des moines, iowa, ground zero ahead of the iowa straw poll. des moines, iowa, flooded with republican candidates. plus, yep, sarah palin. she turned up, arrived there just a short time ago. she is not, i repeat not in the race, at least not officially. why else would she be in des moines? sarah palin is in iowa. but not the front-runner. no, mitt romney left eye wachlt he bolted iowa. today he's in new hampshire. the state he's banking on to help clinch the nomination. as we broke the news on in show just yesterday, south carolina is awaiting rick perry, the texas governor set to announce tomorrow in charleston. that yes, he is getting into the race. that, my friends, will make this whole new ball game. i want to begin in des moines. paul steinhauser is there again for us today. paul, besides sarah palin arriving there today, tell me what's the big story emerging? >> reporter: not much going on, brooke. everything you just said. okay. so this is the state fair. let me give you, here it is. we got the bus here. this is basically today, the cent

salonpas. >>> you're looking at the iowa state fair in des moines, iowa.e waiting for mitt romney to address the crowd. he's also taking part in tonight's debate with the other candidates. when he takes to the stand, we're going to go ahead and take some of his comments live for you. >>> the dell ceiling crisis and recent downgrade of america's credit happen has been a serious debate nationwide. but in iowa, the only state where the entire delegation voted against the debt ceiling hike, that discussion is especially relevant as gop hopefuls plead their case to angry voter this weekend. al alex, what's the reception been like amongst iowa voters at these events? >> he's had a very warm reception here, they're excited about this weekend t iowa state fair kicked off earlier today, as you mentioned, mitt romney, we should hear him any moment. other candidates will be speaking tomorrow at the state fair and then this weekend really, they're excited by the straw poll. it's therai-raiser for the iowa gop and a lot of activists are really looking forward, there's

harpist not included. ♪ >> sean: we are live from beautiful des moines, iowa. is a big week it continues tomorrow with a critical straw poll that will help set the stage for the up coming primary season. joining me with his insight into tomorrow's big event your governor the great governor of the state of iowa, governor grand standard is here. [ cheering and applause [ >>> the food here i have never had better food. >> you bet. >> sean: thank god mrs. obama is not here to tell me what i can and cannot eat. >> you will work it off. >> sean: how do you fry butter? >> i don't know. >> sean: did have a tried twinkie and porkchop on a stick, so i'm getting there. look, iowa is always going to be first. that's just the way it is going to be. >> we are working hard to keep that it way iowans care deeply about this process. iowans ask the tough questions. we had the debate last night. eight people out competing of course the straw poll tomorrow. this is where it started. if people want to be president of the united states they need to come out here, meet real people ae

moines. i'm joined by iowa's senior senator chuck bradley.ront row seat for all of the state's republican straw polls dating back to 1979. not trying to date you, senator. >> okay. >> but he joins me now. you watched this debate last night i. sure did. >> give 345me your overall sens. a good night for the republican party's goal of defeating president obama? because i felt like maybe they got off track a little bit. >> no, i don't think they got off track at all, because they were concentrating on what was wrong with our country, and that's the discredited policies of the president, and i think that that's our strong suit. everybody seemed to be on the same page in regard to that. there were some candidates, a little more specific on what, how they would counter that, but i think they all came off very strong. and i think question be proud of the group of candidates we have thus far and presumably we're going to have some more. >> later today -- that's probably true -- saturday rick perry. later today yew accompany a couple more to the straw

proud to announce that colbert superpac is releasing our first tv ad this wednesday night in des moines iowa during all the local news broadcasts. check your local listings of commercials. they have those, right? they should, brace yourselves, folks. here's a quick taste. >> a storm is gathering over iowa. >> if you want to see the rest-- (laughter) (applause) intrigued? intrigued? if you want to see the rest, just go on-line, find a moving company and relocate to iowa. (laughter) or become a member of colbert superpac because when the ad premiers we will send each and every member a link to the full ad and as a bonus, a forward from my aunt sarah with 50 reasons why cats are better than men. (laughter) it's funny. it's funny. and iowa nation, why not head out to the ames straw poll this saturday and vote. our democracy is in your hands. although from what i have heard, ribs will also be in your hands. so try not to get any barbecue sauce on our democracy. we'll be right back. >> stephen: welcome back, everybody. thank you very much. nation, please, folks, i know that things may look bleak b

