lower the dropout rate because they would have a reason to go to school, you will have better kids with better ride and a better worth -- a better work ethic. they will have learned that an early age the you can learn money i'm going to defend my belief that if we had more work we would have actually earned self-esteem, you cannot give self-esteem, you have to earn it. that's why the left is profoundly wrong about how[applause] these two guys are the last to because i'm not going to pick between you. the light one would be that i think i would like to see a very, very classy lady be the first lady. [applause]

>> i agree with you. i think she is somewhat homegrown here and will definitely add some flavor to washington. my second issue is i believe, it appears to me that arabs spring is going to turn into a muslim brotherhood summer. where can the united states position itself and the lead or if this does happen -- just a fear or a concern of mine. >> under first positive comment, -- let me just make a comment, ground.

some of you remember. the room we met in was the room she had her graduation party in. her senior year, she spent her senior year of living above the pizza place showed that -- so she had pizza small 20 hours a day. [laughter] she was really happy and the pizza was pretty darn good. there is every reason to worry iraq, pakistan, egypt, tunisia, intelligence community from all put on it for the last 36 years. we today don't know enough -- we don't have real spies.

we rely on local governments to tell us this. it's enormously dangerous because we literally don't know, the libyans -- this was a primary supplier of anti- american fighters for iraq. are these anti-americans -- anti-american libyans who have you can extend this to nigeria where there's a war against christians. in iraq, there were 1,200,000 christians when the americans arrived. there are 500,000 today. 700,000 christians have left because of the failure of americans. we do not have a strategy large enough and comprehensive enough problem first. head of central command said to me on -- our strategic deficit deficit. and saved france and italy from going communist by pouring money into help the anti-

communist side. we have no understanding today, no mechanisms and no capacity to help those who would like to be as a result, there's a great danger they will be drowned by the forces of radicalism and that is a danger in every single and we are simply unprepared. you get to be the last question. sir? >> i believe the second amendment, which is worded very carefully, the second amendment bear arms. the second amendment says of the right to bear arms shall not be abridged. that's very important. the founding father -- i am wearing george washington's command flag. they believe the right to bear arms was endowed by our creator as an ability to defend your

political rights. would have crushed them. worldwide. we should be explaining why the right to bear arms would lead to a better world. we should be actively fighting this goes back to who controls. away our guns because the elites would like to control as with no free people drives deletes crazy because we don't fit their model. they would like us to be subject to government. we are citizens and government fundamental fight with elites [applause] me ask each of you when you go

to the caucus and as you talk to your friends across the state, this is still wide open. iowa has an opportunity to say to the rest the country the air of the-consultant running false ads is over. somebody has done nothing but run negative ads or do you want to elect somebody who has big, positive solutions, runs positive ads, and at the tracki would love to have yourthank you very much. [applause] [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011]

>> having happy new year. hi, nice to meet you. it nice to meet you. nice to see you. thank you very much.

thank you. hello, how are you? i loved it. it is a great town, yes. nice to meet you.

>> thank you, sir. thank you very much. >> thank you. nice to meet you. thank you. hello, how are you? thank you. nice to meet you.

thank you. >> thank you so much. >> hello. >> thank you. >> good to see you. >> it is, and love it. -- i love it. thank you. how are you, sir? how are you doing? >> good. >> good. >> how are you, sir? >> have a good new year. >> hello.

>> what is your name? >> kevin. >> kevin? >> that was the first day you were on the trail. good luck. >> thank you. need your help. >> the thank you. >> mr. logan, i did not expect to see you again. >> how are you doing? thank you very much. >> how are you doing? >> thank you. >> nice to meet you. nice to meet you. hello. >> you went to -- >> i did. >> right here in mason city.

hong -- thank you very much. >> i do not like a government center solutions. >> thank you. >> thanks. >> thank you.

hello. hi, how are you? >> good morning. >> great. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> good luck, mr. speaker.

>> how are you? need your help. thank you. >> can you say hello to my wife? her name is lavine. >> need your help at the caucus. >> we will be there. >> thank you. >> ok. you think? got it, got it.

>> how are we doing? ok. >> mr. speaker. >> mr. speaker. >> good luck.

>> there are so many. ok, so is everybody semi ready? as i mentioned a bit earlier, we are very excited about tomorrow to continue our focus on jobs and economic growth and to remind people of the fundamental choice between a supply-side approach that encourages the creation of jobs and economic growth and the more establishment based one. i think art will be a big asset.

he has been one of the pioneers. our focus is going to be for the caucus to focus on the economy and jobs and the fact that twice i help to do this, once with ronald reagan in the 1980's and once as speaker in the house, and i think we will get this country going again and create the economic dynamic that we need if we are going to bring the world passed the very real danger of a deeper recession, given the situation in the middle east. >> a strong american outback. the second most dangerous man in america. is that not a negative? >> i would discourage us not to do that anymore. i do not control them. i would discourage that kind of

negative information. i think that is wrong. >> that you would not support ron paul as the nominee. are you not trying to have it both ways. >> feel uncomfortable in terms of my two grandchildren with someone who believes that an iranian nuclear weapon is irrelevant. it is one thing to stick to a policy position that he has said in debates. it is another thing to go out and run advertisements that are misleading. this is what i said all of along, and i am very uncomfortable of the idea that the president would think it is irrelevant that there is an iranian nuclear weapon, because i think that is very dangerous. if you saw the crowd here, i know this is hard for some of you to cover. you can be hard in a positive

way. it is ok. you do not have a web a nasty, negative, consultant in driven campaign, and i refuse to engage in that kind of politics, and i think it is good for america to see someone fight in a positive way and not with this job we have seen on television lately. >> will be joined -- >> we have not looked at it yet. for everyone the thought it was my problem, we now have governor perry talking about of virginia is a difficult one to get on. five were blocked. i would like to be on the ballot or have the legislature give us the ability to have a right in campaign. every poll in virginia shows me beating mitt romney. it is the people of virginia to are at a loss. governor perry did the right thing. i have not talked to our attorneys.

>> talking about how you said that we have intentionally -- you went to greece but potentially to provoke a confrontation with your staff, and it worked, because they all left when you got back. >> i was very struck going to the ranch. i was really trying to understand what he was accomplishing, and he was accomplishing a set of balance. we had been campaigning very hard. we had been planning to stop to think. i know this does not fit the normal media model. >> this was the first week of your role. >> we have been working ever since january to get everything lined up.

it would not matter what we did in the first week of july. i think you need to pace yourself and get a sense of distance. i am a different kind of candidate. i am determined to be positive. i am determined to talk about these ideas. we think ideas matter. the consultants found this very mystify and very strange. they would like to be the advisers of our campaign, or they would have to leave, and i think it worked pretty well. within two hours, we were back on track. we were end of where i thought we would be at this stage. >> oh one more question, one more.

>> they were talking about lobbying for the medicare expansion in 2003, and i know you said you did not do any lobbying, but how was this not lobbying? >> i would like to see this past. i am about to say that is a citizen that i would like to see this past. it is not lobbying. it was for a practical reason. we had a medicare program that said they will not pay for you to have lipitor, but you can have heart surgery. we will not pay for your medicine, but you can have dialysis. what do you think i should do? frankly, it is a lot better health system if you help people have preventive care than if you wait for the expensive solution. this was literally by definition not lobbying. you can be an advocate with not being a lobbyist. >> thank you.

thank you. what is your name? josh? >> would you sign this, sir? yes. next opportunity. how are you? >> good to see you. appreciate it.

>> thank you very much. all right. >> nice to meet you. nice to meet you. >> hello, sir. >> thank you. >> have to go back to california. need your help in california. hello. hi, guys. how are you? you have a nice family. >> what are your names? nice to meet you. what is your name?

>> have a good day. >> we are big civil war buffs. >> this one? >> are you going to sign it? >> sure. >> and this one is for cam, c-a- m. thank you both. >> in their yugo. -- and there you go. >> i do not think you have it too many other 14-year-olds had

that such support for you. >> can you sign that for me? >> shirt. -- sure. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> how are you?

>> mr. speaker. nice to see you. >> good to see you. >> how are you doing? >> thank you very much. >> thank you, and happy new year. >> i really appreciate it. >> hello. >> she was taking pictures. >> we are going to take a nice one. >> great. thank you. at love to have your help

the caucus. >> hello. >> that is a pretty jacket. >> ah, lovely. thank you. >> ok, guys. need your help. >> of voter fraud figured out? >> we are going to fight him on that. tell them we need their help at the caucus.

>> thank you. her daughter went to lutheran. >> that is great. a very good school. >> thank you. thanks for stopping. >> can we get a picture with you? >> sure.

>> thank you. >> thank you. that is great. thank you. nice to meet you. bye-bye. there you go. a question, it and i do not know the answer. cameron is pretty good. unlike that hat.

