that was the case for gary of polk city. wanted to know from santorum whether or not he had what it takes to get the job done. >> hopefully you have got the finances and the support out there to carry your campaign forward. >> i would say this we have raised more money in the last few days than we have in the last few months. >> now, the mayor afterwards said he liked what he heard from santorum in classic undecided style said there is still a 2% or 3% chance that he could change his mind. shep? >> shepard: there is a 2%, or 3% chance everywhere. polk city where the christmas lights are still up on this january 2nd. steve brown, thanks. then there is newt gingrich who can apparently read the writing on the wall. is he down playing his iowa expectations after a plunge in the polls. just weeks ago the former speaker was the top candidate here in iowa. now he is polling around 4th and that may be generous. he blames the slide on attack ads. >> i don't think i'm going to win. i think if you look at the numbers, i think that volu

it is in polk city, iowa. we're keeping an eye on that. next hour, 2:15 eastern, ron paul campaigns with his son, rand paul, in des moines. and 12:50 eastern mitt romney holding a rally with supporters in debuick. we'll bring you the highlights live from the campaign trail. >>> and political insiders in iowa, they think mitt romney is going to come out on top in tomorrow's caucuses. now cnn surveyed 64 political pros from state local lawmakers, party officials, have right of other activists. what did they say, almost two-thirds think romney is going to win. 17% predict ron paul is going to be the winner. none of them, interesting enough, picked rick santorum despite his recent surge in the polls. >>> go out to iowa. candidates are making the final push for these votes. paul steinhauser in the middle of all of the action from des moines. paul, this is it. this is count joun time. you've got these guys crisscrossing the state counting the hours. what's the strategy here? >> reporter: this is it. suzanne, it's finally feeling like winter here

steve brown has the news live from polk city. after all the candidate events, tv ads and debates, iowans are having a very tough time making up their mind. >>reporter: a lot them. if you believe the polls. a lot of the folks are diligent about doing their homework and as a matter of fact one undecided we was at the event here in polk city with santorum looking for a little clarification. >> i don't think there is any candidate out there that you are supporting 100 percent. so you look which most represents your own feelings. >>reporter: that is the situation for many undecided. there are a couple of things they are not clear on with the candidates, they are all socially conservative enough, and fiscally conservative enough but they are trying to get all the information they can before the call. trace? >>trace: we talked about undecided but the undecided are running out of time, now. >>reporter: they are. they are. we are a little over 24 hours before the meeting start before people actually start making the speeches on behalf of

you're seeing the former pennsylvania senator there talking to a group of people in polk city, iowa, as he continues to canvas the state ahead of tomorrow's caucus, telling the crowd there he does have the infrastructure, does have the moment um to go all the way. some have doubted, though, whether whether or not he's fonlly able to do so, only spending tens of thousands on campaign advertising in the state as opposed to the millions of other candidates like that of mitt romney. >>> all signs point to a close contest come tuesday night, with so many iowans still waiting for a sign that tells them which conservative candidate is going to be the right one for them. msnbc's richard lui is here to talk about the voters still on the fence in the hawkeye state. richard, we've been talking about this, 41% still undecided. iowans don't like to be told what to do and they're keeping us guessing. >> they are. and that's a significant number. for the candidates right now, thomas, it is the battle for the undecid undecideds, none have broken the mid-20s in recent polls. with this number here, 41

the rising sun cafe in polk city, iowa, has nothing this kind of crowd since sugar ray leonard stopped by. today they are here to size up a contender in the political fight, rick santorum. the mayor has not decided whom to support. what is it about the republican field this year that has been so up and down and volatile? >> it amazes me sometimes when you think about 330 million people in the united states and this is the field we have. but a couple of them are looking pretty good. if they combined all of their ideas, we would have a great candidate. >> the press is here in nassau because of santorum has zoomed up in the -- is here en masse because santorum has zoomed up in the polls in the last few days. >> the right policies, the right track record, the ability to lead, winning elections, they have what it takes up here, they have what is needed in here and they have the fire down here to make the difference in winning this election. do not differ, lead. -- do not defer, lead. >> i am trying to make a my mind. >> come on over. [laughter] thank you for being here. >> can this man go a

