host: it is on wow fm in des moines.n martin writes in politico that the iowa gop is moving the caucus vote count to an undisclosed location because of attempts to disrupt it. what are your thoughts about that? guest: that is more crap, i am sorry. i get tired of hearing the head of the iowa republican party pretend that the world is going to end, the occupy movement will disrupt the caucuses. we could not disrupt the caucuses if we wanted to. there are almost 2000 locations. it is not physically possible, not politically productive. it is not desirable in terms of what we want to accomplish with this movement. we don't want to disrupt people's right to vote. we do not want to disrupt the ability to will caucuses. i will go to vote for a candidate least offensive among a field of candidates really out of touch with the grievances raised by the occupy wall street movement. host: ed fallon, organizer of occupy des moines has been our guest. thank you. guest: thank you. host: that will wrap up today's opening coverage of th

it's normally cold in des moines.eople don't want to go oufment with the caucuses coming to town, people are out. spirits are up. people are out enjoying each other. what that means for businesses is more people in our door. >> cupcakes is your trade. how much more business has your shop seen since the caucuses? >> we have seen an influx. we have been very fortunate to have several of the candidates come -- not just themselves but people come through the doors. people are always celebrating birthdays or they had a rise in the poll and want to celebrate with cupcakes. so they come through to pick up. also, we will be doing a big event january 3rd with google for the media to have a location to stop in, pick up a cupcake and celebrate the caucus. >> you have a few employees here at your shop today. tell us a little bit about small business in des moines has faired because of the economy. >> absolutely. small businesses like myself are the ones hiring so we're the ones that are creating jobs. so i'm able to keep my emplo

. -- in des moines. >> outside the civic center in des moines, iowa. it is the site of what is known as "caucus: the musical." quite a musical about the caucus? >> politics is a song and dance. but it is a theater-like atmosphere and we felt that was appropriate. >> what is the main thought? >> it is around in iowa and farm family in and it is about all the candidates in the state here to campaign that are desperate to win over their endorsements. >> for those who will not be able to see it, give us a sense of what it is like on stage. what are the experiences of the family? >> they are featured in one article in in national newspaper and as the campaign season progresses, the candidates will do anything to win their vote. they have dinner with them and they have up -- they end up having dinner at the same time, which is the culminating scene. the candidates get together in one house. >> what is the political lines to bring to this? how do you see this from the point of the creator? >> i just wanted to show the world that what the process is like here

the oc cupy des moines movement? >> we are tired of the corporate corruption on wall street and political corruption that is part of that problem in achieving a decent thing summit so that the banks that defrauded so many americans are held accountable, not just given a slap on the wrist. our list of grievances is long, and we are articulating it clearly. if people want to say they were not being clear, i do not think they are paying attention. >> what will your group be doing between now and january 3? >> after the presidential preference groups that we broke into yesterday, the affinity groups, each will determine what kind of action it wants to engage the particular candidate with. you could see people go to their headquarters and maybe just showing up and dialing up the dialogue, getting clarity on where the candidates stand on the grievances of the occupy movements, or you may see people staging a sit-in, gathering outside the headquarters, maybe they will be pitching to get -- tents. making that corporate conne

host: a lead story this morning in the the moines register -- in "the des moines register."here are a lot of stories, actually. the winner of the lottery is making a ton of news, because it is a mystery. but they also had this special feature about turnout teams. "at this point there is no paid -- there's no distinction between paid volunteers and staff. the goal is the same, "turnout." we will begin our coverage at 7:00 p.m. eastern time, here in the east, with a preview of things. then the caucus meetings themselves. admiral, oklahoma. good morning. what are your thoughts? what matters to you most with the gop candidates? caller: that we have a president that will not destroy our country. ron paul says that he is a christian, but the bible warns that iran is a huge threat. persia is what is called in the bible. i am afraid that he will wait too long and we will be taken over. everyone should look up what george washington had to say about our country. anyhow, on ron paul, this man does not understand that iran is a huge threat and would leave us totally defenseless. on oba