-- i like that hat. >> here is your chance. >> ok. >> with the iowa caucuses less than one week away, we are covering a number of the events with republican candidates today. one we just saw with newt gingrich, and later on, congressman ron paul will be speaking at a salute to veterans rally. representative paul wrote an opinion piece about his record on veterans' issues. we will have live coverage of mr. paul from the iowa state fairgrounds here on c-span at 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> with the iowa caucuses next week and the florida and other

primaries later in the month, the c-span's series "the conten ders" look back at those who had an impact on politics. we look back at hubert humphrey. friday, george wallace, and then on saturday, george mcgovern, followed by a billionaire businessman ross perot. the contenders, every night on c-span. >> and on american history tv tonight on c-span3, a look back at previous iowa caucuses. starting at 8:00 p.m. eastern, speeches from barack obama, hillary clinton, and mike huckabee on the caucuses. then, a presidential debate with john kerry, john edwards, howard dean, and other candidates are running that year. and a republican debates in i

all i knew. among the candidates, george w. bush, at john mccain, and steve forbes. -- george bush, and john mccain, and steve forbes. >> political people are taking your calls, and you can also stay up-to-date with our campaign 2012 website, with new features, including candidates on the campaign trail. candidates on the issues lets you see what the candidates have said on issues important to you and on social media buzz, read about what the candidates, reporters, and others like you are saying on websites like twitter. and facebook. all of this is on c-span.org /campaign in2012. >> now, the funeral of korean leader kim jong il. we will show you images of the funeral procession as well as

the reaction. courtesy of cctv, this is 55 minutes. >> you are watching cctv neews, -- news, cctv coverage of the dprk leader kim jong il. thousands of mourners are expected to attend this event. cctv news is bringing you live footage of the ceremony from p'yongyang. according to earlier arrangers, they are having a convoy that will be taken round.

they will be paying their final respects, and as we can see on the screen, hundreds of thousands are expected to line as streets of p'yongyang they absolutes and marches in remembrance. >> [speaking foreign language] >> the funeral of kim shawn hill -- kim jong-il's father, kim il sung.

>> [speaking foreign language] ♪

>> [speaking foreign language] . >> the parade of hearses in the capital city of p'yongyang. there is a huge picture of kim jong il. and soldiers are dressed up in uniform, lining the streets. they have been in mourning with citizens for nine days. earlier today, thousands of people were at the palace,

waiting to pay their final respects. kim jong un, the vice chairman, the nation's leader kim jong il, they bowed, paying tribute. and uniformed soldiers and citizens.

and tomorrow, silence at noon. you are watching cctv's special coverage on the funeral of the late leader, kim jong il of the dprk. we are bringing to you the live footage of the farewell ceremony in p'yongyang, the capital. a salute, a sign of high respect for these leader.

and the hearse, surrounding p'yongyang. among the people waiting, to show their respect. >> [speaking foreign language] and the mood of avulse city --

the whole city. it will go back to the memorial palace. for nine days, the dprk has been in deep sorrow since the death of their leader, kim jong il. they are surrounding the capital city. hundreds of thousands of mourners attended. they are lining the streets,

hundreds, even thousands with salutes and marches in remembrance. it is expected that the sun will arrive in the square later -- the son will arrive, and then the hearse will return to the palace, finishing the three hours of farewell. >> [speaking foreign language] this event will be similar to the 1994 funeral of the father of kim jon il, kim il sung. earlier today, some paying their

final respects at the memorial palace, and kim jong un, the son of kim jon il and the leader of the party and army is paying silent tribute along with other senior army and government officials. meanwhile, uniformed soldiers and citizens wore korean traditional dress. many have already mourned.

there were trains and ships. >> [speaking foreign language]

>> you have been watching the dprk's people bidding farewell to their leader, and this is being held with hundreds of thousands of mourners in attendance. now, let's take a look back at some of the key moments from this event that we got from korean central tv. ♪ >> [speaking foreign language]

has beenn il's coffin taken around so that mourners could pay their final respects. and the mourning citizens of p'yongyang are lining in the streets at the military salutes and marching in remembrances. >> [speaking foreign language] >> and it is suspected that the hearse of kim jong il would arrive later were the people of maine dprk would get a final look of their dear leader -- where the people of the dprk

would get a final look at their dear leader. and then, the hearse with a return to the memorial palace. you can seen -- see kim jong un is also escorting the hearse. ♪ this is similar to the funeral kim iljong il's father,

sung. >> [speaking foreign language] >> people bidding farewell to their dear leader, kim jong il. in joining us in the studio today -- and joining us in the studio today is a research fellow at the china institute of international studies. kim jong il, the mourners, how

are they reacting, and how should they reacted to the death of kim jong il? >> it is important to maintain the country's stability. a and part of the country's development. >> so what will the death of kim jong il bring? in asia?

>> to say farewell to their leader -- is policy, -- his policy. >> we will get back to you for more analysis later, but now, let's go to our correspondent, eugene john in seoul, korea, to see what she has got there. today is farewell ceremony in p'yongyang. >> the state-run television since 2:00 p.m. local time.

however, in south korea, they are still looking to verify what is coming in from the dprk live -- coming in from they -- the dprk live or whether it was recorded. whether this is live or pre- recorded, but they say it is most likely that these images were filmed before being broadcast on dprk television. all this -- also, from the weather agency, saying that it has been snowing heavily since 9:00 p.m. yesterday in p'yongyang, so this note may have caused the delay of the ceremony. they did expect the ceremony to

be at 10:00 a.m. local time. what is interesting, what they are also pointing out is the funeral coach driving through the city as well as other high ranking officials of the dprk, the hearse presumably the body of kim jong il inside. the one regarding that funeral coach. regarding that funeral coach. -- the one guarding that funeral coach. opposite un, is the minister of

affairs. this is reflecting what we could expect in regard to the positions that they will take. >> how about the official statement from the south korean government? have we gotten any thing on that? >> as far as i am aware, there has not been any official statement from the south korean government regarding this. the phone conversation we had with the ministry where they said they cannot verify if these images were, in fact, live or recorded. we may have to wait a couple of hours before an official statement is released from the south korean government.

it does not seem very likely that they will portray this message -- the ceremony takes place tomorrow. we may have to wait and see. >> the south korean mourning delegation has arrived home one day before this feral ceremony, -- this farewell ceremony, so can you give us details on that? >> they left south korea on monday, and they returned back on tuesday. they paid their respects to kim jong un on monday afternoon. they were not going to attend the funeral ceremony in the first place and would return back on tuesday.

they will pay their respects, as they did in 2009 and also in 2003. they attended -- they did not attend the services there either. the return back to south korea tuesday afternoon. -- they returned back. it was for a very short time. there are some political messages that have been exchanged, but there was one comment that they received from the dprk, where they said the dprk wishes the north and south a declaration and the october 4

declaration, these two declarations, they symbolize the joint cooperation and good relations between the two koreas. the dprk said these declarations should go on, but at this point, it cannot really be seen as an official message. >> thank you very much. u-jean jung, from the democratic people's republic of korea. their leader died 10 days ago. he was a leader of the workers' party and was a close friend of the chinese people, helping to relationship.s >> today, the democratic

people's republic of korea have been holding a ceremony for their leader kim jong il for their leader. the funeral, which began at 10:00 a.m. local time, is expected to begin -- to continue until tomorrow, and then there will be a memorial service. he served from 1994 until 2011. stanley has more details. ♪ with ajong il's coffin, convoy, is being taken around so people can pay their respects. a civilian force. it will have a brief stay in vain -- in the kim il sung square, and then it will go to where the leaders body will rest

permanently. earlier, kim jong un, now the supreme leader of the dprk, went to the palace. the ceremony began on wednesday, attended by senior officials. they are here to pay their last respects to whom they call their dear leader, but for some, the site of his body is heart wrenching. others refuse to let go. >> there is no one as great as our leader. our leader has not left us. he will for ever lived our hearts through our souls. -- forever lift our hearts. >> the people are rallying behind the great successor. residents in p'yongyang already picking up the pieces and looking ahead to the future.

>> i would turn today's sarraute into strength and courage, to achieve our generous aims for a prosperous nation while holding our supreme leader in high esteem. >> the state media describes kim jong un as the lighthouse of hope for the nation. the great successor follows in the footsteps of this father and will lead the nation to prosperity. >> workers at the joint industrial complex near the south korean border have been told to take two days off for the memorial services. south korea's unification ministry spokesman announced a break on wednesday.

the industrial complex run jointly by the two countries is one of the few sources of foreign currency. during that two days, south korean businessmen can still get normal entry into the complex which opened for business in 2004 and is home to more than 120 south korean firms. they employ a total of 44,000 dprk workers. south korea morning delegates have arrived after a two-day visit to the dprk. they met leaders and expressed condolences for the death of kim jong il. we have more details from this report in south korea. >> the widow of the late south korean presidents and the chairperson of hand day were the only delegations' approve to

visit dead -- -- to visit the dprk. the group crossed the demarcation line on monday morning. the state-run television showed images of kim jong-un expressing his sorrow. this was the first time for him to come face-to-face with south koreans. she confirmed no political messages were exchanged with bell leader. >> we did not have a chance to discuss other matters.