that beautiful bus in beautiful des moines, iowa. tial debates and corn dogs at the iowa state fair, you know where i would come down. i know you were at the debate. so give us some analysis. >> well, that's okay, ali. i got a fried twinkie back there in the stand. i'll be sending it your way. listen, remember our debate, the last presidential debate two months ago, michele bachmann was the real star at that debate? since then a real back and forth between bachmann and tim pawlenty, the former minnesota governor, who's been getting pretty nasty on the campaign trail. it kind of boiled over last night at this debate between those two candidates, and it was definitely pretty contentious. bachmann criticizing pawlenty when he was governor of minnesota. almost at one time comparing him to barack obama. and pawlenty basically questioning her credentials and what she's done. i think you have a little sound of that back and forth. let's take a listen. >> she's done wonderful things in her life, absolutely wonderful things, but it's an undisp

herman cain is speaking in des moines, iowa, at a state fair. want it to get more details on herm hadden cain. he's never been in office. many of you are just getting to know this candidate. our cnn political reporter shannon travis is at the iowa state fair in des moines. shannon, you've been watching him, we've been watching him very closely, his performance in the debate, some of the things. but he's very quick to talk about his business experience. how is he doing when he talks about creating jobs? are people paying attention to this guy? >> reporter: excellent question, suzan suzanne. people are paying attention to herman ain cain and he certainly hopes they are. he's trying to distinguish himself as the only non-politician in the race. as you mentioned earlier, he ran for senate in georgia a few years ago. he lost in a republican primary. so he's never held elected office before. but he has solid credentials as the former ceo of godfather's pizza, sitting on corporate boards. he's hoping to distinguish himself as the only non-politician an

iowa. it's where we begin tonight with nbc's andrea mitchell in des moines. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. it was arguably the most memorable moment of that debate, brian. it was the question to michele bachmann about her marriage, her faith and how it would affect her ability to be president. today people were talking about whether women politicians are still being treated differently than men. >> did anybody catch the debate last night? >> reporter: she is the front-runner in iowa, but on stage last night, for michele bachmann, a political debate unexpectedly turned personal. >> can you describe the moment in your life when your husband said you should study for a degree in tax law. you said you hated the idea, but you explained, quote, but the lord said, be submissive, wives you are to be sub miss sif to your husband. as president, would you be submissive to your husband? >> thank you for that question, byron. marcus and i will be married for 33 years this september 10, i'm in love with him. i'm so proud of him and both he and i, what sub

our guests will being an associated press reporter in des moines, iowa. and from manchester, new hampshire, a political director. foreign policy at professor gordon adams will take your questions about defense spending cuts and the debt ceiling bill at 8:30 eastern. and we will examine the debate over reauthorization [no audio] . .

we're joined from des moines iowa. don, sarah palin's boss rolled into iowa. what's she up to?o talking to a lot of media and people here. she had a crowd of media around her. one of my first questions to her was why haven't you declared? listen. >> i'm not the only one who has not decided yet. there's still a lot of contemplation that needs to go into such a earth shattering life changing decision. >> reporter: so i asked her why she hadn't declared. you heard the answer. do you think you're stealing the pot light from other candidates even though you haven't declared? she said no, tell you media go, if you want to talk to the other candidates. i had to handle business because a lot of people are wondering who is responsible for the downgrade in our credit. i asked her. she's a tea party favorite. if she thought the tea party was responsible? >> the discussion would never have gone where it went without the tea party. i appreciate the tea party's passion for getting your federal government, realizing it needs to live within its means. the last group or entity to be blamed for

