the move had scrambled the election calendar and some of the republican candidates had threatened to boycott the earlier date. iowa is where six of the republican presidential contenders will be tonight for a gathering of the state's christian conservatives, but the leader of the field won't be there, and it's no accident. tony guida has more. >> thank you, guys. good to see you. >> reporter: mitt romney hasn't spent much time in iowa. >> i'm running for president again. >> reporter: his visit to council bluffs thursday was his first campaign appearance in the state in more than two months but he promised to be back. >> i want to get the supports of ions. this is not my first trip to arks what, as you know and i will be here again and again campaigning here. >> reporter: but not tonight. romney is skipping a forum with one now evangelical activists in des moines. >> no one has coesed behind a social conservative candidate, and it doesn't seem like they will for a while, so mitt romney can keep playing to his base and ignore the people who aren't going to vote for him anyway. >> good to see you. >> reporter: romney

. >> reporter: just over two months until the republican iowa caucus. ere's a lot of talk about the economy. herman cain has his 9-9-9 plan. what are you hearing from the republicans when it comes to the economy? >> i've got to say, what i haven't heard is anything new. >> reporter: 9-9-9 is new. >> well, in -- essentially what it says is that we're going to make sure that the wealthiest among us pay less, and we replace any revenues with a sales tax that would be a huge burden on middle-class families and working families. that's not new. >> reporter: one emerging campaign theme, to not only run against the republicans but against the excesses of wall street. >> they want to roll back all the wall street reforms that we put into place as if they've got amnesia about how we got into this problem in the first place. >> reporter: your senior political adviser david axelrod has spent a lot of time in the past month talking about mitt romney. is he your biggest challenge? is he the toughest candidate to beat? >> i genuinely am not spending a lot of time worr

. >> reporter: it's just over two months until the republican iowa caucus. herman cain has his 9-9-9 plan. what are you hearing from the republicans when it comes to the economy? >> what i haven't heard is anything new. across the board, whether it's coming out of the congress or from the republican candidates so far. >> reporter: 9-9-9 is new. >> well, essentially what it says is that we're going to make sure that the wealthiest among us pay less and we replace any revenues with a sales tax that would be a huge burden on middle class families and working families. that's not new. one of the things i'm most surprised about is they want to roll back all the wall street reforms we put into place as if they've got amnesia about how we got into this problem in the first place. >> reporter: the president generally begged off talking about any specific republican presidential candidates, but he said there will be a very clear contrast between him and whoever the republican nominee is. and the election will be about not just the direction of the country over the nex

republican primary. the poll we have out today in iowa and new hampshire shows half of iowa republicans call themselves tea party supporters. more importantly, over 80% of the iowa republican electorate identify either as conservative, tea party supporter, or evangelical christian. and these were not the groups whose first choice are mitt romney. so the question is this is certainly a big way of moving financially, moving resources into the romney camp. we know there's a lot of money on the sidelines. having christie out there early, having him out there in new york city where there hasn't been a lot of success for romney or any republican in raising money, because they were sitting there waiting for the hope from new jersey to get in, and he didn't. >> and it brings some passion to the race as well for mitt romney who critics said has lacked that. thanks so much, chuck todd for the breaking news. chris christie in new hampshire, about to endorse mitt romney sometime this afternoon before the big debate. we will be right back. to volunteer. and now, thanks to you, 10 communities have more to smile about. w

what i'm hearing from iowa republicans is that we may have to set a date very soon. those discussions will continue into the day and the rest of the week. iowa cannot necessarily wait for new hampshire to set a date. >> and are you adamant about making sure iowa's first, or are you adamant about not breaking the sort of december -- this unofficial line where everybody said we'll not ever go into december? >> one thing we've been clear on is we do plan to be first in the nation with our first in the nation caucuses. it's great for the presidential process. with iowa fifth, new hampshire tenth and nevada and south carolina. to some degree that mirrors what we had in 2008. >> that would be a comfortable place to be. you're not announcing the fifth today, but you would be comfortable with a five day window. >> it worked well in 2008, because we had record turnout in the republican and democrat caucuses. the iowa primary did not lack for attention in 2008 as well. it would serve the voters and candidates better if this is after the holidays. voters don't want knocks at the

in iowa still don't believe the president was born in the united states. 48%, almost half, of the republicansiowa. joe, is rick perry really playing to a base extreme right-wing vote that he knows is there? >> simple answer to that is, yes. let me make three quick points. he seems saying it. it's a distraction, so i'm trying to distract you from the fact that i really shouldn't be in this race to begin with. point number two, and that is, look, rick perry needs to understand this, if he's listening. president obama is not running for class president. he's running for president of the united states you do not ask a 50-year-old grown man or woman to show you his transcripts. point number three, there's an old adage. it's not how you begin the race. it's how you end. no professor, no university, donald trump, has ever handed out an affirmative exam. you get the same exam that everything else gets, and you have to get the same grades. the point is he ended up at the top, end of topic. >> jim, i'm going to give you the last word. look at the poll in iowa. mr. perry came in, blazing saddles. he was