relations have shown signs of improvement from 1998 to 2008. in the year 2000, he was invited to hold peace talks were leaders agreed on the june 15th north- south declaration. in october, 2007, the late president walked across the demilitarized zone and went to p'yongyang to hold a summit. they signed a peace declaration calling for international talks on a trading -- tree to replace the armistice. but in 2010, it sank. in november 2010, the island was bombarded by dprk artillery. diplomatic ties have been at a

standstill ever since. according to local news, south korea is relatively calm after hearing the news of kim jong il's death. this time around, south korea has expressed their empathy to the people and have allowed high-profile people to visit in person. south koreans were surprised by the news but their day-to-day lives have not been affected. still, differing views exist on the future of inter-korean ties. >> i hope the negative perceptions can change after the delegation's visit and i hope we can be more accepting and our policies toward the dprk. >> inter-korean ties can improve if there is more active exchange between the two koreas. >> there is not a clear view on

the future of inter-korean ties and any hint of change in the policies toward each other will not surface until the end of mourning period which ends on the 29th of december. >> we're going to continue our coverage of the events from p'yongyang and the dprk and this seemed as they are being shown by state television. the very emotive people that have featured prominently in the crowds of mourners saying farewell to kim jong il. it needs no commentary to explain how the people there in p'yongyang are reacting as they have seen over these past two hours or so, the procession of the company carrying kim jong

il's body, which did several circuits around the main part of p'yongyang earlier today. kim jong il's coffin was escorted around the city for mourners to pay their final respects and as you can see from these live pictures, the snow has been falling, a very heavy snow earlier today. this of course is adding to the atmosphere of the occasion. hundreds of thousands of people have been lining the streets of p'yongyang for the military salute and the marches in remembrance.

for the many people who live in the dprk and the analysts watching the day's events, it seems the funeral today has been very similar to that in 1994 when kim jong il's father [inaudible] >> live pictures coming to us from state tv in the dprk. when we get more, we will bring them back to you throughout the day. we will be right back after this short break. we're getting more signals now coming from state television in north korea and we're going to cut to those to show you the very latest on the final one month of the funeral, which is known there as a farewell to kim jong il.

these are the latest scenes coming from the memorial palace where the hearst left today for the start of the long journey through the streets of the capital, the hearse bearing in the very large picture of the late leader, kim jong il. it has been seen now by millions of people in north korea's capital. and of course throughout the dprk on state television. after moving through the streets of p'yongyang, the hearse is now arriving where it started and the memorial palace is where the late leader will be giving -- be given his final

resting place. a very bleak day to day adding to the atmosphere of this farewell to kim jong il. heavy snow fell in the morning and has blanketed the capital. ithe commentary you can hear in the background is from the state television network. the towns have become very familiar to people not just in the dprk, but those watching the coverage since kim jong il died 10 days ago. much of the procession today has been fairly quick. it seems to have done one or two circuits to cover the entire city, but now it has slowed down as the cortege returns

from memorial palace. it is here where kim jong il's father lies in state and a place where people from all over the dprk come every year to pay their respects. it is also a place where many foreigners are taken. they are asked to about three times at the place where kim il-sung lies and there will no doubt be a similar procedure for kim jong il.

a very, very day of high emotions. a lot of the people have been lining the streets have been weeping openly and it seems particularly the women have been crying very loudly. some of the soldiers and the men appeared to be holding it back, but let's get more on the atmosphere because we have in the studio with us at that moment our special guest who we were talking to earlier. perhaps you can give us some ideas of what is happening now at this procession kim jong-il

-- procession for kim jong-il. >> they love their leader and want the country to move on the right track in the future. i propose that is what we will see in the next few months that people will realize how the country will move forward. >> the best things we are watching today, i guess it is very similar to the farewell ceremony held for his father. is there much difference in what was shown an? >> they are quite similar as the people in their country are very faithful to their leader. it is a very serious ceremony

and i'm not sure whether they will live forward in the same way, but i suppose this is quite similar as it happened before. >> it is like an opportunity. while there is sadness, there must be anticipation not just among the people, but other countries around the world, hoping maybe a new era will bring something greater than what has been achieved already. >> i agree. there are countries all over the world that will expect a new phenomenon in that country. this country has been closed for

so many years and the country itself is trying to carry out [inaudible] and in the future they will keep working on reform and at the current rate, the most important thing is to make changes [inaudible] >> it is a time when stability is of paramount importance. you might be able to give us your thoughts as you look at this picture here as to what is , with the final stage of the day's proceedings. this is the hearse that carries

the coffin of kim jong-il and there is the picture of his father there. >> [inaudible] >> the feelings of the people are really what many here outside the dprk are watching with great interest. the people of the dprk seem elmore reserved -- seemed a little more reserved. >> of people in the south feel that about their leaders. >> generally, the people in the dprk seemed a little more

reserved. i know when i visited three years ago and that this particular place, the memorial palace, many of them were coming down on the escalator to pay their respects. they were very, very serious. their faces were serious, they were not in a state where they were crying like they are today, but still very serious and aware of the situation and very aware of their former leader. >> [inaudible] people will probably ask more from their leader. >> there is the son, kim jong-

un, who was just seen very briefly there, walking by the hearse. so much rests on his shoulders. a person, we are not sure of his age, but it seems he is not yet 30. he must be feeling all kinds of emotions today. >> this new leader is quite young. i believe he is under 30 but not as young as some western analysts expected. he is getting into is a golden age now, so it is it good for the people perhaps. >> what are some of the things you are thinking of when you mention its day -- that things

may be changing for the better or moving to more progress in this democratic people's republic of korea? >> as we know, in 2009, the country carried out a kind of reform. i can say that that time, the leader realized that country needed to change and he tried. but he met difficulties and challenges. in the future, they will make more progress in the reform and probably with great caution and probably with great courage. we don't know, but change is quite the future for this country.

>> also changes in them is to make the korean peninsula a safer place. >> the korean peninsula is a place with a lot of uncertainties and challenges. we hope this will benefit from the transition. >> i'm sure that is indeed the hope of all the people within the dprk as well as the analysts that have been watching what is going on in the country, especially now at this pivotal time when the new leader is about to assume office. >> i suppose most countries

have [inaudible] perhaps you might like to describe the scenes we are watching now and we can just get a view from the outside of the memorial palace where kim jong-il will be laid to rest. >> [inaudible] we can see a huge number of people gathering together and they are wearing dark colored clothes to show their respect to

the late leader. >> one of the interesting things we could mention when you talk about the clothes that they wear, everybody there in the dprk still wears the badge of kim il-sung as part of their outfits and i think there are several different badges that have been produced in the time since his death. >> people want to show their respects and showed day will memorialize this leader and after all these years -- [inaudible] >> what do you imagine is going on in other parts of the dprk?

we see the final stages of the ceremony here and i guess there are people outside and we can tell we are watching the final scenes of the ceremony. do you think there will be similar scenes around the dprk? >> i suppose people will voluntarily organize ceremonies to show their love to the leader. >> [inaudible] this is the final salute.

>> there have been a number of military salutes in this march and remember in the of kim jong- il, but we are now at what appears to be the final point of the farewell ceremony. >> [inaudible]

i suppose people in this country have been preparing for this for a while. but their leader passed away suddenly. after that everything is moving on track, very organized. >> there have been preparations. this is of course the most somber moment at the memorial palace. it is as if the mood has changed here. very somber music now changed to something with a more anticipatory nature, kim jong- un seems to be looking at and

acknowledging that military and giving his salute. a new era, it appears is beginning of right now. the young man who is not even 30 years old but on whose shoulders the hopes and aspirations of the dprk people rest on his shoulders and on his shoulders like a hopes of many people robin world, people who are hoping the korean peninsula can become a more peaceful place and that tension can be reduced. >> i suppose the people hope the new leader will leave at the country into a new era with

economic prosperity. >> he did have an education outside in western countries, so he is very well aware of what is going on outside. >> that is what we hope for for his position and i suppose it is very helpful for the country [inaudible] >> we have been watching the final moments of the farewell ceremony for kim jong-il in pyongyang today. we have been speaking to research fellow at the china institute of international studies. if we can just ask one question of view, because we have been

talking about aspirations for the future and it appears we ever reached that point of change in the hopes and aspirations of the people in the dprk, what about the future of relations between the north and south? i suppose in a way we're playing a bit of a guessing game here. >> in recent years, from 2008, the two countries have been undergoing a very difficult situation, especially in the year before last. it makes the relationship quite tense and the neighboring countries all worry about the situation. i suppose in the future and in the outside world must be

careful in dealing with their relationship -- there is some debate in debt leadership and i hope in the future the results will be better and [inaudible] >> many thanks indeed for that. this is our special coverage of the farewell ceremony to kim jong-il. we will be back right after a short break. of course, there is one part here in china where the dprk can be seen across the water. that is the chinese border city where many people have been gathering to mourn their dear leader and state for wealth have continued in the dprk and in pyongyang.

but more than 50 people are working in the province and clouded -- a crowd into a local restaurant to watch dprk state television and at mourners brought bouquets and wreaths of white and yellow chrysanthemums to place at a chinese-dprk trade office across from the restaurant. chinese police allowed staff and borders to go inside the office compound. >> with the iowa caucuses tuesday, january 3rd, c-span cameras are following the candidates evidence throughout the state. every morning, a political guests are taking your calls on our "washington journal" program. you can stay up-to-date with candidates on the campaign trail and videos from campaign stops. it lets you see what the candidates have set on issues

important to you. read what the candidates, political reporters and people like you are saying on sites like facebook and twitter. it is all at c-span.org /campaign2012. >> congressman ron paul spent the day in iowa and visited an insurance agency. he is scheduled to speak at a salute to veterans later this evening at the iowa state fair grounds. you can see coverage of that here on c-span at 8:00 eastern. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2011] >> with the iowa caucuses next week and to the new hampshire and south carolina theory -- tonight, barry goldwater.