you did not have -- >> we are going to break away from live coverage and take you to des moines, iowa and the state fair for day-long coverage of republican presidential candidates, starting off with herman cain on your screen. he will be speaking at the des moines register soapboxes area. speakers throughout the day include rick santorum, ron paul, tim pawlenty, and many others. you are watching live coverage on c-span. >> i appreciate you, sir. >> thank you. >> your name is -- >> carol. >> nice to meet you carol. >> you spoke to our reporter here, joshed. >> i remember joshed. he tried to ask me a couple of gotcha questions, but he is fine. now, he was a good guy. >> we had a quite extensive rendition, a piece talking about your cancer fight. we had a profile of you in the paper. >> so what is this crowd looking for, red meat? >> mitt romney was our first soapboxes speaker yesterday. something unusual happened. there were some hecklers out in front. >> did we make sure to check for him this time? >> that was unusual for us. although they did not interrupt him when he spoke, it was d

she told acquaintances of hers gave her the package to deliver to des moines, iowa. when police tracked him down, he said he had gotten it from another man. all three are in custody being detained in phoenix, charged with possessing a hoax device. additional criminal charges could be filed as the investigation continues. randall? >> scary. jay dow in washington, thanks. >>> there was another artillery exchange between north and south korea this morning. north korea fired three shells near a disputed island close to the line separating the two countries. the south returned fire. no word on damage or casualties today but last november four people were killed when the north shelled the island. >>> china has its first aircraft carrier. it's a former soviet ship that china bought back in 1998. after a thorough refitting the vessel left on its maiden voyage yesterday. today. it will be used for research and training. it does not yet have a name. the chinese are said to be planning to build four new carriers. >>> in london officials took no chance last night, they had thous

last night in west des moines, iowa, 2012 republican candidate rick santorum speaking to a group of about. as metaphors go, it's probably not a good one when the lights go out on you. [ applause ] [ laughter ] ♪ >> that's unfortunate. >>> still ahead, why are you awake? low-brow tweets and emails next. [ male announcer ] want a better way to track what you spend? pnc virtual wallet now comes with spending zone. it organizes all your spending, including your pnc debit card, credit card, and your bills. so you can view them by category... or by month. you can set a budget... and it'll even alert you when you're getting close to the amount you've set -- and when you've gone over. spending zone is built to help you keep better track of your spending. experience everything virtual wallet has to offer at pncvirtualwallet.com. pnc bank. for the achiever in you. handle more than 165 billion letters and packages a year. that's about 34 million pounds of mail every day. ever wonder what this costs you as a taxpayer? millions? tens of millions? hundreds of millions? not a single cent. the united sta

nick's first call was to an nbc affiliate in des moines, iowa, who-tv. a guy who picked up the phone in the newsdesk if anyone there happened to notice the colbert super pac ad running on our affiliate or any other iowa station. the guy at the newsdesk said, immediately, quote, yeah, it ran during our 5:00 newscast yesterday. now, this does not mean stephen colbert is to be trusted. it means that we here at "the last word" have now proven that stephen colbert has told the truth exactly once in his life. well, two if you count his testimony to congress which, as viewers of this show already know, i was really impressed with. but because colbert told the truth about his super pac wasting its dirty filthy super pac money by putting a silly ad on iowa tv, colbert has earned the privilege of us, once again, showing a colbert super pac ad. it is, like the first one, an ad for rick perry. or against rick perry -- or against super pacs, or against political tv ads in general. or maybe even against iowa. and america. it's an ad like you've never seen before. unles

iowa. hello, andrea. >>> hi, thanks, contessa. up next here on "andrea mitchell reports," we're live in des moines on the eve to have iowa straw pollith iowa republican party and pollster. democratic party chair here telling us what democrats are doing in iowa. plus chuck today, chrlly cook and mike allen all joining us. "andrea mitchell reports" live from iowa next on msnbc, the place for politics. mike allen a. "andrea mitchell reports" live from iowa next on msnbc, the place for politics. allen all jo. "andrea mitchell reports" live from iowa next on msnbc, the place for politics. mike allen a. "andrea mitchell reports" live from iowa next on msnbc, the place for politics. and mike all. "andrea mitchell reports" live from iowa next on msnbc, the place for politics. specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. everyone works as a team. and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americ

