to new hampshire. john mccain territory four years ago. small huckabee performance because not that many evangelical voters, blue collar economics as we move on, wolf. >> as we move on, wolf. >> stand by, we are approaching the top of the hour and we've got more news to share. here is the latest vote that we have right now. it is so close. 19 votes separating rick santorum and mitt romney. 99% of precincts reporting. we want to welcome our viewers once again. viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer reporting from the cnn election center. let's go over and join our excellent team of correspondents, anderson cooper is here, piers morgan is here. we have a special guest right now. rick santorum is joining us at this hour. you may be the winner. you're, by all accounts, the winner. it is a virtual tie.

let me congratulations you, senator santorum. have you done an amazing job, as you well know. it was not that long ago, you were nowhere in iowa. but now it is a virtual tie. you may win or lose by one or two votes. but for all practical purposes, you're a winner. give us thought on how it feels. >> well, you know, this is the first step in the process and well be on to new hampshire. we will work hard and compete there. a little bit behind the curve in the sense that governor romney has been spending a lot of money and a lot of time up there. and has been running for six years. but we feel like we can go up there and compete. we have a great team on the ground. my campaign manager is from new hampshire. he started out as my new hampshire guy. he knows how to win races. he managed frank gintha's campaign up there. we have a lot of frank's campaign that won a congressional seat up there. we have reps, this is before tonight, who signed up. we have some hard-working state

reps up there. you know that new hampshire is all about grass roots politics and we feel really good that we will climb the ladder just like we did here. >> senator, piers morgan is here. he wants it ask some questions as well. >> you must be feeling a bit like rocky balboa tonight. how are you going to knock out mitt romney? >> well, there's going to be a rematch. and we're going to go to new hampshire and take him on and we're going to run a campaign talking about my vision for this country. you didn't hear me going after people tonight. i just laid out what -- where america needs to go and how the republicans need to address those issues and talk about, you know, strong economy and the make sure the economy is going to be vibrant for everybody in this economy and that we have an economy built on strong families too. that message the resonate, not just here, but resonate new hampshire also. >> you made a very personal speech this evening and mitt romney made a very presidential

speech, some would say, going after president obama. newt gingrich mean while made, what sounded like, a pretty angry speech. it looks like he may turn out to be your corner man doing the fighting for you. how do you feel about that? >> well, newt is a good friend. and someone who i have a tremendous amount of respect for. he has been out there in the battles. i was here in iowa. and i can understand why newt is feeling the way he is. it was a pummeling that he took here on the hands of mitt romney and literally every commercial break. and you know, that's difficult when you have someone with those kinds of resources. and i can understand why he feels the way he does. but newt is a fighter. he is going to stand up and articulate his ideas, paint his vision for the country, and we will have an opportunity to talk about those ideas on debates this weekend and i'm looking forward to maybe being a little closer into the middle than i was before. >> i assumed, senator, you heard that john mccain is going to

endorse mitt romney in new hampshire tomorrow. >> yeah, that's fine. you know, i would have expected that. i'm surprised he hasn't done it earlier. but you know, john mccain is a great man. and he is someone who was an honor to serve with. he served this country and sacrificed more than frankly anybody that i've had the privilege to know in any way. and so i commend governor romney for getting his endorsement, but i'm not surprised by it. john is a more moderate member of the republican team, and i think he fits in with newt's -- excuse me, with mitt's view of the world. and you know, i wish him the very best. again i have nothing but respect for john mccain. >> a lot of us remember when you endorsed john mccain in south carolina just before that primary four years ago and it looks like new that he is going to endorse mitt romney -- >> no -- >> go ahead. >> no, i didn't endorse john

mccain. >> excuse me -- excuse me. i meant to say mitt romney. sorry. you endorsed mitt romney four years ago against john mccain. looks like it could be a little pay back at this point. >> well, you know, look, john mccain is not paying me back. john mccain is doing what he thinks is right for the country. he has always done what he thinks is right for the country. i've had my disagreements with john mccain over the years, and i'm sure i will in the future. but john is a patriot, he will do what he thinks is right and i encourage him to do that. >> you seem like a very nice chap. when i interview you, you always seem like that. but now you are the number one opponent. mitt romney is going to chuck the kitchen sink at you. how you are going to do in this nice touchy wsh feely way you have conducted yourself. isn't it time to get serious and take the gloves off?

