[captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> former massachusetts, under mitt romney won his first test in the republican presidential race pulling the head of rick santorum by eight votes in the iowa caucuses. each of them got about 25% of the vote, with ron paul getting 21%, coming in third. the final three candidates were once considered a leading contenders. newt gingrich came in fourth with 13% of the vote. rick perry, 10%. michele bachmann came in with 5%. michele bachmann is holding a news conference this morning at

11:00 eastern and is likely to talk about the future of her presidential campaign. in her concession speech she said she is the republican that can and will defeat president obama. she planned to spend new hampshire -- skip new hampshire. we will find out what her plans are this morning. the fifth place finisher rick perry says he is turning to texas to reassess his campaign. before the caucuses, the campaign had released its full schedule of events in south carolina he says with a little -- carolina. he says with a little prayer and reflection he will decide on the best step forward. next up, mitt romney's speech last night after learning he won the iowa caucus by eight votes. we might also hear from president obama at his appearance this afternoon in

cleveland. we will keep you posted on that. [applause] >> what a great welcome. we love you, iowa. this has been such a terrific night. congratulations to rick santorum. he fought so hard and we don't know when yet but here we are. [applause] this is the beginning of a journey and i think all of you in this recognize how important this journey is. i am thrilled to introduce to you the next president of the united states. [applause] >> we don't know what the final vote tally will be but congratulations to rick santorum. this has been a great victory and a great achievement for him and a great victory for us here. [applause] this has been terrific.

i think it is great that here in the heartland of america that a campaign begins. all three of us will be campaigning is very hard to make sure we restore the heart and soul of the entire nation. thank you iowa for the great sendoff you're giving us and the others in the campaign. this is campaign tonight where america wins. we will change the white house and get america back on track. [applause] i am proud tonight to have been introduced by my sweetheart of longer than 42 years. behind her, four of our five sons. one of her sons is a resident at a hospital so he cannot be here tonight. this has been a family affair for us and we feel like family in this room with you. you guys have been extraordinary. [applause]

for those that don't know, this volunteer team has done extraordinary work. i hope you understand. when i ran four years ago, we have 52 members of our full-time staff. this campaign we have had five. you guys have done the work on the direction of david and sarah. thank you to the [applause] m. you were working and we are all working together because of our passion for this country and the concern that is being led by a president who may be a nice guy but is over his head. four years ago tonight, he was giving a victory celebration speech here in des moines. he had been going across the state and making all sorts of promises and the gap between his promises four years ago and his performance is as great as anything i have ever seen in my life. we face an extraordinary

challenge in america and that is internationally, iran is about to have nuclear weapons and this president said he would have a policy of engagement. how has that worked out to? not terribly well. we have no sanctions of a severe nation put in place. the president was silent when dissident voices took to the streets in iran and he has not repaired the military options that would present credibly our opportunity to take out the threat that would be presented by iran. what about the economy? he borrowed $787 billion and his administration said they would hold on employment below 8%. it has not been below that since. people are unable to get the kind of jobs that will meet their needs. this is not just a statistic. livesare real people's

have been impacted severely, people lose their jobs over a long perry. of time they lose their marriages and lose their faith and become depressed. this is a tragedy and did not need to happen. almost everything the president has done has made it harder for businesses to grow and higher and put people back to work. there's one more aspect of his track record that has been a failure -- he was critical of president bush for not balancing the budget and having such a large deficit. his deficits have been three times larger or more. by the end of his first term, he is on track, his only term, by the white -- [applause] -- by the way [applause] {crowd chants mitt]

he is on track to put almost as much public debt in place as all the prior presidents combined. this has been a failed presidency. i'm absolutely convinced that everyone to get jobs again in this country it will be helpful to have a person who has had a job in the private sector who can create jobs in the private sector. [applause] he said three years ago after being inaugurated that if he can i get this economy turned around in three years, i will be looking at one term proposition and we are here to collect. [applause] i will go to work to get america back to work by making america once again the most attractive place in the world for job creators and innovators and investors and jobs will begin to flow like that have in the past. i will keep our tax rates competitive, get regulators and regulations to see their job to encourage enterprise and make sure we open up new markets for american goods and finally take

advantage of the energy resources we have in oil and gas and coal and nuclear and renewable energy. [applause] i will also do the work of finally cutting our federal spending and capital we spend and balancing our budget. it is immoral for us to spend our kids' future year after year with trillions of dollars passed on to the next generation knowing we cannot get -- possibly pay back. it is wrong. in my administration, it will end. [applause] you have heard me say this before -- how can i cut programs? i will look at all the programs we have in the federal government and i will ask with regards to each one is that program is so critical it is worth borrowing money from china to pay for it? on that basis, we will have many

programs and the number one on the list ofc obamaare. that will be gone. [applause] this election is bigger even than jobs and a strong economy. it is bigger than the budget that needs to be balanced and deficits and debt begins to be reduced. it is really an election about the soul of. america are we going to continue to hew to the vision of the founders. when they crafted this country and wrote the declaration of independence, they said the creator had endowed us with certain unalienable rights including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. that 'phrase purser'of happiness deals with the opportunity associated with this nation. people came here from all over the world seeking freedom electorally but also personally, able to choose their own course in life they came to america. by virtue of their successes,

their passion, their energy, their pioneering, they helped lift a nation. they did not megaspore. that made us better off. the president has a different view. he wants an opportunity society. he learns from the welfare societies of europe were government takes and some to give to others. the only people who do well in that situation is those in the government to do the taking very the right course of america is to remain a merit society and opportunity nation. [applause] the right course for america economically, personally, morally is for america to restore the principles that made as the shining city on the hill, our conviction that freedom is a gift from god, our recognition that america as a merits aside a where people

based on their education, their hard work, their risk-taking, their dreams can lift themselves and let people around them and let our entire nation. that is what we need to restore in this country. i love this country. america the beautiful, o beautiful for spacious skies. another favorite verse -- o beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife. do we have any veterans and the run tonight? please, raise your hand. [applause] one more verse -- o beautiful for patriot dream that seas beyond. the years the patriots, the

founders of this country had a dream that was not just for their time but was an enduring dream. it seized on to our time. i don't want to do as the president says to fundamentally transform america into something we might not recognized. i want to restore the principles that made america the hope of the earth. i love our freedoms and i love our constitution and i love our land, i love our people and i love the fact that this is the land of opportunity. let us restore the greatness of america and keep this land, the hope of the earth. thank you so much for all your support. [applause] thank you, guys. ♪

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>> former massachusetts governor mitt romney last night in iowa where he got a micro-thin women, defeating rick santorum by just eight votes. he is headed to new hampshire. he will campaign this afternoon in manchester, new hampshire. later this afternoon he will be in the southwest of new hampshire where he will hold a town hall meeting. c-span cameras will be there. c-span is also in ohio where president obama is speaking about the economy. senior officials are saying the president will use the resource appointment to named richard crodray to the consumer financial protection bureau. he would serve as the -- for the

next two years. the official speaking on condition of anonymity from the associated press. minnesota congressman michele bachmann is expected to hold a news conference at about 11:00, and likely to talk about the future of her campaign. she is canceled a trip to south carolina. we will cover that news conference. former senator rick santorum came in second last night in the iowa caucuses. here is his speech last night after the caucus results were announced in iowa. it is 25 minutes.