but righ >> we will take you live now to the iowa state fair grounds in a dozen lines for the coverage of mitt romney who will be speaking at the des moines register soap box boooth. >> to is a beautiful day, isn't it? we have a john deere men. >> what is the iowa plan? [applause] >> good to be here. >> good morning, everyone and welcome to the des moines register soapbox. i'm carol hunter, the politics editor and we are glad to welcome our first soapboxes the speaker of the affair. it is and mitt romney, a former governor of massachusetts. [applause] mr. romney is speak -- seeking the republican nomination for a presidency. let's give him in iowa or welcome. [applause] >> thank you, carole. thank you for the work of the desk moines register, one of the grape pickers in america the kids our democracy free and open. i appreciate the free press and the work you do. it is good to have so many friends here today. what a great day. this is fabulous. last and i was here four years ago, i will speak louder -- does that work better? there is brian kennedy. it looks like he stacked the crowd with a couple of old friends. i appreciate your help. th

. >>> good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in des moines, iowa, back at java joes. tim pawlenty kicked off at a political breakfast and continued to raise questions about michele bachmann's qualifications to be president. >> she shaz not achieved results to be a nominee? >> if you look at her co-record in congress her report and results is nonexistent. she said she led the fight against obama care. we have obama care. she led the fight against government spening. we have lots of government spending. it's down the list. it's not enough to be a voice. you have to achieve some results. if you take on the mantle on leader are you self-assigned the label of leader. you've got to be accountable for the results. >> after i caught up with tim pawlenty at that politico breakfast we turn odd the rowdy debate last night. the republican candidates making their final pitches to iowa voters before tomorrow's straw poll. and sarah palin's bus show has crashed the show. just turned up at the des moines state fair. chuck today is host of "the daily rundown." >> crash is the right wo

political ticker let's bring in cnn political reporter shannon travis live on the phone from des moines, iowa? >> hey, there, carol. i'm up. we're up. it's going to be a big political day in iowa. not just because you can get the fried stick of butter at the state fair but for political reasons also. tonight will be the next republican presidential candidate debate. the very first one -- debate broadcast on cnn back in jeune. michele bachmann, mitt romney, tim pawlenty. that's going to be in ames. they'll be on stage debating. fireworks could spark. also today the iowa state fair will be kicking offer. a lot of candidates will be there, giving stump speeches trying to track support. next week, president obama, president obama not the leave iowa out, he has a bus tour. he's going to make a stop here in iowa. carol? >> so i was just wondering. is mitt romney going to participate in the debate? >> mitt romney will participate in the debate. i was tracking him last night. this has only been his second time coming to iowa. this plan political season. he hasn't been competing here that mump. he's b

. >>> rick santorum spoke with reporters today in des moines, iowa. >> if you want to return this country to 1775, vote for barack obama. vote for someone on this panel who can't beat barack obama. because it's the same thing. >> an argument never before made about the first black president of the united states. rick santorum made that sort of inexplicable 18th century point about president obama today. he criticized mitchell bachmann for not being anti-gay marriage enough, uh-huh. then, then he randomly went after ed. ed schulz and also after me. >> have to remind americans what we're about. not ashamed of it. i stand in front of msnbc every day. if you can stand in front of msnbc every day and rachel maddow and ed schulz and getting the tape and saying this, guy is nuts. this guy just understands what made this country great. >> if that was an offer to do an interview on this show, i accept. honestly, it's always really flattering to be mentioned by any presidential candidate. it's flattering. i would admit. especially since no one asked rick santorum about us. we were on his mind. that