>> i think i'm a pretty serious guy. and one of the criticism i have in the debates is that people say you are a little bit tense. you're a little bit, angry and a little bit too passionate. in fact, one of the debates that i had about half way through, one of these early debates, i walked over to t.o. my wife and she looked very sternly at me and said, chill. i don't think that my problem is going to be intensity. i can be a pretty intense guy. but you know, this is a family fight. this is a different kind of fight than when you're fighting against people who want to take this country in a fundamentally different direction. well draw distinctions between mitt romney and myself and our records and this vision for the country as i will with the other candidates in the race. that's what primaries are for. but it is also about talking about you what want to do. and whether you have the courage to, and track record, to provide that kind of leadership. >> senator santorum, good luck

down the road. i like the jacket, i like the shirt and tie. the sweater vest is good on another occasion. but you dressed appropriately for perhaps winning the iowa caucuses tonight. >> there was a fair amount of controversy as whether i should pull the vest out or not. but we decided, it's the night for more formal attire. but you will be seeing the vest a little bit down the road. >> we know we will. senator, we will speak to you down the road. good luck in new hampshire, south carolina, florida and wherever the contest goes. senator rick santorum. piers anderson and all the guys, when you think about this, when you think where he was, it is really amazing, anderson, how quickly within a matter of two, three weeks, this has turned around in iowa. >> so how does the race change if in fact per i have dropping out. which it seems like, he is talking about going back it texas, praying on it, thinking about it, talking to advisors about it. how does this change for rick

santorum? >> a little bit. but if you look the at polls in new hampshire, south carolina and florida, rick perry was only getting five, six percent. so it is an big change. and he got 10% here in iowa. >> and in terms of money, rick perry was a money draw -- >> it may be easier for him -- >> i was talking to someone from the santorum campaign today who said that they raised more money on-line in this past week than they had raised throughout the entire campaign. so clearly, you know, success will certainly help them and maybe they can get some of those perry voters. i was curious at how nice he was about john mccain. when you asked him about it, wolf. because i was e-mailing with somebody who knows both of them very well. and said that this is very personal. from the mccain side of it. he doesn't like santorum. he doesn't like newt gingrich much. so that makes up for what he felt about romney four years

ago. >> so to attack john mccain at this point -- >> no, no, no. >> mitt romney cannot get past 25% anywhere. this is the level he earned. if you are someone like jon huntsman who put all your eggs in the new hampshire basket, it may not be over. you might think, this guy has a limb knit this party. i imagine michele bachmann and rick perry pulling out. by the way you spoke tonight, newt gingrich will be the enforcer to rick santorum. and i'm imagining this brings huntsman back into play. i wonder what you guys think. >> i think maybe back in play. but what is interesting now, we've add lost conversations at this table that mitt romney might win by double deck digits. he might get up to 40%. but he is running double-digits

behind in south carolina. he has been behind in florida. over the last couple of months, he's been behind in both of those states. so the truth is, somebody could tach catch him in one or both of those states. >> we haven't add poll for a while ins to states. we also talk about the donors. the money is behind mitt romney. it has beenardantly so. so with the extent that rick per regets out, i think that does put money in play. but you know, as i have seen, when you look at the big donors, they are not completely adverse to putting money behind someone like rick santorum but not as long as mitt romney is in the race. that's where you get all this. >> i think the public will like rick santorum. i think he is resonating with the average american much better than mitt romney does. mitt romney is still perceived to be slightly disconnected from the average joe on the street. >> once you start to look deeply at his policies, i mean, there are some policies a lot of people consider extreme on