why is newt gingrich dying in des moines? >> well, chris -- >> and davenport, and other cities in iowa. >> i saw him early this morning at a country club with a rotary ub crowd that was a premade crowd. it wasn't his crowd, it was the rotary club. >> they let in nonmembers? >> yeah. >> okay. >> and when newt started to speak, it sounded to me like a valedictory. it sounded to me he was beginning to say why he failed. he said in front of this rotary crowd meeting, he said, i can't do modern politics. meaning that there's something about the way that a big, national, industrialized presidential campaign works that he just never figured out. and if he ever does figure it out, it's going to be too late. that's one thing that's happening to him here. by the way, he looked tired. >> who was the guy, the african-american guy in mythic history, who was the pile driver -- >> john henry. >> and he would pound those piles in until he had to finally run against the machine, and the machine beat him. or he beat the machine and then died.

the des moines did not.vative in this race is. >> joining me from davenport, iowa, steve grubbs. steve, good morning. >> good morning, alex. >> what do you make of what newt gingrich was saying earlier on cbs. that he thinks this endorsement by the des moines register will not appeal to the conservative base there? >> well, i think in iowa, it may finally be time for a romney surge after all this time. not because of the des moines register editorial or endorsement, because frankly, among republicans, they don't carry a lot of weight. but a lot of republicans are finally coming to the conclusion that romney may be the candidate who can best peat tbeat the pre in the fall. as i go to cocktail parties, christmas parties, whatever the case may be, that's sort of the buzz that's started occurring this week. largely, i think due to the shear volume of negative mail and tv coming to iowa, going after newt gingrich. >> so you think that bob dole's endorsement, that spells out good reasoning there, that endorsement

interesting there. >> shannon travis in des moines. be checking in again throughout the morning. thank you very much. >>> close to 20 minutes past the hour now. and the last u.s. military convoy is out of iraq. arrived in kuwait overnight. flags and banners rolled up, now put away. what did america's war veterans face -- what do america's war veterans face in this difficult economy back home? we're chatting with someone who can give help. a certified financial planner who has experience working with veterans. stay with us. ♪ yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. with less chronic low back pain. imagine living your life with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is a non-narcotic treatment that's fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one pill a day, every day, can help reduce this pain. tell your doctor right away if you

the des moines register's iowa caucuses special website is reporting about the occupy des moines movement that about 250 protesters from at least 11 states turned out on tuesday night for the first event of occupy iowa to influence the presidential campaign. coming up in about 45 minutes or so, we will be live with newt gingrich in one of his four bus tour events today in mason city, iowa. at 1:40, amid romney talking about jobs in the economy in clinton, iowa and at 8:00 tonight, ron paul's salute to veterans at the state fair grounds in des moines. here are comments from "washington journal" your son who is the most conservative candidate. >> why should to settle for a candidate? that is from cbs news. this is from "the hill newspaper this morning this is from "the national journal" -- republicans only for this first segment of "the washington journal." who is the most conservative candidate in the race? will begin with a republican in palm beach, florida. caller: good morning, i think it's gotta be rick santorum. as you know, he was in the senate in the 1990's and was put out by the li

why is newt gingrich dying in des moines? >> well, chris. >> and davenport and other cities in iowa. >> i saw her early this morning at a country club. >> all right. >> with a rotary club crowd that was a pre-made crowd. it wasn't his crowd. it was the rotary crowd. >> they let in non-members. >> yeah, and when newt started to speak, it sounded to me like a valedictory, it sounded to me like he'd beginning to explain why he failed. he said in front of this rotary club meeting and i quote it had on "huffington post," he said i can't do modern politics, meaning that there's something about the way a big national industrialized presidential campaign works that he just never filligured out, and if he ever does figure it out it will be too late. that's what's happening to him here. >> who is the african-american guy in mythic history, the piledriver. >> john henry. >> and he would pound the piles in until he finally had to run against the machine and he beat it and then beat mat sheen and died. >> that's how newt views himself, a