>> my friends, mr. santorum. [applause] >> thank you. thank you. game on. [applause] i do not speak for most but there are a couple of things i want to say that are more emotional. i will read them as i wrote them. c.s. lewis said a friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can send it back to you when you have forgotten the words. my best friend, my life mate, who sings that song when i forget the words is my wife karen. [applause]

people ask me how i have done this, sitting back in the polls and not getting a whole lot of attention. how did you keep going out to iowa? 99 counties and 381 town hall meetings and speeches? every morning, when i was getting up the morning to take on that challenge, but it required a stick strength for another particular friendship, one that is sacred. i have survived the challenge is so far by the daily grace that comes from god. [applause] for giving me his grace every day and loving me is worth at

all. i offer a public thanks to god. [applause] the third thanks -- thank you so much, iowa. [applause] you, you, by standing up and not compromise and, by standing up and being bold and leading, leading with bad burden and responsibility you have to be first, you have taken the first step of taking back this country. [applause]

this journey started officially just a few months ago in june when i stood on the steps of the county courthouse in somerset county, pennsylvania. i decided to go there, not the typical place someone announces for president, not where i was born, not where i ever lived but it is where my grandfather came back in 1925. he came by himself even though he was married with two children, one of them being my father. he came after having fought in world war one because mussolini had been in power now three years that he had figured out that fascism was something that would crush his spirit and his freedom and give his children something less than he wanted.

for wanted he made a sacrifice. he left to the coal fields of southwestern pennsylvania and worked in the mine at a company town and got paid with coupons. he lived in a shack and eventually figured out that that was a trip to nowhere so he started taking money less so he could start to save. he did after five years, he got his citizenship and brought my father over the age of seven. he ended up and continued to work in those mines until he was 72 years old, digging coal. i will never forget the first time i saw someone who had died it was my grandfather and i knelt next to his coffin and all i could do at a level was to look at his hands. they were enormous hands. all i could think was those

hands dug freedom for me. to honor him, i went to somerset county because i believe foundationally, while the economy is in horrible condition, why our country is not as safe as it was and wild threats are rising around the world, while the state of our culture under this administration continues to decline with the values that are unlike the values that built this country -- the essential issue in this race is freedom. whether we will be a country that believes that government can do things for us better than we can do for ourselves or whether we believe, as our founders did, that rights come to us from god and he gave us those rights, give us the freedom to go out and lived

those rights out to build a great and just society not from the top down but from the bottom up. [applause] my grandfather taught me basic things that my dad taught me over and over again, work hard, work hard, and work hard. i think about that today. there are so many men and women right now would love to work hard but they don't have the opportunity. we have two parties out talking about how they will solve those problems.

one wants to talk about raising taxes on people who have been successful and registered the money, increasing dependency in this country, promoting more medicaid and food stamps and all sorts of social welfare programs and passing obamacare to provide more government subsidies, more and more dependency, more and more government. that is exactly what my grandfather left in 1925. then there is another vision -- the republican vision which is to cut taxes, let's reduce spending and everyone will be fine. i believe in cutting taxes. i believe in balancing budgets. i propose cutting $5 trillion over this budget over the next five years. i support a balanced budget amendment that puts a cap a 18% of gdp as a guarantee of freedom for this country. [applause] i also believe we as

republicans have to look at those who are not doing well in our society by just cutting taxes and balancing budgets. that is what put forth a plan that in a webs responded to -- thatiowans responded to. if it's good enough for ronald reagan, it is good enough for me. [applause] then i would take the corporate tax and cut that and have because that is the highest in the world and we need to be competitive. when i travel around iowa to the small towns, i found a lot of those small towns were just like the small towns that i travelled around in pennsylvania. there were towns that were centered around manufacturing and the good jobs the build those towns. those jobs slowly, whether it

is in hamburg, newton, or any place in between, we found those jobs leaving iowa, why? because our workers did not want to work3. because the workers were not competitive? it is because government made worker is not competitive by driving up the cost of doing business here. it is 20% more expensive to do manufacturing jobs in this country than it is in the top nine trading partners we have to compete with. that is why we are losing our jobs. the republican purists say why are you treating manufacturing different than retail? i say because wal-mart is not moving to china and taking their jobs with them. [applause] we eliminate the corporate tax and manufacturers so we can compete.

we take the regulations, every regulation over $100 million and we repeal all those regulations. repeal them all and there is a lot of them. under the bush and clinton administrations, they averaged 60 regulations per year. this administration, hit 150 last year. you don't want to know what is crushing business. this administration is crushing business. [applause] people have asked me why you think you can win. we have been told by so many people that there is another candidate in this race who is running a rather} with me tonight. [laughter] that is a better person to choose because he can win. let me tell you -- [boos] >> romneycare.

>> what wins in america are bold ideas, sharp contrast, and a plan that includes everyone, a plan that includes people from all across the economic spectrum, a plan that says we will work together to get america to work. [applause] how did i win when i win -- one in pennsylvania? but because i went out and worked in the communities like i grew up in kabbalah butler, pa., a steel town. i was able to win as a congressman in a 60% democratic district and then in a 70% democratic district represented the old bended steel mills in

pittsburgh. all of them along the monongahela river, those mills were in my district and i ran a tough election year when george bush sr. was losing the election by a landslide in my district. i got 60% of the vote because i share the values of the working people in that district. if we have someone who can go out to western pennsylvania and ohio and michigan and indiana and wisconsin and iowa and missouri and appealed to the voters who have been left behind by a democratic party that wants to make them dependent instead of valuing their work, we will win this election. [applause] those are the same people that president obama talked about

who point to their guns and their bibles. thank god they do. [applause] they share our values about faith and family. they understand that when the family breaks down, the economy struggles. [applause] they understand when families are not there to instill values in to their children and into their neighbor's as little league coaches, as good neighbors, fathers and mothers being part of a community, that the neighborhood is not safe and they are not free. these are the basic values that america stands for and of those are the values that we need if we're going to go up against barack obama and win this

election and restore the founding principles of our country to america. [applause] i want to close by thanking all of. this has been an incredible journey. 99 counties, 381 town hall meetings, 36 pizza ranches - [laughter] i am not buttoning my coat for a reason. i love iowa but the affair can be thickening. it has been a great journey. the three words that i heard most often when i travel around this state --

>> welcome to iowa. >> welcome to iowa. [applause] i want to thank the people on stage, folks who stood up when no one else was standing up, folks the when i was sitting at single-digit in the polls believed in the message and the messenger, believe in the cause, and were willing to stand behind us and do what was not popular in the world today l,ead. they lead into each and everyone of you, i want to thank you for leading and doing what was necessary to promote the cause of liberty. thank you, a m includingatt

schultz. [applause] i have to give a shout out to the guy really helped us on the ground here as a volunteer late. he became a symbol of the campaign, the owner of thechuck truck. [laughter] i don't often talk about"the new york times" but i love that crap like that had had the entourage has traveled around the state and there were these long roads of buses and people and airplay su andv's and people and staff and at the bottom, was ch theuck truck, me and matt and one of my kids. [applause]

i started with this and i'll and with this -- i have written just one book in my life. "it's called it takes a family." i started talking about my wife and i will end talking about the other gems of my life, six of my kids are appear, elizabeth, john, daniel, maria, and patrick. they have not seen much of their dead over the past several months. yet they have stood by me every step of the way, encouraged me, and loved me unconditionally. another little girl who was not here tonight is our little angel. that is isabella maria. we don't take her out in crowds. she has a disability. she has a disability that,

according to the records, the statistics, is a week -- has a 1% chance of survival after one year. she is 3.5 years old. [applause] isabella is here with us in spirit and embedded into my heart. people ask me what motivates me. i say the dignity of every human life. [applause] god has given us this great country to allow his people to be free. he has given us that dignity because we are a creation of. we need to honor that creation

and whether it is the sanctity of life in the womb for the dignity of every working person in america to fulfill their potential, you will have a friend in rick santorum. we're off to new hampshire. [applause] the message i share with you tonight is not an ilem message or in iowa and south carolina message. it is a message that will resonate across this land. it will resonate in new hampshire. you think i have been in iowa a lot. i have been to new hampshire 30 times and have done more events than anybody but jon huntsman and he cheats, he lives there. [laughter] we will be in new hampshire. we will leave tomorrow and spend our time there. with your help and god's grace,

we will have another fun night a week from now. god bless you. [applause] ♪ ♪

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love was out to get me that's the way it seems that i saw her face now i am a believer not a trace of doubt in my mind i am in love i am a believer i could not leave her if i tried i thought love was more or less a giving the more i gave, the less i got what is the use of trying. >> former pennsylvania senator rick santorum getting 25% of the vote in last night i walked's caucuses. both candidates will be in new

hampshire today were the first in the nation primary takes place next tuesday. rick santorum is holding a town hall just east of manchester. we will have that live for you at 7:30 p.m. ahead of that more coverage from iowa. michele bachmann is holding a news conference at about a 11:00 possibly to announce her future plans. she won the straw poll last summer. we will have the news conference when it starts. also, we are covering president obama s. news reports indicate the president will use a resource -- a recess appointment to appoint richard cordray, which is likely to cause an awful roar around republicans in congress. the white house contends the pro

former legislative sessions are a gimmick, and the president has the right to make the appointment. we are covering his comments 1:15 from shaker heights. ron paul came in third last night in the iowa caucuses, getting 21% of the vote behind rick santorum and mitt romney. he spoke just north of des moines. we will show you as much of this as the can before the michele bachmann news conference gets under way at 11:00 eastern.

