it, i'll be happy to do it, i hope never after i am president of the united states to mention the name barak obama for any of the problems, for any of the problems this country has. when you raise your hand and take the oath of office, all of the problems and all of the great opportunities of america come under your watch. the idea of continuing to look back and blame everybody else for your problem is beneath the dignity of the president of the united states. i won't do it, and this president shouldn't do it. if you want to change the attitude in washington, start showing respect. even though you may disagree. i've been criticized by my opponents because i went out and ran campaign commercial alls

last time saying i was able to work with democrats to get things done. they said, he's a squish. look at the bills i worked on. yes, i worked with barbara boxer. i worked with barbara boxer? yes, i did. barbara boxer and i were the co authors of the iran freedom and support act to put sanctions on iran and to help fund their pro-democracy program to stop their nuclear program. we were co sponsored of the syrian accountability act to get syria out of the lebanon and stop influencing hez bu la and tlezening northern israel. and because they were my bills, why did they go to barbara boktser? it was a pretty easy thing. if rick santorum and barbara boxer are on a bill, everybody can vote for it, right? if you can get people, a conservative and liberal to share a common point of view that is consistent with my values, then why not do so and try to get bipartisan support? this president goes out of his way to secure people who disagree with him personally. barbara boxer and i had some of

the biggest battles on the floor of the senate that have been in place for the last 20 years, but on areas we agreed i never made the battles personal. i never -- you can't make them personal. that destroys the whole concept of people working together. because in the end you find when it's a personal battle, then people don't trust you to work with them honestly on things that you agree with. that's what the president has done to poison the well. i'll change that attitude in washington. >> sir, i'm one of those people in iowa that's sitting on the edge trying to make up my mind. >> come on over. come on. >> this is the mayor. >> mr. mayor. >> who i'm going to support. i like what you've got to say. >> thank you. >> but i also know that obama's pockets are really deep when it comes to finances. hopefully you have those finances to carry on after you win tomorrow night, go off to new hampshire. >> i like what you're saying. >> hopefully you've got the

finances and the support out there to carry your campaign forward. >> i would say this. we've raised more money in the last few days than we have in the last few months. going from zero to 60 in the polls, if you will, will help those resources a lot. i think you've seen other candidates who have had the opportunity to get a little national attention, that resources have followed. i'll say that when i ran my last campaign i think we raised roughly $30 million for a senate campaign in pennsylvania and candidly we were never closer than 10 points in any of the polls at any point in time. folks are giving us money because they believed in us. i think that kind of conviction politician is what voters have been sitting and waiting for. i'm hopeful that the folks of iowa will do what i have been planning for and hoping for which is to raise us up there and say, take a look at this guy. hopefully the mayor of polk city will come out and say, hey, take a look at this guy, rick

santorum, and that he'll be for us. >> i think he just did. >> we just got the mayor of polk city. thank you, sir. constituents. go ahead. >> i want to encourage you. >> he didn't have that constituent accent. no offense. i have a little bit of an iowa ear now. >> i'm one of those 49% that hasn't made up my mind. i'm closer today in making up my mind. i want to encourage you to get out there. >> don't worry, sir. i've gotten a lot of encouragement from the people of iowa who have been saying, if you don't do well, keep running. we really need your voice out there. what i kept saying is, darn it, answer, yes, for me when they call you on the poll. i know they're calling you. and so obviously that started to happen. aim very encouraged by that. i think we had the momentum here. i don't know what we're going to finish. it was really funny, david gregory on "meet the press" was saying do you have to finish first?

i said, two weeks ago your reporter was asking me if i'm getting out of the race. now all of a sudden you're saying i've got to finish first. this is the craziness of the media. look, the people of iowa are going to decide. if they put us out there in one of the tickets punched out of iowa, that will give us a chance. obviously the better we can do, the better for us. we certainly appreciate all the help and support. anybody else? yes, sir, in the back. >> i am also one of the undecideds. two very quick questions for you if i may. one, if elected what would be your first executive order. two, will you support term limits for members of congress? >> i have supported term limits in the past. i've got to tell you, i think from my perspective there are more urgent priorities for us to do with respect to a constitutional amendment. it would take a constitutional amendment. if i'm going to focus my attention on something that will control federal spending and get

washington under control, i think the principle one would not be term limits. there are term limits in a lot of states. you haven't seen a whole lot of change in the size and scale of government in those states that have term limits. what i did when i was in the united states senate was vote for term limits, which i d but i also when we failed went back to the republican caucus where i actually could do something and worked with senator john kyle from arizona and we instituted term limits on committee chair men and leadership in the united states senate republican caucus. that's something we could do without a vote in the senate or without a constitutional amendment. we were able to pass that in spite of the fact a lot of folks were opposed to it. so i not only have said that i would support term limits, but i've actually done something that's moved the needle. your other question? >> first executive order. >> first executive order. i've put out a whole bunch of ideas on executive orders.

i don't know if i would say what first is, but, look, to me one of the foundational principles of our country is the first of the inalienable rights. that's the right to life. we would not spend federal money on abortion. >> i think one of the things affecting our states -- do you have an aggressive short term or long-term plan to create jobs in the first year? >> i have short term and long-term plans. the short-term plans all focus on what we can do to reduce the regulatory burden, to get the tax burden down and to incentivize with supply side economics the growth of the american economy. i talk about everything from the regulatory climate in this country. the last two administrations, they averaged, clinton and bush,

averaged roughly 60 regulations per year. government promulgates thousands of regulations. 60 per year that cost business over $100 million a year, the big ones. the ones that really hurt and really crush business. this administration is working on about 150 last year. i think they were approaching 150 regulations. an historic high. people are saying, well, what's hurting this economy? this president and his top down i know best, i'm going to tell you how to run your business, how to run your farm, how to run your life. the huge cost that that's putting on the american public and on business is crushing this economy. so one of the principle things i will do is when i come into the presidency, this isn't an executive order, but it's better, that is that we will repeal or replace every single one of those regulations that barak obama's put in place, ones that we can repeal or the ones

that he just put in last month which will shut down 60 cole-fired power plants in america because of an absolutely ridiculous cost-benefit analysis done by the epu under his administration that is not based on any kind of science, it's based on we hate carbon. we hate fossil fuels. we hate blue collar americans who work in those areas and we're going to make them dependent upon government instead of working to build pipelines and dig coal and drill for oil and gas. so that regulation will be repealed and not replaced. a whole bunch of others will be repealed and replaced with less costly alternatives still accomplishing the purpose but making sure we do so so we can build our economy and grow jobs here in america. rick santorum out of polk city, iowa. he says he's no squish. we'll ask our own john avlon what that means. gingrich rapid up an event in independence, iowa. he is headed to another one.

we're expecting him to go before the microphones and speaking to report jergs. keeping an eye on all candidates as they are crisscrossing the state of iowa. tomorrow night, watch what happens in the iowa caucuses from all sides. live america's choice 2012 coverage on cnn beginning tomorrow night, 7:00 eastern. back then he had something more important to do. 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. for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa.