contraception and a lot of issues. on a personal level he may be more likeable. the question is are his policies more pal atable than mitt romney. >> we haven't seen him at the center -- >> he said he has always been on the periphery. >> right. >> so the question is -- >> i will go to you anderson on policy quite a lot. his scrutiny may hurt him. but to go back it piers's point, there is something about the point that he seems fresh. this is the first time most americans have actually listened to him for more than 30 seconds. >> if you heard that speech tonight coming to him cold, you will like him. the policy issue is very interesting and very important. on some of it, he will be seem as extreme. however, he is likeable and i'm not sure that mitt romney has that kind of connection yet. >> one thing we shouldn't forget though, a lot of viewers of fox, for years he was a. if news political contributor. so they got to know him over the

years just like newt gingrich and sarah palin have been fox news contributors. he has been as well, rick santorum. so a well as a lot of americans may not know him, republicans know him because they watched him for many, many years. >> you think it helps him? >> i think it helps him. he is not an unfamiliar figure. >> why did he take so long then? if they knew him and liked him, wouldn't he have been more earlier? >> hasn't he just gone around this in a very unique way. going around iowa again and again and again. putting all his eggs here. you got to admire the guy for hard work. for playing the old-fashioned way, this caucus. >> his only interview detonight after the speech he gave was with us on cnn. which obviously we're happy to do. >> endorsing him in south carolina, she put a lot on the

line for him. that's going to be very important to see how that works out. and also, florida. we cannot for get florida. it is a diverse state, a very expensive state. >> so if you were romney, who would you direct your attacks against in south carolina? >> barack obama. how about that. i mean, that's -- >> yeah, strategy is -- because it sounds presidential. he is taking on the top guy and leaving his own party members alone. but i think what's going to happen with newt gingrich is fascinate ppg because this guy, from what i sense when i interviewed him last night, is ready to explode. everybody knows the mr. nice guy thing isn't really him. he is wrestling with this terrible demon now of being an angel and actually he wants it be a devil and i think the devil's horns will come out tomorrow. just from the way he is talking -- >> i think they came out tonight. >> they started to sprout. >> mitt romney will feel the heat of the real newt gingrich that can be interesting. >> candy, you are still at romney headquarters. i'm not sure if there is a much

of a party still going on there. but certainly, they already talking about new hampshire, on to new hampshire tomorrow. >> their heads have been in new hampshire all along. i think the big surprise to them was iowa in the last couple of weeks. but let's pick up as we go. it seems to me what mitt romney needs is a big suit of armor and newt gingrich is going to play bad cop. rick santorum looks like he will play good cop. and gingrich looks for some running room. how do you see it going from here? >> that's exactly right. i'm sure the romney campaign is prepared with the guns turned on him. what they might not be prepared for, and this will be a challenge, he has to go up against the david and goliath neartive, which people love, the press loves. he can't do to santorum that he did to newt. i think they are thinking tonight. >> rick santorum leaves as the

come back kid, flavor of the week, how much money can he put together a grass root organization overnight in new hampshire. he can capture christians conservatives in south carolina? we'll see. but the next couple days, he will get bounce from his victory tonight or whatever comes out of results tonight. >> how does mitt rom flee go about getting to santorum or does he leave it to the pac, the outside group supporting him. i think that mary is right, that there is this story line, of oh, this guy came out of nowhere. he didn't spend very much money and mitt spends all this money. i think he will have to push pretty hard against that. >> romney will continue to run a general election campaign. focusing on president obama, attacking president obama and try to ignore his republican colleagues until maybe another one of them drop out of race. >> outlast them. >> there's a debate saturday night, which will be almost as interesting tonight.

but he has it stay the course. he can't dot super pac. but this is something we haven't seen santorum up against, which is it the meat grinder, which starts at o-dark-hundred tomorrow. and rick will have to double down and stay on obama. >> and it is not just money at this point. it is also, who have you got in the state that's working out ahead of you? and there's no real sign that there's a lot of that for santorum right new. and that puts him in a huge hole. >> well you know, earlier tonight wib noticed that he was tweeting and sending e-mails to his followers. he is trying to raise money. he is trying to put together an organization. essentially, he is trying to do what newt gingrich tried to do a few weeks ago, which is to catch up with the momentum that he generated. i don't know if he can do it in 24, 48 hours. >> whoa, he's got preet pretty serious operation in new hampshire. when he gets to south carolina