>> smile, you are related to ron paul. [applause] [laughter] >> good evening, everyone. is anyone excited? [applause] i have great news for everyone tonight. we have one of the three tickets out of iowa. as we go on, there are only two candidates in this race the alpha resources to compete as we head into nevada, -- the resources to compete as we head into nevada, new hampshire, and south carolina, and that is ron paul. did everyone have fun tonight? please join me in welcoming the

champion of the constitution, the thomas jefferson of our day, dr. ron paul. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you. [crowd chanting ron paul] >> thank you very much. thank you. i think you might recognize my wife. her picture is on that cookbook.

did anybody see that cookbook? [applause] >> well, thank you very much. what a delightful crowd. sometimes i say that was a good speech. i say no, that was a good crowd. that makes a good speech -- that makes all the difference in the world. we are one of two all that can run a national campaign. there is nobody else that has people like you working hard, enthusiastic, who believe in something. [applause] that is all the difference in the world. before i continue with any more comments, i least want to step forward three of our chairman. you not already a.j. striker, david fisher, and drew, who has

been the chairman. they have led the charge off route -- throughout iowa. [applause] >> all i could think about in tough campaigns in all the hard work is the work you people do. it is unbelievable. what makes me feel good about it is you are doing it because you believe in something. [applause] >> you also know there are two good things -- some people say you guys do that because you believe in something or promote a cause. certainly, but what is the best way to promote a cause? win an election. that is how you promote it. [applause] >> the enthusiasm has been

unbelievable. thousands are involved around the country. they are ready to go. we have to look at the wonderful changes in our country. the positive -- the country has suffered in a negative way. the economy is in trouble. civil liberties are being trashed. foreign policy has been a mess and drains us economically and with our military forces. at the same time, people are coming together, and we had the task of reintroducing some ideas the republicans needed for a long time, and that is the conviction that freedom is popular. [applause] >> once again, we have had a fantastic showing for this cause in challenging people --

not the status quo we have been pulling the -- putting up with. challenge them. olds go back to israel, fashioned idea -- this very -- this real, old fashioned idea, this dangerous idea -- let's obey the constitution. [applause] >> too often those who preach ltd. and small government forgets that invasion of your privacy is a big government and we have to emphasize protecting your personal rights and economic rights is what the government is supposed to do. they're not supposed to run our lives or spend our money. [applause] >> also, along those lines, what we have introduced with so much enthusiasm -- are here so often from volunteers, and the other day someone was refreshing my memory because that he knew the

statement. nixon said we are all keynesian is now, which meant that even the republicans accepted liberal economics. he said all i am waiting for the day we can say we are all austrians now. [applause] >> the biggest change in an intellectual and political changes that we have brought about is the emphasis on a very important matter -- making sure we get to the bottom of the ultimate bailouters, and that is our federal reserve system. we need a new monetary system, and to obey the constitution. the first and initial important step that is on the table -- today, a national poll came out, talking about how many people supported the gold standard. how long has it been since they

have taken a national poll on the gold standard? [applause] >> guess what, the majority of american people believe we should have a gold standard, not a paper standard. [applause] >> also, the great strides we have made has done on foreign policy -- the fact we can once again talking republican circles, and make it credible -- talk about what eisenhower said, be aware of the military industrial complex. the old days when robert taft said we should not be engaged in these and tingling in alliances. he did not want to be an nato. we do not need nato and the u.n. to tell us when to go to war. [applause] >> we have seen a great difference. the majority of the american people are behind us on this war effort. they are tired of the war.

it costs too much money. to many people get injured, killed, six, and the majority, maybe 70%, or 80% of the american people are now saying it's time to get out of afghanistan. [applause] [applause] those are the issues that we have broad front and center. there are out there. they will not go away. we have a tremendous opportunity to continue this momentum. it will not be long dead thethe hampshire and believe me, this momentum will continue. this movement will continue. we are going to keep scoring just as we have tonight. [applause] [cheers] so, [chanting ron paul] tonight we have come out of an

election where we are essentially three winners, three top vote getters. we will go on. we will raise the money. i have no doubt about the volunteers. [applause] they are going to be there. [cheers] a lot of you thanked me and complemented by and thanked me for helping but let me tell you, you helped me along and help my family along. without your enthusiasm, we cannot do it. this is where i feel most obligated. we want to do the job, present the case, and if anything is not perfect, i don't worry about myself, i worry about you and making sure you are satisfied. i think there is nothing to be ashamed of. let's be ready and rate to move -- raring to move answer.

[applause] -- new hampshire. [ chanting ron paul] [cheers] now, i have another speaker, a special guest tonight who has been with us this evening. he has been with us in the campaign for quite a few years. it may have met and because he has been around the city but i -- this evening, but would like to come out and say a few words. he has been serving in the military for 10 years and the has been overseas. a lot of it was in iraq and afghanistan. he was on television tonight and did not get to finish his statement. i asked him if he would come out and make his comments about why he supports our foreign policy and why he is fighting for the constitution and what he thinks we should do. i would like to invite out

jessie thronton to come out and say some words to you. thank you. [applause] >> how about ron paul? [applause] [cheers] if there is a man that there has a vision for this country, it is death in him. -- it is definitely m. - him. we don't need to be picking fights overseas. i think everybody else knows that, too. i am flabbergasted. this is an incredible moment. it is like meeting a rock star. we will go to new hampshire and will get involved and keep getting on line and keep talking to people and we are going to make sure this man is the next president of the united states [applause] [cheers]

>> thank you very much. that is a powerful message and once again, we all know where the active military people send their money when they are campaigning. they send it to our campaign for liberty, our campaign for the constitution, our campaign for limited government, our campaign for personal liberty and privacy and a wise foreign policy. [applause] the most important thing we have to remember is we want to have influence in the world. that is very important. we want to be active in the world and talk to people and work with people and trade with people and be friends with people. what we need to realize is there are people who say we are an exceptional measure and and we -- nation = -- certainly are and have been but we are slipping various the idea that are exceptionalism is so great that we have to prove it to the

world enforce our military down our throats and occupied them -- the best way to spread their message is to do our job at home, preserve our liberties and on, provide the -- on home, free market, have a sound currency, balance the budget, set an example and get the rest of the world to emulate us. that is the road to peace and prosperity. thank you very much. [applause] thank you. thank you. [chanting ron paul] [applause] thanks a lot. [cheers]

>> here on c-span, it back live to iowa. we're waiting to hear from michele bachmann. schumann up with 5% of the vote -- she wound up with 5% of the vote. news reports said she will spend her campaign. the associated press reported adviser saying she will end her white house bid. we'll have the press conference live and we will enter your phone calls. we will wait until the news conference gets under way.

it was it down to the wire battle on tuesday.

host: larry is a democratic caller in mississippi. caller: i think mitt romney -- i am glad. i hope he wins for the republicans. i did some research. he doesn't care about the middle class. if he is the nominee for the republicans, the democrats will have a field day defeating him. host: you think he would be an easier competitor for president obama to beat?

caller: i think rick santorum would be harder for the president to defeat. but mitt romney has a lot of baggage. he is trying to run from a now. it is ridiculous -- he is trying to run from it now. no doubt that the president will defeat him. host: bill is a republican from massachusetts. caller: he only spend 15 days there. rick santorum was there forever. as far as any questions to the economy or questions with regard to the jobs, mitt romney trumps santorum.

romney voters -- people were interested in jobs. it is massachusetts, not mass of atusetts. host: good morning. caller: good morning. i have to tell you that first of all you, rob, and steve are just the best. your s're so fair. it has taken the democrats so long to talk about who this clown really is. host: keep going. caller: i cannot believe what is taking the democrats so long to say who this guy is.

