good morning. it's iowa caucus day as the people here cast the nation's first vote in the contest for the republican presidential nomination. mitt romney is predicting a victory, but an overwhelming number of undecided voters could open the door for others like rick santorum, who has been closing in on the top spot. we'll get the latest as the candidates make their final push. ron paul remains a frontrunner in iowa, thanks in part to his popularity among younger voters. we'll see if his youth appeal will translate into a win and also speak with his son, senator ran paul who is hitting the campaign trail for his dad. and newt gingrich had all but given up winning the iowa

caucuses, but this morning, he's calling on voters to help him pull off a historic upset. we'll talk live with gingrich early this tuesday morning, we'll talk live with gingrich early this tuesday morning, january 3rd. captioning funded by cbs good morning, i'm bob schaefer. >> i'm norah o'donnell and great to be back here this morning. >> here we are, again, there is a reason they call this "the early show." it sure gets early out here. >> as i like to say, top of the morning to you. we're back here in the iowa state capital in the law library, which is a beautiful room to anchor from. >> i think, actually, we may have a shot from this law library where our cameras got fogged up yesterday. we wanted to show you a picture yesterday that when they brought

the camera in to get the wide shot, look, there you are. this is where the legislatures come to study and all the legislation here is filed. we love being here out. cbs has been using this room for a long, long time on caucus night. let's get down to it. today is the day. this is the day after more than a dozen debates, months of campaigning. tonight, the voters of iowa will speak their mind and we're going to find out who they think can beat president obama in november. >> that's right. we'll start with chief political correspondent jan crawford is here with us to look at the republican candidates and how they spent their final full day of campaigning. good morning to you, jan. >> good morning, in,norah. the candidates were all over the state, they weren't in the beautiful law library, they were in diners, construction plants and pressing their case that they're the nominee that can best take back that white house

and the one that i think seemed to draw the most supporters yesterday was mitt romney. >> i need you guys tomorrow night. >> reporter: mitt romney is rolling through the hawkeye state with the confidence of a frontrunner focusing on his final goal of defeating president obama in the final election. >> there is no question in my mind, but the american people know those policies have failed. >> reporter: ron paul is running second in the polls behind romney. he stuck to his anti-big government message. >> well, we're talking about real cuts and the shrinking of the size of the federal government. >> reporter: but going into today's voting is rick santorum, who seems to have the most momentum. he continues to battle for the christian conservative vote and portrays himself as the most consistent voice in the race. >> polls change, convictions shouldn't and that's what i bring to the equation.

>> reporter: scott pelly talked to santorum about his chances. >> finally, it's often said there are only three tickets out of iowa, first, second and third. are you going to have one of those tickets? >> that's the plan. ten days ago, if you were a reporter you were asking me the question of when i'm getting out because we're not catching on. >> reporter: more attacks from the other candidates competing with him for the social conservative vote. >> i don't understand. how you can come to iowa and say i'm a fiscal conservative when you voted eight times to raise the debt limit. >> reporter: rick perry once was the frontrunner, as was newt gingrich, but gingrich's support has crumbled and all but conceding the race. >> i don't think i'm going to win. if you look at the numbers, that volume of negativety has done enough. >> the campaign hadn't been prepared to keep his momentum going. >> we had this temporary real

explosion and we weren't prepared to sustain that and that convinced several of my competitors that they had to attack me because i was in danger of pulling away and consolidating. >> a lot of this, of course, is about expectations. these candidates want voters to believe they can win. last night a precinct captain for newt gingrich chewed him out and said, what is all this negativity that you're not going to win. you're going to win and we'll come out for you. by last night, gingrich was talking a different tune. we could pull one of the greatest upsets in the history of the iowa caucuses. bob, norah. >> all right, jan crawford, thank you. candidate ron paul has been running a strong campaign here in iowa. wherever he goes, he gets the rock star treatment. taran, good morning. >> he seems to be attracting the youngest voters.

with all this youthful buzz around him, i'm pretty certain that he had good momentum and feeling good about tonight's race. by strong poll numbers and growing crowds -- >> it does look like there are more cameras than there used to be. >> reporter: ron paul is a bonified hit in iowa. >> iowa is ready for ron paul. >> reporter: some might say paul has bet the farm on the hawkeye state spending $1.3 million on ads here. his boost on the ground organization that is reaching the masses. the 76-year-old texas congressman has been especially appealing to younger voters. >> everything the man says is just absolutely wonderful. >> i feel like he has a country out and to help my generation. >> ron paul. >> reporter: what do you think it is that you're saying that resonates with younger voters so much? >> young ideas. >> reporter: paul says a win in iowa would do wonders for his national campaign.

>> media coverage. you know, they would get a lot more attention and a lot more momentum. >> reporter: political scientist art sanders isn't so sure. >> when you move outside of economics, you know, ron paul believes that drugs should be legalized. he believes that whether or not people get married should be a private decision. the state should stay out of it. ron paul has all kind of positions that are never going to be attractive to republicans. >> stop the inflation. stop the debt. >> reporter: still, what ailes iowa caucus goers is the economy. a shared sentiment among voters nationwide. >> given the nature of the economy and especially the belief among republicans that the problem is too much government spending. his long-term commitment to cutting that spending in drastic kind of ways make him look attractive. >> but i would support anything