thursday, a vice president and civil-rights activist, hubert humphrey. then, george wallace and on saturday, senator and congressman from south dakota, george mcgovern, followed by billionaire businessman, ross perot. >> on "american history tv" a look back at previous iowa caucuses starting at 8:00 eastern. speeches from barack obama, hillary clinton, and others. then a 2004 democratic presidential debate including john kerry, john edwards, and howard dean. a republican debate in iowa from the 2000 republican contest including george w. bush, john mccain, and steve forbes. the president of the family leader was on this morning's "washington post all" talking

about the role christian conservatives play in the iowa caucuses. host: that is a live picture of the iowa state capitol in des moines, on the east side of downtown des moines, and you can see the christmas lights are still up and the capitol is let as well, and our temporary studio is in downtown des moines and there on your screen is bob vander plaats, president and ceo of the family leader. what is the family later? guest: it is a conservative organization, statewide, whose mission is to strengthen families. we do it through church engagement, marriage matters, a family nurturing ministry, as well as civic engagement, which is why we are heavily involved in the iowa caucuses as well as other legislative matters here in the state of iowa. host: what are the issues important to your group?

guest: anything that in past the family, peter. a lot of people say that has to be the sanctity of human life -- it is. we believe life begins at conception and ends at natural death. marriage, one man and one woman. but also we are very much about the economy, limited government, free enterprise, national security, energy policy -- anything that impacts the family, we are going to be very concerned about. if it is strengthening families, we are for it. if it does not, we are against it. host: why did you indorse with santorum -- rick santorum? guest: he has been to all the counties and communities, and every time he traveled the state people said how much they liked rick santorum but there is always the looming question about could he win. you and the viewers know very well we have seen a lot of people rise and fall in this process.

i really believe rick santorum could be poised for a january 3 surprise. i think he will do much better than people anticipate and an outside chance that he could win this thing. people like rick santorum, he debates very well and very good on our pro-family values. he comes to us and speaks our language. i truly believe he is one of us. we threw our support behind rick santorum. there are a lot of good candidates in this race, and i believe what will happen potentially is they may fragment or divide their vote, and if that happens you will see obviously a governor romney probably come out of this thing in iowa. host: there was a story in "the new york times" on december 12 that you were quoted in bank, saying i was evangelicals are split over the caucus endorsement, that there are a number of candidates evangelicals could naturally gravitate to. do you agree?

guest: there really are. right now you see 52 are divided support. congressman ron paul has several evangelicals supporting him. newt gingrich has a lot of evangelicals supporting him. then obviously rick perry and michele bachmann and rick santorum. as i said, we are not going to talk down any candidate. they all have a lot of assets to bring to the table. they are all people who we could galvanize around as the nominee. but the advantage for romney is these votes will be fragmented and he will be able to come out of the state of iowa. that is the predicament we are in, but what i am trying to do is lead probably a coalescing movement to say let's give rick santorum a chance, he has not gotten his rise yet and i think when he does and goes to the top of the polls, i think he will handle the vetting extremely well and the scrutiny extremely well and i think he would be our obama.

that is why we threw our support behind santorum, but we are not going to talk down any candidate. host: you have been involved in iowa republican politics for a while. how many people normally participate in the republican caucuses, and what percentage of that would you characterize as evangelical christians? or christian conservatives? guest: four years ago i was of the state's share for governor mike huckabee. and i believe four years ago we were right at around the 120,000 benchmark of people who went out to a caucus. obviously caucuses are very different from primaries. people have to take two hours in their evening, and they have to stand up and let people know who they are voting for. you really have to believe in a candidate. but about 120,000 people would come out. i have seen reports that up to 60% of the 120,000 will consider themselves to the people of faith or authentic

conservative, evangelical voters. these are people who take this process very, very serious. they are betting these candidates any way you possibly can, and they are going to put their name on the line when they stand up for that candidate on caucus night. host: 120,000 people -- and this is a quadrennial argument that is held -- if only 120,000 people in iowa are participating, why is it so important that iowa be the first day, and is it significant anymore? guest: i believe it is very significant and i believe the candidates who come through here and participate know how significant it is. because in iowa, we are not really a red or blue state, more people stay. we sent chuck grassley to d.c. as well as tom harkin's. but the other deal is these candidates have to come, they have to do one on one, small groups, they go through a rigorous process and they get

ask every question imaginable. iowa is very good at separating the wheat from the chaff, and saying who will stand up. four years ago, it was a natural for a lot of this caucus goers to coalesce around mike huckabee because he had john mccain and guiliani and romney and thompson in the race. this time you have a lot of conservatives in the race, and because of those conservatives in the race, that is why a lot of this vold will be splintered -- a lot of the vote will be splintered. romney note advantage goes to him if it happens. host: in your view, is mitt romney pro life and if he were the nominee, would you support him? guest: well, the problem we have with governor romney is that not only has he been on both sides of the life issue, but the marriage issue, and the healthcare issue -- and not just on both sides, but he has

been passionately on both sides. so, there is a huge trust gap with us with governor mitt romney. now, the reason why we are going through this caucus and primary process is to determine who could be the alternative to mitt romney to beat barack obama. i think the poll numbers show about 80% of americans are coalesced around one thought -- they would like to see an alternative to mitt romney. if mitt romney becomes the nominee, i think you would get a lot of conservatives and evangelicals who will vote against barack obama, probably more than they would vote for governor mitt romney. but if he becomes the nominee, i believe the pressure is on governor romney to earn our endorsement. so far, he bypassed us. we have a caucus event, peter, where we have 3000 caucus goers in attendance and every one of governor romney's peers other than john huntsman was in attendance. he completely skipped the event.

if you are going to diss events like that it is hard for us to rally around the campaign saying we want to elevate you. governor mitt romney, if he becomes the nominee, he has a lot of spade work to do to get the conservative vote, and more important, their work and full effort. host: please allow 30 days between your phone calls. bob vander plaats is our guest, president and ceo of the family leader and he is joining us from our studio in des moines, iowa. we will be live every morning between now and january 3 when 1774 precincts hold caucuses and the state of iowa and we will be live on c-span 1 and c- span2. there have been a couple of news articles in the national press about your endorsement of mr. santorum and whether or not

there was a quid pro quo for cash for the family leader. would you like to take a shot at explain that? guest: yes, if we were going to do a quid pro quo at gb or have this endorsement to be about money, we probably what with the wrong candidate. any time we take a stand or the family later takes a stand, there are going to be allegations. this is politics. you are not going to make everybody happy. i think iran to you -- guarantee you, first, from the family leader standpoint, there is no quid pro quo. the family leader is not endorsing. they believe they are a standard bearer for the pro- family issues. so they are not in the endorsement business. but the board unanimously gave myself and my colleague the full ability to endorse, so we both endorsed senator santorum. and there was no quid pro quo there, either. i cannot getting paid anything. chalk hurley is not getting paid

anything. all we are trying to do is benefit center on's campaign. but when we do endorse, we want to do everything we can to make it stick, which means we will mobilize our network and whatever else we can to benefit rick santorum. no quid pro quo. we. roll that way, that is not how we play. -- we don't roll that way. host: bob vander plaats previously was chair of iowa for freedom, who ousted three iowa supreme court justices. was it because of the game marriage issue? guest: same-sex marriage happened to be the issue, but it was more than that, peter. what happened is our supreme court stepped outside of the constitutional lines, its constitutional authority, and they actually legislated from the bench.

now, if they want to avoid legislation -- it is up to them under article 12.1, but the second sense of article 12.1 in our constitution says the legislature will be response will to enact all legislation, to carry out the constitution. however, the supreme court -- in 2009, not only did they avoid the defense of marriage act and signed by the governor, but then they said iowa will be a same such -- same-sex marriage state. now they are being able legislature and became the governor. we said it was a separation of powers issue. if they will do this to marriage, they will do it to any other freedom we hold dear. we hold them accountable. the people of iowa held them

accountable. i happen to be the chair and spokesperson of this issue and people voted those three justices off the bench which i believe was in there right and they did what they had to do. host: you are on the air. >> as a christian conservative myself, i want -- i want to caution my fellow christian conservatives not to cut off your nose despite your face, which i noticed a lot of times the christian conservative movement gets so hung up on the issue of life and gay marriage that they are willing to turn their back on people who would be good, solid conservative

candidates. you have to remember there is no president that can jolo abortion. there is no president that can outlaw gay marriage just by a stroke of the pen. those things are not going to happen. it's imperative to keep in mind the primary goal is to fire barack obama. if we do not fire barack obama, we will be and more serious heard over the next four years. guest: that is a good and regards that we do not want to cut off our nose to spite our face. of all of the candidates in the race, even including mitt romney, all on record to beat pro life and pro one man, one- woman marriage as god designed

it and intended it. but as i said at the onset of the show, not only are we concerned about life and marriage, we talked about the separation of power and the constitution. i think the courts are a big issue in this campaign as well. anything that impacts the family, we want to be concerned about. we do want to fire barack obama and get a probe family candidate in the white house. when you strengthen the family, you have a strong america. they go hand in hand. host: dan on the independent line in tennessee, you are on the "washington journal." caller: the first thing he mentioned is that life begins at conception. that is not in balance with that today a-christian ethic. where did he get that?