nobody cares if he is rich. it is way things about the poor. one quick comment. if you go back -- i've watched c-span since its inception. at the beginning of the iraq war, there was a soldier who was killed, a black gentlemen. his father came on c-span and said he was against this war. george w. bush shot that man down. the last person who was killed in iraq was also a black gentlemen. john kerry said who would be the last person to die in iraq. it would be fantastic if c-span have the parents of both of those people, the first person who died in the war and in the

revolutionary war and the last person, same situation. i think it is abominable. mitt romney says his children had more important things to do. did you hear that son last night? why doesn't he built new orleans -- why doesn't he rebuildt new orleans? host: what do thing about mitt romney's -- what do you think squeakertt romney's last night? caller: it is important to repeal a bad bill such as obamacare or hillarycare. it is equally important to eliminate a bad president such as jimmy carter, george bush,

or our current president, then a superct candidate. the health-care bill was written in secret and nobody knew anything about. president obama wants to increase abortions. we would have plenty of money in social security and in medicare. we are killing our own citizens. this administration is trying to take away our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. host: our focus this morning is on mitt romney's win. .et's go to the newspapers

host: we'll hear about that in a bit. donald from tallahassee. caller: good morning. all through -- host: go ahead. caller: all through history you been able to hoodwink the anglo- saxons. there will worship anything you put in front of them, other than something real. someoneatching that -- they boast about how they won. you can sell anglo-saxons' snake oil, anything.

host: tell us what you think the candidate -- caller: you want romney or nobody will be able to satisfy anglo-saxons because they do not know what the what. ♪ ♪ant. host: let's look as some of the numbers that have come out at how the can is placed last night. mitt romney, 25%. host: we will be watching to see how the other candidates respond. we asked what you think about mitt romney on our facebook page. michael writes in --

host: our next call, clinton, maryland, robert. caller: good morning. i'm so glad we were able to get a social conservative into the top three. i am concerned about his stance but i'm glad that rick santorum is there an that gingrich is out of the top three. e did pass up the gop's one serious chance in history with michele bachmann. barack obama won in 2008 because of the woman vote and we need to win the women's vote and to figure how to count up to 270.

rick santorum and helps with that. when we take a vice-presidential candidate, will have to take a big electoral vote state for the candidate as well. i hope the gop figures out what they need to do to get the women vote and to get over 270 so we can make barack obama a one-term president and protect marriage. host: the caller mentioned the women vote. we have a breakdown by gender, men versus women. men and voted the most for ron paul. women voted the most for mitt romney and rick santorum. the numbers for michele bachmann were quite low. there is a breakdown by age and

education. folks who would be 18 voted by and large for ron paul. 30-44, rick santorum got the most votes. 65 and older, mitt romney got the most votes. brice in owings mills, maryland. good morning. caller: i don't think the republicans are offering anybody that has blown me away. ron paul, the results from the caucus, ron paul is showing 21% is kind of future. -- is kind of huge. he is the only true actual conservative on the ticket, from how i feel.

that's a big message coming out of last night. he won at 25%. host: we have a comment on twitter. let's listen to rick santorum's speech last night thinking the people of iowa. clip: game on. [cheers] you -- you, by standing up and not compromising, by standing up and being bold and leading, leading with that burden and responsibility you have to be first, you have taken the first step of taking back this country. host: that was rick santorum talking last night at the iowa caucuses. here is "the wall street

journal" looking at what is going on today. "rick santorum must format his conservatism for the next phase." he came in second, a close second. whether he will be able to put together the team in place in the next couple of states in a way he was able to in iowa or is spent a lot of time and effort. arizona on the democrat's line. caller: good morning. i'm calling because i was listening to mitt romney speak

and what bothered me was that he was talking about everybody came here to get a fair shot. >> michele bachmann expected to announce she is ending her campaign for the presidency. live coverage here on c-span. >> thank you for being here today. very proud to announce it to

you a good friend of mine and a great husband. >> thank you, brad. thank you for being here. my name is michele bachmann. intrusted to every american is the responsibility to watch over our republic. you can look back from the time of the pilgrims to the time of william penn to the time of our founding fathers. all we have to do is look around. we are encompassed about with a grey cloud of witnesses that bear witness to the sacrifices that were made it through -- to establish the united states and the principles of freedom that make this the greatest force for good. every generation has served as the next steppingstone down the path of our liberty. every day i am reminded of that

conviction. a painting that hangs in the united states capitol at the signing of the constitution of the united states. it hangs in the east grand stairway of the united states capitol. every schoolchild is familiar with this painting. i have been privileged to see it on a regular basis in congress. never was the paintings reminder more evident than on the evening of march 21, 2010. that was the evening that obamacare was passed. staring out from the painting are the faces of the founders. ben franklin served as a constant reminder that he and the founders gave to us. they serve as the inspiration for my run for the presidency of the united states. i believed firmly that what the congress had done and what

president obama has done in passing obamacare endangered the survival of the united states of america, our republic. i know it was my obligation to ensure that president obama's program would be stopped before it became fully implemented. my message has been the necessity for the complete repeal of obamacare in this once-in-a-lifetime campaign cycle for the presidency. obamacare represents the largest expansion of the parliament spending in our country's history. it has become the playground of social engineering work the right but always lose every battle and the left already has been given the formula for passing their agenda. it must be stopped. its repeal is more than just a cliche for me. obamacare violates our

fundamental liberties as americans. including a taxpayer funded abortions. deeply troubled by the state of our country, i ran for the presidency as an american citizen who believes in the greatness of our american principles. our principles derived their meanings which are needed in the truth of the holy scripture, the bible. a politician i never have been, nor will i ever hope to bait because i am not motivated in this quest of vainglory or the promise of political power. i have served one singular purpose in washington -- to lead an effort that was begun by the people of this country. do the requires taking on the charge of repealing obamacare

and dodd-frank, which mandated insuring the election of 13 additional republican senators to guarantee that legislation's demise. these words or a warning. a turning point for our country and our economy. i worry what the future painting might depict should obamacare be placed into a fact. would future generations ask of loss, what did we do, what did we give, what did we sacrifice to ensure the survival of this incomparable for public? i realize that 2012 is our last chance and our only chance to repeal obamacare and dodd-frank. i knew how to get rid of both of them. i ran to elect 30 more

republican united states senators who would help me repeal that legislation. i believed that the policies of barack obama are destructive to the very foundation of the republic. i wanted my children and all of the children to live free and have even better opportunities than our parents gave to us. i ran to secure the promise of our children's future. i decided to stand up and fight for our freedom and for the survival of the nation. i will continue fighting. i will continue to fight for you. to stop overspending in washington. to keep our country free, safe, and to fight against crony capitalism. fight against a tax code which is unfair and it's killing

american competitiveness. i will fight for american families. i will fight to protect life from conception. i will fight to secure our borders. i will fight for this country. i came here to this wonderful state of iowa were a was born and raised and i just one message to tell you. i told you the truth that our country is in very serious trouble and that this might be the last election to turn the nation around before we go down the road to socialism. i did not tell you what the polls said you wanted to hear. i did not try to -- i listened

to the people of iowa and all across america. they agree that president obama and his socialist policies must be stopped. the party of lincoln that believes in the goodness of american people and that america does remain the greatest force for good that the world has ever known. we don't believe that government has the answers. government to respect the rights of the people. we believe government should do its job. it should do it without spending more than what it takes in. last by the people of iowa spoke -- last night the people i was spoke. if we're going to repeal obamacare and turn our country around, we must do so united.

we must rally around the persian that our country and our party and our people select to be that standard bearer. i will concede to be a strong voice and to stand and fight for the country. and for our freedom. mr. franklin and the founders and the men and women who have given their last full measure of devotion in our military, our veterans are watching us. they are expecting us to stand up and protect what they have fought to give us. we owe it to them and to the gods that we serve who gave us life to keep our republic free. i will be grateful to the state and to its people for launching us on the path with our victory in the iowa straw poll.