ç >> nbc news campaign anthony tortell, he joins from des moines.a bachmann rally earlier in day but didn't speak because he was having dental work done, unbelievable, you can't make it up. what's the latest here in this back and forth? >> kent told me last night, he really didn't have his mind made up until 10 minutes before ron paul went on. i watched him walk into the back door. fascinating. he'll get back to me. six minutes later, i see kent sorenson on stage endorses ron paul. bachmann campaign has came out and made some claims against kent sorenson and reasons why he may have done it. >> kent said to me yesterday that everyone sells out in iowa. why shouldn't i? then he told me that he would stay with our campaign. the ron paul campaign has to answer for its actions on these events. >> now, now kent sorenson told me last night that claim is absurd and incorrect. the campaign chairman went even further, he said that she doesn't have a clue, he also said that her campaign is floundering. and a that's the why she would making these allegations. >

coming to you live from the beautiful cap nal des moines.f the leading liberals in congress, dennis kucinich, in danger of losing his seat, not to a republican but another democrat. here's why, ohio is losing congressional district because of the declining population. people who draw the maps looked at current districts anchored in toledo and cleveland and decided to combine them. the new district looks like this. the old districts were prepped by prominent democrats and now there's only room for one of them. that set up a clash of the titans. dana bash is here to tell us all about it. >> by most accounts this is a tough decision for dennis kucinich, now to stay in congress, given the fact that his seat disappeared. the ohio democrat flirted with the idea of moving to washington state to run but ultimately decided to stay local and hope the fact that he is the former mayor of cleveland and a longtime representative of the area hopes that that pays off. i'm told he should have an advantage because of fund-raising. he has good lists, i'm told,

host: well alice stewart is in downtown des moines. our next caller is from des moines. caller: had a couple comments and a question. the united states overthrew the iranian leadership with a coup d' etat and installed another dictator named saddam hussein and had another unprovoked attack against iran and killed many iranians how do you justify going to war with iran and american justification when all we want to do is steal their oil? guest: on that issue, we don't need to be a slave to any other country when it comes to our energy or anyor area of the world for our dependence on any type of oil or energy. and that's why michele will be vehemently for independence on energy and that's one of the things she wants to do as forth tap into our natural resources we have here whether it's in anwar or other areas of our country and tap into the other resources we have and become energy-independent. as long as we depend on other nations for our energy resources, we are not going to be the great country we can be. so that in and of itself will go a long way in making sure it's

cnn political reporter shannon travis joins us from des moines. any word on who the family leader will be supporting? >> reporter: yeah, fred. no firm word on who the family lead will endorse yet or whether it will endorse. it is important to note that sources tell me they're deadlocked now between four candidates essentially. michele bachmann, rick perry, rick santorum and newt gingrich. they have been that way for a few weeks now. we reported on this a few weeks ago. my sources tell me that's essentially still the same that they're not quite sure, the seven member board of this group, the family leader, has yet to firmly coalesce around one person. just a point of interest, this is one of the most coveted endorsements that all of these republican candidates here in iowa are seeking. it will be a big deal. we hope to hear something by tomorrow, but it may even be pushed to tuesday or early in the week, fred. >> i wonder how much does it matter there is this des moines register endorsement or perhaps a notion of winning the iowa caucuses altogethe

you're watching a special edition of the daily rundown live from des moines.hat when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance. ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. yeah, our low prices are even lower. we need to teach her how to walk. she is taking up valuable cart space. aren't you, honey? [ male announcer ] it's our biggest clearance event of the year where our prices are even lower. save money. live better. walmart. >>> the caffeine is flowing at java joe's. we're back. newt gingrich just wrapped up an event in des moines while new jersey governor chris christie is campaigning with mitt romney right now. >> if i have to get beaten up every day in the media, attacked with negative ads designed by consultants who know nothing and paid