with perry out, then there's a smaller field contending for the evangelical votes. so that's tough for romney. and that's -- if santorum knows how to do it, and showing political prowess and meat grind it on the way there, then we're going to florida. >> absolutely. >> absolutely, florida. >> other than a big lawn drawn out expensive nasty fight what are the democrats looking at this rate t.o. rais race tonigh. >> they were able to 25,000 people out to the caucus. what democrats are hoping is that the republicans hope to battle it out and president obama will talk to middle class voters and remind them of all of the things he has accomplished. >> this is going to work? >> this is the same thing we said the last go-around. get hillary and let's go. and it strengthened both of

people and the ultimate victim was the republican candidates. i heard they -- either way we are talking about a contrast for obama. and these candidates are not going to go -- they will go further contrasting with obama than going against each other. so it really doesn't matter if he gez on. >> we came into the night saying three things. the first, i want to see if you still agree with them given the outcome. first is that ron paul will never be the republican nominee. they all consider him too far outside the main stream. is that still the case? >> i think it'll be the nominee but he will continue to actively mobilize people which we agree is a good thing. but list foreign policy cannot comfortably fit in a republican or main stream democrat. >> he may not be the nominee but he will be a factor in the race ahead because he has an organization. he has supporters and he has

money. >> the other is newt gingrich does not have the personality to be able to go the distance and to look presidential while he did z it. is that still true? >> i did not think that whatever that speech was tonight. he is just -- he is exuding a mixed message. i'm doing a positive campaign with this angry, just -- his eyes are going to pop out of his head. i love him. he ran a heroic campaign, but it was over for him the minute he said, i'm going to be the nominee. >> he sounded bitter and he looked very tired and angry, vindictive. he really needs it take that face and leave it behind and go to new hampshire and try to make a real case for his canadacy. >> he is a great man, does mean a great deal to the republican party. >> but negative is not his best side. >> no. >> no, that wasn't a good --

>> and the wrap on rick santorum was, nice guy but there is no way he can put together -- he was the little engine that could in iowa but he cannot in the other 49 states. >> well it goes to the point. how far ahead of your supply line can you exist? >> right. >> thank you. i tell you, rick santorum did a good job. >> yes, he did. >> donna brazile, mary matalin, thank you so much. >> they are still counting votes, tabulating votes, from two counties. that is the hold-up at this point. two counties still tabulating votes. two precincts i should say. as soon as we get that information, obviously we will give it to you. a winner will be declared. our coverage continues after a short moment. this new at&t 4g lte is fast.

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an amazing race. the iowa caucuses. we still don't know who has won. 99% of the precincts are in. rick santorum is 18 votes ahead of mitt rom flee. 29,944 to 29,926. pretty close, i must say. let's go over to john king. john, we heard anderson say we're still waiting for two precincts in iowa it report. >> that's according to the iowa republican party and its spokeman. if you go through, you see 99% of presinks reporting. let's come in here, oh, i will get it for you. pick it up here 37 scott county here. our map shows votes here. the iowa republican party saying no. we need to synchronize and see what happened here. come up here, a hundred percent. come up here, a hundred percent.

most of these counties are coming in at a hundred percent. clinton county is one of the precincts we are told that that matches. sometimes in these communities two or three precincts meet at the same location. governor romney winning here. not by a lot but by five percentage points. if we are waiting for votes to track what is happening the rest of the night, potential for romney to make up ground. they say the other precinct is here and again oun our data shows a hundred percent stating here. that's what we are waiting for. and wolf, look at it, it doesn't get any closer than that. >> this clinton county, ways there with romney last week. there are still votes outstanding in clinton county. >> we have 3% of the precincts. >> because romney did well in clinton county. >> romney carried it again and a small number of votes. 386 votes. senator santorum second. again, if there is a precinct out and it tracks these percentages, there is enough for romney to make out the 18 votes. make up the 18 votes that