my faith in the lord god almighty and this country and this republic is unshakable. i have seen the very best in the country and our people and i will believe in the greatest of them and of the god that i serve. i am grateful to our entire campaign team in iowa. i have no regrets. we never compromised our principles. we ran this race with the utmost integrity and made an important contribution to this race. i thank my wonderful husband for 33 years and my entire family, my children, my mother, my stepfather, my beloved brothers who are here and my

brother david and george and our foster children. they have been my strength throughout the campaign. i look forward to the next chapter and god's plan. if we will only cooperate with him. something greater around the corner. i have been blessed to live a wonderful life. i am grateful to of been a part of this presidential campaign -- i am grateful to have been a part of this presidential campaign. [applause] thank you. ♪

["hey, soul sister" plays]

>> ok, thank you. ♪ >> michele bachmann announcing she is suspending her campaign for the presidency after last night in the iowa caucuses finishing sixth in a field of six candidates with 5% of the votes. mitt romney and rick santorum topping the iowa caucuses with 25% of peace. we're opening our phone lines. here are the numbers to call --

>> please make sure you mute your television or radio when you call when. we have a democrat waiting. what are your thoughts? >> republicans are so disingenuous. five% have told her that they did not agree with your agenda. small businesses. barring by small businesses has hit the highest level in nearly four years -- borrowing. obamacare is working. parents can keep their children under 25 on their health care.

everything that obama has attempted to do, they have blocked in it. >> the republican line. >> good morning. i am an oddball. i am supporting a republican candidate buddy roemer and i've been looking at ron paul and mitt romney and rick santorum. i think this will give newt gingrich and rick santorum a push at the polls because they tend to be the more conservative ccandidates. i wonder if michele bachmann will, with an endorsement of the other candidates. >> rick perry getting 10% last

night in iowa. he said he would return to texas and reassess. tweett fromeere have been s from his campaign. >> i've been listening to the republican candidates. it seems to me that they want to take their country back. who took the country from them in the first place? they seem to be demonizing president obama as a european socialist. they are appealing to a small group of people in this country -- it is a very divisive state.

instead of combining everybody under one umbrella -- this is a very divisive message. >> you are speaking as a democrat. why do supposed michele bachmann got only 5% of the vote? >> i think it is resonating with republican voters. that is a disingenuous statement to make to say that we want to take our country backed. this whole concept -- what do they mean? who took the country from them in the first place? >> carl from new york. >> i'll be interested to find out who she supports. many of her ideas are similar to the other republican nominees.

with rick santorum, when a candidate is exposed to the people and can speak personally with people, it is clear what happens. the people get the message and they understand it. media will be, a major factor. they will come up with short scripps. there will discount certain candidates. it will not be an election we saw in iowa. they understand the candidates. that is what intelligent people can vote intelligently. >> who do you think she is likely to support? >> from what i can see, was unlikely, rick santorum if preparing drops out, but that is speculation. >> we'll have an event with rick

santorum this evening. will cover jon huntsman's campaign this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. mark from new jersey. >> i was impressed to hear her message. i think she is at standing woman who was done a lot of good work -- i think she's an outstanding woman. the nest she was trying to get out is americans have lost control of their government. liberals, conservatives, etc., big money, big interest groups, unions, they are running america. americans have settled back and allow themselves to be dictated to. >> why is she not resonating with republican voters?

>> half the republican party has the washington scenario. >> you can also participate on facebook at facebook.com/cspan. michele bachmann is suspending her campaign. next up is in louisiana on the independent line, hello. care foronally don't michele bachmann very much. i like to point out some of the things she said. i don't think she resonates with republican voters. she 100% has the courage of your convictions. she will not say one thing and switch it up or kind of like to people or deceive people who

voted for her. i will say she is the only candidate that i as seen so far that what she believes in, she believes in. she is not afraid to talk about god. she is not a flip-flop. >> do you find yourself agreeing with her? her views. of cur a lot of the stuff she says scares me. it is near fracking to think that we could get into a nuclear war over this country. >> independent call from louisiana. justuntsman's campaign has issued a statement. he releasing a statement saying

michele bachmann brought energetic and a passionate voice to this race and she should be proud of the solutions she offered to reduce our national debt and rebuild our economy. alabama on our republican line, jeff. >> i wanted to comment on michele bachmann. i respect her views and her religion -- on religion and everything else. her side.sidon >> thank you for your call. we of more coming up -- we have more coming up and you can post your thoughts on facebook and twitter. the rick perry campaign is not certain if they are heading back to texas.

he said yesterday he will go back to texas and reassess. we can tell you about our coverage on c-span. a town hall meeting by jon huntsman in manchester, new hampshire. that will be life for you at 4:30 today. rick santorum and his campaign heads to new hampshire and they will be in the town of brentwood. all that live on c-span. the president is expected to announce that richard cordray will head the consumer financial protection bureau. there are news reports the president will make the announcement today at 1:15 as the s president speaks

near cleveland. mr. cordray is with the president. likely will hear that announcement today. we'll take you to the caucus from last night in iowa. this is the essential part of the state and this runs about one hour and 20 minutes. >> my name is mike carver.

i am temporary chairman of the eigth precinct. i am glad to see you here. thank you for coming. i would like to call the caucus to order at this point. the first order of business so that we can move forward -- i am serving as a temporary chair. i would like to entertain any motions for a permanent chair. mike carver. anybody else want the job? all in favor say aye. thank you so much. that was one of the easiest votes ahead of us. ad.otes i've everh we need to have a motion to see who would like to be permanent secretary. i would like to move that he be our permanent secretary. all in favor? second? very good. wonderful, wonderful. it is wonderful to start out on

a note we are all together on. i would like to begin this evening by having us all stand and say the pledge of allegiance. if we could all stand and say the pledge of allegiance. i pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. thank you very much. thank you very much. ok, i would like to begin this evening. one of the traditions we have at our city council meetings is we read the character account statement before every meeting. frankly, i think it is apropos for our discussion. i would like to begin by reading the character account statement we read before each of our city council meetings.

urbandale is a national leader in character count, promoting and modeling trust worthiness, respect, responsibility, caring, and citizenship. we expect that all participants will act in a manner consistent with these principles. i thought it fit with what we were trying to accomplish. i thought it was appropriate. i would like to give you a couple words tonight about the agenda. i think you all got a copy of our draft agenda so you have an idea of what we are going to be about this evening. one of the things we will be doing this evening is, first, we are going to be focused on the balloting for our presidential ballot.

that will be one of the early things will be doing. -- we will be doing. then we will have of the business regarding our present leadership. -- precinct leadership. then we'll get into the selection of delegates to our county convention. at the end, we will be focused on a platform issues. i would welcome all of you to participate until the end. some may decide that after the vote you may leave. we welcome all of you to be here as long as you would like to participate. we would like to move the process forward so we do not drive through the evening. -- drag. let me mention -- thread it through the evening. let me mentioned ,-- drag through the evening. let me mention, if you have any platform issues, grab one of these pieces of papers and turn it into the secretary. it can be as simple as, we want

to cut spending. i do not care. if you have an idea, you are welcome to put it down. we will consider it later in the meeting. i wanted to mention that. okay. the next thing we will be doing, i do not know if we have -- we are going to be going into the presidential preference poll. one of the things i wanted as a group to decide before we take the ballot, it is a simple request, we have six delegates that will be elected to become a convention. -- elected to the county convention. i would like to suggest the following, the cutoff point for allocating delegates to a candid it would be 15%. -- to a candidate would be 5015.

no candidate that fell less than 15% would get any delegates. that is a threshold. if you end up with 8%, any candidate with over 15% when we calculate the ballot would get at least one delicate. -- delegate. we will be working on the final allocation plan. we will have a discussion with the various people from the various camps to decide what seems fair and reasonable. i think at this point, i would like to put on the table -- are you willing to offer that as a motion? it is offered as a motion. when we do the polling, come back with our results, as far as delegate selection, we want to have some relationship between the delegates, the votes, and the number of delegates -- anybody would have

to get 15% of the delicate -- votes to get one delegate. have is the motion you of mad made. a second over here. any discussion? all in favor say aye. any opposed? that was a starting point. i thought it was better to beat -- deal with that now. someone comes in with 14.5%. we will proceed forward. at this point, i believe we have -- do we have anyone here who is willing to speak for michele bachmann? anyone who is willing to speak on behalf of michele bachmann? i have asked that several times. i have not gone a response today -- i have not gotten a response today.