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dave price in des moines, iowa, has more. >> the secret is out, it seems, within seconds. >> i thoughtty cool. >> sarah palin e-mailed to say she would come to the fair. she didn't say when or where. when the first fairgoers see her, word spreads fast. >> give her a chance to breathe a little bit. >> i didn't think i would run into her. >> nick's kids are nearly runover by the crowd followinger. the group only grows as the minutes pass. finally after palin sidesteps the persistent, we catch up with her on our own. will we know by the next time you're in iowa? >> by the next time i'm here, september 3rd, i don't know if within the next couple of weeks i will be ready for an announcement or not, to tell you the truth. glad i get to be back, though. >> palin tells us there's room for another conservative in the race. she adds a decision next month is best. >> to be fair to the potential supporters waiting on figuring out what the field will be. i want to be fair to them and make sure they don't feel like they're just hanging onto something that's not going to happen. >> a stop at the the

let's get right to domenica, in des moines, iowa, we saw a heckler taking it to mitt romney today, and up are the iowa voters? >> well, that one person was not indicative of the larger crowd. the larger crowd was much more supportive of romney, and you had somebody show up who had been kind of loud in the crowd a little bit earlier as well, but you know, look, you have to love retail politics, and love politic, and this is why iowa/new hampshire are so interesting because you really get to be that close to voters and anybody who wants to show up and who wants to talk and have their views expressed and the candidate has to deal with that, and how a candidate deals with that is going to be indicative of how they wind up doing. >> right. and tonight, it is fight night in iowa. eight candidates facing off in a debate, and who is going to take the gloves off here? >> yeah, i don't know who going to -- you know, a lot of people have a lot to gain, a lot to lose. everybody is going to the be watching tim pawlenty, and he had the opportunity to go after romney the last debate after speaking pr

soapbox, that's right, an actual soapbox and address the crowd at the state fairgrounds in des moines, iowaadition. more than a million people are expected to visit the fair. 100th anniversary of the famed butter cow. there are actually banners on downtown iowa on light poles honoring the 100th anniversary of the butter corn. at least half of them are running for president, as far as how many people might show up today. robert, you're going to be there, you're going to be interviewing the supposed front-runner. i say supposed, out here he doesn't feel like the front-runner. >> he is on the ballot. >> mitt romney will be standing on the soapbox, so he will be engaged in this race. >> it fits the whole narrative that romney is a flip-flopper, sometimes he's in, sometimes he's out, we don't know exactly where he stands. we don't know if he's going to win the straw poll or not. but the million dollar question is how to iowans feel that he's -- >>> it will be interesting to see if that plays if l -- >> it's funny on this issue of his religion. i remember eight years ago, i had people working for

campaign carl cameron live in des moines, iowa.te will really set the stage for that straw poll in ames. >> really potentially a game changer. because of all of the momentous news with the markets and the nation's credit rating being downgraded, mitt romney who is the headliner here at a fundraiser for the republican party of polk county outside of des moines feels it's in his wheel house. straw poll for him it doesn't matter. he hasn't been competing in the straw poll said he will not. romney will be the center of attention for the debate. straw poll considerably mitt romney, governor? >> hey, karl. >> what a surprise. >> we are on live with shepard smith. >> oh, hey, shep, how are you doing? this a great evening. isn't this fun out here in iowa it's a great state? >> it is. shep, this is the kind of thing that happens in iowa. only for fox news county candidates come over and talk to us this quickly. mr. romney what do you expect tomorrow night real quick. >> i think it's going to be a lot of the fun. a lot of give and take. at l