that would rain in the irs and reduce your taxes. those are the two things they have to do. >> later this morning, dr. paul will attend a high school student assembly where he'll address 800 caucus eligible juniors and seniors. target the youth vote and hope they come out in huge numbers tonight. guys? >> all right, thank you. for ron paul getting out the vote for tonight's caucuses is a family affair. and joining us now, his son, ran paul, senator, junior senator from kentucky. >> good morning. >> i just heard the voter there say iowa is ready for ron paul. but, you know, when i hear the remarks around the country, is america ready for ron paul? because there's no question your dad is not in the main stream republican party. >> i think that's a matter of opinion. i think the interesting thing about it, when you choose a commander in chief, someone who is going to be in charge of our

nukeilous arsenal, i think you want someone who is reasonable and someone who wouldn't be really happy to bomb other countries. most of the rest of the republican field seems to be a little overeager to use nuclear weapons and bomb other countries. i think there are people within the republican party and many independents who are saying, gosh, we want someone with a little more wisdom and reluctance to go to war. >> you bring up the point about being commander in chief. let's read what steve king recently said of your father. "i don't think the paul supporters have really stepped back and thought about what would happen if ron paul were operating out of the oval office and commander in chief of our armd forces." you know, he has said that he wants to bring home our troops from japan. he wants to bring home the troops from south korea. >> i guess after 60 years do we not think the japanese can support their own national defense right now? the south koreans who are doing

quite well economically could finance their own defense? i think a lot of people agree with that. a very main stream position. if you went around with us yesterday in iowa, i bet we had the biggest crowds of any presidential candidate. 600 here in des moines. i went to the headquarters last night. 250 young people between the ages of 20 and 30 making phone calls last night. the place was packed to the rafters with young people. >> senator, let me just follow on that. your father talks a lot about personal liberty. the centerpiece of his campaign. he's very libertarian. that means he is for legalizing drugs, including heroin and cocai cocaine. and legalizing prostitution and he is actually for -- >> i never, ever heard him give a speech campaigning on any of those issues. >> he wants to pull troops out of afghanistan, south korea. >> i don't think it characterizes who he is. if you listen to his campaign stump speech, he's concerned about the debt and he thinks we can only fix our debt problem if

you address our domestic spending and military spending. i never heard him use the word prostitution, much less campaign on it. >> you talk about fiscal discipline. yesterday he called rick santorum, who is surging in this contest, a liberal. if rick santorum is a liberal, what is mitt romney? >> well, what i would say is santorum on social issues is very conservative. on economic issues like foreign aid, he's voted for foreign aid repeatedly. he voted to double the size of department of education. old school reagan republicans of education. rick santorum voted to double the size of education. >> what is it about mitt romney then? >> he supported the linchpin of obama care, the individual mandate and he supported the bank bailouts. all these things wrapped together don't make romney a real good opponent for obama either. >> senator paul, we thank you for coming by this morning. >> thank you. right now ron paul is running a fairly tight second to

mitt romney in tonight's caucuses. the latest poll from the des moines register has romney with 24% of the vote. that is a 2% lead over congressman paul. rick santorum is running third with 15%, but next tuesday in new hampshire it's all romney, according to a poll from the suffolk university. he's crushing the competition with 41%. paul is now a distant second with just 15% and newt gingrich is third with 11%. so, here to tell us what all that means is our political director, john dickerson. good morning, john. >> good morning. how are you? >> let's talk about rick santorum. i think he is hoping that this voter enthusiasm trumps organization. if he comes in second, maybe first place, does he, can he sustain a campaign in new hampshire and south carolina? >> you know, in new hampshire he

has worked the ground game the way he has in iowa. he has been to the state a lot and does have some organization, but there it is clear there are strains. yesterday at one of his events he didn't have a public event system and organizations from all over the world. so, clearly, they're still scrambling. today they put out their schedule this morning and trying to find gym nasiums to deal with the crowds that are big enough. and he will have to raise money and not just raising the money to get the organization going and he is starting to get this daluge of negative attacks. >> is the crowd the media or the voters? at some of these events we keep saying 50 reporters and 15 citizens. >> that's right. i mean, it's a sign that you're doing well that you don't actually get to meet a voter in iowa because the media horde is

so crazy. yesterday there were more people by the media by far than poor voters. one woman was standing outside to actually hear him and i don't think she ever got in there. in some of these venues lots of voters and they are excited and interested in him and there is a genuine surge going on, not just in the media. >> mitt romney is still the frontrunner and will probably do well here. we have several debates coming up. do you expect we'll see a more aggressive rick santorum in these debates? a more aggressive newt gingrich and what does it ultimately mean for the contest that mitt romney needs to run? >> they need to get aggressive, especially how he runs here. newt gingrich has done the best in the debate and hasn't had the money to fight back against these ads. on television here, you see one positive newt gingrich ad and if a voter has a warm feeling about him, it's dashed in a few seconds. >> that will happen to santorum, don't you think? >> in fact, i talked to several

voters at his events yesterday. we liked santorum and we heard senator paul attacking him and they thought, well, that made us think twice. >> so, your job depends on this now, john. just tell us what is going to happen, in what order. >> in what order. well, good news is you'll have three winners and they'll all declare them selves the winner and it will be santorum, romney and paul probably bunched all there at the top. >> john dickerson, good to see you this morning. still ahead this morning, we'll speak live with newt gingrich. >> he is hoping voters in iowa will help him pull off a huge upset tonight. by the way, this is "the early show" on cbs. good grief mom, you gonna clean that thing or wrestle it?

