they continue to take digs with newt gingrich going in hard on romney for the onslaught of negative ads by the super pack. >> you are calling mitt romney a liar? >> you seem shocked by it. yes. this is a man whose staff created the pack and his millionaire friends funded the pack and he pretends he has nothing to do with it. it's not bologna. >> it's not bologna that the caucus begins at 8:00 eastern time. the results coming in at 8:30. host of "andrea mitchell reports." you were at a mitt romney event and i was intrigued by your analysis of the turn out there and even the reaction that romney is receiving this late in the game. >> very small turn out and almost more reporters than the people there. it's hard to say whether the lack of turn out or enthusiasm at that hour on caucus day signifies. it's so unpredictable here.

we have not seen any great love. it was excitement for ron paul and a lot of them are not registered to vote. still unpredictable. the group of republican candidates sharing conservative support and no one coalescing all of it and at 25% is mitt romney. >> for sure seem fist you look online at the blogs and those that link to the left and the right, rick santorum is the guy on everyone's tongue and the person everyone is talking about at least at this hour. >> he has certainly gotten the momentum. a lot of attention and a lot of enthusiasm and excitement and seems to have found his voice. he is campaigning as a much stronger candidate now. according to the polling, the gold standar for polling, the

"des moines register," he in the last couple of days of her polling which was friday and saturday was just climbing and doubling his previous support. if that were to continue, no reason to think there was a slide from the top. if that momentum continues, he could even pass romney and take the lead. they were in a statistical dead heat. >> newt gingrich called mitt romney a liar when he was referring to the super pack and whether or not behind the scenes he believe romney is signing off on the vicious ads. you were talking about the on slaud of negative ads that people in warks these days can't turn on their television set with kids around with the aggression on the screen. >> a borage of ads. $17 million and something we have never seen before. it was a more folksy people to people communication and now it's a big political business.

they pointed out in the last half hour the robocalls. you know how annoying it is when you get a robo call for a sales pitch? imagine you are getting all of these robocalls where there is that couple of seconds of silencing and you know it's an automated call and that is annoying and something that people are noticing. it's a tune out and turn off. >> you bring up the robocalls because rick santorum referred to ron paul as disgusting. he said that ron paul is behind a series of robo calls that claim that santorum was pro choice and against the second amendment. that's one of the thing coming out saying that ron paul is disgusting, associating him with the robocalls. a lot of these people have been fuelled with the desire to defeat president obama. that's what they're looking for. someone who is electable and the other side who wants core

conservative values as they have. where do you see the most enthusiasm? >> it's hard to say. once they get there, that's the unique and wonderful quality of a caucus. they talk and argue and listen to the speeches and that's when people actually can make a decision. we know that according to the polling, 41% are undecided or willing to change from the first choice to a second choice. they are persuadable and open to discussion. that's where they might make a decision. i believe that i care about these social issues, but this candidate perhaps is okay on social issues and might be more electable in the fall campaign against barack obama and i from the republican perspective want to defeat barack obama. that's the push-pull. >> greatly appreciate it. let's bring in the panel.

michael smerconish and contributor steve days is a conservative show host endorsing newt gingrich and a senior rrcht for yahoo. i will start with you. you have interesting thoughts as so many others have said. why is iowa so important. you say it's the independents that count more than the folk who is caucus tonight. >> 2012 is a race where independents call the shot and no disto iowa voters. it's not a particular state, but that component of the electorate. 2.5 million voters have left the republican and democratic party since the' 08 cycle and the only demographic growing are independents. they are up for grabs. mitt romney is say winner regardless of who wins, but the independents hold the cards in 2012. >> there is no love lost between you and mitt romney. when you joined us, you are credited with keeping him from

winning. you are now supporting newt gingrich and yesterday he said i am probably not going to win this and he is back tracking on that. why does iowa matter when it's a three-person race? i hate to say this, but a lot of sweets say it's craziness. i than is offensive, but i think you get what they mean. >> i think it's pretty much 50-50 between ron paul and rick santorum winning. if ron paul can bring out the recent or new or first time republican caucus voters who have been democrats or independents, he will win tonight. otherwise i think you will see rick santorum pull off a mild upset. >> you are talking to the people and they know you and love talking to you and sharing their thoughts. they imagine you caucusing at the neighbor's house. what are they saying to you? >> i think people ever still

looking for a champion. someone they envision can stand up to barack obama on a national stage. stand up to the liberal media on a national stage and makes the pundits at msnbc nervous. they are looking for the candidates. that attracts me to newt gingrich. i think he can stand up to scrutiny. >> for that's true, he can't even stand up to the negative ads that have been coming his way. he is seasoned and supposed to be tough as mitt romney said. if you can't stand this heat, you couldn't possibly handle what the obama reelection campaign can bring your way. they are well on the way to perhaps raising a billion here. >> the speaker made a tactical error. he created a noble gesture by saying i'm not going to go negative and try to rise above the fray. that's easy to do at 40% in the gallup poll.