and to the analysis of shields and lowry-- syndicated columnist mark shields, reporting from des moines, iowa, tonight, and "national review" editor rich lowry. david brooks is away. mark, how did you read last night's debate? >> well, i think first of all, jim, at any debate where the front-runner, acknowledged front-runner if not electrifying front-runner mitt romney goes in, and comes out on the other side unscathed, unharmed, unwounded, has to be a good night for the front-runner. and the others were just sort of subplots. you could see the obvious tension between congresswoman michele bachmann of minnesota and that state's former governor tim pawlenty who are really dualing it out in the saturday caucuses here. it could be a survival test for governor pawlenty who had been regarded quite seriously when he entered-- entered this race and has been eclipsed. and you have newt gingrich and rick santorum trying to break through themselves, each with his own distinct style. gingrich scolding chris wallis for daring to ask him-- chris wallace for asking about the majority of his staff quitting

cnn's drew griffin is in des moines, iowa. he's working on another story now.rime? >> as the investigation went on in mississippi, jackson, mississippi, the investigators found out that the victim in this case, james craig anderson was robbed before being beaten and killed. and it's because the murder took place in the commission of a crime that you polluters there can file a capital murder charge which makes him eligible for the death sentence, so it was the addition of being robbed which is why that capital murder charge was filed yesterday. >> but i have only one thing to tell the media, and that is go to brandon, mississippi and get those other five murderers who committed such an horrendous violent act against my beloved brother james craig anderson. now run and tell that. >> doan. that was the emotional plea of barbara anderson young, james anderson's sister, as you know, since this crime happened, not a single member of anderson's family has come forward to say anything. she finally broke the family's silence yesterday, with a plea that we having hearing

and it takes place in des moines, iowa. i assure you, piers, there is no political intention. i'm sure the opposition will have a great sense of humor. >> i'm sure they can't wait to see it, harvey. >> i'm sure. i can't wait to show it to them. >> i think the only thing i'm more excited about is your own starring role in "funny or die," in which you have apparently come up with such a piece of comic genius that robert de niro described you as wooden. >> yes. >> michelle williams told me before i did it, she said why don't you predict you have malaria. you know, run. don't do this with paul ryan. >> so you have done this. you can check it out. but the crucial battle theme, you're a competitive man, is you're very near to beating sandra bullock and ryan reynolds in the number of people who viewed this right? >> the first week that sandra and ryan did the proposal, they did 600,000. we're at 585,000 now. so i think we need 14 or 15,000 more people. and we have about another three or four hours. >> harvey, i want every one of my viewers to click on funnyordie.com. >> thank you, pi

he goes off message or off script like you saw in iowa when he got up on the des moines iowa registerople, too, my friend. >> i think we might hear it again if he's the nominee. >> he's creating all of these moments that folks seize on and that's all they have to go on for months at a time. >> david, let me go quickly to you, romney 2008 instead of romney 2012. it appears to be working for him, but how long can he sustain it with rick perry and michele bachmann attacking him? >> he's more vulnerable than in 2008 and yet it is working for him. to karen's point we are seeing lessonser learned, no doubt abo it, and he laid out his jobs plan in nevada and bracketing the president's big economic speech, he's now looking i think to be a more present figure out on the trail especially because he knows rick perry is coming at him and he needs to be aware of that. >> he needs to make the pivot to be presidential, to jeb bush's point, you have to put something positive forward, so this is the pivot. >> we'll be back. more to come. >>> but, first, trivia time. we asked -- which u.s. president wa

but the big news today came from the iowa state fair in des moines where in an attempt to appeal to more voters, ron paul had himself batter dipped and deep fat fried. (laughter) that was good. more chipotle sauce. meanwhile mitt romney was at the state fair in his every man dungarees when he was ambushed by liberal activists with a gotcha question about social security. and with his answer, romney proved he didn't just dress like the average joe, he understands the average joe. >> we have to make sure that the promises we make in social security, medicaid and medicare are promises we can keep. and there are various ways of doing that. one is we could raise taxes on people. -- >> corporations. >> corporations are people, my friend. >> stephen: yes. corporations are people, my friend. they're like members of your family. your brother, fax machine. your uncle ben, your auntannie, your mam ma celeste, your go daddy. folks, i have been fighting this good fight for years. corporations are legally people in the united states. >> no. >> corporations are people. >> corporations are people. >> co