guest: back up your statement with your resources. what do you mean? caller: in the literature, long before christ, life begins at first breath. and there is other major religions around the world that feel the same way. i want to know, where does he get the idea? host: we got the point. guest: dan, where we stand on that is we go to a song 139 -- psalms 139. every day is ordained before you even came to be. sciences outlining that fact that life begins at conception. i do not be dead is a belief

that i believe. i believe that that is of fact. host: brooklyn, new york, don, a democrat. caller: do you consider killing iraqis to be a christian conservative family values? and i think it is an oxymoron to call yourself that. 100% pro love and defense of marriage, i mean, being pro-war is not being pro-life. guest: i am not sure they got all of that board -- if i got all that. greetings. congressman paul is pro-life. i have travelled with him for a whole day in the state of iowa, three different locations. and with his wife, one of the

days that we traveled together, no doubt that ron paul is one under% pro-life. -- 100% pro-life. if you get the sanctity of life right, you'll get a lot of other things right. if you get that wrong, you get all lot of other things wrong. he is also about one man and one woman marriage, as is rick santorum. you're getting in the foreign- policy issues. i happen to believe that rick santorum probably stands above on those issues. newt gingrich is very solid on the foreign policy issues. as much as i like ron paul, on a lot of his conservative values and issues, i am concerned about when it comes to iran and a ahmedinejad and the capability to have a nuclear weapon and the threat to israel. so i agree so much with what ron paul's and if he is the nominee, i'll be enthusiastically behind him, not

only because of life and marriage, his economic issues. he is been -- he has been almost prophetic in this process. host: bob vander plaats, could you see christian conservatives supporting a third party? guest: i do not see the -- the third party being our option. the third party would elect barack obama. when i hear third-party rumors of different people that might consider a third-party run, i really hope that is not the case. i believe we are going to get a good candidate out of this republican primary. and i happen to believe that there is a lot of time left. there still should be a surprise out of iowa. with a guy like rick's santorum, i think there is going to be a long nomination process to take place. i think we will get the right candidate that we can enthusiastically get behind, but i do not think that third

party is the option. host: we showed you some ads earlier from the candidates. i am sure that iowans are being inundated. here's one from rick santorum. ♪ ♪ ♪

>> i am rick santorum and i approve this message. host: bob vander plaats, that was one of the pop-up ads that he has been using. the next call comes from ed in elmhurst, ohio. caller: i am a christian and conservative and religious. but i feel we republicans are being extremely hypocritical year. how can we as christians possibly support someone like newt gingrich, who has been married three times? how can we support someone like mitt romney who has sat in the past that he is pro-choice and pro-gay rights?

that really bothers me that we do not have a candidate out there, a republican candidate, that absolutely reflects religious conservative values. thank you. guest: peter, i want to address that adverse. that is one of the reasons why rick santorum is running a positive campaign and we will have paid january 3 surprise. what happens with negative ads is that it tears down one candidate, but the candidate launching the attack usually hurts that candidate as well. i do not think there is any room for someone to be president when the best they have to offer is to tear someone else down to build themselves up. to get to ed's question as to newt gingrich and governor romney, that is one of the reasons why we've vetted here in ottawa. i think newt gingrich would be the first to say that he has

made a lot of mistakes, some he wish he could have to overs on. this was not a road to des moines the conversion. i think this took place several years ago. for us as christians, when there are light changes the heavens rejoice. maybe uni on earth should rejoices well. it does not mean that newt is a perfect person. he has been very open that if you want a perfect candidate, it is not him. but he has been open and honest about his mistakes and he is concerned about this country. that is a good thing. governor mitt romney, that is one of our concerns. not only has he been passionately on both sides of a lot of issues, it seems like he has selective memory in determining where he has been on both sides of the issues. he is never said that he was wrong or apologized that the romney era in massachusetts is good and that is why he would repeal obamacare.

he keeps saying that it was right for massachusetts but he would repeal obamacare. i guess for a guy that is for rick santorum, i am glad you did not mention him in that question. host: the next call for bob vander plaats, president and ceo of the family later group, our independent line. kimberly, we will have to hang out because we simply cannot hear you. your phone connection, sorry about that. moving on to dave, a democrat in pennsylvania. caller: hello. i am really surprised that people call themselves christian because in the 2000 election, you saw the republican-controlled supreme

court stop the voting in florida, put george bush, a republican, into office, and for the next six years after that he had republican control in both houses of congress. they did not stop abortion. i do not know why your christian people are talking about that. they voted for people that took us to iraq and killed 375,000 innocent people, made 5 million innocent widows and orphans of the there, and they worry about a few people having abortions over year. i think you're confused. that is not a christian basis to make. guest: maybe i missed the question in there. i think i got scolded. i do not think this is going to be an election where obama wins based on what george bush did. between 2000 and 2008.

these things are now on president obama's hands. we know that president obama -- under him, present -- unemployment has skyrocketed, we have a foreign-policy issue all over the place. he will not defend the defense of marriage act. i think there will be a referendum on president obama, a community organizer does not make a president. and david, in regard to christians, i would be the first christian to say we're not perfect. our faith is built on the understanding that we're not perfect. that is why we do need a savior. there is only one that was perfect and they nailed into a cross. believe me, if you're looking for a perfect candidate like newt gingrich or a perfect spokesperson for the christian faith, i would not be him. host: but tweet for you.

guest: no doubt. we are free to implement our teachings regardless of who is elected. but our belief that -- i forget the person of the -- the name of the person who sent the text, is that god has three institutions. his first institution was the family. he also instituted the church, but he also instituted government. he has three institutions, they are all near and dear to his heart. therefore our goal is to say let's promote godly birches and values. i think everyone would agree that we would be a lot better off not only in this country but all over the place. host: another tweet.

guest: you know, gordon, you're not going to get an argument from me in regards to saying, we're going to discriminate against anybody, but we're not going to talk about what we are against but what we are for. i think they got's design is clear. for the institution of the family, one man and one woman marriage. when you start messing around with marriage, you remove the parameters and the boundaries, anything becomes up for grabs whether you want to have polygamy. if someone believes that, maybe that is what they should have. if they want to marry my son or another man was to marry his daughter, if i want to marry a business partner for tax purposes -- marriage is simple and overwhelmingly supported in 31 states where a vote has been taken on in, we're 31-0.

in iowa, when three judges when outside of their constitutional bounds and declared iowa same- sex marriage state, we removed three justices. we're not saying that gay families -- gay people are not for families. but marriage as designed and its intent is one man and one woman, designed for procreation and the training of our replacements to develop a civilized society. host: another tweet. guest: our organization is tax exempt. that is called the iowa and family policy center. our marriage matters industry and family nurturing ministry, the family leaders is actually

a 501 c 4. to either promoted candidate or promote an issue. under our umbrella, we have several things because of the tax codes and tax laws, but we tried the best we can to be as diligent as possible. host: bob vander plaats is the president and ceo of the family later. caller: an earlier caller had a question about like beginning at conception. -- life beginning at enmeshed -- conception. i enjoyed the answer that you gave the caller, but i have an objection that in the old testament, -- the new testament, elizabeth the mother of john the baptist talk to mary the mother of jesus when he was

six months -- when she was six months pregnant. mary speaks to the angel gabriel and she realizes she is pregnant with jesus. when elizabeth comes into the room with mary, john quite literally left in his mother's womb. m very moment that mary finds out that she is with child, that baby john the baptist in his mother's womb detected the presence of the holy spirit. host: what is your point here? caller: that is my point. people want to know what our evidence is. guest: brian, that is a really good answer. one i did not choose to use but you are right.

according to the scriptures, john did leap in his mother's womb. when mary came in and found out that she was with child. host: green bay, wisconsin, all on the independent line. you are on the air with bob vander plaats. caller: i agree with you, rick santorum will make the best president we will -- we have had in a long time. that is all i want to tell you. guest: i want you to know how refreshing your call is. what is happening across the country -- what i found that as i was going around iowa and the country is hearing people say they might be for one candidate, but they like rick's santorum. rick santorum always been -- always seem to be in the top two. i think he is catching on at the right time. another news network talk about this dealt santorum campaign,

that there could be a search for santorum. if they coalesce around him, they can lift him to victory in the state of iowa and becomes an alternative to romney. if that is the case, i think rick santorum wins that battle and becomes the next president of the united states. he is feed it -- he is defeated three incumbent democratic senators and representatives. even people who disagree with him, although you do not agree with him on the issues, he does not, crosses disagreeable. he comes across as awful, intellectual, and logical. -- as thoughtful, intellectual, and logical. host: an e-mail. i do not want to live in a theocracy. what is wrong with president obama's values?