notice there wasn't an 11th commandment when he challenged jerry ford in the summer of 76. it's easy to say i'm going to take the high road as the leader, but you sort of box yourself in with that. as the process moves forward, you will see the speaker readjust. >> newt gingrich was the leader for two days. >> no comfort zone to take that approach. let me bring you in on this. i want to play what rick perry had to say earlier regarding the fight he had ahead to comparing it to events in america's history. let me play rick perry. >> yesterday you were confident enough to tell your audience that you were going to win iowa. what do you see that you like? >> i don't think i quite said that. >> you said you will win this thing. >> obviously that was mitt romney on "morning joe," back tracking hoochly called it and pointed a home run in iowa. now it's squeezing back.

what do we make from that? >> i wassa at the event where he said we will win this thing. they tried to quickly dial that. it's not to raise expectations. if perhaps mitt romney does not do as well, it's a bad story for them and heading into new hampshire. that's going to be a distraction for them. >> we are having audio problems, but let me bring michael back in. what are you watching for and what do you want to see tonight? >> it will be interesting to see whether mitt romney can win in iowa. if mitt romney comes out and goes in where by all accounts he will emerge with a victory, it seems as if he is further down the road to capture the nomination. if the roadblock can get in his way, we are probably in for the longer in this process. >> speak of the long haul, i

know you had praise and have praise for congresswoman michele bachmann. could this be the end of the line despite believing a miracle will be granted to her tonight by god. what do you think? is it the end? >> barring that miracle, they will have to ree valiate whether to stay in the race and split the conservative vote. the entire strategy is to avoid a one on one contest with a conservative which mitt romney cannot win. >> we will see what happens tonight. republicans are not the only ones with the attention on iowa. just a few hours, president obama will hold a live web chat with supporters in that state. next i will talk with a reporter who got a look inside the president's reelection machine. >> i think the current mess is a

disapproxima disgrace. >> he bitterly accuses romney of buying the election. isn't that what republicans wanted? we will look at the impact of the ruling that led to super packs having so much influence not just in iowa, but the presidential race. join the conversation online. it is at "news nation." [ male announcer ] is zero worth nothing? ♪ imagine zero pollutants in our environment. or zero dependency on foreign oil. ♪ this is why we at nissan built a car inspired by zero. because zero is worth everything. the zero gas, 100% electric nissan leaf. innovation for the planet. innovation for all. yoo-hoo. hello.

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as republicans caucus in iowa, president obama is preparing to speak live with his democratic support offers after arriving back at the white house from his vacation in hawaii. the president will host a live web chat at 8:15 eastern time with democratic caucus goers.

the president's reelection team on the ground plans to treating the caucus as if it were uncontested. the magazine senior writer andrew romano wrote an article about the president's reelection machine headquartered in chicago. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> in iowa alone, the president paid staff members eight offices and a dozen staffers and humans of volunteers. that's just part of the list of thing thaus named that is happening alone in iowa. >> we have all paid attention and the obama campaign has put together a ground operation that will dwarf what it did in 2008 and that was the most impressive that anyone had seen. iowa is the first test that was. they will treat the caucuses like they are contested and go out and talk to supporters and has the general election

campaign. >> the national committee circulated the video entitled failed promises, iowa edition and uses the victory speech. we have the video to highlight what they say are his failures already. democrats and the obama team countering that same. we can outline the promises including health care to counter this. they are not ignoring what's happening there. >> no, absolutely not. they want to come back hard and make the point that the president has kept a lot of promises. the republicans are fighting and talking about the president. they are attacking the president and the democrats, obama campaign in chicago wanted to make sure they are on the ground and can come back and say no, this is what the president has done. they can get the supporters organize and ready to go for the election. >> speaking and getting ready to go for the election, we heard a lot of rumblings about mitt