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[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast. [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. we thought we'd bring in 2012, a list of suggested resolutions. getting to a meeting on time. talk back question, if you could pick a resolution for one of the presidential candidates wharks

would it be? name the candidate. tell us what you think the resolution should be this year. post your responses on my facebook page at facebook.com/suzannecnn. going to air some of your thoughts later in the hour. all right. so it is down to the wire. just one day left until the iowa caucuses. republican candidates are scrambling trying to get their messages out. fanning out across the state this morning. it is a last push. the nation's first contest in the presidential race. our jessica yellen takes a look at what is at stake. >> reporter: in iowa a win can thrust a candidate into the national spotlight. >> thank you, iowa. >> reporter: while a loss can kill a campaign's momentum. just ask phil graham. >> i want to congratulate the other candidates. >> reporter: or howard dean. >> and they're we're going to washington, d.c., to take back the white house.

ya! >> reporter: but in terms of picking a winner, whether it's the president or a party's nominee, the record for the iowa caucuses is mixed. on the republican side ronald regan lost here in 1980. so did george hw bush in 1988. eventual republican nominee bob doel in 1996, and president george w. bush in 2000 both claimed victories in the state. you may remember just eight years later mike huckabee won the caucuses. >> i love iowa a whole lot. >> reporter: but john mccain went on to become the gop nominee. for the democrats, the original iowa upset went to jimmy carter in 1976 when the little known georgia governor made a surprisingly strong finish here launching his political rise to the white house. >> we need to reorganize completely the executive branch of government.

>> reporter: in 1984 walter monday dale went from iowa caucus winner to democratic party nominee. in 1988 iowa democrats chose dick gephardt over michael due caucus. later bill clinton was humbled with less than 3% of the votes. democratic nomineon kerry won the caucuses in 2004. >> thank you, iowa, for making me the comeback kerry. >> reporter: and more recently senator barak obama staged a caucus upset that catapulted him to the front of the pack. recall that senator hillary clinton was considered all but a show-in until then. >> hi, this is michele bachmann calling. >> reporter: what the iowa caucuses are good at is winnowing down the felt. the old saying is there are only three tickets out of iowa. >> who comes in second and who comes in third as well as who comes in first.

if somebody else does surprisingly well, it could well launch their campaign. it's happened before. >> reporter: political upstarts have a chance here because caucus goers really do, as they say, kick the tires. >> what i want to know is if you get a republican house and a republican senate in two years will you fulfill all those promises? >> the answer is, yes. >> reporter: and iowans take this work seriously, which is why the media and the country follows what happens here so closely. cnn contributor john avlon joining us to talk about the latest leg. good to see you in person. sorry about all the clutter. >> that's the way the work goes down. >> i teased this so i have to ask you the question. rick santorum says he's no squish. what's a squish? >> a squish is a term that folks on the far right use to say people are too centrists.

in 1952 robert taft and iek said it. it's a way of saying if you walk in lock step with your party 100% you're somehow more masculine than the folks who fight in the center. it's an inside baseball term. i worked with barbara boxer, that's true. that shows i can work across the aisle. i'm no squish. >> now we know. before this was a two-man race between romney and gingrich. now we do see santorum in some ways making some head way. what needs to happen tomorrow night for somebody to get out in front? >> well, look. the stereotype is it's the top three. it doesn't always bear out that way. fred thompson came in third in 2008. it is an expectations game. mitt romney is in poll position. if he doesn't end up on top, that'll get read as a loss. if newt gingrich for some reason outperforms, right nows' been making the case beings look, a vote for me is a vote to reject the negative ads that i've been attacked with. all signs show that santorum seems to have the big momentum behind him.

he's trying to coal less social conservatives around the his candidacy. ron paul, his supporters are going to turn up. they're not going to turn back. they're going to vote for their guy. that's the fault lines. this is a heart race. this is going to be a photo finish. >> santorum, he said some things in the past. last go round he actually

endorsed mitt romney. i want you to take a listen to how he's explaining this now. my focus in the 2008 election was on making sure that we had someone other than john mccain. that is what i was publicly stating because i thought he would not be a strong candidate for us in the general election. i didn't think he'd be the best candidate for us to do the things that were necessary for this country. how does he do this? how does he walk that fine line when he says this guy is fit to be president? he has been stalwart far right on choice. on guy rights, etc., etc. so it's actually kind of a fascinating spin right now. he's going to be saying, look, it was late. i didn't mean it. give me a chance. i'm the real deal. >> you write about the fact that mitt romney has a humor problem. he's trying to fix that. he said something recently. i want our viewers to listen in. >> the gap between his promises and his performance is the

largest i've seen, well, since the kardashian wedding and the promise of till death do we part. >> really? >> yeah, really. >> now he's using the kardashians to kind of seem a little bit hip? >> i'm willing to bet a lot of money that mitt romney didn't watch the kardashian wedding. he does take the martal oath very seriously. that is part of this charm offensive. they had a two tier strategy. when they saw newt gingrich surging they realized they needed to change strategies. one they went negative big on newt gingrich. millions of dollars in negative ads which have cut his polls in half in iowa. the second thing they did was do this charmed offensive trying to humanize their row boat particular seeming candidate. they brought in his wife. he's got a sense of humor. the kardashian reference for mitt romney, i'm not buying it. i think the laurel and hardy, lucille ball references ring more true. >> that sounds right. thank you, john. good to see you in person.

almost a dozen fires set overnight in california. dozens of others started just in the past couple of days. who is behind la arson spree. we'll get the latest from the fire department command center. plus get into the mind of an arsonist. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home.