guest: first of all, what she pointed out there with president obama is that he of the and michelle have been a model. they have been a model for their own personal family as a husband and wife and being committed and married to one another. they have been a model in raising their two daughters before the country and for the world to see what the family looks like. a concern with president obama is not about his marriage and about he and michelle raising their daughters. my concern with president obama is a lot of the policies i do not believe are pro-family. i want my children to have an america that is better than what i inherited. i want them to have the opportunity of free enterprise and have an ultimate freedom in living in a world where there are some basic core values and core principles to elevate the family, such as marriage and a respect for life, such as judicial restraint and

separation of powers. those are all things that i do not believe his policies would reflect, being pro-family. it is hard seeing michelle and raising their two children, i applaud and admire them for that. but when it comes to actual policies to benefit the families, that is where we disagree. host: another campaign ad from rick perry. >> i am not ashamed to admit that i am a christian but you do not have to be in the q every sunday to know that there is something wrong in the country when gays can serve open in the military but our kids cannot openly celebrate christmas or pray in schools. as president, all in the obama's war on religion and i will fight against liberal attacks on our religious heritage. feith made america strong. it can make her strong again. i hamrick perry and i approve this message. host: your reaction to that ad?

guest: the first time i saw that was a few weeks ago. i thought was a bold ad. obviously i like that at and the response i got from a lot of people in iowa was just the same. they thought that if rick perry had introduced himself that way to the people of high -- of iowa, a person of faith, not ashamed to stand up for his faith, he is not going to leave his faith that the white house steps, that is actually hillises' -- who he is, they may have given him more passes in his debate performances. but it was behind the curve instead of the head of the curve. i think what rick perry points out in the ad is that it seems like we're being driven by a lot of agendas right now, versus what is right and what is good. and obviously rich. to has served in the military and served our country so well, and other candidate we could enthusiastically get behind if he was the nominee of our party, it points out that even

in the military, he sees that being used as an agenda and a lot of people i would agree with him. host: bob vander plaats is in the "washington journal" studio in des moines. we will be live every morning from now until the caucuses in iowa happen. a democrat in north carolina, you're on the "washington journal." caller: let me have a little time to get my thought across. all these people that is out of work, people need jobs. every time that mr. obama for president obama it gets something going, the republicans of struck him. their main goal was to make sure that he is a one-term president. people are not worrying about marriage and abortion.

also, speaking of christian values, the churches, they do not even called god, has named where you can find his name. they do not know christian values. they teach that hellfire doctrine and the immortal soul. all those things are false teachings. i know that he reads his bible. host: any reaction to his comments? guest: up your reactions. i agree with william that this country does need jobs and it is a per-family issues. for someone like myself who has not only studied economics but has taught economics and has been in private eye business and industry, we did an environment where jobs can be created. if government is creating jobs, they are treating the wrong jobs. we need jobs right here with private industry.

you need industry with fairtax station unfair regulations so that businesses and industry can develop, grow, prosper, and so they can have jobs. i think it is a very pro-family issues. when we get to life and marriage and why sometimes we make that up focus here and i'll let to start out with, any time we are hiring someone, and that is what we're doing for the president of the united states, we are hiring someone and you want to find out what their core values are. your determining why you can trust them and their level of integrity. if you can trust them on issues like a life and marriage, then you can trust them on leading the economy and national security or energy policy. that is why governor mitt romney has such an issue here in iowa and across the country. people feel that trust gap with him on a core value issues and they wonder if he will really do what is right when it comes to the economy and other family

issues like that. host: bob vander plaats, this week for you. guest: without question. take a look at his history. senator santorum won in a democrat state of pennsylvania. he did not only when the u.s. house rate that he should not have won by defeating an incumbent democrat, he then went on to win a u.s. senate race and he was very effective. he had to have a lot of independent and conservative democrats voting for him. when he went to washington, he was basically tea party before tea party was cool. it was part of the gang of seven, taking on the establishment of washington. he went forward with welfare reform that gave people the dignity of work, which william pointed out, gave them the dignity of work.

poverty rates drop to the lowest levels in our recent history. i think rick sort forum -- santorum could win across this country because he is a true american that happens to love america. host: last call for bob vander plaats comes from arizona. caller: u.s. put down mitt romney in almost every one of your statements. why don't you say, because he is a mormon you do not believe he is a christian. you talk about what that could man newt gingrich is. i do want one his mistress to be in the white house. and he wanted little kids to go to work. you know why they should not? people like newt gingrich, all of these men they leave their wives and have affairs and these little kids on welfare is and everything else, but newt gingrich, he is fine. host: what about mitt romney's

religious affiliation? guest: you sounded like a political action committee going after new gingrich for a separate. i never mentioned his mormon as some. a lot of people and i will do not come up to me and talk to be at about his mormon ism, but his passionate stances on issues and how say -- how they seemed the very dependent on the audience is addressing of the campaign is trying to win mid- 1994 campaign against senator kennedy when he was very pro- choice and very pro-same-sex marriage is way different than the campaign he is waging in 2011 and 2012 to get the republican nomination. there is a trust factor. nothing to do with his mormon faith a religion. if i thought that was the key issue for me, i would've

brought that out because that is the kind of guy i am. that is not the key issue. as far as newt gingrich is concerned, as a christian and person of faith, a hallmark of our faith is forgiveness. cost is very clear saying that if we are not willing to forgive others, how can he forgive us? newt gingrich, no doubt he has made mistakes, but he has apologized and i believe he has repented. if he became our candidate, i couldn't do is a classically get behind him. host: bob vander plaats has been our guest for the last 45 minutes. thank you for being on the "washington journal" this morning. guest: i appreciate and i hope you enjoyed des moines. it is a great place to kick off his presidential caucus. host: every four years they make us feel welcome. >> tomorrow, alice stewart of the michele bachmann campaign

and what our strategy will be in the final days before the january 3 iowa caucuses. then republican party chairman matthew strawn and what his thoughts are concerning the current gop field. after that, johns hopkins university professor robert means of u.s. ethanol policy and the impact it has had on energy and the environment. plus your phone calls and acoming up next is ed fallon, one e-mails. "washington journal," live at 7:00 a.m. eastern on c-span. >> are c-span cameras are calling the candidates throughout the state. we are taking your calls on the "washington journal." kegan stay up-to-date on our website with new features with videos from campaign stops. you can see what the candidates have said on issues important to you.

read what the candidates, political reporters, and people like you are saying on sites like facebook and twitter.com of all act -- all at c-span.org /campaign2012. >> live from iowa state fair grounds in the morning, representative ron paul. mitt romney also spent the morning and iowa, speaking at clinton. earlier in the day, mr. romney took a jab at mr. paul, who has emerged as his chief rival in iowa, saying he thinks it is ok for iran to have a nuclear weapon. i don't. here is mitt romney in clinton. >> congressman, come on up.

he can explain to you what we are doing here. >> thank you all for being here. the governor is across the street and he is headed over here, but as we know, a few more of you showed up than planned. he is talking to them and he asked us to come over here and get the show started on this side of the street. i am a congressman from illinois. my home is peoria. i am here because, like you, i want a nominee who can win, who could do the job, and retire barack obama as president of the united states. [applause] i tell you, my siblings scratch their heads and say -- said, where are you going over the christmas holiday? florida, california? no, iowa. it is because i believe how important this election is and i know all of you want to do the right thing in nominating

the right candidate for our party. we all know how critical this election is, not only for our party but for the future of the country, the direction of the country. could any of you in this room have imagined what could have been done in our country in three years in terms of the optimism and proceed opportunity for current americans in the next generation? i certainly couldn't. i fear for what another four years of an obama presidency could mean to the future of our country. living in iowa, you know a little bit about chicago politics, right? when i say this to somebody in florida they say, what you mean chicago politics? i know many of you have kind of joke with some of us in illinois about our former governor, ron blagojevich. you joke and say how did that guy ever get reelected in illinois? do you know who his campaign manager was? david axelrod? do you know who has been running the statewide elections -- the obama for american team.

and i would submit to you that the presidential cycle we are about to go through, for many of you it will be the nastiest presidential campaign you have ever seen, because that is exactly how guys like rod blagojevich and his cronies got elected. running very incendiary and negative campaigns. why is it important? it is important that we nominate a candidate that can hold the banner and go toe to toe with barack obama and withstand the furnace of attacks and political rhetoric, who is trial tested, who is not prone to gaffes, for whom the election will not become about their personalities but rather the principles and values they stand for. mitt romney has been through a few elections. he is time tested and you know where he stands and he is not prone to gaffes, and he is the right guy to be the candidate.

but second, winning is not the only thing that is important. i will hold up who is in the oval office today, that just winning does not mean you can do the job. being in congress my third year, i can tell you there are no shortages of great ideas in washington. there are some people i serve with who give wonderful, floury speeches about what ought to be done and what the right policies -- policies it would be. but they are not too good at executing, delivering. likewise, we have candidates on the stage right now wanting to be the next president will have some really good ideas. but we need somebody who has the track record of delivering, of working in very difficult circumstances. when you look at a guy like mitt romney, he has an impressive record in the private sector, in the furnace of adversity, of trial and error and starting companies -- some successful, some not.

that is a track record of success. you see what he did with the olympics and turning around a very dysfunctional organization and making it successful, making it profitable. then you see what he did in a state like massachusetts which, like iowa, is kind of a swing state -- a few democrats in iowa, a few democrats in massachusetts. maybe there are more in massachusetts. 85% -- think about this -- 85% of mitt romney's legislature was democratic. 85% in the house and 85% in the senate, and as governor, he not only have the vision, but more importantly, he could accomplish the goal of cutting taxes 19 times, balancing the budget in that little state of four years and leaving them with a $2 billion rainy day slush fund of savings. as the governor of massachusetts.