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nora o'donnell. we're in des moines, iowa, looking ahead to tonight's important gop caucuses. >> tonight will determine what happens over the next several weeks. >> last night was a big night. we were out reporting. getting the pulse of the place and i came to the one conclusion. the best steaks in america are right here in des moines. >> absolutely. >> absolutely. before we get to more on that, we're now going to get the latest news headlines from new york and debbye turner bell. >> good morning. a house being fire bombed sunday in what may be a possible series of bias crimes. the attacks also included an attack on a mosque. an immigration dispute may be what sparked that dangerous arson spree in los angeles. suspect harry burkehart is a

german national. he was arrested yesterday. "the los angeles times" reported that burkhart erupt under to a tirade. a federal official at that hearing recognized him from a surveillance tape showing an arson suspect leaving one of the fires. police say benjamin barnes suspected of shooting a park ranger likely died of exposure to the elements. barnes' body was discovered yesterday in washington's mt. rainier national park. he was only wearing a t-shirt, jeans and one sneaker. authorities say barnes killed ranger margaret anderson during a traffic stop. british police say this morning they are investigating what they suspect was a murder on one of queen elizabeth's country estates. a body was found new year's day on the queen's estate northeast of london. the woman's body was found in a public area of the estate, where the royal family spends some of its holidays.

they are investigating cases around the country to see if there is a link. it is now time for and coming up, we'll have a chat with newt gingrich, who had said he didn't expect to win here in iowa tonight, but now he's hoping for a big upset. >> we'll be right back. this is "the early show" on cbs. ♪ oh, yeah ♪ 'cause i believe in you and me ♪ ♪ oh, boy

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well, welcome back to "the early show" from des moines, iowa. i'm norah o'donnell. i like to call this a special collector's edition. >> one day they might package this like the song hits from the '50s. we are back here on the final day of the iowa caucuses. people here in iowa are going to get together tonight and hold those meetings in hundreds of locations across the state, starting a process of picking a republican presidential nominee. >> that's right. one of the candidates fighting for votes is newt gingrich, after dropping in the polls, he's calling on folks here in iowa to help him pull off one of the great upsets in the history

of the iowa caucuses. he joins us now from davenport, iowa. good morning to you, mr. speaker. >> good morning. i have been trying to figure out now, am i on the humfry bogart role, exactly what role do i get to play? >> that's the nice thing about this show, you get to play the role that you want to play. i know you want to play the role of victor here tonight in the iowa caucuses. you have been saying for a couple days here after this barrage of negative ads that you face that you think you're going to lose here and one of our precinct captains scolded you and now you're predicting an upset and you don't expect that you'll get first or second place, do you, mr. speaker? >> actually, i don't think anybody knows who is going to get what right now. what happened, i'm very excited about. part of why my style is so different than others. telephone town hall meeting

yesterday with 16,000 iowans who had various telephone town hall meetings in the last ten days or so and one of the folks got on and talked to me and said, look, he just spent five hours preparing the argument that he'll make at the caucus tonight. he is convinced that he will win his caucus. i talked a little bit later with our leader who is going to help us carry scott county and they had done focus groups. when you walk through the case and you outline the fact that you can beat barack obama in a debate and you outline my experience as speaker having created jobs and gotten to a balanced budget and created economic growth and you pointed out ron paul's position on nuclear weapons in iran and they didn't seem to care. you saw people moving, even people who were already committed. the des moines registry said 41% of the voters were up for grabs. so, i think what you're seeing, this has been our experience over the last two weeks.

we have been in 24 towns, later this afternoon when i go back to waterloo, everywhere we go a large number of undecided people who walk in generally interested and tell you up front they haven't made their mind up. i think anybody could come in first. >> mr. speaker, though, you were riding atop of the polls and after millions of dollars were spent on your record, you've kind of had a spectacular crash in the polls. and i want to ask you because just the other day on the campaign trail, you talked about that. you scolded mitt romney, his friends who are running this superpac that has funded that and you said of mitt romney, someone who will lie to you to get to be president will lie to you when they are president. i have to ask you, are you calling mitt romney a liar? >> yes. >> you're calling mitt romney a liar? >> well, you seem shocked by it, yes. i mean, why -- >> why are you saying he is a

liar? >> because this is a man whose staff created the pac and his millionaire friends fund the pac and it's baloney. he's not telling the american people the truth. here's a massachusetts moderate who has tax paid abortions in romney care and puts planned parenthood in romney care and raises hundreds of millions of dollars and appoints liberal judges and wants the rest of us to believe he's somehow magically a conservative. i think he ought tobe honest with the american people and try to win as the real mitt romney and not consultant-guided version that goes with talking points. i don't think he's being candid and that will be a major issue. from here on out from the rest of this campaign, the country has to decide. do you really want a massachusetts moderate who won't level with you to run against barack obama who, frankly, will just tear him apart. >> massachusetts moderate that

you have just said is flat out a liar. that does raise the question, mr. speaker, if he does get the nomination, do you think that you can find a way to support him or will that just be a little too much for you? you could, you'd support a liar. >> no, i would support a republican candidate against barack obama because i think barack obama is tearing the country apart. but, let's be clear, which part of what i just said to you is false?& why is it if i'm candid in person and i wanted to be honest in person, that's shocking. if his pac buys millions of dollars in ads to say things that are false, that's somehow the way washington plays the game. isn't that what the american people are tired of? >> but you just, what you said, but what you said, senior gingrich, if somebody would lie to you to get to be president, would lie to you when you are president. you are saying mitt romney would be a liar as president.