nobody here? my understanding is that rick santorum's wife was going to be coming. is she here? she is not here yet. we will proceed down the list. we have speakers for rick perry, ron paul, newt gingrich, and mitt romney. we will worker in as soon as soon aswork her in as shoon a she gets here. at this point, i would like to welcome to the podium joe webber. he is a friend from texas. where is joe? right here. why do you not come up here. you can come up here. three minutes to four minutes. tell us what we should support rick perry for presidents. >> thank you. good evening. we are grateful to be here. i want to tell you. this is the first time i have been to iowa. for somebody to come to texas and be treated as nice here as they are in texas is amazing,

from cabdrivers to your priests and ministers. thank you for having us here. rick perry and i grew up together. we are friends. we played six man football together in high school. we went to texas a&m together. we were both commissioned as officers. he went into the air force, you know the story. he flu, came back, worked the -- he flew -- farm. i went into the marine corps. i am privileged my country for 36 years -- i am privileged to have served my country for 36 years. [applause] we were all over the world. we have two children in college. if you have children in college, you worry about them carried we never worried about them. rick and anita kept a close eye

children.childreour even more important, i had to make several calls from the combat zone to rick perry to say, rick, i am sending a texas kid home. he has made the ultimate sacrifice. i think you need to be with his mom and dad. there were other cases where i said i am sending a young texan home who is not in any good a shape as he was when he came to us. i think you need to go be with his mom and dad. the governor dropped whatever he was doing and went to be with that family. that is personal. it may not be relevant to you. it says something about the character and a virtue of this man. this country needs a leader of character. leadership, i feel comfortable as a marine serving 36 years to talk about leadership. there are many great leaders in this audience. people have written great books. i have deduced that leadership,

good leaders, leadership comes down to a good leader, he gets people to do things they do not want to do. i got to tell you, our country, if we have ever needed a leader to do things -- to get people to do things they did not want to do, we need it right now. leaders of character. all over the world, in places that were good, bad, situations that were good, bad, i am a tired, old marine, the people are young -- is a, you always thought things were better. our country is at 8 tipping point. our country, our society is at a tipping point. i think it is because we have forgotten where we came from. we forgot how we got to be prosperous and free. we forgot those who paid the price and sacrifices they had

to make to get us where we are. i think rick perry will get us back to understanding and appreciating that. he will provide the leadership that our nation needs. thank you very much. god bless all of the. -- all of you. [applause] >> thank you, thank you, thank you very much. i appreciate that. i should mention, we drew numbers. this sequence is based on that. we tried to be fair in terms of this sequence. the next person we have is mark baker. mark baker. he is going to speak on behalf of ron paul. >> good evening. coming here, i did not know i

was going to speak for ron paul. i thought i would. i got interested in ron paul from my daughter and her fiancee, 19 years old and 21 years old. they look at the future and they say, something has to change. we cannot keep doing what we have been doing for the last 20 years. i believe that ron paul can make the most change of any of the candidates. we have a fantastic athlete of -- slate of republican candidates this year. all of them are fantastic. if you look at ron paul's record, he has been as consistent as anybody. he supports the constitution as good as anybody. better than most. some of my friends have said, what about his foreign policy? it is different than the rest of us. -- of them. can we continue in our economic challenges to be the policeman

of the world? can we continue to spend millions and millions and millions of foreign aid to countries that do not appreciate it? i believe as the previous speaker said, we are on the cusp. if we do not do something radical, we will not be able to help anybody. what do we want? do we want our federal government telling us what to do or do we want liberty? yes, ron paul is the most libertarian of all the candidates. some of my conservative friends have said, he is not strong enough on the social issues. do we really want our federal government deciding what we can do? those of us that are christians think at some point the government may be telling us what we can and cannot do. do we really want that?

ron paul, his line is, let's bring liberty back. he is a libertarian. can we really not trust ourselves to live in liberty? i think we can. i think ron paul is the best chance to do that. thank you. [applause] [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. we have someone who just arrived, correct? i believe that the next speaker, i believe, that is going to be coming up, is mrs. rick santorum. am i correct? ok. come on up. the wife of rick santorum is going to be addressing our group, regarding her husband. thank you so much for joining us. [applause]

thank you very much. you know, i tripped over that myself earlier. >> it is so nice to be here tonight. it is truly an honor for me to be here with so many wonderful people. we thank iowa, all of the people in iowa for the hospitality that you have shown to me, my husband, and my seven children. we came here last summer for four weeks and got to know so many of you. we have a wonderful time. we got to know the way things are here. we fell in love with the place. we have been back many times. my husband a lot more than meat, because i am at home with our children, holding down the flow -- holding down the fort and homeschooling our children. he has had at 310 -- he has had

310 town hall meetings with you, answering the questions you have had, listening to what is on your mind. let me take a moment to introduce four of my seven children. elizabeth, sarah, peter, patrick. they are with me tonight. [applause] thank you. our two other boys are with our husband. our little girl is at home. i wanted to tell you a little bit about rick. rick and i have been married for 21 years. i just wanted to tell you that rick is a father. he is a great daddy. he has a real love and passion for his family. he understands the importance of family as the foundation of a strong society. he really leaves the family, you have to have a strong family to have a strong country and that that is the heart, the foundation for our nation.

he says that economies cannot be strong if families are not strong. rick is a great provider. at home, we have always lived on a budget. we grew up very simply. i am one of 12 children. he grew up in public housing. he knows. we live on a budget. he says he will put these practices to life. he did in the senate. as soon as he would be president, he would balance the budget and get the debt under control. rick's economic plan would bring a lot of manufacturing jobs back to our nation. he grew up in butler, pa., a steel town. when he was growing up, there were a lot of manufacturing jobs. as a teenager and a young man, he saw a lot of those jobs leave and go overseas. rick has a real passion for

federal regulations, taxes, lifting those burdens on companies so that we can restore a lot of those jobs back here to our country. have things made here again without seeing those jobs go overseas. rick is a great teacher. he also home schools our kids. he really believes that parents are the first teachers of our children. he has been a great partner with me. he wants to get government out of education. he is a great defender of life. he is a partial birth abortion ban -- he supports a partial birth abortion ban. he is a great protector. he understands national security. he offered the iran freedom and support act. the iran freedom and support act. he has educated people as to the threat of radical islam.

there is nothing more beautiful than a husband and father who is on his knees, praying with his family. he is a faithful man. it is the glue that keeps us a strong and holds us together. i know that faith is there for all of us, for a strong family and a strong nation. if you want someone who has a track record of doing what is necessary to return our country to its strong principals, who has the vision and courage to be commander-in-chief and understands the crucial role that faith and family play, not only in our culture, but in our economy, my husband is our -- is your guy. thank you for listening to me. i appreciate your time. god bless you. [applause] >> i am sorry [unintelligible] >> sorry. >> [unintelligible] thank you very much for coming. we are -- we appreciate it.