police in los angeles may have a break as they scramble to catch a suspected ars so he nist. almost a dozen fires broke out overnight. more than 40 others burned in the past couple of days. most all of them started in cars, and some spread to buildings. right now police are questioning a man they detained earlier today. our casey wian is at the fire command center in hollywood.

casey, tell us about today. i understand things were relatively quiet when you showed up this morning. got pretty intense pretty quickly. >> that's right, suzanne. we got here about 1:00 local time in the morning. we spoke to an arson investigator. he said it was all quiet which was a contrast to other nights. right after he said that during about a two-hour period there were nearly a dozen fires set near here, all of them in cars. some of them spread to structures. we were listening to the radio traffic that was going out, and it was just incredible seeing these fire engines going out of here, the arson investigators. at one point there weren't enough arson investigators for the sites that they were handling all at one time. then what happened is we heard radio traffic from the fire department that they had taken a man into custody. we sent a crew to that location. we saw a person sitting in the

back of a sheriff's department vehicle. all they would say is that man is being questioned. from the look we got at him you could see that he is someone who resembled at least the surveillance video that was released over the weekend of a man leaving a parking structure. someone that police said they wanted to talk to. he was taken into custody very near where the last of the fires were set overnight and then we asked what inference we can draw from that to a los angeles city fire department official. the only thing he would say without drawing a direct connection was that there were no suspicious arson fires set in the next several hours after he was taken in for questioning, suzanne. >> does that make the authorities believe that they've perhaps got the right guy and he was the one responsible for all of these? >> they're not saying that officially. that's the chatter we hear around the fire station no one will say that officially or for the record.

we are expecting an official briefing later today for more details. one thing they do tell us is this investigation is absolutely continuing. they don't know for certain if they are -- there's one person involved or perhaps others involved. they are continuing that investigation and they're expecting to give us more details later today. >> thank you, casey. we'll learn more about the investigation in less than two hours. as casey mentioned, that is when the mayor of los angeles, he's holding a news conference. stay right here with an update from california. a massive manhunt is now right on at mount raniere national park in washington, state. everybody visiting the park has now been cleared out. manhunt on the way because of the shooting death of park ranger margaret anderson. police also want to question benjamin barns in connection with a shooting in suburban seattle yesterday that left four people wounded. police say this guy heavily armed wearing body armor and has experience surviving in deep

woods and snow. a spokesperson is joining us by phone. do we believe that there is any idea where this guy might be. well, it's a big park. it's wilderness. so we don't know exactly where he is. we have been able to gather some clues from tracks he's left in the snow sand have narrowed it down somewhat. we've got more than 200 people who will be searching on the ground and from the air to see if we can zero in on him and apprehend him. >> do you believe that he's alone or do you believe that there are other people working with him? >> our assumption is that he's alone. he was alone when he shot and killed ranger anderson and fled into the woods, so our assumption is that he's on his own out there. >> what kind of weapons do you think he has with him? >> i don't know specifically what types of weapons he might

be carrying. >> do we believe that they're high powered weapons or he is heavily armed? do we know that? >> yeah. he's clearly armed and dangerous. you know, it's difficult to search for a missing person in any case, but usually the people you're searching for want to be found. in this case the officers who are searching for him are going after someone who does not want to be found and he is armed and certainly ready to shoot to kill. so it's a very challenging situation. the good news is we've been able to evacuate the park of visitors. no member of the public remains at risk. now we just hope to apprehend this guy without any further bloodshed today. >> do we know if he's targeting his alleged victims? >> we don't know. we don't know what set him off or why he went after our park ranger when they were simply trying to check his car to make sure that he was traveling with tire chains because of the snowy

conditions. >> do we know if he has a previous record? >> well, we're not even positive that the person that we're searching for is the suspect that we've been talking about. that's the most likely scenario. and if that's the case, then he certainly is a danger rouse person. >> so if this is possibly not the suspect that you're searching for, who is? do we have any information about perhaps the other suspect, the other person? >> no. he is the person of interest in this investigation, most likely the person that we're after, and armed and dangerous. >> and, finally, lee taylor, those who have been removed from the park, you say they're safe. are they able to go about and hike and do as they wish or will they be stay put for a while until this is resolved. >> well, the park itself is closed so there's no public access to our international park right now because this gunman is still unaccounted for in the woods somewhere.

so people who want to do winter recreational activities have other places that they can go, but it wouldn't be safe to come to mount ray near right now. >> leigh, real quickly, if somebody sees this guy, what should they do? >> well, i would say call 911 and report it. i wouldn't approach him under any circumstances. >> lee taylor, thank you so much. you've seen the attack ads. you've watched the mudslinging where do the candidates stand on the issues that matter to all of us. take a hard look at what the white house hopefulls want to do about your taxes. ing my cholest. now i'm eating healthier, exercising more, taking lipitor. numbers don't lie. my cholesterol's stayed down. lipitor is fda approved to reduce the risk of heart attack and stroke in patients who have heart disease or risk factors for heart disease. it's backed by over 19 years of research. [ female announcer ] lipitor is not for everyone, including people with liver problems and women who are nursing, pregnant or may become pregnant. you need simple blood tests to check for liver problems. tell your doctor if you are taking other medications,

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all right. we're following all things politics before the iowa caucuses. hours away. we are now watching newt gingrich who has a live event in independence, iowa. let's take a listen. >> positive campaign does resonate despite $3.5 million in negative ads by romney. we are, in fact, beginning to bounce back. we will clearly do well enough. i don't think anybody else in this campaign could have taken the sheer volume of negative ads and still be in the race. so i'm very proud of the people of iowa for seeing through the attacks and the negativity. i'm very proud of our campaign team for continuing to be positive, continuing to move forward. we will continue that process of offering very big solutions and defending the idea of very large

solutions. >> where are you going to caucus tomorrow night? where are you speaking? >> you're not part of the press. >> they should know that. >> thank you. i feel much better now answering a legitimate press person. we're going to be ataterloo. they'll have all the presningts one place. it should be huge. they think -- they may be optimistic. they think it could be 5 or 6,000 people. it will be fun. >> are you saying you can't win? >> no. i don't think i'm going to win. i think you look at the numbers. i think that volume of negativity has done enough damage. on the other hand, if the des moines register is right and it's 41% potentially, who knows what's going to happen. if the 41% has a conversation and caucuses aren't like primaries. people don't walk in, vote, walk out. you can really see a conversation underway, and you heard the farmers here today. i think we have an ethanol conversation underway.