>> but less destructive than barack obama. >> how could you support somebody like that? >> he would be much less destructive than barack obama. if you think barack obama is not a risk to the country's future, then he's somebody you can vote for. i think if you watch what the white house is doing right now, this whole effort to govern without the congress is stunningly unkaunconstitutional. >> but mr. speaker, what you're saying is folks, barack obama is so bad that we'd be better off electing a bald face liar to the presidency. someone that we would never know if he was telling the truth. that is pretty strong stuff. >> look, i will let you go and check his record, bob. look, you're a professional reporter. did he support reagan in the '80s or not? the answer is no. did he vote in '92 or not? the answer is, yes, he did. did he say he didn't want to go

back to the reagan bush years in '94? yes, he did. why is it politically incorrect to tell the truth? you're saying in the traditional washington pattern it's better to be sweet and honest and have this face of saying, oh, gee, we want to be nice to each other no matter what happens to the american people. i think the american people deserve the truth and i think the next couple debates are very interesting. i am prepared to defend every single thing i said to you this morning. let's have a debate about a massachusetts moderate versus a real conservative. >> all right. mr. speaker, we have to bring it to a close here. we thank you for answering the questions this morning. appreciate it very much. >> thank you, mr. speaker. we'll be back with more of >> thank you, mr. speaker. we'll be back with more of "the early show" here on cbs. u e on an emerald card. just bring in your tax information and get a refund anticipation check...

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welcome back to a special edition of "the early show." bob schieffer here along with norah o'donnell. >> i think that interview with newt gingrich kind of knocked your purple socks off.

>> he said flat out, he's a liar, but as bad as that is, that would still cost him the vote for him instead of barack obama. >> getting interesting the race for the republican nomination. more on tonight's caucuses. let's go back to new york first and check in with debbye turner bell who will check in with the headlines. >> good morning, guys. quite an interview there. we start with this news, president barack obama is back in washington. the president landed at andrews air force base following his vacation in hawaii. he plans a live chat tonight with his supporters in iowa. the body of shooting suspect benjamin barnes has been covered in mt. rainier national park. he is suspected of killing a park ranger. barnes apparently died of exposure. the suspect in a series of arson fires is being held without bail this morning. harry burkhart was arrested yesterday. led to the arrest of harry

burkhart according to the "long times." the 20-year-old from germany recently made an outburst at an immigration hearing. it was a part-time sheriff who first stopped the suspect yesterday. he won praise from his colleagues and bosses last night. >> in a part-time reserve deputy sheriff, although for the past four days, working full time for a dollar a year. >> give him a raise. >> i'll give him a raise. another dollar a year. >> i say he deserves a raise. they let him order dinner and

up next, an inside look at how the iowa caucuses works. >> and if iowa matters. we'll be right back. em an instrumless. system.

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trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. my inspiration for quitting were my sons. they were my little cheering squad. [ laughs ] [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you. for months now we have been talking about these iowa caucuses but sometimes people ask, how do they work and why are they so important? >> we brought the expert here, david yepsen long-time reporter. nice to see you, thank you so much for joining us. >> you know, '76 was my first one, too, what we always remember about that, jimmy carter, they call him jimmy who. but he didn't actually win that year, did he? >> uncommitted one. >> jimmy carter came in second. david, ever seen anything like

that? >> they're all different. this started late and a lot more attack television floating around and caucus goers seem to be having a hard time sorting it out. a lot of fluidity and indecision. >> not just the caucus, but the politicians here in iowa. we talked to the republican, congressman steve king, republican senator chuck grassley, none of them have endorsed in this race. >> well, and some of them won't. they learned to stay out of this. but, you know, it just, i think if the caucus goer is having a hard time, all the candidates offer something. republicans desperately want to beat barack obama, but they want to find a good, electable conservative. they're having trouble sorting that out. >> how do they work? just run us through this. >> at 7:00 tonight, they'll gather and about 1,000 precincts around the state. neighborhood meetings and on the republican side, they'll just visit among themselves. people giving little talks about

why i like a certain candidate and then they vote on a slip of paper. it's pretty straight forward. >> and the democrats do theirs in public, though. >> they're in public. they break out. that's right. it gets a little more confusing. probably a little easier to understand. >> do you have any sense of what's going to happen? >> no, i don't. i think mitt romney clearly has something going, but rick santorum is kind of moving and surging here at the end, rallying social conservatives. a number of outcomes is possible. >> how much does organization matter because clearly mitt romney is the most well-funded and most organized of the candidates. rick santorum has the voter enthusiasm, but he lacks the organization. does that matter as much? can he still pull off and can that still propel him to a great victory? >> it could. organization is not as important this time as it has been in the past. debate performances have actually been very important. but, you know, in a race this close, norah, you know, the guy

who still has somebody out there making phone calls and making his neighbors come with him, that could be the margins. >> david, i want to thank you very much. you helped me for years. so, i appreciate it. we'll talk to, of all people, presidential candidate herman cain about who he thinks will win tonight's caucuses. we'll be right back. mid grade dark roast forest fresh full tank brain freeze cake donettes rolling hot dogs bag of ice anti-freeze