>> she did not have the benefit of our 3 minute limit. thank you so much. i did not want to be too tough on her. the next speaker that we have at this point, dean [unintelligible] here speaking on behalf of newt gingrich. dean? [applause] you know, he has never said much of anything about anything, has he? that step, that is a tough step. i missed that myself. >> i did not see you miss it. well, i have had a hit and two knees replaced. glad i do not need to have another one now. retired farmer. some of you here know me. i used to be the president of the iowa farm bureau. at which point i got to know two

candidates really well. i worked with them. herman cain, my supported first period when he dropped out, i started supporting newt gingrich. i still support him today. i met with him a few months ago at a breakfast. i said to herman -- it is either you or newt gingrich. i know you both personally. i know you well. i think you would both do a good job. finally, i went with herman cain. until he dropped out, as i said. you know, there is a letter here prepared by the gingrich people. i am not going to read it. i am going to speak from the heart, i guess. he says "i am asking for you to

vote for a simple reason. america has big problems that require big solutions. also, an experienced hand to make those solutions a reality. i believe i can homely offer both." umblylks about his -- ho offer both." he talks about his tax plan. having worked with him, he is really good. he is really sharp. i just got an e-mail 0 -- in the last couple of days, from fred, who played over on "love boat," remember? before he became a congressman. that he had worked with gingrich in the house.

the author of the tax and budget plan, arthur was the author of the laugher curve. he is a brilliant economist. he said that on the curve there are two levels of taxation at which you get no income. if a tax to of 100%, no one works. if you tax of 0%, there is no income for the government. would that be so bad? anyhow. there is a curve at which point, he said, over the years the government gets maximum income. believe me, that tax level is not very high, according to arthur. he has endorsed newt gingrich now. in his letter, he said that that

is why he has been endorsed by the architect of the ronald reagan economic plan. he said that he would create more jobs than any other candidate. i do not know who the candidate is going to be. it is going to be one of those people here tonight that are being voted on in this caucus. i will support that person. folks, we need a change in the white house. do we not? [applause] as the president of a national organization, i got to know all of the president personally, starting from gerald ford on. i never met president obama. he came in and after i retired as the president of the farm bureau. i honestly thought that the worst president of all of those, and i like him as a person, but the worst president was jimmy carter. but this guy in the white house

right now is so much worse than jimmy carter, there is no comparison. but it is chicago politics. four years ago at this caucus, i told a chicago story and got a few laughs. with this story, i am going to sit down. chicago politics is pretty nasty. president obama grew up there, on the south side. he was a community organizer, whenever that is. these two fellows were hired by an alderman to go to the cemetery and write down the names on the tombstones. obviously, so they could vote. they were walking down two rows of tombstones, writing down the names. one man got a few tombstones' ahead. he said -- we have got to get out of here before it gets light.

the second guy said that he could not read the name on his tombstone. he said -- forget it, move along. the second guy said -- he has as much of a vote -- much of a right to vote as anyone that -- anyone else here does. so, that chicago politics. [applause] >> i am the last speaker on this segment. i am here, telling you why i am supporting mitt romney for president. i want to thank you all for coming this evening. it makes me proud to be part of urbandale. as a lifelong republican community leader, active member of my church, father, grandfather, and someone who believes in america, i ask you to consider voting for mitt romney for one reason. he is a proven leader the can win next november.

he understands what needs to be done to create more jobs and get our economy moving again. executing the plan if elected. his leadership skills were demonstrated as the governor of massachusetts, bringing people and government together to solve problems that needed to be solved. his leadership ability and passion for our country was clearly demonstrated when he gave over two years of his life to turnaround the salt lake city olympics, making them an international sports event in which all of north america took great pride. finally, his solid record as a family and faith leader, as demonstrated by his 40 year marriage and father to five sons and grandfather to 16 grandchildren. we need change. we desperately need a change of the top of. mitt romney can make that happen

next november. you could make that happen by casting a vote for mitt romney as president of the united states. thank you. [applause] how did i do on the time? now, that is a first. [laughter] normally, i go over. i get in trouble because i talk too long. that is why i wrote down what i was going to say. thank you very much for your attention. ok, the next step that we are at right now, and you all just need to remain seated, we have some people in the back that are helping us. passing out ballots. we are moving in. has everyone registered to vote? if anyone has not registered, go

back immediately and register. all of you, i think that we have is different people who are responsible for passing out ballots in different sections. ok? just stay put. the ballots will come to you and then they will be collected. and after the ballots are collected, we have a very auguste group of people that i have appointed. i have two cpa's, i do not know, maybe more, but doug is going to be the chair of the ballot committee. they will be responsible for -- and make sure -- i lost my pen. huh? we had better get a ballot. what is going to happen is we have some business that is going to take -- that we are going to

take care of after we vote. you do not need to rush off. we have a committee that i have appointed. names]lists those six people are born to exit this room. and they are going to be going back into a conference room and taking the completed ballots. they will be counting the ballots. and then, after the count is completed, doug will be bringing the results back here. we will be announcing the results of our poll before we call them in to state headquarters. we thought that it made sense that you people ought to know how the ballot comes out before we turn them into state

headquarters. that is a process. we have a number of things. as soon as the ballots are collected -- so, we have them ready. you can fold them, if you want, to keep them secret. these are secret ballots. we may have to go to a different color, but they all work the same. so. you know, i want to tell everybody here that i had a few apprehensions about some of these people that might sneak in and what ever. i am so pleased that that has not been something we are dealing with this evening. it is great to see all of you that care as much as you do about our country.

exercising one of the most important rights that we have in this country, the right to vote. we have that right because we have people that have died and fought for that right. the right to vote. it makes me proud to be here this evening and stand up in front of all of you. here, is that a ballot? where's mine? ok. does everyone that should have a ballot, have a ballot? the other thing that i want you all to keep in mind is that these little -- you see these little baskets we are passing

around? these little plastic things? we are going to be packing those around very shortly. what we are going to be doing is asking you to consider that all of this money that we will be collecting is going to go for the republican party to help support our efforts this coming fall. we are more into need all of the money that we can get. be as generous as you want to be. we are going to be passing those low baskets around. as soon as they have made the route, we are going to pass the bucket around and we will certainly appreciate your generosity. we would like to see if we could collect a good some tonight to help the republican party. -- sum tonight to help the republican party. i wanted to mention that so that you could at least be thinking about that. get your billfold out, or wherever you might have some money.

now, the other thing that we will be passing around -- and i would like to read this statement right now -- we are going to be passing around some for it -- some footboards. -- clipboards. this statement comes from the republican party of iowa. the name of this is "defeat obama." there is a list that we will be passing around. here is what they wanted us to share. "many of us are will hear tonight because we're worried about the direction of our country. in this upcoming, historic election, we must get this country back on track. america cannot afford four more years of the obama and --

administration. mr. obama is projected to raise over $1 billion for the democrats campaign coffers. we need to show them that elections in iowa cannot be bought and we need to show we are not able to be out work, the roles. b -- voting alone will not defeat barack obama. and we need to be on the front lines, making phone calls, delivering literature, impressing upon i was the importance of this election." i have signed up sheets with me tonight that we will pass around. here is what i would like to have you think about. think about it from this perspective. think about donating one hour.

just one hour between now and november. if you think you could donate one hour in some way in a neighborhood or going to a campaign headquarters, all that we ask for is your name and phone number on these lists that we will be passing around. >> are you counters? can we help you? do we not have a few more buckets out there? >> john, you are more of a fat cat cpa than i am. where do you think we should start? >> unfold them, but them in piles according the candidate. -- according to candidate.

we can all kind of make our own files. -- piles. >> i am just sitting here, observing. >> well, we are glad to have you. >> it should be a landfall. we are just sorting them into piles. >> we will combine them. >> does it matter? >> and not checking for

spelling. >> no. [laughter] >> very good.

>> did they meet at the school this year? >> they met at the church four years ago. >> really? >> it was my church. i am a little bit familiar with it.

[unintelligible] and there are no more ballots coming? >> what is the consensus on a

ned romney? >> romney. >> i am ok with that. >> let's start consolidating here. [unintelligible] >> we are going to count them twice. we will check them twice. we will check them once and count them twice. >> here is a ron paul. >> i have a new kingdom tried here. >> yup. -- newt gingrich right here. yep. >> how about rick perry? >> right here.

>> how about michele bachmann? >> who is michele bachmann? >> there is rick perry. >> make sure that they are all there and count them.

[unintelligible] >> ron paul. >> michele bachmann, confirmed.

>> i got 37 here. >> this is rick perry? >> yes. [unintelligible] >> i would like to redo that.

and >> 374 rick perry. -- >> 37 for rick perry. >> 824 rick santorum.

-- 82 for rick santorum. >> 51. >> confirmed.

[unintelligible] >> does someone want to confirm huntsman here? >> how many? >> one. >> way to go. >> double check the floor. >> make it official.

[unintelligible] >> 334 people so far.

>> sorry, take your time. >> of 116 it is.

-- >> 116 is. >> good job. >> these need to be saved? >> why not hang on to them. >> sure. put them all in one, nice container? >> yak, put them all in one. -- yeah, put them all in one.

>> can you confirm my numbers?

>> it is 0.03.