the corn growers. i was the only candidate that the corn growers gave an "a" rating to. i think the message is getting out about my nra support and the fact that i've been a lifetime legislative achievement. there's weird negative ads and negative phone calls that are very often lies. there was one on gun control. just plain a lie. and we've gradually begun to undo that. we'll see. i think the next 24 hours are important because i think literally up until the minute people walk in and start the conversation this thing is open for continuous change. >> 41% are most knowledgeable. there are some positives to that poll. >> that's right. i think it's very funny. people think i'd be the best debater against owe bomb mampt people think i'm the most knowledgeable. people think i would be the most effective. i'm carrying the weight of $3.5 million of negative ads. we're gradually wearing that out. that's a real tribute to people of iowa.

i'm clearly better today than i was 10 days ago. >> could you tell us in one sentence why you should win the iowa caucuses? >> sure. i'm the only candidate who could successfully debate obama in the fall and i'm the only candidate with a track record twice with reagan and the speaker of changing the presence. >> mr. speaker, you've lived a good half of your life the last 12 years. >> yes. yes. >> i'm wondering, do you want this job more than anything you've wanted in your life? do you have the fire in your belly? >> how could you be here in january -- >> do you want it more than anything? >> no, of course i don't want it more than anything. i want to be with my wife and my children and grandchildren. anything is a big term. as a citizen who believes this country is in deep trouble, i am prepared to serve as president. i am prepared to campaign

endlessly from now until next november. i believe in fact that i'm prepared to be president and i believe i'm probably the only person who has the range of experience necessary to fundamentally get this country back on the right track. i regard it as a duty, not a pleasure. i regard it as an obligation, not an ambition. and i am prepared to do it. i will do it with everything i've got. but it's not -- if you said to me, compared to things you have done in the last 12 years that are fun, this is exsiegt, it's interesting, fascinating, but it's not at the center of my being. it's at the center of my duty. >> mr. gingrich, what is your best -- >> i have no idea. with 41% potentially unshifting, who knows? my view is, you've heard me say this, this is the first three minutes of the super bowl. i think it's been a good three minutes for us. i think we've begun to lay out

the themes that will work. i think we've seen romney do his most intense negative, and we now have time to think through how to respond. i think we've seen that in fact positive messages work despite the barrage. and i think that i feel very confident about our ability over the next two or three months to allow the country to organize itself and say, okay, you have a conservative who knows what he's doing who was with reagan at a time when romney was an independent. you have a conservative who, in fact, was with george h.w. butch at a time when romney was a democrat voting for sangas. you have a conservative whose record of controlling government spending is dramatically better than romney's. you have a conservative vote against tax increases while romney as governor raised taxes. you have a right to life candidate while romney had tax paid abortions and put planned parenthood and romney care. that message is a very simple

contrast. as that sinks in, i think the natural weight of the republican party for every ee lengs since 1964 will sink in. >> you have an idea of what you'd like to do? >> i'd like to do as best as i can do tomorrow night. whatever i do tomorrow night will be a victory. because i'm still standing. this is the second time in a year that the last time it was in the media by you guys, this time -- not you personally, and this time it is paid media by romney. twice people tried to drive me out of the race. i'm still here. >> you're taking a sharper tone today. >> yeah, the comments i heard this morning were outrageously unconstitutional. if these guys at the white house, i hope the white house press core will go ask them, are they serious about this? as i understand it, they said they were going to try to govern without the congress for the next year? that is technically impossible.

this is like a kindergarten play. you can't -- how are you going to pass appropriations sfwhils how are you going to deal with anything for 12 months? i just looked at the tv this morning and thought, these guys are just totally out of touch with reality. >> isn't part of that though on speaker boehner? you're blaming obama administration, but there are two people at play here. isn't speaker boehner to blame? >> that's bizarre. >> why? >> speaker boehner's a fact. he is a constitutional officer. presidents don't get to choose that the congress doesn't exist. rick perry thinks it would be nice to have a part-time congress. this is why i think this is bizarre. it's a sharp tone because as a citizen, i am insulted that a president of the united states would think that he could pretend to govern for a year without the congress. if he intends to try to do that, it would be totally

unconstitutional and i think would represent a fundamental breach in our system. >> last question. >> what got doneago. i assume you heard it that if fact you had to have bill clinton it. you heard me say with tip o'neal as speaker, we had to get a third of the democrats. this question is outrageous. boehner has said nothing about trying to violate the constitution. it is the president who's behaving in an unconstitutional manner. if the white house means it, it is utterly outrageous and i apologize to my deputy press secretary not not following his instructions as he should have. >> newt gingrich taking over the white house and president over their comments about using executive orders because of all the partisan gridlock. newt gingrich saying he's still

standing, he's still here. want to take a look at where the candidates really stand on issues that matter to you most. each day this week we are taking a look at one critical campaign issue. today of course the economy. more specifically how this election could affect your taxes. let's start off with newt gingrich. he wrachbts to create an optional flat tax of 15%. he also wants to make the bush tax cuts permanent. he would drop the corporate tax rate to 12.5% and under his plan, capital gains and inheritance taxes would be next. michele bachmann wants to introduce a minimum income tax on all americans. she pledges to reject new taxes and chbts wants the corporate tax rate reduced to o 20%. jon huntsman says high earners should make sacrifices as well. he wants to eliminate loopholes and subs dibs aidies and create

three-bracket sax system. ron paul calls the entire tax system unconstitutional. rick perry wants everybody to play a flat tax of 20%. eliminate taxes on social security benefits and long term capital gains. mitt romney wants to eliminate all taxes on capital gains but romney is against a so-called spare tax. he says it increases taxes on a middle class american. rick santorum wants to cut the corporate income tax rate in half. he would eliminate it entirely for manufacturing. tune in tomorrow. we'll take a hard look at where the candidates stand on two more tough issues. we are talking about abortion and iran. tomorrow night, the country's first vote. the candidates' first true test takes place in the iowa caucuses. watch what happens from all

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our "talk back" segment -- name a presidential candidate. tell us what their resolution should be this year. "since america is the land of second chance, newt gingrich's resolution should be to show the more of the new newt." "mitt romney needs to write things down."