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and welcome back to the special edition of "the early show" from out here in des moines, iowa, i'm bob schieffer. >> and i'm the lucky girl that gets to sit next to you for the next two days, norah o'donnell. >> we're both kind of lucky because, norah, sometimes you never know until you ask and somebody at cbs news had the idea the other day, why don't we ask herman cain to come on. he suspended his campaign and of all things he said, yes, he's in our new york headquarters this morning. mr. cain, welcome to the broadcast. we're glad to see you back, but i've got to ask you something,

you know, you suspended your campaign and we're pleased to have you, but why did you accept the invitation? do you have something you want to tell us this morning or are you going to endorse a candidate? what brings you to television this morning? >> number one, i'm not going to endorse anyone right now, but when i do make an endorsement, it will be unconventional. remember, i'm the unconventional candidate with unconventional ideas. but it will not be at this particular point in time. secondly, the reason i accepted your invitation is because i wanted to let people know that just because i am not seeking the position of president, i have not abandoned the mission, which is to help get barack obama out of the white house. >> so -- >> you say you're starting a new movement. what kind of movement? >> it's going to be a movement that's going to keep attention on solutions. one of the things that has frustrated me and many of the

american people has been all of the negative attacks that have taken place during this campaign. just look at what happened last week. and, secondly, it takes attention away from how you're going to fix stuff. this is what the american people want. when i was in the campaign and i was at the top of the polls, it was the fact that people were connecting with solutions. and so what i plan to do is continue to promote solutions to problems because not enough attention is being paid to them. >> well, you talk about all these negative attacks. we had kind of an extraordinary little interview with candidate newt gingrich just a while ago. and, basically, talking about the attacks that mitt romney has leveled on him, he said, flatly, yes. that mitt romney is simply a liar. and i went on to ask him, can you endorse him if he decides if he gets the nomination and he

said, well, yes, he could. even though he's a liar, he's better than barack obama. what did you come away from the campaign thinking about mitt romney? do you agree with newt gingrich that he is in gingrich's word "a liar"? >> bob, as you know, political speak and you can choose the words. in political speak, it could have been stated as, he was not totally honest. newt has called him out on this. but you have to raise the same question with every candidate, including the current president. can you honestly say that the current president has been 100% truthful about everything that he said? i think if we were to do the analysis, you would have to come away and say, some of them may not have been as truthful as they would have been. a choice of words, not as strongly as, he would support a liar. that's my opinion. >> it is interesting that you

bring up the question of truthfulness because what drove you from the campaign were questionsabout your own truthfulness in terms of your relationship with women. i do want to ask you this morning, how is your wife? >> my wife is doing marvelous, thank you. we were blessed to have our fourth grandchild on new year's day. so, 2012 has gotten off to a great start for my wife and i. she is doing fine because since i got out of the race, we don't have to constantly hear the spinning and the respinning of those false accusations. so, you are absolutely right. from that standpoint, she is great. and she is very supportive of this national movement that i'm going to be launching later this week in order to keep attention on what's really important in this. the whole caucus, with all due respect, it should narrow the field. the same thing should happen with new hampshire.

so, as the field narrows i think and i hope that people will get back to paying more attention to how are these candidates going to fix problems? that's what the american people are looking for. >> i know you've said in some recent interviews that if a republican were to defeat barack obama, you would be interested in serving in the next administration as secretary of defense. that is a big job to serve as secretary of defense. i just want to ask you a couple questions. you had some mistakes on the campaign trail. you were confused about the taliban. you said that you thought that the taliban might take control in libya. you know that the taliban are not in libya, correct? >> correct, norah. look, it's a learning process and there are a lot of things that i have learned as a result of having been in the campaign, as well as after the campaign. now, the reason that i indicated that i would consider being secretary of defense, i don't think that my qualifications of

secretary of defense should be based on something i said months ago in error. no, it should be based upon leadership. national security is one of our biggest challenges that we have in this country and i believe that as a leader in that position, if we have the right president, i wouldn't be able to bring a lot to the party in terms of helping to prioritize those things that need to be prioritized. >> mr. cain, wouldn't you have to start out being fairly familiar with the basic national security issues are? i mean, you throughout the campaign seemed unaware of a lot of the things that the secretary of defense would have to deal with. i mean, good intentions are one thing and bringing fresh insight. but do you really, sincerely feel that you have the background and really the knowledge that you could handle a cabinet-level position like that? >> bob, allow me to remind you

something that didn't get picked up when i was beat up about what i didn't know. i served on the citizens advisory board of the strategic erica mand in omaha, nebraska, for several years when i was there. i was exposed to some of those issues at that particular time. i started my career as a ballistics analyst with the department of the navy. i've actually been on a navy ship. so, i have been around some of these issues. so, it's not that i'm totally -- >> if i may interrupt. i have been on a navy ship, too, but i don't think that qualifies me to be secretary of defense. >> bob y didn't say that qualified me to be secretary of defense. there you go, when i'm trying to make a point. that's not the point, bob. i didn't say being on a ship one time qualifies me for being secretary of defense. my point is quite simply this. we need strong leadership in that position. and it was a hypothetical question and i gave a response based upon the question that was

asked. >> simple question. how many people serve in the armed services? >> we have about 3 million people who serve in the armed services. was that a gotcha question, norah? >> yeah, we have 1.6 who are active duty and 2 million total if you include reservists who are part of our armd services. herman cain, thank you so much for joining us. good to see you. we appreciate it. we'll go back now to debbye turner bell for a look at the day's headlines. >> president obama's ten-day hawaiian vacation is over. the president returned to the white house this morning. he plans a live web chat with his supporters in iowa. he'll travel to cleveland tomorrow to discuss the economy. a new study shows men are taking most of the new jobs being created, including those traditionally held by women. men are getting more than two-thirds of the new private sector jobs, according to the government. 1.3 million men were hired in the 12 months that ended last

month, compared to 600,000 women. 216,000 men went to work for retailers. those are jobs traditionally taken by women compared to about 9,000 that went to women. and winter comes to florida with a freeze warning posted for most of the state. temperatures are expected to fall into the 40s and 50s today, except for the part of the panhandle. the miami area and the keys. the hard freeze warning is up for central florida. and multi-car pileups are piling up because of snowy weather. in kentucky, a 41-vehicle collision forced interstate 75 to be closed for hours yesterday. snow across central indiana is also blamed for a multi-car crash. a dozen cars were involved in that one. in colorado, an icy rescue of a retriever. one of a pair of a golden retrievers went into the freezing waters of the pond in colorado springs yesterday and

could not get out. the firefighters were able to finally reach the dog named boo and pull him out. both dogs are doing fine this morning. i bet boo is a and still ahead. we're going to look at some of the hits and the misses from the campaign so far. how voters reacted to what the candidae said in the debates. as we learned this morning, sometimes it's what you don't say or can't remember that make the news. >> or do say. >> this is "the early show" on