rick santorum supporters peered through the window in polk city, iowa. >> be bold, step forward to lead. you're casting the first vote. >> the latest poll shows santorum in third place, but in striking distance. santorum is taking aim at the front runner. >> we are not looking for a chief executive officer for this country. we're looking for a commander in chief. >> while romney targets president obama. >> i look at this president and realize that he just doesn't know what has to be done to get this country on track again. >> ron paul is running just behind romney and working to distinguish himself. >> the others represent the status quo. >> polls show 41% of likely caucus goers haven't decided who they'll vote for or could change their mind. >> rick perry volunteers traveled from texas to call iowans and get them to caucus. he is polling in the back half of the republican field. along with newt gingrich and michele bachmann. >> born and raised in iowa, only one candidate has been the consistent conservative. >> she is trying it play up her hometown routes and reach the conservative bas

the rising sun cafway in polk city, iowa, hasn't seen this kind of a crowd since sugar ray leonard stopped by. today they're here to sign up a contender in a political fight, rick santorum. pok city mayor has decided who to support. >> what is it about the republican field this year that's been so up and down, volatile? >> it may izzes me sometimes when you think about -- it amazes me sometimes when you think about all the people in the united states and this is the field that we have, but a couple of them are looking pretty good. i believe if they combined all their ideas, we'd have a great candidate. >> the press is here en masse because santorum has zoomed up the polls in the last few days. >> don't fever your judgment, what you know and what you've done and studying this race and looking at the candidates in determining whether they have the right policy, the right track record, the ability to lead, win elections, they have what it takes up here, they have what's in here, an they have the fire that's down here that's going to make the difference in winning this election. do not defer,

this is polk city. a few thousand people. here he is today in the rising sun cafe, standing room only. the surge is grabbing voters. more iowans saying they're for santorum makes you feel, maybe i'll join? >> possibly, maybe a little bit, yeah. >> reporter: santorum's appealing to christian conservatives. >> if you're looking for someone you can trust, someone who's authentic, i'll put myself out there. >> reporter: reality tv's duggar family got on board. >> duggars are part of the santorum surge? >> that's right. >> reporter: unless bachmann and perry voters flock to santorum, mitt romney figures he can win tomorrow. >> get out and vote and vote and vote, get your friends to go to the caucuses. >> reporter: ron paul has a shot to win iowa. >> tomorrow is a very important day. small in numbers, but very big message. >> reporter: newt gingrich vows he's not quitting. >> whatever i do tomorrow night will be a victory. because i'm still standing. >> reporter: next is new hampshire. romney country. santorum tells me he's in. >>

come on. >> this is the mayor of polk city. >> mr. mayor, please.. >> i like what you've got to say. >> thank you. >> but i also know that obama's pockets are really deep when it comes to finances. home fully you have those finances to carry on after you win tomorrow night, you go on to new hampshire. >> i like what you're saying. >> hopefully you've got the finances and the support out there to carry your campaign forward. >> i would just say this -- we've raised more money in the last few days than we have in the last few months, and going from zero to 60 in the polls, if you will, will help those resources a lot. >> rick santorum used to be an afterthought in this campaign, drew. not anymore. >> paul, look forward to your reporting all day tomorrow and into the night as we look at the first votes in this long race yet to come, the iowa caucuses start tomorrow night. of course, cnn is the place to be on any election night, specifically tomorrow, as we begin gitding results. "america's choice 2012," special live coverage, iowa caucuses, begins tomo

santorum supporters peer through windows to capture a glimpse of the gop hopeful at a campaign stop in polk city iowa. >> be bold, step forward, you are leading casting the first vote. >> reporter: the latest poll shows santorum in third place but within striking distance of paul and romney, he is taking aim at the front runner. >> we are not looking for a chief executive officer for this country, a commander and chief. >> reporter: while romney targets president obama >> i look at this president and realize he doesn't realize what has to be done to get this country on track again. >> reporter: ron paul is running just behind romney and working to distinguish himself. >> the others represent the status quo. >> reporter: polls showed 41% of likely caucus goers haven't decided who they will vote for or could change their minds. >> rick perry volunteers traveled from texas to call ' wants and get them to caucus, he is polling in the back half of the republican field along with newt gingrich and michelle bachmann. >> born and raised in iowa, only one candidate has been a consistent conservative figh