senator santorum is ahead right now. but that's speculation. you don't know that specifically this one precinct will track the rest of the county. they tend do when you get up to 97, 98% of the votes. whoever wins here, you can count votes with a couple sets of hands. we will have a dead heat. if you look at the map, the breath of the santorum is striking. look at the counties, piers, earlier, i will borrow the rocky balboa analogy. rocky balboa took a beating in several rounds. this is candidate visits. rick santorum visited all 99 counties. this is just from september. look where the purple dot is. look where the purple on the map is. rick santorum earned it the old-fashioned way. if you look at romney, the fewest visits. he had the legacy left over from

years ago. sure they are happy to get out of here, they say, with a tie. a lot of also thinking, three, four, five, six more visits, might be a little different. >> yeah. john, we will continue this conversation. i remember when ways on his bus last week, driving from davenport to clinton, and there was a real enthusiastic romney crowd waiting for him. i'm not all that surprised in clinton county. he is doing relatively well. still 3% of the vote out in clinton county. >> four years ago, romney in the east. this year, romney in the east. strong for romney but not as strong. and piers made an interesting point earlier. again, governor romney is way ahead in new hampshire. 25% tonight, right? just about 30,000 votes. little shy. 25% tonight. we go back in time four years ago, 25%, 30,000 votes. >> you think mike huckabee is sitting out there, saying to himself, i wonder if, if he had decided to run this time, he might have done okay.

>> mike huckabee, daniels, barber, a lot of them thinking woulda coulda shoulda. >> let's look at the poll data coming in. we are learning a lot about what happened, erin, inside iowa. >> that's right. we have been showing you our wall here, we have been turning this the flicking wall. now obviously that we know who the top players are of this virtual dead heat we can talk to you a little bit about what this means for the next step. so born again evangelical christians, as can you see, rick santorum winning that vote. those who didn't identified themselves going to mitt romney. in terms of the most important issue though, and the most important candidate quality, i want to hone in on that, if you thought was abortion, you went for rick santorum, if you thought it was budget you went for ron paul but for the economy, romney. i want to break that one down, a little bit here, because it is

not too late to flick, even though it is 1:30 in the morning or too early or whatever it might be. okay, can defeat obama. this is where you see the romney strength. >> this th is romney's whole campaign. he didn't come out and say he is electable because when you say i'm electable in ra republican primary, people think you are a moderate. so you don't want to do that. but everybody who was supporting romney, most of the people said, that they thought he was splb who could actually take on the president. very, very important. >> and he kept this race the way he wants it to be in terms of issues. >> yes, he does. >> let's look at this. most important issue abortion. you think this is really going to change the tenor of the campaign. >> well, it is interesting. because republicans and congress and republicans on the campaign trail, ha talking about the eco, economy, jobs, right? the last thing republicans want to do heading into a general election is claenl that issue

set to the social issues. which are issues that quite frankly mitt romney has been trying to avoid, in this election. will rick santorum draw him into the discussion that he does not want to have about whether or not he is supported gay marriage and then changed his mind and all of those issues. and would that help republicans in a general election. they want to stick to the economy. >> all right. wolf, before i send it back to you and anderson, he will do a little reverse flick. >> okay. >> maybe not. >> are you kidding? >> i got to do my reverse flick and failed? oh, hold on. one more try. >> the back handed. >> oh, this is -- okay, all right. ready wolf? >> yes. >> yes. very good. third time's a charm. >> excellent flicking going on. >> it was the screen's fault. it was not erin. >> yeah, not operator error. >> all right.

anderson. >> anderson. >> have we all just given up? is t is just like 1:30 and everybody is like, just flick it. can you flick this? >> i can flick. i will tell you, it is evident from the social media screen that people are going to sleep. >> again with the social media screen. this is the third hit, i still don't understand what the hell this thing shows. >> i'm going to tell what you it is. >> every one of these dots, rolland, stop laughing, every one of these dots is a candidate. these pink ones here have to do with a candidate who has pink. ron paul is all over the map here. people are tweeting from each of these points. >> a lot of people tweet in america. >> stop touching the screen. >> in one hour. >> all right. >> five and a half thousand people -- stop talking. >> all right. >> let me show you ron paul. >> ron paul of all of the tweets out there, five and half thousand, our software determined that a thousand are positive.