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well, voters in iowa head to the caucuses this evening. they're going to make their choices. >> to help us understand because he knows who they're going to choose. matt strawn. >> no pressure, bob. >> great to have you here in des moines this morning. >> how is this shaping up? no question, it's a lot different than i've seen in the past and the voters are still undecided. >> i had the opportunity to go to four different candidate events yesterday and started with the rick santorum event and they said they were undecided and hadn't made their minds up yet. >> so, who does that favor? >> well, i think it favors more

organized candidate and i know people out of iowa always talk about how important organization is. when you have precincts simultaneously in action, you need to have somebody who stands up on your behalf and someone who is a local opinion leader whether it's a chamber of commerce leader and making that final sale and even though the campaigns have kept that organization stuff close to the vest, they have to show their cards tonight. >> we know, of course, rick santorum has had the momentum and a lot of voter enthusiasm and we saw that in the des moines register poll. does he have the organization? >> we'll find that out. seems senator santorum i expect to see him at the breakfast table when i come down in the morning. he has caught wind behind his back over the last couple weeks, we'll find that out. no question congressman paul has a strong organization and i think it's probably nprecedented how volatile this has been. >> what do you think iowa voters will make of the tone of this

campaign? you know, we've heard a lot of voters complain about what's been on television, the sewage that has been pouring out of the television set, tese negative ads. >> this morning, right here, norah asked newt gingrich, did he think if mitt romney was a liar and he just said flat out, yes. >> i think in an era of super pacs and unlimited spending, iowa is the first frontier of that. what we've seen in iowa, coming new hampshire's way, south carolina's way and, unfortunately for the citizens of iowa, one of the six or seven swing states throughout the general election and that doesn't let up here. really fascinating when you are outsourcing what used to be campaign decisions to third party entities. >> i cover the white house for cbs news and i talk to obama chicago re-election campaign team and they've been trying to make the point that they're better organized in iowa than the republicans are. that he could win this state in the general election, again. what is the reply to that?

>> i hope you ask obama re-election team how come since he has been president one out of ten democrats fled. we had 33 months of republican registration and we closed the gap from 111,000 to just 30,000 since he has been president. >> thank you for being with us, matt. up next, from rick perry's brain freeze to mitt romney on the bailout of gm. the best and worst moments from the gop campaign. this is "the early show" on cbs. so i was the guy who was never going to have the heart attack.

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leading up to tonight's iowa caucuses, we all know the republican candidates have been debating this year. more than a dozen debates all across the country and out of those debate came, i would say, norah some defining moments for this campaign. >> there were record viewership of all of these debates. joining us now to talk about

some of these moments as we walk down memory lane frank luntz president and ceo of luntz global. let's start out with one of the moments from the debate that was most gring worthy when rick perry had trouble remembering which agencies he was going to eliminate. >> education, the -- commerce. let's see. i can't. the third one i can't. sor sorry. oops. >> and it goes on and on and i was doing the dial session and had 30 people sitting and watching it and first they started to laugh. then they started to get horrified. and finally they felt embarrassed on his behalf. the most incredible. they expect you to have the answer. to be sitting up here and have the answer at your fingertips. if you don't, they punish you for it. >> it's been devastating for his campaign. >> i'm not sure he ever got over

that. >> he didn't. but rick perry was not prepared. he raised more money in one month than any other presidential candidate. >> returning to the debates this exchange between mitt romney and governor perry. >> anderson, you said you knew you had illegals working -- >> are you going to keep talking or are you going to let me finish with what i have to say? >> now, people sort of like that because it was them sort of arguing at one another, but what did it tell us about them? >> with all due respect republicans looked at that and didn't like it at all. to them the opposition is barack obama and not each other. the hostility and the fact that they talked over each other. they thought they were trying to score needless political points and they resented it. of all the moments we tested in every debate, that one you just showed was the one that made republicans the angriest. >> another moment that you said tested well was a moment from newt gingrich, we talked to this morning.

let's listen. >> i think those are questions that a lot of people want to hear answers to and you're responsible for your record. >> if i get a rebuttal. i think that there's too much attention paid by the press corps about the campaign minutia and not enough paid to the press corps about the base ideas to distinguish us from barack obama. >> you can hear the applause. >> beating up on the media. >> it was a fox debate and a conservative audience actually booed fox news. later on they said this is one of the better debates because they held the candidates accountable. and terconservatives do like th. >> frank luntz, thanks for bringing your shoes along with bob's purple socks this morning. i think we can get a quick shot of that. there we go. what a day. >> i know. >> all right. mine are now tax deductible. >> more great moments coming up.

a look at caucus, the musical. a fun story coming up here on "the early show."

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and welcome back to the early special edition of "the early show" as we broadcast live from iowa where, tonight, the first voting of the republican presidential contest will take place. i'm bob schieffer. >> i'm norah o'donnell. >> i thought that is who you were. >> on this special collector's edition of "the early show."