>> oh. >> it is not going to matter. it is cut off at 15%. >> thanks, john. >> dean, are you satisfied? >> is the camera crew satisfied? all right. [laughter] thanks, everyone. good job. >> most generally, the

alternates are seated. ok. doug, you are the person with the results. do you want to bring them up? and i will let you -- i will let you and our share announce the results. these are the ballots? ok. do you want to talk about what you did in the room over there? >> we had four or five counters and a couple of observers. we sort of the ballots into piles according the candidate. each was counted twice and verify twice. the observers were satisfied with our process. >> all right, the count. we have [inaudible]

okay, with the highest number is mitt romney, 116. which represents 34.6%. rick santorum, 82, which is 24.5%. ron paul, 51, which is 15.2%. rick barry, 37, at 11%. newt gingrich, 34, 10%. michele bachmann, 14, which is 4.2%. jon huntsman, one, which is 0.03 -- which is 0.3%. those are your results. i[applause] >> could i have someone here who is representing rick santorum?

part of what we are looking to do is allocate these. my thought was that based on those numbers, we have a total of 6 delegates and only three qualify. we have is one delegate for ron paul, two four ric santorum, and three delegates for mitt romney. based on the percentages, that would seem to be a fair way to apportion them. does anyone have any comments based on that? 34, 24, 15. those would be the three candidates selected. that would be my media thought. anyone have any thoughts? would someone like to make a motion to that effect? would you like to make that a second? aye.in favor, say

opposed? ok. we have a situation where the people that we have -- and i would like to have this handled as -- those people that want to participate, and i am personally not going to ask to be a delegate, as i am a romney supporter and i will not be asking for that. for those people that want to participate in the mitt romney discussion, come over here. those that want to participate in selecting the three delegates for mitt romney, right over in this corner. ron paul, who is the ron paul leader that we had? the fellow that spoke for ron paul. any of those people with ron paul can go over here. and maybe the rick santorum people can be here in the middle. does that make sense? this will probably take about a few minutes to get that accomplished. there will probably be some people that leave, and that is

the way that it works. we have -- thank you. anyone that is here with santorum -- the ron paul people over there and in the middle. any of the mitt romney people, over here on this side. if you want to participate, we need three delegates from at romney. anyone that would like to participate as a delegate for mitt romney can be over here. ok, rick santorum. we will have two delegates. there will be one delegate over here for the mitt romney people. and one delegate for the santorum for alternate.

you need to have two delegates and one alternate. if any of the people are supporting that romney, over here -- and i will move in that direction. little dangerous here. any of the mitt romney people can be over here. mitt romney people can be over here, who would like to participate in this discussion. we are looking for three people to go to the county convention on march 10. would anyone like to do that? it would be on saturday. >> [unintelligible] >> yes, you can. doug should be back from that job. he came in.

is there anyone else that would like to? let's get names written down here. >> is anyone dying to go to the convention? >> i would go to the convention. >> i am not dying to go, but i would go. >> i do not want to deprive someone, if they are really interested. [laughter] >> ok. that's cool. it looks like mitt romney does not have many people over there, either. i am surprised so many of them left. ok. i guess you need to identify yourself to the secretary. >> ok. cool. go ron.r

party of iowa, reporting center. please hold. >> hello, may i please have your name? >> mark morrissey. [spells name] >> what county are you calling from, mark? >> this is polk county. >> your precinct name?

>> urbandale, 8, #528. and >> your precinct's key? >> 77158. >> after i read you a candidate name, please tell me how many votes they received in this precinct only, as recorded on for a. michele bachmann? >> 14. >> herman cain? >> again? >> herman cain. >> 0. >> newt gingrich. >> 34. >> jon huntsman? >> one. >> ron paul? >> 51. >> rick perry? >> 37. >> buddy roemer? >> none. >> mitt romney? >> 116.

>> rick santorum? >> 82. >> any no preference? >> and none. >> any others? >> and none. >> herman cain, 0, of newt gingrich, 34, johnson, one, ron paul, 51, rick perry, 37, but roemer, none, mayor ronnie, 116, rick santorum, 82, michele bachmann, 14. thank you for your time. >> thank you, have a good evening. are we good? thank you.

>> ok. i notice the things of kind of

deteriorated. but i think we have the names. we have names that we have identified. the secretary is going to be putting down these names. i think that we have three delegates from mitt romney. ross larson? ross larson. delegates ross larson, derrick zonefeld, and kathleen aldrich. we have one alternate, which is rackum.khaaig the two delegates from santorum are carry weisenberg and chip should carry, with david higgins as the alternate. ron paul, the alternate is nicholas colton.

what i would like to do, those are the names i would like to put before our caucus right now. all of those in favor? say aye. we have just selected our delegates for the county convention. it might seem a little bit disjointed, but we just got that job accomplished. thank you very much. all of you that are remaining here, if you would like to come over here, we do not want to totally forget the -- and the ones that are the delegates, will you talk to our secretary? get all of the sinai and. that is the man right there -- get all of them signed in. that is the man right there. that is our secretary. we have a list right here for junior delegates.

there is no cost and you can have as many as you want. any of you? any of you that would like to sign her up? , -- come on up and sign up with jr. delegates. -- junior delegates. anyone is seventh rate of two high-school, come on up here and sign up. come on. come on. come on. get up here and sign in. come on. any junior delegates, come on up. right here. right here. we got the form right here for junior delegates to sign up. no, no, do not worry about it. that is no problem at all. we are very flexible when it comes to jr. delegates.

see, how did we do, folks? did we do ok? can your imagine? can you imagine the democrats having a meeting like this and being over by 8:05? it would never happen, i can tell you that for sure. and they would still be arguing, and yelling, and shouting. now i will be in big trouble for saying those things. yes, we have a few issues that we want to cover. what are the issues that we have? i tell you, you people are not into issues tonight. ok, first of all, all of those in favor of having a balanced budget amendment? how many would say yes? >> [unintelligible] >> how many opposed? ok, we just adopted that. term limits for congress.

anyone want that? aye? anyone opposed to that? i guess we are for term limits for congress. the last thing -- oh that is the same thing. we cannot have any term limits, if you are on city council. maybe three or four terms, since i just started my second term recently. i guess no one was in two issues tonight. at this point, what i would like to do is call the caucus and ask for a motion to adjourn the caucus. so moved to? all in favor? >> [unintelligible] >> thank you all for coming. it was a great evening. thank you. [captioning performed by national captioning institute] [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2012] >> mitt romney won the iowa caucus last night by the

thinnest of margins. michele bachmann, in last night's iowa caucuses, finishes -- finished sixth. at 11:30 eastern this morning, she announced that she is ending her bid for the presidential nomination. last night rick perry said that he would head back to texas and reassess. looks like he will stay in the campaign. nbc news has learned that governor harry will participate in the upcoming new hampshire debates, according to nbc. a spokesman told us that he is headed to austin today as planned, but again staying in the campaign. all the attention turns to new hampshire. as a matter of fact, mitt romney arriving in new hampshire earlier today. and a look at the candidate arriving in new hampshire today, ahead of a town hall meeting that is about to get underway

at this hour. we will be covering that c- span.org. -- covering that at c-span.org. he made some comments about the bachmann campaign as well. let's listen in. >> congratulations. >> thank you. [laughter] >> michele bachmann is out of the race, governor. any comments on that? >> will miss her. -- we will miss her. >> the mitt romney campaign has issued a longer statement. jon huntsman will hold a town hall meeting in manchester. we will have that live for you at 4:30 eastern. rick santorum, the second place finisher last night, will hold a

town hall meeting at 7:30 eastern. this afternoon, coming up in 20 minutes, we will take you to shaker heights, outside of cleveland, ohio. president obama will be talking about the economy and announcing the new head of the consumer protection bureau. in a released statement, consumer watchdog. he will be in charge of one thing, looking out for the best interests of the american consumer. we will bring you that live coverage at 1:15 eastern. until then, michele bachmann and her announcement this morning that she is dropping out of the presidential race.

>> sure. thank you, everyone, for being here today. once again, i am very proud to announce to you that a good friend of mine, and a great husband, mark, with michelle bachmann. >> thank you for being here, and there is a responsibility to the time of william penn and our founding fathers. all that we have to do is look around. very clearly, we are encompassed with a great cloud encompassed with a great cloud of