rick santorum had a campaign stop in polk city, iowa. the latest poll shows him in third place, but within striking distance of ron paul and mitt romney. he is taking aim at the front runner. >> we are not looking for an executive officer. we are looking for a commander in chief. >> while romney targets president obama. >> i look at this president and realize that he just doesn't know what has to be done to get this country on track again. >> ron paul is running just behind romney and working to distinguish himself. >> the others represent the status quo. >> polls show 41% of likely caucus goers don't know who they will vote for. >> rick perry volunteers traveled from texas to call iowans and get them to caucus. he is polling in the back half of the republican field. along with newt gingrich and michele bachmann. >> born and raised in iowa, only one candidate has been the consistent conservative. >> she's trying to play up her hometown roots in a new ad. but the crowds here want to neat the candidates and all six competing in iowa are ra

santorum supporters peer through windows to catch a glimpse of the gop hopeful at a campaign stop in polk city iowa. >> step forward and lead, cast the first vote. >> reporter: the latest poll shows santorum in third place but in striking distance of ron paul and mitt romney. sentence or um is taking aim at -- santorum is taking aim. >> we are looking for a commander-in-chief. >> reporter: while romney targeted president obama. >> i look at this president and realize he doesn't know what has to be done to get this country on track again. >> reporter: ron paul is running just behind romney and working to distinguish - distinguish himself. >> the others represent the status quo. >> reporter: paul said 41% of likely caulk he is -- polls said 41% of likely caucus-goers could change their mind. along with newt gingrich and michelle bachmann -- she's trying to play up her home-town roots and reach the conservative base in a new ad. but the crowds here want to meet the candidates. and all six competing in iowa are racing to win over the undecided voters in the home stretch. >> and gingrich admitted t

jenna: "happening now" in polk city, iowa. senator santorum at the rising sun cafe in polk city. there was a such a crowd people are lined up outside unable to get in the cafe. he is the one flirting with the lead in iowa. next 24 to 36 hours will be crucial for him as well as the other candidates. we'll keep up with them as they travel across the state today. jon: the rise of rick santorum is just another element that proves this gop race for the white house is one for the history books. the frontrunner changing a staggering seven times. and the top polling firm, gallup, even calls it, the most volatile republican nomination contest since it first started tracking front-runners decades ago. congressman steve king, a republican from iowa joins us now. congressman king, you have not announced a favorite on the gop side in iowa. would you like to announce one now? >> i wish i were ready to do that, jon. i believed i would be. i thought september, october would be a good time. i have to come to a conviction and i said on my head and heart come together i will jump in with both feet.

thanin -- polk city. expectations changed considerably for mitt romney.ventional wisdom was that romney would not and could not win here. now, as the senior national correspondent john roberts reports, romney is trying to surprise everyone. >> four years after he tried and failed, mitt romney is spending the last few hours hoping to close the deal with the iowa volters. >> get out there and vote tomorrow. i need everyone to vote. >> of those caucus numbers who are undecided a good number were at this event, including matt. he voted for obama in 2008. but is giving romney is good look this year. >> i felt like we needed a unifyer for the countryback then. i thought he had a great chance to lead. i don't think he has done a great job of leading. hopefully romney can do that. >> if he wins on tuesday is open question. in 2008 when he lost to mike huckabee he got 25% of the vote. that is same support he has now. to increase that number, he needs to pull in social conservatives. mark lansing is one of them and doesn't trust romney on the core conservative issu

the soundbite we're gonna play right now, here's the mayor of polk city, iowa, reflecting that sentiment i don't think there's any candidate out there that you'll support 100%. so you kind of look on which most represents your own feelings and what you think is good for this country. >> you know for sure what way you're going? >> no. >> so he, doug, i would consider to be persuadible. what happens in the room tonight where people are persuaded? >> well, what happens is every candidate has the opportunity to have a representative in the caucus site to give some short remarks about five minutes of why that candidate, whether it's rick perry, mitt romney, michelle bachmann, ron paul, the opportunity to say this is the candidate to vote for. but that's why organization is so important. those campaigns that have the best organizations on the ground and we really see that from the three campaigns that have been leading the polls in the past week or so are those that are going to have that best opportunity to make that closing argument. that closing sale. if your campaign is not in that room an