romney and axel rod and others focused on mitt romney. digs at newt gingrich. they are perhaps showing more confidence that he will get the nomination. >> i would say that they expect romney to get the nomination at this point. they focused on him all along. i asked this question and why you guys focused on romney and do you think he will get the nomination. he said romney will be of the pop two no matter what. they focused on him from the beginning and also say that romney has been attacking obama instead of his republican rivals and they have got to come back and counter that. they do i think believe romney is the likliest person and will be the most difficult for them to face. >> we know that the president was successful in really getting people to believe in change. this time around, what do we believe will be the moniker here and what will we hear resonate

with the people and the supporters of this administration and the reelection campaign. >> the reelection campaign knows this will be a more difficult race as david axel rod put it to me. they have straight head winds and this time the conditions are difficult and unemployment is the challenge. you are going to see a little bit less yes we can and more no, we shouldn't. you are going to see a little bit more going after the republicans, saying why their vision for the country is not right and contrasting that with the president's. as they put it, it's going to be a vigorous debate. >> later, we will talk about super packs and the impact the supreme court decision had not just in iowa, but moving ahead. we know early on this was expected to be at least a $1 billion campaign for president obama in the reelection. >> that's right. the numbers are going to come out soon for the fourth quarter. they are probably going to show that obama has raised with the

dnc about $200 million in 2011 alone. 2012 upon raising hasn't even begun. that figure, the campaign disputes it, but analysts expects the numbers. you will see a lot of numbers comes from the super packs. around $250 million. it will be the most well funded campaign we will see. >> you have incredible inside in your article and we appreciate you talking with me. thanks. >> thank you. >> coming up on "news nation," do you think the candidate who wins the iowa caucus will secure the nomination? it is the "news nation" gut check. plus -- >> what do tim tebow and michele bachmann have in common? at first glance you may say nothing. >> at second glance, what would you say? a new ad compares michele bachmann to broncos star tim tebow. what is the comparison there? all the candidates are calling on supporters to show up and

caucus, but not all of them are providing transportation. ron paul and rick perry are hoping they get to the caucuses. mitt romney's campaign will provide transportation under special circumstances. back, gingrich and santorum supporters should be expecting it to right from the campaign. plus presents: the cold truth. i have a cold. and i took nyquil but i'm still stubbed up. [ male announcer ] sorry, buddy. truth is, nyquil doesn't un-stuff your nose. what? [ male announcer ] it doesn't have a decongestant. really? [ male announcer ] you need a more complete cold formula, like alka-seltzer plus liquid gels. it's specially formulated to fight your worst cold symptoms, plus relieve your stuffy nose. [ deep breath ] thank you! [ male announcer ] you're welcome. that's the cold truth! [ male announcer ] and to fight your allergy symptoms fast, try new alka-seltzer plus allergy. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers.

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iowa exploded in the lead. super packs have combined to spend more than $16 million in iowa. most of the ads have been negative with one analyst saying this advertising blitz is an intense as anything he has ever seen. of all the candidates, rick perry spend the most, more than $4 million. the pro mitt romney group, restore our future takes the top spot. newt gingrich is accusing romney of trying to buy the election.

>> he would buy it if he could. >> do you believe he is trying to buy this? >> you tell me. >> i will let you decide how you would describe it. for a state this size, to spend that number of dollars in negative ads aimed at one candidate is amazing. >> do you feel swift boated? >> romney boated. >> mark murray is in washington. romney boated as newt gingrich sees it. is this a surprise at the amount of money? >> it's not a surprise. we will see so much more money spent on ads. what has been interesting in the ad race in iowa is how almost unilaterally romney and particularly the pro romney super pack is hammering newt gingrich and without them being able to respond, when you show the numbers and restore our future spent some $3 million in ads, a really big sum for a

state like iowa. the campaign spent just a million and when you admit romney's campaign, mostly on positive ads, you see a big disparity. someone like newt gingrich could survive with more money to spend, but given that disparity, you see why the numbers have gone down. >> others have noted a conservative republican complaining about the decision made by the supreme court that led to what mitt romney said people too. i want to play a moment from "hardball" where chris matthews hit this issue hard and brought up the point. let's listen. >> i think the current mess say disgrace. it debilitates politics and strengthens millionaires and weakens middle class candidates. >> isn't that amazing. there is a conservative republican saying this anything

goes campaign where a guy with lots of money, the koch brothers can spend zillions of dollars and you don't put the name on the back who is paying if for the team and he supported the decision. >> you have a clip of newt gingrich and followed by the point, what do the republicans say to this? >> it is a good point. newt gingrich is not that it's the citizens united decision that opened the floodgates, but he is more talking about the negativity. he wants to have all these ads being positive. i have to tell you, covering politics, usually the people complain being negative ads are doing it for reason only. they don't have the money. >> in that comment by newt gingrich, he said it gives power to millionaires and that it debilitates politics. he is referring to millionaire influence in the race.