romney built on momentum in west des moines this morning. let's listen. >> i need your help you guys. this is a real battle. it's a battle for america. it's a battle for the future course of america. i don't want politicians running the country anymore. and i will do that with your help on tuesday night. >> barbara carvollo joins us today. thank you and happy new year. >> happy new year to you too. . >> let's talk about the big numbers first. these are big shifts standing for every candidate across the board. have you ever seen such truly seismic shifts where iowans are leaning this close to voting day? >> i know exactly. we have seen nothing but change each time we have done any kind of polling here. and this is a race that's surprisingly unsettled. i think mitt romney actually may be getting exactly what he wished for. he's neck and neck, as you mentioned, with paul. but there's quite a pack right behind him. and santorum has surged, but also perry is in the mix. but for romney, i think what is really significant also is that gingrich has

susie from des moines? >> rick santorum? >> correct. >> reporter: perry will continue campaigning this weekend. there's a chance some of the candidates will drop out of the race if they don't finish strong in iowa. danielle nottingham, cbs news, west des moines, iowa. >> now mitt romney heads for new hampshire later today and then return to iowa. gop hope. jon huntsman has been focusing on new hampshire where the first primary is there january 10th. >>> work an a planned museum at the world trade center is ended all because of a money dispute. the foundation overseeing the memorial is fighting with the port authority in new york and new jersey over who's responsible for paying for millions of dollars in costs. new york mayor michael bloomberg says there's no chance the museum is going to open on time. it was scheduled to open next september 11th. >>> still to come when the news continues the fight to put out a burning nuclear submarine is over. now though, the fears of contamination. >>> i'm manuel gallegus in new york. it's

live and in the flesh at an event tonight in des moines.e back with nate silver in just a moment to find out what that might mean. we'll be right back. >>> again, tonight's breaking news out of iowa, the state co-chair of the michele bachmann for president campaign has tonight turned up at a ron paul event in iowa and announced he is jumping ship. he is leaving the michele bachmann campaign of which he is state co-chair and throwing in with ron paul instead. joining us now is "new york times" spreadsheet psychic and founder of the political calculous blog 538.com, nate silver. thanks for being here. >> yeah, thanks, rachel. >> i realize this is breaking news and it is spectacularly nonquantitative. if there was going to be a benefit to ron paul from he who formally supported michele bachmann, what would we look at to discern that? >> the polls are going to change on a daily basis from here on out. one thing we learned, the newest poll really is usually the best. people are still making up their minds, about 6% of voters will decide in the l

live and in the flesh at an event tonight in des moines.ck with nate silver in just a moment to find out what that might mean. we'll be right back. [ coughs ] what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you don't show defeat. give me your war face! raaah! [ male announcer ] halls. a pep talk in every drop. metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. >>> again, tonight's breaking news out of iowa, the state co-chair of the michele bachmann for president campaign has tonight turned up at a ron paul event in iowa and announced he is jumping ship. he is leaving the michele bachmann campaign of which he is state co-chair and throwing in with ron paul instead. joining us now is "new york times" spreadsheet psychic and founder of the political calculous blog 538.com, nate silver. thanks for being here. >> yeah, thanks, rachel. >> i realize this i

cnn political reporter is standing by live in des moines. peter, it's kind of a who's on first, because newt gingrich is in washington. mitt romney, south carolina today. and romney's making an appeal to a group that hasn't always liked him. which is the tea party. >> reporter: that's right, don. endorsed yesterday by south carolina governor nikki hailey. strange support from the tea party and nationally. the romney campaign is putting out a message of momentum. we're bringing the republican party together but has to make an appeal to the conservative base, long skeptical of him. especially in south carolina. campaigning with hailey today, he said something that democrats are really seizing on. take a listen to what he said in charleston, south carolina this morning while campaigning with governor hailey. >> many tea party folks are going to find me, i believe, to be the ideal candidate. >> i think tea party is a parties twubt see government shrunk. they think it's too big. they think someone has to cut the federal budget, and i do. they wan