he pushed into third place while seeking more support in polk city. >> do not defer your judgment to the pundits and the polls. reporter: while santorum's campaign appears to be rolling, rick perry is now taking aim at it. >> i got great respect for rick, but 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: real clear politics has romney and paul neck and neck followed by santorum, perry and newt gingrich who is blaming his slide on negative ads. >> the kind of viciousness and dishonesty built into our politics that has become standard. reporter: ironically the winner of last year's iowa straw poll, michelle bachmann, it s trailing the entire pack and a poor -- is trailing the entire pack and a poor showing. jonathan strong, reporter for role call, says the hallmark of this campaign has been the search for a true frontrunner. >> they've gone from candidate to candidate and been absolutely brutal when it turns out that person doesn't look like there high countriable or they find flaws they didn'

the soundbite we're gonna play right now, here's the mayor of polk city, iowa, reflecting that sentiment i don't think there's any candidate out there that you'll support 100%. so you kind of look on which most represents your own feelings and what you think is good for this country. >> you know for sure what way you're going? >> no. >> so he, doug, i would consider to be persuadible. what happens in the room tonight where people are persuaded? >> well, what happens is every candidate has the opportunity to have a representative in the caucus site to give some short remarks about five minutes of why that candidate, whether it's rick perry, mitt romney, michelle bachmann, ron paul, the opportunity to say this is the candidate to vote for. but that's why organization is so important. those campaigns that have the best organizations on the ground and we really see that from the three campaigns that have been leading the polls in the past week or so are those that are going to have that best opportunity to make that closing argument. that closing sale. if your campaign is not in that room an

rick santorum is in polk city by des moines. ron paul will be in des moines for a campaign event with his son, kentucky senator rand paul. it starts at 2:15. -- 12:15. at 7:00 eastern, rick santorum will hold a meet and greet and a pizza restaurant. mitt romney will hold a grass- roots rally in iowa. >> tuesday, "rode to the white house" goes to america's heartland for the iowa caucuses. c-span's coverage begins at live from des moines with "washington journal," talking to political experts and taking your calls. later, the state of the republican presidential race. at 8:00, live coverage from central iowa, followed by the entire caucus' results and speeches. c-span's coverage of the iowa caucuses is available on c-span radio and online at c- span.org/campaign2012. >> there is no debate here that copyright infringement is a serious question. we have got a system for dealing with it now. it is not perfect. there are ways in which on a bipartisan basis we can improve on it. that is what the open legislation is all about. the final

it's going to be on three critical areas for our city. polk street, dewiggle and central market. our expectations are very high. we're very grateful to the nether land consulate and the folks who have come here, some of who you'll hear from this morning for bringing their time and expertise and lover and passion for cycling to us here in san francisco. we do have a great advocate for cycling here, although sometimes he says he needs a little bit of an electric motor to get up that hill by his house. he is 100% supportive of increasing the bicycle use in this city. been focused on the development of places like central market, which is one of the focus areas of this workshop. without further ado, i'm happy to welcome up to the mike our mayor, mayor ed lee. [applause] >> thank you, ed. morning, everyone! welcome here to city hall in san francisco. delighted to join this wonderful opportunity here and council general, thank you very much for bringing a wonderful team from netherlands to help engage us even better and to excite not only us who work here at city hall but our traffic e

you don't actually get to meet a voter in iowa if you're doing well enough because in polk city yesterday, way more than actual voters and this one poor woman was trying to get in to hear him and i don't think she ever got in there. that is a bit of a problem. but in some of these venues, it is lots of voters and they are excited and they are interested in him and there is a genuine surge going on, not just in the media. >> mitt romney still the frontrunner and probably do well here. we have several debates coming up. do you expect we'll see a more aggressive rick santorum in these debates and a more aggressive newt gingrich in terms of challenging mitt romney? what does it mean for the contest that mitt romney needs to run? >> they need to get aggressive if they do well here. especially somebody like newt gingrich. he hasn't had a debate here 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 within a few seconds because come ad after ad attacking. >> that will come af