you give us that guy in washington, d.c., as our president and we could turn this country around. he's got the good ideas, but equally important, he's got a track record of getting things done. finally, there's one candidate that has the white house worried. think about this -- what do they know that we all know? writ -- mitt romney is the guy that could win. why else would joe biden in the middle of our primary, when there are ups and downs, why would joe biden take mitt romney to go after in the newspaper with is op-ed piece? why would it only be mitt romney's bus that the democratic operatives are trailing all across the state? because you know what they know, which is mitt romney is the guy they fear most. so, let's give them something to worry about next tuesday. let's send them a message that iowa is about to do what every other state in this nation is, which is to send the white house a big message -- it is

time for you to go, time for us to restore confidence, and time for us once again to believe in america. thank you all for being here today. and it is my pleasure to introduce to you the next first lady of the united states of america, anne romney. >> thanks, aaron. you are going to get along version. when i go out on my own, i tell the longer story about our life and the personal side, which is a whole lot more fun, by the way, then talking about politics. this is fun for me. i would just keep on talking until mitt it's over here. i will tell you the personal story and the side of mitt some of you may not have heard about or seen, which is how he is like as a husband and father. we have been married for 42 years. we met in high school. we are high school -- were high-school sweethearts and we still are sweethearts.

five wonderful sons and 16 grandchildren. i think some of you know the other, satyr tougher part of my life, and some notes -- sadder, tougher part of my life. i was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1998 and it was a devastating thing in my life. i went from being a very active, involved, and hands on mom to hardly been able to take care of my self. i could not get to the store, could not cook full -- could not cook food. was in bed most of the time. during this time, mitt was helping me out and recognizing that i had sort of given up on life in many ways and thought my life was over. i so appreciate how he stood by me in my darkest hour. and he rallied me to the point of saying, look, i don't care whether dinner did on the table

every night. it does not matter to me. i am happy with peanut butter sandwiches. i remind him of this often now. but he meant this and he said, look, i love you -- not that i love that you make dinner, i love you, and we are going to be ok. i really appreciated that. he gave me the courage to start fighting the disease and to struggle on. i did, and it was a struggle. i have to say one thing about having gone through this. i was in a pretty dark hole, a pretty bleak. and one thing it has done for me, it has tempered my heart, recognizes that all of us have struggles. mine happened to be physical. i see in this country right now, people are struggling. people are afraid. people are out of work. we all have our struggles. if so, -- so, we are all going to learn from these experiences.

it looks like there is more commotion coming from across the street, so we will shut it off than when mitt comes in. i appreciate the fact that he stood by me and my darkest hour. i will also talk about how great he was as a young father. boys were not easy. aaron, how many in your family? >> four. >> ok, just two boys. but five boys is not easy. they were rambunctious and they were naughty. it being a grandmother is the greatest thing in the world. when my grandchildren misbehave, it is the greatest day in my life. i just love it. i love to look of my boys and say -- you guys deserve it. you deserve it. mitt was great during those early years because he would remind me when i was exasperated that my job was more important than his job.

and i loved that. and the whole thing was, he actually meant it. he was a big hot shot consultant in those days and he was well paid and everybody thought he was the smartest guy in the room. but when he came in the door, he knew that i ruled. [laughter] [applause] and, you know, he gets reminded of that often. so, that is great. we so appreciate him. here he comes. i see the press is all crowding in. we will let the show keep going here. it looks like the press is proceeding. here he is. [applause] sweetheart, i am going to give you just a little background. we all told everybody -- everyone that you are the most marvelous in the world. aaron has introduced and given his spiel and i have given mind.

it looks like the press is still flooding through the doors. [laughter] leave them out there. >> it is warm out there. >> it is a bit brisk. i will just conclude by saying it has been a wonderful adventure to have been married to this man for 42 years. and i am excited about what he is going to do when he gets his hands on those reins and the white house, because we are all concerned about america and the direction it is going. we will turn it around for you guys. thanks. [applause] >> thank you, suite. -- sweetie. you are so kind to turn out for me. where is homer? [laughter] you don't look like homer to me. you are so kind to turn out like this, in clinton, and i really appreciate your generosity. the time that people in iowa

take to get to know the candidates running for president, you have a big say in to who are nominee is. and you and people in new hampshire likewise take the time to get the know the candidates and to know the issues. i just want you to know how much we all appreciate that, and i appreciate that personally. you get to know us, you make an informed decision, and that helps the entire country that does not have the same opportunity to see the different candidates. so, i appreciate you being here today and being so supportive. i will say a few things and allow you to ask a couple of questions, if we have time. we are kind of in a hurry because we have done this twice. the other side of the street there is another restaurant. which one is the better restaurants? i thought you might say that. i mentioned over there that i had been thinking about some patriotic songs. i love the patriotic songs. i love, of course, the star spangled banner.

the fact that we are the only people on the world who put our hands over our hearts during the planning of the national anthem. do you know fdr began that tradition? he did it in honor of the men and women whose lives are being shed in far off places, in honor of the blood being shed. i love the song, "0 beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain." does corn qualify? the other part -- "heroes proved in liberating strife." this man here is retired u.s. air force. not so young anymore. how many veterans in this room? thank you for your service -- gentlemen, ladies. [applause] iere's another verse that sort of breeze over as i sang it as a boy -- "o beautiful,

for patriot dream, that sees beyond the years." the idea was the patriots' that found that this nation had a vision that was beyond just their decade or decades, but, frankly, would see beyond the years. that the principles they put in place would be principles that would sustain america and build a great nation. i do not think they could possibly imagine what kind of nation would actually be built by virtue of their wisdom and their dreams. they crafted a country based on a number of principles. one was written in the declaration of independence where they said that the creator and out of with rights -- not the king, not the government, but the creator. that we as individuals become a sovereign, not the government.

the government is the servant. that is one thought they had. [applause] they went on to say, among these rights were life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. and we cherish life, and respect the sanctity of life. we have fought and died as a nation over history of our liberty, and we shared it with others. the term pursuit of happiness, that was carefully chosen by the founders. and you wonder, what were they referring to? it is really this -- in america, we would be free to choose our happiness, choose our course in life, regardless of the circumstances of our birth, regardless of the decisions of government telling us what to do and how to do it. we would be free, free to choose our course in life. this would be a land of opportunity. and by virtue of that reality, people from all over the world who wanted freedom and opportunity, they came here. they knew that in america, they

could achieve their dreams through education, if they could afford it, hard work, risk- taking -- not always easy to pursue a dream without taking some risk. maybe a little luck. and by virtue of people coming here who saw opportunity, we created what i will call an opportunity nation. where the people who were successful in realizing their dreams helped employee the rest of us. and they lifted the entire country. we are now the wealthiest nation among the major nations in the world. did you realize the average income of an american, gdp per capita, is about 50% higher than the average income of the european? these are the european nations from which many of us sprung, and yet we are far better off. why is that? not because our dna is different. we've got the same dna. it is because these founders had such an extraordinary

dream, such an extraordinary vision. now, i look at america today, and i relish that vision and i am frightened we have a president that does not understand america, that does not understand what makes us unique. he says he wants to fundamentally transform america. he is doing it. i don't like what i am seeing. he has been in office for three years. we have 25 million americans still out of work or stopped looking or not able to find the employment they need. home values continuing to go down. we have median income in america that has dropped 10% in the last four years. it has not worked so well. he said in a speech in davenport about a year ago, he said this is our moment, this is our time. he has had his moment. now is our time. [applause] i think he wants to change america by it changing the nature of an opportunity society into, i will call it, an entitlement society where

everyone is entitled to whatever they would like. of the government takes from some and gives to others. in a society like that, hard work and education and risk- taking is not necessary. the government will do all of that for you. i believe an opportunity society. i did not want to fundamentally transformed america, but i want to restore the principles that made us the hope of the earth. i do not want to substitute nd for ambition. i did not want class warfare to poison the american spirit -- i do not want class warfare to poison the american spirit. i believe in the unity and passion that exists in the american people. in this campaign is not about replacing a person as president, but about the soul of america. it is about a very different course for america being taken by our present. he will transform america. i will restore america. i want to restore the page me dream. i want freedom. i want the opportunity. i want our kids to grow up in a place where the dreams can be realized.

i want america to remain the hope of the earth and the hope of americans. i love this country. when i was a boy in my dad and my mom drove us from national parks and national park. we were in the back of the rambler -- my dad made ramblers. i saw the beauty of the land and i heard from my mom and dad the stories about the founding of our country. i believe in america. i believe we got it right. i believe in the principle that the founders espouse. i don't want to change america into something we did not recognize. i want to restore to america of the economic vitality, the power and passion of the american people to ensure this country remains, as it has always been, the strong mission of the earth, the hope of the earth. thank you so much. great to be with you today. [applause] here is a question already. champions -- whose champions?

st. louis cardinals. >> of the strait of hormuz -- >> at if ahmadinejad decides to block the streets of hormuz -- i will not tell you what military action will be taken in each circumstance because there are a lot of factors. but it is not acceptable in my view for iran to have a nuclear weapon. for those who say, well, the soviet union had a nuclear weapon. the difference was we have mutually assured destruction and the soviets were not suicidal. the mullah and the ayatollah's are suicidal and talk about wiping out people and the plan. no question in my mind that the risks fissile terry could find their hands -- their way into the hands of hamas.