"president obama pick hillary as vp." number one for all candidates always tell the truth. keep your conversation going. facebook.com/suzanne facebook.com/suzan facebook.com/suzannecnn. we'll air more of your thoughts next hour of "cnn newsroom." first a gentle balm. then the removal cream. effective together with less irritation and as gentle as a feather. new olay hair removal duo. and as gentle as a feather. where they grow america's favorite wpotatoes. idaho, everyone knows idaho potatoes taste great. but did you know they're good for you too? they're high in vitamins and potassium. and idaho potatoes are now certified to carry the heart checkmark from the american heart association

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allisoison kosik, people were bg out there. >> this is something a lot of us can relate to. if you said "charge it" too often and went on a spending binge, the reality will soon hit your mailbox. how do you tackle the debt? smardcredit.com says try to attack the balances as soon as possible. with the average interest rate on some retail credit cards close to 25%, every month you don't pay off your balance you are throwing away your money. he says pay off your retail cards first but pay on the others. >> 2012, don't open any more lines of credit. >> you may be tempted to open other credit cards but you should really just say no.

every time you apply for a credit card or otherwise, a credit inquiry is generated. those inquiries are the worst type for your credit scores and can lower your score in certain instances. you want to keep your credit in tip-top shape for the next 12 months if you are looking to refinance a home, buy a car or finance a big purchase. >> thank you very much. top of the hour, i'm suzanne malveaux. want to get you up to speed. the iowa caucuses just a day away and the candidates are making their final push for votes. a poll by the demain register shows mitt romney and ron paul neck-and-neck in the number one and two spot. rick santorum is third, followed

by newt gingrich, rick perry and michelle bomb m michele bachmann. candidates are taking aim at each other while trying to rally the supporters, focusing on president obama. >> remember when he said if we let him borrow $787 billion, almost $1 trillion, that he would hold unemployment below 8%? it has not been below 8% since. >> i watch obama and congress today and i think this is like second graders. it is so childish. for the president's staff to announce he's now going to govern without congress. he poises the well routinely in washington all because he faces to his political advantage. he blames everybody but himself for any problems that occur

under his watch. california police are questioning a man in an arson spree overnight. reports of almost a dozen different car fires in hollywood and san fernando valley. an update is coming up. plus how police trapped an aroundist. police are now trying to find a killer in rainier national park in the shooting death of park ranger mark anderson. they believe benjamin barnes is heavily armed, wearing body armor and has experienced surviving in deep woods and snow. >> at minimum he's got assault rifle. he's killed a law enforcement officer and he's out there armed. do what we can to catch him. >> reminder of why police urge

people not to celebrate by firing guns into the air. this 12-year-old florida boy was hit in the head by a falling bullet. officials believe it was shot during a new year's eve celebration. don't know who shot the gun. he now remain in critical condition at tampa general hospital. people in northeastern ohio are now bracing for the pocket of more earthquakes even though an injection well has just been shut down. >> all of a sudden it sound like something exploded. >> wkbn says it is the area's 1th earthquake since march. all of them within two miles of that well. opposition activists in

syria say that government forces killed at least ten more people. this is the funeral of a child who was allegedly killed while riding in his parents' car. an arab league advisor is calling from the immediate withdrawal of monitors from syria saying they are failing government troops from killing civilians. arab league says monitors will remain there and more are on the way. iowa. center of the presidential politics right now. we are just a day away from the iowa caucuses. it is the first vote for the presidential race. joining us to talk about that, john king. >> finally people get o vote. >> we've been waiting for this for a long time. we both covered the caucuses before, it is a lot of handshaking, town halls, pancakes, blizzards, you name

it. xwha does it actually do? >> some people say why does iowa and new hampshire go first? if you're barack obama, you're the president of the united states, iowa was big deal. republican side history is more mixed. mike huckabee fizzled in new hampshire, couldn't win in south carolina. in 2000, george w. bush went on to win the republican nomination. bob dole 1996 won iowa. became the republican nominee. in 1988, bob dole won iowa then, too. and george bush was the nominee.

george h.w. bush did get the vice presidency out of the deal. not so bad. >> when president obama was in iowa before he always talked about if they just get to know me, they'll like me, they'll support me. it seems like a really long time ago but it was really shocking when he won iowa. is this about exceeding expectations or is this all just a big expectations game? >> it is a huge expectations game. there are usually two to three tickets out of iowa. barack obama surprised us when he beat hillary clinton, when he beat john edwards, when he beat an established democratic field when relatively new to politics. iowa also tells you about candidates. can they do retail politics. debates have dominated the republican campaign this year until the last couple of weeks. rick santorum has surged because he's worked very hard in all 99 counties in iowa. retail politics. also tells you about the mood of the country. we weren't sure, could barack

obama beat clintons, could he beat john edwards. what did we learn? anti-war sentiment in iowa as a wig deal. he had the right moment because of his record on iraq. >> very good to see you. thanks. the candidates have got a lot of work to do in the coming year. so we thought we'd bring in 2012 with a lis of suggested resolutions. on my list, get to the morning meeting on time. but -- if you could pick a resolution for one of the presidential candidates, what would it be? post your responses to my facebook page@fais boom.com/suzannecnn. here's a rundown of some of the stories we are covering next. 55 fires around l.a. since friday. now a man is in custody in this arson investigation.

also -- >> by god, we will hold anyone accountable who is the president. we a all the people who are killing. >> presence of monitors in syria is not stopping the violence. the latest on the protests there. then , employment. james carville will join us for our strategy session. nasa returning to the moon. at 12:55, the forecast of the stock market in 2012. h said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't.