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joe johns is on the campaign trail in des moines. joe, another poll showing that mitt romney is at the top of the heap. is the romney camp feeling very confident right now? >> reporter: certainly not overconfident, fred. he has said he thinks he'll do pretty darn well, and i guess he's already doing pretty darn well in the polls. being first tied with ron paul, who is second. this is a guy who really didn't campaign here in iowa all that much though he's here right now. he's got chris christie, the governor of new jersey campaigning for him. the campaign certainly not expressing any overconfidence but feeling as though, yeah, things are in pretty good shape certainly compared to four years ago when there was a lot of chaos and a lot of concerns stemming from the fact that governor mike huckabee was running very strong at that time, fred. >> joe, let's talk about rick santorum now. i know you're about to head to the santorum rally, one of them in ames iowa. can his campaign capitalize on the recent surge in the polls and what do they

he's in west des moines this morning. hi, there, jim.hat can we expect today and how much might this appearance bice chris christie help mitt romney? >> well, it will help him a lot. chris christie, as you know, a very popular figure inside the republican party when these two get out on the campaign trail together it gets all kinds of talk going about whether or not this might be a potential ticket for the republican party heading into 2012. you know, mitt romney, people are talking about mittmentum in iowa right now. a brand-new poll which shows what our cnn/"time"/orc poll showed earlier this week. pull under to a lead in this state and a pretty stunning turn of events and he's only on his eighth trip to iowa during this campaign. contrast that with some of the other contenders in this field. rick santorum and michele bachmann have been to every county in iowa and they're no where near mitt romney in terms of where he stands in the polls right now. this is a big day for mitt romney and consider, hala, just for a minute the campaign sch

he will be in des moines today with chris christie.erage and about two hours on c-span 2. >> with the iowa caucuses, tuesday january 3, the c-span cameras are following the events throughout the state and every morning, political guests are taking your calls on our "washington journal" program. you can also stay up-to-date with our website including candidates on the campaign trail with bio information and video from campaign stops. it lets you see what the candidates say on issues important to you. read what the candidates and political reporters and people like you are saying on facebook and twister. it is all at c-span.org/campaign 2012. >> we will have more campaign news in a moment plus your phone calls and e-mails live on "washington journal." later this morning, republican presidential candidate newt gingrich will take questions at a town hall meeting in des moines, iowa. live coverage is at 11:00 eastern. later in the day, rick santorum will be in marshalltown, iowa which is northwest of des moines. we'll have that live at 6:30

live and in the flesh at an event tonight in des moines.ck with nate silver in just a moment to find out what that might mean. we'll be right back. with the "name your price" tool, you tell us what you want to pay, and we give you a range of coverages to choose from. who is she? that's flobot. she's this new robot we're trying out, mostly for, like, small stuff. wow! look at her go! she's pretty good. she's pretty good. hey, flobot, great job. oops. [ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. call or click today. [ gargling ] oo-ay-ow. savings. savings. savings? progressive was the first to offer online quoting. you can do better. first to show comparison rates. ding! the "name your price" tool. oh! gosh, don't mind if i do. who was the first to offer pet injury coverage? we were. and when did you know you wanted to sell insurance? i said i wouldn't cry. um... whee! it's flo time. now, that's progressive. call or click today. what is this shorty? uh, tissues sir, i'm sick. you don't cough, you

the "des moines register," which is a liberal newspaper did not endorse me. i think that indicates who the conservative in this race is. >> schieffer: all right. i want to talk to you a little bit about this whole business... you really turned up the heat on what you call "activist judges." he talk about this the last time you were on "face the nation." yesterday, you had a telephone conference call with reporters because you want to put this out front and center. in fact, your folks said to me, be sure and ask him about judges, so i know this is something you want to talk about. basically, what you said was that, sometimes in the past, presidents have paid no attention to the supreme court when it made a ruling, and you said there might be times or there would be nights now when a president should just ignore the supreme court. i'm not sure i understand how that works. >> bob, i think part of the advantage i have is i'm not a lawyer, so as a historian i look at the context of the judiciary and the constitution in terms of american history. the fact is... and