for rick santorum who we're following, he's going to be here in an hour in polk city.e's been the marathon man. 's been to all 99 counties. now it's a sprint. he's got a series of events today. they're almost drive-byes. you come in, shake some hands, get on tv. there's a bunch of cameras in here. i'm going to guess this is the first time that he's had the british, german, japanese press following him on the campaign trail before the iowa caucuses. he is in a little bit of a fight right now for mitt romney because if you look at that des moines register poll that came out over the weekend, what was really interesting is the last two days that poll was taken rick santorum had moved into a sort of statistical tie with mitt romney. now aside from that match-up between mitt romney and rick santorum, there is also newt gingrich who is changing his strategy somewhat. he has been, as you know, been the subject of a barrage of attack ads from proromney forces. they've been blanketing the air waves with antigingrich ads. out in marn shal town iowa inside the sports bar, newt gi

i started with rick santorum in polk city. he is make being the argument on electability.ting democrat from congress and sitting democrat senator. he is pivoting talking about the jobs plan and manufacturing and trying to bring some of those jobs back. he is understand sew closely aligned with the social conservative movement that he economic message is. megyn: what do you think record turnout, you think that will be true. >> i never disagree with my governor. megyn: may have not said it that way but more than last time. >> we have had 33 straight months of republican registration gains. first chance anyone in america gets to vote to replace barack obama. so i'm confident we'll have a good night as iowa republicans tuesday. megyn: matt, thank you so much. always a pleasure, sir. we'll be watching. well a recent ad push in the hawkeye state has newt gingrich and mitt romney in a faceoff. gingrich is angry over a negative ad launched by the romney camp and claims his rival is trying to buy his way to the nomination. listen here. >> mr. speaker, what did you mean when you sai

four years ago polk county, which includes city of des moines, picked huckabee.hat can you tell us? >>reporter: we wonder how it will go particularly among the undecided voters so we are at a google lounge with interesting trend information to share. this is a word cloud. >>guest: the larger the font the more popular the search. ron paul is big, risk san dorm -- rick santorum. this is national data we have seen, he is not trending in searches. now, we have more recent information, and this is polling from hours ago. >>reporter: everyone is wondering santorum's bounce is continuing. >>guest: that represents 7 1/2 times more senators for rick santorum in iowa today compared to a week ago and the other candidates how they compare to rick santorum. >>reporter: and rich is -- rick perry is bumping up. >>guest: and this is a voter asking a question of santorum. >> i want to bring up your record. (inaudible) gingrich and paul are on my telephone telling me of your past record 689. >>reporter: with more and more attention, there are more and more questions on his record.

city's famous hills. we have for the world comes to work, the financial district's, where the world comes to shop in union square, where the tourists spend time on fisherman's wharf , and the wonderful polktreet neighborhoods. my district encompasses the ethnic and economic diversity that exists throughout the city. i think my district is emblematic of the entire city. you can find every political perspective you can possibly want in district 3. oftentimes, the interests of my district and the city are aligned. i do not have to think about those differences quite as often as some of my colleagues may have to. >> let's talk about the budget situation. we have been faced with some tough budget decisions again, including where to make cuts and whether or not to increase taxes. how will you approached these hard choices? >> our budget is one of the very top challenges facing city government right now. over each of the years i have served, we have had to balance budget deficits that were around $500 million. this year, we're facing another budget deficit of almost $400 million. fortunately in recent years, we have had some ability to do some one-time budgeting tricks that allow us to balance

and again, polk send an emissary to mexico city to smooth this thing over and see if they could avoid a war but that was unavoidable. in this sense, the mexican authority would not see the american emissary and they withdrew their ambassadors from washington and they put an army on the border and so war appeared to be inevitable. polk would take it as it comes. he was an e aficionado of what was called manifest destiny, a term invented by a magazine journalist in the 1840s. basically described a doctor and that the united states of america was exceptional and it deserves to expand as far as it needed to expand. of course everybody had their eyes on the west because you couldn't go to the south or the north. it caught on -- polk didn't invent manifest destiny. some people suggested so but i think eisenhower, the president's on wrote a wonderful book called so far from god in the war of mexico. he described it this way. he said polk didn't invent manifest destiny but he was its ideal agent. i believe that is quite so. that sets the stage for what general kearney did. "kearny's march". t