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police in los angeles may have a break as they scramble to catch a suspect arsonist. more 40 fires have burned in the past couple of days, almost all of them started in cars. some of them threatened nearby

homes. right now police are questioning a man they detained today. casey wian is at the fire command center in hollywood. there's a meeting with the fire investigator there this morning. what unfolded? >> reporter: it was a really dramatic night. when we arrived at 1:00 in the morning command center local time, an arson investigator told us it was pretty quiet. right after that things erupted. there were 11 different fires near here in a two-hour period. the blazes were all started in vehicles and spread to structures. you could hear over the scanner they cdid not have enough arson investigators to man the scenes as they were going on. then later on, a person, not

considered a suspect, who matches the description of a police surveillance video was taken into custody for questioning, he was taken into custody in an area that was very near the last of the two fires that were set overnight. after he was taken into custody, those fires stopped. >> -- but we have not had any additional fires within the last two to three hours. >> what inference can we draw from that? >> it is too early and that would be purely speculative. there is a joint task force between l.a. city fire, l.a. police department, l.a. county sheriff, l.a. county fire and af -- atw. they're working together putting the pieces of the puzzle together. >> reporter: right now police are saying it is still an active

investigation but they are questioning this man. >> the mayor of west hollywood calls the arson spree a new kind of democratic terrorism. mike brooks, you were also a former fire chief as well. what do we know first about this individual that they have in custody? >>by don't know too much right now. but he's a terrorist, a domestic terrorist. we don't know what the motive behind these fires are. for excitement? vandalism. revenge. we don't know. but what -- as an investigator, and from what casey was talking about and when this person was taken into custody, he's parnly was in a minivan. after he was taken into custody, their fire apparatus responded to that area. that says there could possibly be some evidence that was there. they are talking about the possibility of incendiary device

use. why would you have a fire apparatus if there weren't threats of a fire. >> want to go straight to iowa's third time running for president. very important right now for ron paul. dana bash is live in des moines with the candidate and they are joined by his son, rand paul, senator from kentucky. first of all, tell us what -- dana, quick question for them, for ron paul, the straetegy for the next couple of hours to get out the vote. what's he doing? >> that's right. we are actually very nice of the congressman and senator, father and son, to join us because their event is going is to start really soon here, the day before caucus day here in des moines.

something your son said a while ago, "if ron paul split out," meaning from the republican party," like ross perot split off, it defeats the republican nominee but not necessarily the third party candidate. once and for all, if you do not succeed in this republican contest, will you continue to be -- >> i have no plans in doing that. tomorrow is a big day. we'll see what happens but i have no intention of doing that, no plans and no desire to flat-out -- >> before you have been a little bit circumspect. you've run as a libertarian before. >> right. i've never spoken in absolutes. i have no intention of doing it. i would not see myself doing that. >> but this is the first time in this last stretch that you've been out with your dad. what do you expect to say to the voters and what do you hope your message will be in the coming hours. >> what's amazing is the

excitement. there is a real excitement here. i think there is a real chance we can win. all the cool things is my dad's bringing all these independents along, not only republicans, but independents. that's how win elections. in all the polls you'll find ron paul does better than any other independent candidate. >> recent polls show you're actually declining as we get closer to the caucuses. one of the reasons is because rick santorum is surging. you've been hitting nu inting n gingrich in your ads. >> i'm always amazed at how you pick and cite certain things. the most recent one said we were in first place. i see the citing of polls sometimes as orchestrated for a purpose. it's tight race. anybody could win out of those

three but we are excited about the enthusiasm. >> reporter: rick santorum is a former senator. why wouldn't be a good republican nominee? >> he's very liberal pendant -- >> rick santorum's liberal? >> look at his record? go with his record. >> what makes him liberal? >> he spends too much money. he wasn't leading the charge to slash the budget and vote against big government. >> what do you think. >> he voted to double the size of the department of education. he voted to expand medicare and add free drugs for senior citizens and he's voted for foreign aid. those are not conservative principles. 77% of the american people are opposed to foreign aid. rick santorum's volted for it every time it's come down. >> i was talking to a well plugged in republican here in iowa. he told me one of the reasons you're losing support is because of your -- with republicans is because of your foreign policy. typically on iran.

specifically on iran. my question for you is would a president paul -- what a president paul do if iran -- >> that's long answer. we're running out of time. my crowds are growing because i have a different foreign policy. i have the old right foreign policy. i have the foreign policy of george w. bush of 2000 when he said no nation building, no police ig the world, none of these wars. that's what he ran on. that's why the republican party does support this. they have in the past. but to say that republicans are going to shy away from this -- 77% of the american people are agreeing with me about getting out of afghanistan. that's what they out to be talking about. >> this is actually on every single seat at a ron paul valley. it is the ron paul cookbook which your wife, your mother, wrote. >> it is the secret weapon.

>> oreo cake with the secret weapon? thank you. appreciate it. >> dana, great get. appreciate that. just hours to the iowa caucuses. candidates' first true test takes place in the iowa caucuses. special live america's choice 2012 of the iowa caucuses begins tomorrow might at 7:00 eastern. and cnn exclusive. this is a journalist who must remain anonymous for safety reasons. slipped into the syrian city of homs. we'll bring you the look of the changing face of the protest. through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪

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hom iran flexing more of its military muscle. iran's state-run media says it successfully test fired a long range missile today and yesterday test fired a short range surface-to-air missile. iran has warned it could shut down the strait of hormuz, the pathway of which 40% of the world oil is shipped. the sanctions are intended to force iran to curb its nuclear ambitions. former egyptian president

ho ho lo hosni mubarak is back in court. last year's uprising ended his presidency. many egyptians are critical of these court proceedings. they worry mubarak is going to be acquitted. in syria, protesters are still being killed. but there is some progress. here's amateur video here. this is the city of homs which is at the center of the opposition movement. these protesters were preparing for the arrival of the arab league monitors. right? the head of the arab league says syrian tanks have now withdrawn from residential areas and cities but there are still snipers who are out. a non-cnn journalist who is remaining anonymous for safety reasons slipped into homs this month and came out with revealing stories from the front line. in this report, a look at the changing face of the demonstration. >> reporter: on the outskirts of homs, there is massive

destruction. but inside this neighborhood, one of the first to be completely free of bashar al ass assad's forces, people can take to the streets without having to fear the government. the early days of the uprising there were large protests that would often draut fire of government forces. every day and every night. many women and children are among the protesters in this area. with the right to protest is protected by the fighters from the free syrian army. poorest are among the most popular at the gatherings and among the most hated by the regime.

>> mubarak is in court and bashar's day is coming soon. >> reporter: he says he is inspired by the atrocities committed against the armed forces. >> translator: i write about the destruction bashar has instricted on us, about the tanks of his order -- about the war plaebs he sent to us. i write on everything. everything that bashar denies happening, i write about. >> reporter: activists took me to this funeral outside of homs. >> translator: by god, we will hold anyone accountable.

anyone. we know the officers who are giving the orders. we know all the people who are killing the children. we are the sons of this country. we are not leaving the country. >> reporter: then as this boy was being laid to rest, almost the whole village turned out. he was shot to death by government militia at a checkpoint. his little brother couldn't hide his despair. with every civilian killed the hatred for the regime grows and any chance for a peaceful end to the bloodshed in homs seems to fade a little more. back to u.s. politics next. democratic strategist james carville joins us with is insight as we ramp up for tomorrow's iowa caucus. >> all right. here we go. >> here we go.