>> exactly. republicans aren't the only ones making a dent out here in iowa. debbie wasserman shultz is here. why are you here? >> i am here because we have eight offices across the state of iowa and we made 4,000 one-on-one meetings and 1,200 house parties and while the republicans have been in a duke it out contest, we've been quietly organized gearing up to run the biggest, most significant grassroots campaign in history. >> now, congresswoman, iowa will be a battleground state in the general election and this is a state that has gone from blue to red, back to blue, again. barack obama won it by ten points in the last election. i know you were making the case that you were very well organized here and we just spoke with the republican chairman matt strong who said in the past two years, one out of every ten democrat in this state has

switched parties that they have closed the registration gap from 100,000 to 30,000. they are making the case that the democrats are leaving your party in droves here. >> i know that that's his job and bravo to matt strawn for making that case. this is a state whose unemployment is the lowest in the country and who has benefited from the policies of president obama fighting for the middle class and fighting for working families and now we had 22 straight months of private sector job growth. just more than 3 million jobs created. iowa cares about making sure that we have a president in the white house who stands up for the middle class, not collection of republicans who want to fight for the wealthiest. >> well, i think the exchange was illustrative. i just picked up on it. as i talk to obama officials, you talk in data points and there is also the facts of voter

registration. where democrats do feel frustrate would the president. and that's going to be an issue. iowa is one of the nine states that switched from red to blue in the last election. states that obama must do well in and it seems like he's having trouble here in iowa. >> no, actually, if you look at any recent poll, there isn't a single republican in their field that beats the president head to head. the president in every recent poll head-to-head beats any republican running right now and the reason for that a dramatic contrast that this country can go after november 6th. the direction president obama has been taking us and fighting to make sure that everyone in america has an opportunity for prosperity and the american dream or folks like mitt romney who thinks that corporations are people and thinks we should let the housing and foreclosure crisis hit bottom and let investors come in and buy up the properties. essentially, mitt romney has said the middle class, you're on your own and we're going to go back to the failed policies of

the past. >> let me ask you this, let's suppose that mitt romney does get the republican nominee. i have no idea if he will. >> he practically declared victory yesterday. >> that young senator from your home state, marco rubio on the ticket with him. how would that team fair against barack obama? >> there are a lot of different potential matchups, but a matchup like that would be among the most extreme when it comes to the policies that matter to americans that we've ever seen. >> how so? >> when it comes to immigration. you have mitt romney who said that i mean, that's just shockingly -- you have marco rubio who has not stood up for the middle class, not stood up to fight to create jobs and oppose the payroll tax cut and other tax breaks for small businesses and working families. that combination, or really any combination of anyone in the republican field would be a

dramatic contrast to president obama and the direction he has taken in this country. >> good to see you. thank you for joining us here in iowa. now, we're going to turn to debbye turner bell in new york for our last look at today's morning headlines. >> good morning, norah. iran is saying that it is in charge of security in the persian gulf, no other nation. it is the latest tough talk from iran as it wraps up a ten-day naval exercise in the strait of hurmuz. the drill was a show of strength that is vital to oil shipping. earlier this morning, iran's army chief said that a navy aircraft carrier should stay ought of the persian gulf. and a record number of background checks for guns were submitted this holiday season. in the six days before christmas, gun dealers submitted nearly half a million names for gun checks. "usa today" reports that 20% of those came on december 23rd, making the friday before christmas the second busiest gun buying day in history. go figure.

there may be a link between minor earthquakes and fracking, the process of extracting underground oil. stored in tanks near youngstown, ohio, was disposed of into a well. the waste created enough pressure to unleash minor earthquakes in northeast ohio since last spring. and a 7-year-old australian girl is recovering from a vicious attack by a kangaroo. she suffered numerous cuts and bruises on new year's day. the gray kangaroo pinned her down, kicked her and scratched her. >> all i could see was gray, gray, gray. >> wow. she was treated at a hospital for her injuries. the attack has not changed her dream, though, to become a veterinarian. what a brave little girl.

it's now time for a well, this could be a pivotal day for republican candidate rick perry here in iowa. he is currently in fourth place and the latest poll is finishing up a 16-day bus tour across the state today. >> here to discuss, her husband, anita perry. thank you for joining us. >> you're welcome. good morning. >> what is it like? a national campaign like this.

you have been in politics because he has been governor for any person longer than anyone in the history of the state. but this is a little different. >> i thought was a seasoned campaign wife but i have certainly learned lessons along the way and it's much more difficult than i ever imagined it would be. >> what was the hardest part? >> the national scrutiny, the media and turning away layer by layer and i think it's good, the american people need to know who's out there running and let's take a hard look at the man who wants to leave the greatest country in the world. >> your husband was one of the frontrunners at one point, just like many of the republicans in the field have been and one of the things that led to perhaps his dip in the polls was his debate performance. i know you said you get nervous before these debates. is this one reason why you feel your husband fell in the poll numbers? >> he's so much improved and i'm no where near as nervous as i used to be. i'm seeing him excel now and we're going to do two debates in

new hampshire and i think he's excited about it, too. >> why do you think? why did he have that problem? was he just not prepared? what to expect. what was it? >> we got into the race late, as you know. the legislative session may 31 and the veto period didn't end until june 30th and have the support and raise the money that we did and the first 47 days were spent so much of that time raising the money. i don't think, really, we did the debate prep time needed. >> what is different about your husband and this race? we've seen rick santorum surging. he may do very well tonight and your husband may come in the bottom tier of the candidates, but how is your husband campaign coughers. he spent a lot of money here in iowa to not do very well. does he have the money and infrastructue to continue or will he consider dropping out? >> we have money and infrastructure. we have 1,300 to 1,500 precinct