but more from des moines in a couple of minutes. we will meet dave funk, co-chairman of the polk county iowa republican party. he'll talk to us about how the state and local iowa g.o.p. is preparing for tuesday night. as we go to the break, we'll show you some more of the ads currently playing in iowa. these are from the campaigns of mitt romney, ron paul, and newt gingrich. >> my life in the private sector, i've competed with companies around the world. i've learned something about how it is that economies grow. we're not going to balance the budget by pretending that all you have to do is take out the waste. we're going to have to cut spending. i'm in favor of cutting spending, capping federal a percentage of g.d.p. at 20% or less, and having a balanced budget amendment. right answer for america is to stop the growth of the federal government and start the growth of the private sector. i'm mitt romney. and i approve this message. >> when it's show time, you want big cuts? ron paul's been claiming it for years. budget crisis? no pr

you saw the latest des moines register poll. it's not encouraging. 6%, tied for last. >> it's better than it was before. in every poll, we're moving up slowly. but we're within the margin of error of rick perry and michele bachmann who both had enormous attention by the media. i'm actually encouraged that the people of iowa, as they go down to the end here, start looking at all of the candidates, we think we're going to do very, very well. we have a very consistent conservative message that matches up better with iowans than anyone else. >> lot of people do say, yes, he does, however, we're very concerned, he lost his election in pennsylvania, by a landslide, 20 points, he's not electable, everybody has had a boom let but not you. >> that's a great thing. we still have a month to go before the election. christiane, that's a lifetime in politics. but if you look at all of these boomlets, they last about four to six weeks, newt is in week three, we feel pretty good come middle december and end of december, someone who's authentic,

carl cameron is live in des moines, iowa with more.arl. >> reporter: a lot of material in the interview. mr. romney today went after gingrich and right off the bat he took mr. gingrich to task for his attack, what many conservatives were appalled by when he criticized the house republican audit by the budget committee chairman, paul ryan. this is romney talking about newt gingrich. >> the speaker said this is right wing social engineering. talking about unreliable, he kicked the legs out from important message same is true with cap and trade. battle on capitol hill and speaker sat down with nancy pelosi and spoke in favor of legislation dealing with climate change. he has been unreliable and zany, i wouldn't think you would call mirrors in space to light highways particularly practically or a lunar colony practical. >> reporter: zany is not the kritd i we normally here. the attacks on him or tv ads or fliers that end up on car windshields are taking a toll. he was doing the sunday news talk shows. he suggested that, yes, in fact he tho

joining us now from des moines, iowa, kathy, a political columnist for the des moines recommend ster.nk you for joining us. your poll that comes out, you'll tell with us it comes out, very important. has done very well predicting the winner in the upcoming caucus. is that right? >> that is right. and our poll comes out saturday night, we'll have numbers on des moines register.com and you can read all the analysis in sunday's des moines register. the caucus poll -- iowa caucus poll has been a very -- it's a very difficult to poll in a caucus. >> eric: how do you do that? what's the process? >> different polls have different ways of going about it. the way the register does it, we poll everyone, all registered republicans and independents and we ask them how likely they are to attend the caucus. some other polls prescreen people who have been to the caucus before perhaps. and a lot of times that's tighter screens will weed out people who aren't as reliable in a big turnout, though, we think our option accounts for the opportunity for new people to turn out. >> eric: what happens if ther

by itself the des moines register endorsement may not mean much to romney, but it adds to a flood of doubt. >> mitchell: newt gingrich continues to catch flack for consulting work he did for freddie mac in which he received between $1.6 million and $1.8 million. the "wall street journal" accused gingrich of a lack of candor on the issue. gingrich talked about it on "face the nation." >> i think candidly we earned that editorial but not stopping and handling this from day one and laying it out. the facts are i didn't personally get that kind of money. it went to a consulting firm which had offices in three cities. the share i got was relatively small. >> mitchell: what do you think, john? is that answer enough to put this issue to rest or are there more problems to come on this? >> probably more to come. conservatives think freddie mac contributed to the economic downturn. they don't like the permanent establishment where politicians can profit from their service by helping special interests at the expense of the people. gingrich has been forceful in other answers has been mumble-mout