that's not just negativity. he is saying the koch brothers and they are having a big influence here. >> it is worth noting that one of the more powerful casino magnets has been helping with their own super pack. that super pack was only able to spend some $200,000 on the air in iowa. gingrich did have support, but mitt romney has been preparing for a long run for a long time and his allies constructed a huge war chest. >> mark murray, thank you very much. greatly appreciate it. >> coming up on "news nation" -- >> you heard we are a bunch of knee jerk reactionaries. that's why we went democratic in five out of the last seven elections. >> the stereotypes of people who live in iowa. another story we are following, the winter blast hitting part of the u.s. we will check in with mike

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here's what the "news nation" is following right now. the final hours, "hardball's" chris matthews live from des moines and what we need to watch for tonight. iowa voters speak about rock the caucus. michele bachmann and ron paul try to rally young voters and the reaction they received were very different. murder mystery. a body is found on the queen's estate in england where the royal family spent the holidays. the latest on that investigation. let's go back to iowa and joining me now is the host of "hardball." i'm happy you were able to make time for us. what are you looking for tonight? >> it's been a bombing campaign by the romney people. they destroyed their nationwide

competition. newt gingrich is lucky to come in fourth or fifth after this relentless ad campaign that is negative and run by the romney people unofficially. it's called restore our future and relendlessly 24-7 destroyed newt gingrich. i can only compare it to the allied bombing in world war ii. it left nothing standing. >> newt gingrich was asked about his comments regarding mitt rom romney. he was asked if mitt was a liar and when pressed again he said sure i believe he is a liar and doesn't tell the truth here. you know all of these individuals better than anyone else. wouldn't newt gingrich see this coming? he's not an amateur. he's a pro at this. why is he whining?

>> what he's not used to is under this new court ruling, citizens united, your opponent can run a terrible campaign and relentlessly destroy the reputation without putting your fingerprints on the ad. you don't have to say i'm mitt romney and i paid for this ad. where the people don't like negative campaigning, you can run the bombing campaign or destroy your opponent without having your face or voice associated with it. that's what he wasn't aware of. it's his fault that conservatives like them have gone along with it. that allows big contributors, wealthy people to put unlimited amounts of money into negative campaigns without putting the name of their favorite candidate in the ad. it destroyed gingrich. it's an amazing thing to watch out here. the destruction of a front-runner by someone in second place and now doesn't

have an opponent because wealthy friends destroyed that person you are looking at right now. >> the number of people who have come to the top, you have rick santorum at this point really the guy who people are buzzing about, michele bachmann won the straw poll and we had the conservative host from iowa predicting that she will have the greatest fall of a person to win the straw poll. you put the national spotlight on michele bachmann several years ago. here she is at the bottom here. >> it wasn't my fault in either case. let me tell you that if you are mitt romney, you want rick santorum as your opponent. he can't go the distance and doesn't have the money or the organization. back in 1992, the bill clinton campaign, loving the fact that they are going against paul saying us who came in well in the first contest who doesn't have any threat. doesn't offer any threat to them. right now i have to tell you

that mitt romney has no opponent because of this campaign here in iowa. it is amazing to watch. i will talk about it tonight. incredibly intense bombing of another candidate without having your name on the ads. it's being run by none other than larry carthy. what did he used to do? it's the statement negative campaigning and working out here. nobody is hitting it in the media for a reason is focusing on newt gingrich and in fact he is right. it is totally dishonest. >> a lot of people see your point, but -- >> it's newt's point. >> you made the point even last night on your show when i was watching it live that you yourself were empathizing with newt and calista, but i go back

to newt gingrich is not the kind of guy that a lot of folks will sympathize with when he makes comments like why not let poor children become janitors at the school. you don't have a bleeding heart for a guy like that is my point to you. >> my love is for democracy. my love is for maybe a romantic notion of a fair fight. the idea that two or three or five or people go in a ring and get a good look at all of them and they make their best case and you judge among them on live television or live performances. a real american style election. what you have seen out here is nothing like democracy. it's not about equality, but financial equity. this is not what people fought for. this is not what the founding fathers had in mind. in the drez den. a bombing campaign without a signature attached. that has been going on out here for weeks. it worked. that's the scary thing.