178 are negative. all this stuff in the middle we can't determine. might be facts that people are tweeting. take a look at rick santorum. out of two and half thousand, so far fewer than ron paul, only 385 positives and 123 negative. you can see that rick santorum and mitt romney have been running close to each other in numbers but look at the difference, all night, all day, for the last three days. ron paul exists in a big way in twitter verse. >> you've been tracking that for a long time and that held steady. >> ron paul is far and away the most popular candidate of all on twitter. >> and his campaign last time around did mobilize social media. >> one reason is his libertarian audience likes the idea that twitter is not controlled by main stream media and we know he

has been attracting a younger audience engaged in social media. but our numbers are tracking him in the numbers, there is a tight race between santorum and romney but in social media world ron paul is leading. >> you are doing a thankless job, ali, and i appreciate it. >> i'm here all night. >> we will try to deal. we will talk to our analysts, to sto ari fleischer and dana bash in just a moment. great guest experience. that makes my day.

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i can only say three letters, omg. look at this. look at what is going on. one vote. one vote right now separating mitt romney, rick santorum, mitt romney has taken the lead with 99% of the precincts reporting, 29,957. to 29,956. i guess the only way it could get closer is if it were a tie. but one vote. let's go to john king. john? one vote separating these two

guys. as we speak. right now. >>'s arizo as we speak. and we can wait for the final vote to come in. look at this, we aren't getting a feed from the party any more of county by county. it is hard to see where we are looking for. we are waiting for that to come back up. but we know governor romney is down here. we are going to wait as this one plays out. but one vote. question can call it a tie but someone wants the moral victory. we will wait for that final precinct to come in. >> anderson, you ever seen a vote like there before, one vote? >> this is a history. i think during commercial break, someone said what the hell is going on with counting the votes in these two counties. >> yeah. it takes six hours to count the votes? >> in two precincts, i should say. how does the race change now? if perry is out, which it seems to be, bachmann likely, although

she didn't say that tonight. what is different tomorrow morning? >> you know, again, back to the same thing. first of all, the debates have changed. fewer people are up there. >> i think your mic dropped. there you go. that's right. 2 a.m. >> upside down. >> he never did make much sense anyway. >> that's the other side. >> welcome to public access channel 13. >> talk into the speaker. >> 1:30 in the morning. but no, i think it does kind of make some difference in the debate. honestly, i have always thought that romney is the only person that n this field that has any chance to be the republican nominee. i still think that more than ever tonight. although i thinks his

performance tonight are uninspired. in the end his people are justified in feeling like tle donled a bullet under iowa. they got through it and just by attrition will end up being a nominee. unless something breaks down, then they have to think of something else. >> it is interesting to watch the relationship or tag team nature of santorum -- because they are being very cordial to each other tonight in trying to direct their fire elsewhere. >> they are finally going to set their sights on romney, which i'm surprised it didn't happen in the previous debates. everyone was going after theenederlings. but having said that, attacked by newt gingrich is like being attacked bay porcupine. he just points himself everywhere, no strategy, no consistent theme. and he looks to mean when does it. it is not the most effective attack. i'm not sure, being attacked by newt, is really that bad after problem. >> do you think the attack ads,

soup are pac ads, against gingrich, have been unfair? romney has said well, look, it is not anything worse than the obama administration or obama pacs are going to throw at you during general election so toughen up. >> exactly. he needs to stop complaining about the tone of the attack ads and fight back. that's his big mistake right now is he is not fighting back. he needs 2k0 it in smart way. there sway that he can go negative without coming across as a grumpy pea pod. >> as a a what? >> so he doesn't come across as some grumpy old pea paw. >> is that a grandfather name? >> i understand what ari is saying, that he does seem a little bit con tankrous at time but he has it fight back. he complains about the negative, all these attack ads, but it is american politics. the founding fathers were infinite times worse than what we see now.