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at legalzoom.com, we put the law on your side. want to go to des moines, iowa. that's where candidate ron paul is speaking. let's listen in. >> tenthusiasm has been buildin. i've been for the cause of liberty for a long time. for a long time it was very subtle and quiet. i did that by voting all the time in washington the way i should vote. frequently it required me to vote no oftentimes. but today, the enthusiasm has tremendously seen an increase and it is a big difference even from four years ago. four years ago there was enthusiasm, excitement, the college campuses were coming alive, the federal reserve became an issue and people back

then were talking it is time to change our foreign policy. today 70% of the american people are saying it is time to get out of afghanistan and come on home! but the excitement has built steadily and the campaign has been remarkable in the organization. the funds that come in. they've come in even four years, raising $6 million in one day, which is historic. but the funds still come in, which is a vote of confidence. the idea as well that military personnel send a lot of money to this campaign. more than any of the other campaigns but i tell you what, enthusiasm is growing by leaps and bounds. crowds are getting bigger and the issue as far as i'm concerned, there is only one issue. they talk about a lot of issues. they talk about the foreign policy, monetary policy, economic policy. there is one issue that has made america great, an issue that can

answer all your questions is -- individual liberty. that is the issue. and it was the abuse of this liberty that pro voex the revolution and the writing of the constitution. the constitution was written as a document, though were coming together into one country, the document was written, it was intended to at least, to strictly restrain the federal government. that's what the constitution is all about. yet today we have a federal government that's grown by leaps and bounds and the best demonstration of that is spending that never seegss, one administration to the next, it is always spending, increases. even today when they talk about cuts, you know they're not tauvging about cuts. they're talking about nibble is away at the proposed increases. what we're talking about are

real cuts and the shrinking of the size of the federal government. you cannot do that unless you raise the one significant question and that is what the role of government should be. if liberty is the most issue, the most important responsibility of government is to protect liberty and not to be the policeman of the world around not have to a run-away welfare state. but somewhere along wait we lost our way, went in the wrong direction. we've accepted the idea the federal government's responsibility was to intervene in the government. not to protect the free market economy, not to protect private property and contracts and sound money, it was to intervene and play miss chief. it wasn't to protect your privacy. right now, government spends more time and energy in passing

law invading your privacy. it should be the other way around. we want exposure and oechness of government. we want your privacy back. and we don't want the government to be messing around with the internet invading our privacy. we don't need a patriot act that tells you that the government can come in and invade your house and your homes and your papers and everything that you do without a proper search warrant. and we certainly don't need to be moving on to the next stage which is happening right now. last week or two weeks ago it was passed, and then just recently signed by the president authorizing the military to arrest american citizens and allow an american citizen -- for citizens to be held indefini

indefinitely. that is the wrong direction. we need to reverse that direction. but we have to answer the question properly, what is the proper role. stay out of -- >> you're listening to rob paul there, democrats of course watching very closely and waiting. president obama's already starting campaigning but doesn't know who he's going to run against. joining us, cnn contributor and democratic strategist, james carville. good to see you in person here. >> yeah. >> you and i were watching ron paul. is he the guy who you want if you had your wish list to run against obama? who's the guy you want to see run against the president? >> that's wishing for something that's not going to happen. yeah. everything about ron paul -- that a speech he could have given four years ago, eight years ago. i also thought he was a lirlt tired. but that's understandable. he's 76 years old. >> what about romney. everybody makes a big deal.

republicans are split over who is the true conservative and who is electable. is romney the guy who is electable? >> romney is not the true conservative that's obvious. we'll know in november if he's electable. we'll get a pretty good indication of that tomorrow night and see how well he does. >> what does the president need to do? if he's saying romney's going to be the guy he's up against. >> i think it's been a very good season for democrats. we hope every democrat wants this thing to go a little bit deeper and wants a few more debates to move around. nobody harbors any illusion that anybody else other than romney in this field is going to be a nominee. i will also say this. assuming it is evident romney is the nominee, i think the president's campaign is just going to hit him on income tax

like you've never seep before so they can make it look like they forced him to release his tax returns. >> so far he hasn't budged on that issue. >> he hasn't. once you get to the general election it is going to be very tough. if he does and it will make the president look tough and look like romney was forced to do something romney didn't want to do. >> this has been the most bizarre campaign. almost six weeks there's a new front-runner. what's hatching? >> a very prominent republican pollster said there have been eight different front-runners. there has been eight. i don't think anything close to this has ever happened in american politics. i think it is a combination of things. there is a lot of intensity to beat president obama, and there is a lot intensity they don't want romney. also a lot of people just didn't

want to run. it has produced by any account the most bizarre nominating process i've seen in my time in american politics. nothing like the ups and downs of various candidates. >> you've been around a long time! >> longer than i want to think about. thank you. >> it is all about the ground game in iowa and we'll talk about what it is like to be on the ground in iowa. no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance.

we are back with james carville to talk about political strategy and iowa caucuses and all the years you spent out there in iowa. it is bizarre, it is a strange process, the iowa caucuses. last go-round we were out there in a blizzard. i think it was -- i think we've got video of this. it was like 20 degrees below zero. everybody was freeze be. you see that clim? biden actually asked me -- he had your hands are freezing. it is absolutely miserable out there. but you went to all these events. we saw president obama campaigning out there. what's the most bizarre thick out there? >> it is all the people that come out, people working on the

campaigns, the interest, the kind of excitement. what's going to happen, when this is over this is going to be a real downer for a lot of these people. you're so jacked up. people sometimes just weekends go to des moines, iowa city, ames, you go out to these smaller places, these people are investigate time of their lives. think a lot of iowans get into th these caucuses, too. in 1992 do iowa, they sent us to new hampshire. people from arkansas wanted to fire up a pig. we being from louisiana wore tennis shoes. not a good idea in february in new hampshire. >> i don't think people realize how bitterly cold it is this

time of year. but do you think what really matters what's going on there? >> yeah, i think so. they go to these diners and these things and actually talk to people and we're there, we're covering it, we see how they answer it. we watch ron paul talking to real people. it is the system that we got. i think the whole thing is just a blast. i look forward to it. this thing has really been fun with all the front-runners sort of going up and down. friend of mine said, man, i don't miss it at all. imagine romney people sitting around for polls? a lot of stress all the way down. lot of stress on these candidates. these guys are tired, man. they're blowing, going.