you watch down the road. every consultant is watching this situation in iowa saying next time i find a candidate, i will find with deep pockets with many, many friends or willing to kick enormous amounts of money to destroy my guys or opponent. that is not the template we want as we move forward. i don't think. >> i don't think so either, but the irony here is that you pointed this out on your show. we have a conservative republican complaining when there other who is say that a part of this process, the super packs and the millions of dollars, the world where corporations are seen as people, this is something they supported. we are at a point where the fertile complaints about this are being fired by conservative republicans. >> my sympathy is not for newt. it's for democracy. newt was wronged. that's hard for me to say this, but he was wronged by the system. i'm trying to be fair even to people i don't normally agree

with. >> people appreciate thaw are offering up fairness and it is food for thought. >> great to be on the show. >> thank you. chris matthews will have live coverage on "hardball" at 5:00 eastern. people are working to identify or police are working to identify remains found at the estate where members of britain's royal family celebrated new year's. that tops the look at the stories around the nation. a dog-walker discovered a woman's on new year's day three miles from where the queen and prince phillip were staying for the break. the family has been notified. investigators are looking through missing persons reports and unsolved cases. the pentagon dismissed warnings from iran to keep an aircraft carrier out of the persian gulf. the navy said the operation and the waterway is in accordance with the international law. the latest shows that sanctions against iran's nuclear program are working.

starbucks customers in the northeast and south are finding higher prices today. that will wake you up. the hike averaged about 1% and affected several cities like new york, washington, d.c., atlanta and dallas. they cite higher production costs as a factor for the price hike. the winter storm that dumped more than a foot of snow across the great lakes is expected to ease, but the ice cold temperatures are not going anywhere. look at the map that takes into account the wind chill. that's the temperature that it feels like to your skin. negative numbers around the nation. we have more from pennsylvania. >>, tamron. for most of december it was mild and snow-free. that's the month where they usually get a lot of lake effect snow. now that turned around here. a fresh arctic air mass that is chilling everyone down through the florida keys with the cold air over the lakes.

we are in one right now. it's snowing at about an inch and a half or two inches an hour. this really blows the snow around. temperatures are 15 and the wind chill is about zero. out here up to interstate 90, the main thoroughfare, it's snow-pack and snow-covered. it is all right covered up at this rate. these temperatures are cold. the coldest they have seen this season. tonight we will see lows below zero. it's a good time to gas up and take it easy. with this kind of snow, it's hard to find that out. the entire east coast and here

in western parts of pennsylvania. by friday and saturday, temperatures back above the 40s. back to you. >> thank you and three children in utah are alive thanks to the effort of a few good sa mare tons that pulled a kid from a car. we have more. >> the icy river was well on the way to become a liquid tune to three young children. after the car skidded off the road slid feet and landed upside down in the bitterly cold water. >> the first thought was so this is how it ends. which was kind of not a good thought. this easily could have been a funeral for four of us. >> roger was able to free

himself from the honda accord, but the children, his 4-year-old son, 9-year-old daughter, and her friend, 9-year-old were trapped inside. it was a moment when seconds would make the difference between life and death. >> i was gone in a second. i was completely off the road and sliding down the embankment. within a second the cabin of the vehicle was full of water. >> just as quickly, anderson said, help appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. >> these people there at the scene without hesitation just did what they had to do. that for our family made all the difference. >> hearsay own two children were floating lifeless in the river water filling the car. bailor still strapped in. kenya fountain air pocket, but

couldn't get out of the seatbelt. they tried opening the windows or a door, but the water was rising and nothing would move. then one of them pulled out his hand gun and shot out a window. the group of strangers turned rescuers passed them up the riverbank where others performed life-saving cpr. almost against the odds, all three children would live to see the new year. >> it was greater than just the physical hands and the heart. there was more that went on that day. >> two families and three children who are doing fine thanks to a random act of the kindness and courage. >> i love them and i will be forever grateful. they are my heros in every sense of the word. really. they are the reason i have my children. >> that was nbc's janet shandly. coming up, rock the caucus.