>> santorum has to deal with what he said this week, with a comment about entitlements, as if african-americans are the only folks who get entitlements. actually he did say it. we ran the video. i got it on my website. >> he paused. >> we got a quick vote update. welcome right back. >> sure. >> wolf? as that that would be me. four votes now. rick santorum has taken the lead over mitt romney. still 99% of the precincts, four votes, rick santorum ahead, mitt romney had been ahead four votes, 29,968 to 29,964. all right, so one vote varjin anderson, it has gone to four. i guess that's a huge markin.

>> and ten or 15 minutes ago, we got word they are still tabulating votes in two precincts. that's whatter with waiting for. well take a quick break. our coverage continues. well have a result at some point, very soon. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] what if we told you that cadillac borrowed technology from ferrari to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs.

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what a dramatic night in iowa. the iowa caucuses. we still don't know the final result. we do know that 99% of the precincts have reported that it is about as tight as possible. 29,968 for rick santorum. 29,964 for mitt romney. if you take a look at the republican party media center, we expect at some point, fairly soon we are told, to get an official announcement from the republican party on the winner of the iowa caucuses.

but rick santorum right now is ahead by four votes. obviously that could change. but it's about as close as possible. i think all of us could say the same thing. i don't remember anything this close. i remember florida was 532 votes. >> landslide. >> yeah. >> that was hundreds of votes in florida. here we are talking about four votes. >> again, we hope to get results very soon. i want to go over to iowa to alex, cnn contributor as well as eric eriksson, editor and chief of red state.com who is standing by. regardless of -- well, do either -- does it really matter at this point who wins, who gets first whob gets second? >> no. just thank god there is no recount in the caucuses. lord, we would be here until same next year. anderson, i got to tell you, i think a lot of the wisdom shaking up from reporters across networks is wrong. this may have been a high turn

out, a record high turnout in iowa but you take out all of the people who came in from ron paul, even the percent thaj came in in 2008, this is less after republican turn-out than 2008 and even being charitable, this isn't a yay, we will take on the president because we are excited about our field. more so, i don't think this is a victory for retail politics for santorum, it is a victory for retail, he never took fire until there was no one left standing to take fire. that's not a victory for retail politics. >> what does that tell you though, if the turn out, as i you say, among republicans was not record, was not as good, what does that fell you about the feel of candidates? >> they're not excited. look at what happened to mitt romney. for the love of god, i've been saying for years, that mitt romney has gone from 23% to 23% in six years. he is still there. he can't get through the ceiling. they don't particularly care for him.

but you listen to conservatives in washington and they say he is the most electable. he can't even beat rick santorum and barely beat ron paul. >> go ahead, story. >> who do you think perry is going to enforce? that could be quite significant. >> yeah, you know, i think we will have to wait and see what happens with him. he is actually going to get out. is he going to give a last stand at the alamo speech? we will see. . if he endorses, it'll probably be a guy like newt. they like each other a lot. >> i think candidates with not very votes don't mean a lot. what does matter if per regets out is that now you have newt gingrich unleashed to be kind of the block back, to try to push mitt romney to one side and and have you santorum who was scheduled to get a bunch of media attention over the next few weeks, he actually may get the clans to do a little bit of

an end run. he gave one of the best political speeches in a long time in to room tonight. he watered a few eye fles this room. and we saw a different kind of republican than we usually see. this was a working guy republican who talked about his grandfather's rough callused big hands that dug coal out of a mine to give a family an opportunity they wouldn't otherwise have. this is a budweiser republican who will contrast with let's say a sha blee republican. we haven't had a populist republican like that in quite a while. so this changes the geometry of the race a little bit. >> if you want to find find out how powerful santorum's speech was, while santorum was speaking, romney's people were breaking down the podium making him go back to the speech he had earlier in his head.