leaders in iowa. the energy has been great on the bus tour and we are going, as i said, in new hampshire and south carolina. we're continuing. >> are you going to -- i keep hearing you're going to go straight to south carolina. >> i heard they released a schedule yesterday and i haven't really seen that. i'm going home to texas tomorrow to pay bills and check the dogs. >> all right. mrs. perry, so nice to have you. nice to see you, again. >> thanks. for the past few months, iowa has been the center of the universe for these republican candidates and one iowan took things in stride and wrote a musical about it. >> the hottest new musical in the country and taryn winter brill saw it. >> rave reviews and now it's back and better than ever say the fans who have no problem poking just a little bit of fun at how iowa does politics.

>> this might be iowa's last big hurrah. >> what do you mean? >> reporter: because it's first in the nation when it comes to picking the next commander in chief, iowans play a serious role in presidential politics, but that doesn't mean they don't have a sense of humor about it. >> too white. >> too rural, too cold. >> reporter: in "caucus" the musical playing since it opened back in 2008. ♪ reagan, clinton, bush and nixon ♪ >> reporter: iowa voters get to experience art imitating life. >> so, it was just great to sit there and laugh at them. >> it had a lot of inside jokes that if you've been following the politics you recognize the people from now and four years ago. >> reporter: but as tough as it is for iowans to make sense out of the political noise every four years, finding likely

caucus donors is just as daunting. >> only about 119,000 showed up in 2008 and that was considered a big turnout. more than 2 million registered state voters are a needle in a haystack. ♪ it's time to go to iowa >> i think a lot of people around the country don't understand what the process is and why iowa has this oversized role in the presidential election process. ♪ >> reporter: so, i thought this is one way to document what the caucuses are and what iowans go through every four years. >> jimmy carter decided, well, i don't know if i can do well in new hampshire, maybe i should spend some time in iowa. so, an unknown southern governor really from a perspective came from and cant plted from the national scene. and candidates from that moment

on said, gee, we should pay attention to iowa. ♪ trust me trust me ♪ >> reporter: do you think the candidates can take anything away from the show? >> i think they could. i think they could learn about how iowans respond to the process. i don't think they're far off base as far as what a typical caucus goer is like and what they want through the process. i think they can learn a few things from the show. >> by the way, the tagline for this year's show "2012 the gop strikes back." the creator ensures me this is an equal opportunity satire. the final four performances were sold out. quite a hit here in iowa. back to you. >> that's fun. i got another hit for you. something from the greatest hits

reel. bob, i know this is not your first rodeo hosting "the early show." so we dug back and found this clip of another woman he hosted it with. >> i'm sorry. i dropped the -- this has been a very unusual morning, hasn't it? poor maria. i've given her the giggles, turned over a cup of coffee. we'll be back, i'm sorry. >> well, that's just about the funniest thing i have ever seen and thank you for not dropping a cup of coffee on me. >> i've been very careful. >> well, it's been -- >> maria shriver, i've known her since george put her dad on the ticket when she was 16 years old in those days. she used to come back and hang around with all of us on the press bus. i was afraid.

by that time she was married to arnold schwarzenegger and i could see this guy coming with a baseball bat or something spill hot coffee on his wife. >> exactly. >> she's a great person. we'll be right back with more.

we want to tell you this morning about an incredible team of unheralded journalists. off-air reporters. what they do is they're assigned to a candidate and they go everywhere that candidate goes as they crisscross the country. >> i tell you, bob, they work around the clock. i get their e-mails all throughout the night and they're all still in great shape and here with us this morning, take a look at what they do on the road. >> hi, i'm here in west des moines covering michele bachmann. today she has, obviously, a

big -- i've been up since 5:00 a.m. this morning. she had an "early show" live hit and now a rally at 9:00 p.m. we have a really long day, but you live for it. >> so, one of the big things to do every morning is to label the tapes. these are all of my gizmos and gadgets. literally, basically, never, ever leave my side. >> also key that we get all of our gear like batteries, tapes and we don't leave them in the hotel. that would be bad. >> okay, i'm at this event. this bag is like 65 pounds and i carry it on my back, in addition to three other bags. it's got my camera, all my camera equipment, my laptop and got my tripod. >> another big element for a job is twitter. and while we're shooting, we're

also logging and transcribing the interviews and we're tweeting and we're on the phone and just doing a million things at once. >> anybody interested in checking levels really quickly? >> yeah, joining us now two of that incredible team you just saw. sarah boxer and my man rodney hawkins who is currently on the bachmann beat. you know, i'm just sitting there watching. about 50 years ago. i mean, this is a great job. i mean, people would kill to have these jobs. >> did they have twitter when you had it? >> film cameras. what's it like out there, sarah? >> it's hard. it's grilling. we have a lot of gear that we take everywhere with us and we're with the candidates and other reporters all the time. you're in a bubble with them. i was actually just on a bus tour around iowa the last few days covering the romney campaign and they were good

bussing us

>> you know, we actually, we chartered with governor romney a couple weeks ago and the first time we chartered with him, we were seated by the campaign. and i am one of the smallest, just in stature size reporters who is covering him and randomly was seated in the exit row which is quite large and multiple people on the flight, including governor romney, came up to me quite nervously and asked if we were in an emergency if we would be okay with me.

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