>> trying to hype up young voters. the different reactions that candidates received a few hours ago. a lot going on today. things we just thought you should know. the second session of the 112th congress is under way. reports that the president could have used a few sessions to recess appoint his hotly contested pick against the financial protection agency. a recent super pack ad supporting michele bachmann compares the iowa straw poll winner to the proud christian quarterback, tim tebow. >> he doesn't drink or cuss. the same can be said for michele bachmann. no baggage and christian and keeps fighting and winning votes. >> a group of makers said don't

believe everything you heard about residents in their home state. after months in the spotlight, they are setting the record straight about some hawk eye state stereotypes. >> you heard we are a bunch of knee jerk conservative reactionaries. that's why we are democratic in five out of the last six presidential elections. how do you like me now? does d your state legalize gay marriage before us? probably not. the first woman in america to become a lawyer was in iowa in 1869. iowa has the sixth lowest unemployment in the nation and des moines is the richest metro in the country and the second happiest. i guess you can't have it all. going to have the heart attack. i thought i was invincible. i'm on an aspirin regimen now because i never want to feel that helplessness again. [ male announcer ] be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. talk to your doctor, and take care of what you have to take care of. yoo-hoo. hello.

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push. will a last minute one-liner snatch a victory? back to tamron. >> back to "news nation," the gop presidential hopefuls recording young voters at the rock the caucus event. the rally encouraging high school students of voting age to hit the polls. ron paul and michele bachmann spoke to the crowd of 800 students. >> does anyone know the name kelly clarkson? because recently she endorsed me a couple of weeks ago. >> tonight i urge all of you to come out to the caucuses. because tonight is your night to weigh in and make a difference. >> nbc's kelly o'donnell joins me from des moines. a lot of chatter about the huge applause that ron paul received and the pleasant, but not as strong reaction to michele bachmann by the young crowd. >> in the auditorium, it had a

game day vibe and that's appropriate for a high school. ron paul has a lot of appeal among young students. what i loved about the comment he made is about a minute or so after the clip you showed, he acknowledged he didn't really know who she was, but the "american idol" winner and singer is from texas and he is from texas and he was more than happy to reach out using that idea. some of the other candidates and families, four of the romney sons were reaching out to the high school senior who is if they are 18 by november can participate tonight, but to take the message home and talk to their parents and family members at dinnertime to get out and caucus tonight. we saw a lot of students who seemed excite and many of the hands went up when asked if they would participate themselves. another moment that didn't happen on the main stage, but the hall way when the group came

through. a political game day, energy speaks to a lot of what's lifting a candidate like rick santorum or propelled ron paul. >> it's interesting you brought up kelly clarkson. she got a lot of heat on twitter for supporting ron paul even getting into the so-called twitter wars with a couple of fans. she stuck her neck out and he's giving her a shout out. >> a prospect. >> thanks, kelly and next in the gut check, do you think the candidate who wins the iowa caucus will go on to win the gop nomination? how you can weigh in on that. here's a look at what's on the political calendar. there two debates in new hampshire including on a special edition of "meet the press." week from today in the primary when that's going to happen and 18 days later, we finish out january in florida. my mother froze everything.

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>> per time now necessary the "news nation" gut check. out of the last caucuses, eight of the winners won their party's nomination, just half of the winners since 1976. overall, only three candidates who won their party's nomination went on to win the white house. that would be jimmy carter in 76 and george w. bush in 2000 and of course barack obama in 2008. with that bit of information, what does your gut you, with the candidate who wins iowa win the nomination? go to facebook.com/"news nation" to cast your vote and look at what they are saying about yesterday's gut check. do you believe the poll showing 41% of likely caucus goers in iowa were still undecided two days before the caucuses? 77% said yes. 23% said no.

that does it for this edition of "news nation." keep it on msnbc for a live coverage of the iowa caucus. coverage starts at 6:00 and be sure to watch "morning joe" for the presidential candidate, mitt romney will join them live. martin bashir is up next. ♪ like so many great pioneers before me, guided only by a dream. i'm embarking on a journey of epic proportion. i will travel, from sea to shining sea, through amber waves of grain, and i won't stop until i've helped every driver in america save hundreds on car insurance. well i'm out of the parking lot. that's a good start. geico, fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent,

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>> per good afternoon, it's tuesday, january 3rd and here's what's happening. # here comes your man. mitt romney walks the walk of front runner iowa. >> we will win this thing. >> a loving family in toe. that's my girlfriend, my sweetheart, ann romney. >> poised for victory. what's this? >> are you calling mitt romney a liar? >> yes. >> you are calling