heather smith, current president of rock the vote, a national organization with the political engagement of young people. under heather's direction and leadership over the past two election cycles rock the vote refined best practices for continued engagement of young voters. sending the highest voter registration records in both midterm and presidential elections in the organization's 20-year history. prior to rock the vote, ms. smith founded and directed young voters strategies, a nonpartisan project and partnership with the graduate school of political management at the george washington university. in 2004 she served as national field director for the student prgs, new voters project, the largest nonpartisan grass roots effort ever undertaken to mobilize young voters. heather smith received a b.a. with honors in economics and public policy from duke university. now, we have asked heather to come speak to us today, more specifically to talk about how we can have voter outreach with rock the vote and young voters. i would like to -- before she comes up, speak more specifically about the

heather smith received a b.a. with honors in economics and public policy from duke university. now, we have asked heather to come speak to us today, more specifically to talk about how we can have voter outreach with rock the vote and young voters. i would like to -- before she comes up, speak more specifically about the partnership that the state of iowa has put together with rock the vote with the caucuses on january 3rd we had a great event called rock the caucus. we brought to it a high school in des moines. we had 600 kids there. we actually went out of our way to print t-shirts to make it a more special event for them. and i'll just show you. and so all the kids got a t-shirt. we had michele bachmann, ron paul, rick santorum, and the romney boys all come and speak. it was a great event. and i think it was a great way to show how we can work with groups like rock the vote. and out of that, we have begun a new class in iowa called rock iowa. and we're taking the democracy class from rock the vote and incorporating it with our own iowa education. and if you go to the secreta

heather smith, current president of rock the vote. under her direction and leadership, rock the vote built new tools and refined best practices for continued engagement of young voters. setting the highest voting record in mid term and presidential elections in the organization's 20-year history. prior to rock the vote she found and directed young voters strategies. a partnership with the graduate school of political management at the george washington university. in 2004 she served as national field director, the largest nonpartisan grassroots effort ever to mobilize young voters. she received a ba in public politics from duke university. we asked heather to come speak to us, more specifically to talk about how we can have voter outreach with rock the vote and young voters. before she comes up i would like her to speak more specifically about the partnership that the state of iowa has put together with rock the vote. with the caucuses we had a great event called rock the caucus, brought it to a high school in des moines, we went out

. >> heather smith is president of rock the vote, an organization dedicated to the engagement of younge in the middle of that excitement. the fact is kids are engaged, but we don't see enthusiasm for candidates. ron paul seems to have more young people following than anyone else. >> he got quite a response at a rock the caucus event. at value high school and high schools across the state. we held mock caucuses and candidate forums. >> high school students can vote if they're 18. >> for they are 18 by november. we had over 800 eligible students in one gymnasium. the candidates came and made their pitch. the young people were quite interested and excited to meet the candidates in person. hear what they have to say about what they will do for young americans. ron paul got the largest applause. he has a big youth following. >> a big youth following, but they are young people from out of state who are not eligible to vote at caucuses and some too young to vote. >> i would say all the candidates are well received by these students. they are voting for the first time in their lives. some my g

. >> heather: that was shepard smith three years ago today reporting on the miracle on the hudson..s. airways made an emergency landing on the hudson river after the engines were knocked out by a flock of geese. amazingly the plane stayed virtually intact. none of the people were killed. their survival has been credited to the skill of this man, captain sully sullenberger whose quick thinking made him able to make the landing. i talked to some of the passengers. they took carolina aviation museum where the aircraft is on display. for some it was the first time they had seen the plane since that incredible day. >> gregg: how about this one. is it possible that the world's most iconic buildings could be an economic indicator. some economists are saying, it is no coincidence that a skyscraper boom ushers in an economic bust. india and china's high-rises going to welcome hard times? let's put the question to brenda butner. >> before you answer that question, i want to go through the examples that lead us to wonder about this question. we'll put it up on the screen. let's go back to 192

heather: what about in terms of organization strength? is it ron paul? >> molly: according to one of professors we've spoken with andy smith, one of professors, he is second in organization. it's tough to top mitt romney's organization because he has been campaigning in the granite state since 2008 back when he first ran for president then. he has a loyal staff. a lot of the folks that were with him are still there. he has a big organization, a national organization in place. ron paul has a lot of enthusiasm. he is kind of wildcard. it will be interesting to see how things furnish out. >> heather: we'll see what happens next. >> gregg: texas governor rick perry is down south today. he is skipping campaigning in new hampshire to focus on south carolina. this new video of him in spartanburg. meanwhile, comments he made on iraq at last night's debate making news. >> i would send troops back into iraq. the idea that we allow the iranians to come back in iraq and take over that country with all the treasure boat and blood and money we have spent. because this president wants to cow to his liberal leftist base and move out those