polk street. you can see pg&e crews in the distance there they lowered somebody down in the manhole there. they are trying to repair the problem. it looks like the outage spans about three cityand police quarantined off eddie between franklin and polk because the traffic light wasn't working. crews worked all night. they finally got it up and running this morning. pg&e officials believe that the outage is due to an under ground equipment failure that happened around 7:00 last night. pg&e crews have put up barriers around the manhole. they still have a lot of work to do. we saw them walk down the street with flashlights checking things out. but the traffic lights are up and working. as we mentioned 200 customers are still in the dark. we have been told by pg&e they will have this problem fixed between 8:30 and 9:00 this morning. live in san francisco i'm tara moriarty ktvu channel 2 news. >>> there is a series of fights in walnut creek. ktvu channel 2 reporter lorraine blanco joins us now. she has more on the violence that landed nine people in handcuffs. >> reporter: the violence started early sunday morning in this parking garage on locust street. two people were arrested f

. >>> last call on polk street where the liquor could stop flowing along the popular party route in the city. >>> check us out on facebook. check nbc bay area news. >>> welcome back. san francisco might put dog walkers on a tighter leash, coming up about a city committee considering new laws to force dog walkers to get permit was licenses. to qualify, dog quackers to have go through training on etiquette and management. the talk coming a week after an offleash dog got into the bison padd paddock and traced one into a tree or a fence. dogs are not allowed offlease in the area, and the dog walker cited. >>> a popular san francisco hangout, the goal, to prevent more polk street businesses from getting liquor licenses. they say the area is already saturated with too many bars and the night life it attracts is ruining their neighborhood. the meeting will be held at the san francisco public library at 4:00. >> looks like new toll lanes will not be coming to marin anytime soon. in just a few hours from now the county's transportation authorities will review a new study about adding high occupancy t

police were out here earlier and they had three city blocks on eddie between franklin and polk quarantined off. the power outage stretched from vaness to hide along eddie. they were concerned about vaness the traffic lights being out because that is a heavily traveled row. that is why police were out here. the outage began at 7:00 last night. officially 300 people were in the dark. pg&e crews have been working on the problem overnight. they expect to have electricity back on sometime between 8:30 and 9:00. we are live in san francisco i'm tara moriarty ktvu channel 2 news. >>> time is 6:32. the city of oakland still adding up all the damage caused by occupy protests over the weekend that left a mess at city hall, frank ogawa plaza and the ymca. allie rasmus is here to tell us what is next for the city and the protestors. >> reporter: a lot of cleanup has happened since this big demonstration on saturday. there were city crews out here power washing graffiti. but you can still see some of the writing on the concrete posts outside frank ogawa plaza. there is a really large chalk drawing out

with people from twitter and people in the city about mid market developments and good infrastructure for bikes and tradition is a part of it. i'm so hope that polk street is in it as well. it's my daily commute. i hope that in the next two years that i have the honor to be here as well to get some profit off this workshop as well. the third one with wiggle i think is a quite interesting one. we don't have a wiggle in the netherlands. we don't need a wiggle in the netherlands. but i -- i thought what an interesting word that is, wiggle. where does it come from? is it a san francisco-invented word? so i looked it up yesterday in the oxford dictionary. to my surprise i found the origin of the word "wiggle" is in dutch. sorry about that. it's to wiggle. to move to left to right. that's something we do in the netherlands. in politics as well. and even i find out that the name beggler, somebody who wiggles, is a common name in the netherlands and in the dutch translation of harry potter, the lady who writes all the booklets for the school in the harry potter school is madam wiggli. i thought it might be good to contact her to get some additional suppo

polk corner. we have had three meetings at the public library so far, none although the folkswho have been attending -- we have had 12 people attending regularly, along with the city attorney for our area. i want to make it clear that although someof thoseolks support of thi project, our organization's support is city- wide. we aspire to represent all city districts. ornitis ole, andnotngfrom the committee for the area. i want to make that clear. at the conclusion of our meeting, we requested one condition, that the exterior surveillance technology -- which theygreed to want to sewe having said that, we support this project. vice chair joseph: thank you very much. is there any other public comment? i am glad to see you back in the room. did you have something to say earlier? ice aijose never mind >> linda chapman, representing some individual members of the community. our objective, as david villalobos said, was nottoave a meeting on this board, but to stop what is happening on polk street. it is out of control. opertyowner caot come, because it raises his blood pressure too much. he gave me what he took into the meeting that david villa lobos had in our neighbooo