i would pursue, understanding the options to prevent iran from becoming nuclear. diplomatic options, economic options, as well as military options. it is incumbent upon the president of the united states to recognize our interest and not to engage in military conflict unless absolutely essential and in the interest of the united states. i can say this as well -- which is, i know there are some who think we should shrink our military and think it is just too big. the world has not become safer in the last few years. it is a more dangerous world. and i want to maintain a strong military that is so superior that nobody else in the world wants to test us. [applause] and so, i am going to take our shipbuilding from nine a year of to 15 a year. i am going to restore the growth of our air force, to update the fleet of our aircraft. i want to add at least 100,000

active-duty personnel. and i want to make sure we treat our veterans in the way they deserve to be treated. thank you. yes, sir. >> our republican party right now is really fractured in many different groups. i consider myself a moderate republican. as republican, i feel it is time to cut spending. as a moderate, i feel it is not a sin to have to pay taxes, but i do think it will be a sin if we have to ship the crisis of this debt to our grandkids and great crash and kids -- great grandkids. when you are president, what will you do to take care of this, that we pay our bills and not the future generations? >> i happen to think it is immoral for us to keep spending money we don't have and passing on to our kids our obligations.

we just can't go on like this. in the past we said what i just mentioned, which is it is wrong to just keep pushing these bills off and having these kids having to pick up these bills because we will just crush them with debt. interest rates are low right now. when they come back a little bit, the interest payments and principal payments will just kill the future generations. it is not fair, it is not right. but there is also something even more immediate, which is right now, businesses around the world are thinking about where to put a new building, a new factory, they look at america and say, gosh, are they going to get in trouble like greece and italy? that is a good question. because if will stay on the course we are on, that is where we are headed. we are headed on a course where people do not have confidence in america's currency. and there is no one big enough

to bail us out. and we simply cannot go on. that old line, and if so -- that if something cannot go on forever, it will not. we cannot keep borrowing -- spending more than we've taken. i will pull back federal spending. i will not just slow down the rate of growth, i will reduce federal spending. i will cut $500 billion a year. and i laid out how i will do it. it is not impossible. there are three major streams. one is to stop certain programs. stop them. close them. turn them off. even some you like. why do i say that? my test is, is the program so critical it is worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? so, some things you might like -- i like the national endowment of arts, pbs we subsidize it. i am going to say pbs is going to have to have advertisement.

i am not going to kill big bird. but he will have to have advertisement. we will have an endowment for arts, but i have to be paid by private charity and not by taxpayers. and the biggest and easiest one to kill, obamacare. we will get rid of that on day one. and then i will take some programs that grow out of control -- federal programs that grow fast where the waste and abuse is excessive. a program like medicaid, which is health care for the poor, and send it back to the states and say to iowa, here is your money, which will grow at inflation but 1%, and you manage it for the way you think best for your own people. doing that saves $100 billion a year. and then what is left of government, i will cut employment by 10% through attrition and then i will link the pay of government workers to the pay of private-sector workers. i don't think people who work

for the government should make a lot more than the people who are paying for them. [applause] to get america working again, to get good jobs again, to be able to afford a military that is the strongest in the world, you have to have the strongest economy in the world. and we are not going to have a strong economy if we keep on borrowing ourselves into oblivion and crushing the next generation. high on my priority list is to balance the budget, cut spending, cap spending, to see a balanced budget amendment. we've got to get that done or bankamerica prosecutor is not one we will be proud of. i will take one more question. then i took a long look at perry -- >> i took a long look at perry -- [inaudible] you raise the benefits for the national guard -- raised the benefits for the national guard and also gave more for ice

training. >> i wish he had been given a microphone. i will repeat it. i want to make sure they hear it. >> doubled the national guard benefits in the massachusetts, and that is a big deal. when perry is allowing in state benefits for illegals, this man is raising the benefits for the national guard. as a former recruiter, that is a big deal. thank you, governor. >> we wanted more national guardsmen. people said, how are you going to get more people to join? we said, we will make them a better offer. if you come and join the national guard, when you come

out -- actually when you are still in, you can go to any massachusetts public institution of higher learning, tuition and fee-free. and that brought more people into our national guard. i also did and how our state police to enforce our immigration laws and ensure it they encountered people who were here illegally, they got sent back. we followed the kind of conservative principles that you would expect the governor to follow that is republican. i know you might think, wow, you are a republican governor in massachusetts? how could that be? there are people in both parties who love our country. even though we disagree on some issues, we could find common ground. the legislators agreed we should not raise taxes, they agreed we should have secure borders. i had a bill that came to my desk that said we would give in-state tuition breaks to illegal aliens in my state. i vetoed that bill. 85% of my legislature was democrat but i got a lot of people to uphold the veto.

there was a movement to get driver's licenses to those here illegally. i said, no way. we are not going to do that. let me underscore, as we talk about those things, by the way. i like illegal immigration a lot. -- i like legal immigration a lot. i like people getting in line and winning to come to america. i like those particularly who speak english, who have degrees, still vein -- we need. i want to stop illegal immigration in part to protect legal immigration. and i want to say thank you to our soldiers and others to protect our nation. [applause] this is an extraordinary welcome in clinton. i will not forget it. i thought if i was coming to a place called clinton, i would have difficulties. at least you are not called obama. but we received such a warm welcome and i am so pleased to be with you. i am so optimistic about the future. this country is an innovative, dynamic nation. we have a spirit of opportunity and enterprise and merit.

we will overcome our challenges, as long as we have a leader who will tell the truth and will live with integrity, who knows how to lead, who has actually lead in the private sector, understands how the economy works, and is willing to draw on the patriotism of the american people. we love america. americans, when we are asked to sacrifice, we will do it. i ask for your help. we will get america back on track. thank you. [applause] my goodness, thank you so much. you got my name on there? do you have another one? you are very kind to be here. good to see you.

thank you for being here. very kind. how are you? good to see you, marc. wonderful. look at that. the only place i consign it is on your sweater. -- can sign it is on your sweater. thanks for being here. thanks. i need it. if i get elected, those things will be --

good to see you. take care. thanks for being here today. thank you. how are you? good to meet you. this is iowa state. are you a wrestler? >> i wrestled in high school. >> nice to meet you. do you want me to sign that for you? thank you. how are you doing? is that your dad? is he a good guy? appreciate you being here today. you bet. it is this your wife over here? come over here to have your

picture taken. thank you. good to see you guys. could not resist it. thanks so much. you are kind to be here today. really appreciate it. thanks. good to see you. you've got one of these, too. what is your name? morgan? you are 12? great. seventh grader. good to see you, morgan. thanks for your question. >> could you take a picture of my former congressman and my present congressman? >> when you said your former, did not know what was going on here. good to see you.

that is great. there is a proud mom. they are back for the holidays. all three boys -- >> all three boys are with me this year. >> thank you. sure, you bet. hi, how are you? nice to see you. there's a hawkeye sweatshirt. thank you. nice to see you. hi, there. got to be careful. how are you doing? thank you.

you got a camera? there you go. is that your dad over there? look at this. did that work? what a miracle. i appreciate you being here today. very kind. i appreciate that. how are you doing? >> i am really concerned -- i could not bring it here today because my battery is down and i have to replace them. it is 100% american made car, and i would like to replace the battery roof -- with an american made battery. 25,000 american made, 10,000 chinese.

>> what a huge disparity. >> and a friend of mine who wrote the words to "god bless america" -- "got less of the usa,"excuse me. >> lee greenwood. >> are we going to have to buy our -- from china? >> we are getting higher and higher productivity. >> part of the mix. >> you got it. perfect.

thank you so much. you are very kind. exactly right. there he is right there, there's the guy. thank you for your service. >> can i take a picture? >> you bet. absolutely. appreciate your service. very kind. great, thank you. nice to see you. yep. thank you so much. you are very kind.

you bet. i will do it. thank you. how are you, sir? >> spur of the moment. [laughter] [inaudible] i have been doing it for 20 or 30 years. [laughter] >> hi there, how are you? good to see you. appreciate your help today. how are you doing?

18? you are going to get to vote this year. you are very kind. going into college, the military? >> military. >> the navy? appreciate your service. san diego? >> mississippi digging -- >> say hi to your fellow sailors. [laughter] >> i am a legal immigrants. >> thank you for being here.

there we go. thank you. good to meet you. you bet. hi there, sweetie. good to see you. >> thank you. >> thanks, guys. good to see you. thank you. >> can i get a photo? >> sure, you bet. there we go. >> beautiful.

>> nice to see you. yeah. darn good question. thank you. nice to see you. thanks for being here. how are you, sir? good to see you. appreciate you being here. you bet. who's got the camera? >> perfect. >> good to meet you. wonderful seeing you back there. thanks so much. [laughter] take care. >> mr. president? >> i hope i get that title. what is that? potato soup? >> last night we made a mistake

and didn't -- >> we will get there. very kind. there you go. there's the camera. thank you. good to see you. take care. one more time here. thank you. good to see you. thank you. good, thank you. you are homer? >> part of it. >> how are you guys doing? good to see you. how are you doing? good to see you guys. good to meet you. we are running off. we are running off.