we're waiting in they say 1,000 words in a day, the wrong one is the one we pounce on. it's always been like that. it's nothing new. >> we expect this group to dwindle after tomorrow night? >> i think we will, unfortunately. but i hope not. i want to keep them going. but let's see what happens here. i think gingrich even if he doesn't do well will sort of stick around but figure there's more debates to come and he can come back. we'll see. i'm urging them all to stay in because this has been great fun. >> it's good for you. >> i want to share the saints and republican nominating process, it's -- my golden time. >> mardi gras. >> president obama and family are heading back to washington after spending holidays in hawaii. brianna keilar joins us from honolulu. i guess a little bit of vacation is other now.

president's facing the political realities here and potentially who's going to be running against him. are they watching now? what are they doing? >> obviously there will be eyes. the president's eyes, the president's re-election advisors will be watching the caucuses, of course. this is a president, you know very well, knows the importance of the iowa caucuses, his eight-point lead in 2008 made him an early contender. cautious expectation for some time and it continues to be that ultimately mitt romney is the one that president obama will have to fight ultimately. a lot of focus of course on the organization that the romney campaign has had, the fact that he has experience that a lot of candidates don't that has helped him at least up until now avoid some of these unforced errors other candidates have made. but president obama also knows all too well the changing fortunes that you can experience out there on the campaign trail.

so for now, what we're going to be seeing here in the new year -- we've already been seeing this, is president obama doing a bit of waiting to see who ultimately the republican nominee will be and you'll see once that is obvious that then -- of course this is obvious, he will then take his complain for re-election into overdrive. meantime, the straetegy is the president doing more of that go-it-alone, putting out executive orders a and the foil will be congress, not necessarily republican candidates out there, suzanne. it will be congress as he kind of paints congress as not doing things toeea create jobs and he the economy. he'll be in cleveland, ohio, a very important state obviously this time of year. we'll see him there on wednesday as he delivers remarks on the topic. >> one of the things the last go-round with the iowa caucuses, then senator obama, he said if

guys get to know me, they'll like me and support me, and it paid off for him. does he plan to each out to folks in iowa again this go-round and perhaps portray himself in a different way? >> he's obviously reaching out. he's got a lot more name recognition. right? technically he is on the ballot there. he will be reaching out virtually to his supporters in iowa. he's obviously not going to be there. he will be doing this through a new skype technology but it is more advanced, reaching out to supporters in virtual locations because the way this campaign sees this, it really is a bit of a trial run for the general election and he wants to have his face out there connecting with his supporters in iowa for the next few months. >> brianna, thank you. looks beautiful out there. enjoy the last moments of sun there before you go back to washington. tomorrow night, country's

first votes, candidates' first true test takes place in the iowa caucuses. watch what happens to all sides, special live america's choice 2012 coverage of the iowa caucuses begins tomorrow night at 7:00 eastern. so nasa paying the moon another visit. a probe just reached it and met its twin. chad meyers will break down the mission.

now a sing nasa probe has become a party of two. chad mirdz eyers is here to exp what the twin probes are doing together. talk about map ng tping the moo. >> they are going to check the gravitation of the mon with the gravity recovery and interior laboratory, g.r.a.i.l. it is going to look for differences in the gravitation of the moon. there are two probes look at it simultaneously and sending data back and maybe answer a couple other questions, too. it will determine what's below moon's surface, even maybe what was there year's ago, if it is still warm inside. it is equipped with a camera, too. students can request pictures

from the lunar surface. it is called the moon cam. -- k-a-m. we wonder why it should be c-a-m like camera? i don't know what that stand for but i'm sure it is just another acronym nasa came up with. >> will they be able to prove or disprove a smush theory? >> if you look at the three dimensional image of the moon, it is not round. the theory is many moons ago, so to speak, two moons were in our sky, smashed together to become one moon, that's why the moon has some lumps that we've never seen. as we x-ray the moon, we will try to determine whether there is a piece of one moon inside another moon or that they smashed together to become only

one moon from the very, very start. >> thank you, chad. today's "talk back" -- pick a presidential candidate and suggest a resolution they shall have in the new year. more of your responses up ahead. ♪ [ female announcer ] if whole grain isn't the first ingredient in your breakfast cereal, what is? now, in every box of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first on the side. from honey nut cheerios to cinnamon toast crunch to lucky charms, get more whole grain than any other ingredient... without question. just look for the white check.

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you've been responding to

our "talk back" segment. randi says -- all the candidates stop answering every question with "bomb messed up because," just tell us what your policies are. jim writes -- ron paul should stop the corruption and reyates jobs "michele bachmann's resolution should be to answer questions." finally jason says -- for all candidates to look in the mirror every morning and tell yourself i'm here for the people, i'm here for the people, i'm here for the people. clicking your heels for this in the optional. 2011 roller coaster of a year for wall street. what can we expect in 2012? up next. [ male announcer ] for sore muscles use new bengay cold therapy,

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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. new york stock exchange closed to observe the new year. giving us a moment to look back at the economy's thrills, spills. alison kosik is in new york. what kind of year was this for wall street 2011? >> reporter: you know, i think about how to describe 2011, it was certainly volatile and investors are probably really happy that 2011 is now history. what's interesting is last year it start out really strong but by the time summertime came

around, there was a lot of drama going on. for one, the debt ceiling debacle was happening in washington and shook investors to the core. the standard & poor's cut the u.s. credit rating. in the end the major market averages came away with mixed results. though it felt like we were on a treadmill for most of the year. >> crystal ball here, 2012. >> so the crystal ball is that there is actually some optimism that stocks will have a better year in 2012 partly because the economy is expected to perk up. economisted expect growth this year to be at 3.2%, that's about double what we are in the first

nine months all together of 2011 so that's good news for you. >> love the good news. "cnn newsroom" withdrew driven starts right after a quick break.