>> earlier john king poured cold water on to anyone else being in the race. do you both think now this is out? or do you think this is a possibility that some other conservative might jump under? >> you know, i think we have kind of checked through that list, david. and there isn't a lot left. the ones that could have, should have, would have, have already said no. have you a conservative. you have somebody who is now contending to be the leader of the conservative movement in america. a lot of old conservative leaders in washington may not like that. you have an establishment republicans, role played by mccain, bob dole over the years. so i think the men sue full. i think there is an item on the menu for every kind of republican. >> i'm not so sure about that, david. i don't think it'll happen. i think it is a slim possibility. someone may go down to disney and pull out the regan an ma

tron iks. there are people who are really angry with what is happening. really upset. they may try a bobby jindal. all around iowa, you say, why not chris christie. people are desperate. ient to think it will happen. but flig is happen. i would say i think one of the reasons republicans are having such a weird season is because i don't think 2008 was allowed it reboot for republicans. george bush didn't have a vice president run. that's the first time that happened in a long time. so we are having old feuds play out had there been a vice presidential pick. we are just startinging to reset the republican field. >> what about the powerful force of the tea party in 2010? what where is it in 2012? santorum will hear a lot about voting for medicare, not about tea party. newt gingrich who will try to

rip the skin off mitt romney was for the mandate in healthcare before romney was. an tea party guy either. is ron paul the tea party candidate for the republican party? >> actually, if you look at the tea party vote, on this, it went for santorum, the vote that wasn't -- >> but they haven't heard -- the romney super pac hasn't unleashed on him yet and told him about those votes. >> no, it's funny. i think wait it look at this thing is that right now this party dominated by the tea party a very conservative party, is still more than content with a mitt romney as a front-runner. this is a conservative a state as we are going to have in this process. with the exception of south carolina. from here, over all, it gets bet are for a mitt romney. i think that tells you that despite the power of the tea party, this party wants to beat

barack obama. >> i got an e-mail from a very powerful influential conservative tonight and they said, go for mitt romney. no one confuses him as a conservative. at least we can still fight mitt romney. >> a remarkable tug-of-war it eric eriksson's point. cheney did not run. the republican party has been searching for a heard since bush left office, lost the last election. there is this remarkable tug-of-war and iowa gives a muddled message. and because of his strength in new hampshire and other states, romney is the leader and yet, where is the enthusiasm. to eric's point, there is the first test. sure obama is vulnerable, but he has a great organization. >> they are working it hard. >> if you are in the white house watching this, this is a dream he is flairo. romney can't get past the ceiling of 25%. ron paul, fizzling out and where's the threat? if if you're obama, you're feel

going. >> i know have you been saying that is kind after ridiculous thing, but it happened before you could draft spln late. someone hoping it would be chris christie and he made his decision. say it or two happen, how does it happen from here. >> we are going to tick a quick commercial break. but we have a lot to dissect. we are still waiting for one or two precincts that could make the difference. now we're told one precinct still outstanding. we will see who wins the iowa caucuses when we come back. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze wash and dry diesel self-serve fix a flat jumper cables 5% cashback right now, get 5% cashback at gas stations. it pays to discover. for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now.

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>> i want to log into twitter. >> i don't know. >> you don't know? >> have you ever seen a race like this? >> no. >> i've never seen anything like this. it was really remarkable. if you go back and think that newt gingrich you think of michele bachmann, reading the speech. you think of it really emotional speech that santorum gave and the news that romney kand of had to change his speech and sort of respond to that. you think about the back and forth and about who is the going to chick to chicken and good first. >> do you agree with your wife with mary who said that gingrich negative doesn't play well some. >> yes. >> that speech he had. has got to be, yes, i don't think anybody -- or all of us at the table.

it is almost universal. >> how does he strike back against romney in some things that romney was saying or super pacs have been saying without damaging himself? >> i think it is hard. newt has no mist history of launching attacks. in large part because of the manner in which he does it. he is a good debater maybe if he has this discipline together, he can do it but on the stump when he is on the sound bites in tv, just mean and negative and just doesn't work. >> he comes across as authoritative allot. but one of the things that rolland and i were discussing on some break three hours ago, is that he has no sur gates. newt gingrich isn't have any surrogates except maybe for one that can come out and do the attacks for him. where you look at mitt romney and he has an army of people. ron paul has all of ron paulers and everyone has their own faction. newt doesn't have that. >> and on other point, just listen to alex and eric and the hand ringing. >>