the other problem is once you come out of iowa and face the rest of the country in the republican primariesn the ultimate winner, how do you sell that to the american public? >> well, that's exactly it. and i think that's why you see mitt romney downplaying iowa. you see jon huntsman avoiding iowa entirely in favor of new hampshire which they think is much more representative of the country as a whole and much more capable of turning out a winner from the republican party. so iowa is just a game of who gets to challenge mitt romney in new hampshire. mitt romney does not want it to be rick perry. i think he'd be very delighted to have herman cain there. as we've seen, herman cain has trouble understanding the questions he's being asked. either that or he just has trouble answering them. >> he's going to be the first president in the history of the country that signed a constitutional amendment, according to him. thank you, nia and dana. thanks very much for joining me this evening. >>> ahead, this 96-year-old fought back against a vote of suppression. but the story shows how widespread the p

last night iowa republican party officials voted january 3rd as the new date for their state caucusesey had originally been scheduled for february 6th. the chaos started in late september when florida moved its caucuses to january 31st. south carolina chose january 21st. nevada chose january 14th. nevada is the only state left. they are threatening to move the primary back to december. new hampshire state leaders are encouraging candidates to boycott candidate, especially mitt romney. jon huntsman is boycotting tonight's event. huntsman is spending all his time and effort in new hampshire telling cnn it's a vegas move to put all his chips on the granite state. >> i like where we're going in new hampshire. all the polls show we're moving up. we're now in low double digits this is exactly where we want to be. we want a steady, gradual substantive ride. whoever makes it through the new hampshire primary always bursts upon the political stage with viability down market. >> iowa republican party chairman matt straw is blaming florida and nevada for causing chaos in the calendar. he said i

the iowa caucus is the first in the nation and we're hearing from republican voters already there which candidate they like. a new poll from the "des moines register" shows herman cain and mitt romney statistically tied for the lead. the iowa caucuses are set for january 3rd. well, this compares to a cnn poll taken just last week. that poll shows mitt romney in first with herman cain close behind. ron paul coming in third with 12% of those surveyed. ron paul was third in both of the polls we just mentioned, and he came in first yesterday in an iowa straw poll conducted among likely voters. 82% of the iowa conservatives attending the national federation of republican assemblies convention in des moines supported paul. herman cain was second at 15%. >>> despite those straw poll results, the group endorsed rick santorum for president just a few hours later. the nfra calls itself the nation's oldest and largest republican volunteer group. let's bring in cnn's senior political analyst and "national journal journal's" editorial director. here's another iowa straw poll. this outcome is differe

. >>> a new poll has herman cain leading the republican pack in iowa. many believe it is because of his unconventional campaign, and his 9-9-9 tax plan. today he is in washington, d.c. purring that plan. reports that cain is also responding to allegations of improper conduct while he was the head of the national restaurant association. >> reporter: herman cain brought his unconventional campaign to washington, d.c. he is promoting his 9-9-9 plan to boost the tax code. >> it's going to boost this economy right now this economy is on life support. this is why we put a bold solution on the table. >> reporter: cain's d.c. trip comes on the heels of some good news for his campaign. a new des moines register poll has him leading the pack of republican presidential hopefuls. 23% of iowa voters say they'd pick cain, putting him just ahead of mitt romney. cain's supporters are taking a look at his tax plan and other thoughts on abortion. >> i'm pro-life from conception period. and if people like at many speeches i have given over the years, that has and will sti

iowa republicans really do. bit of a fringey part of the republican party. they -- in the ames poll they supported michele bachmann obviously and they tend to prioritize social conservative issues. in republican voting in iowa. given that, and given the influence of iowa right now, do you think it makes sense for democrats to talk about values issues? heading into a national election year and the president's re-election? values issues including social issues or do you think that talking about the economy is a way to speak to the moderates and the independents of iowa that may not feel like they're represented by that republican caucus? >> actually i think you can do both at the same time. you can talk about putting people back to work and you honor the value of work. you can talk about making sure that veterans have an opportunity which the president wants with the american jobs act, getting them an opportunity to have a job when they come back. you can talk about values and talk about them in terms of what's on

iowa. republican strategists say the approach is on target. >> he has a lot of money, very experienced national advisors, but governor perry has to win iowa. >> reporter: standing between perry and his first win next year is herman cain. a new cbs news new york times poll shows he's in the lead among republican primary voters nationwide. his 9-9-9 tax plan helped him climb to the top. but that poll also shows that the field is still wide open. 80% of republicans surveyed say they still haven't made up their mind about who they will vote for in the primary. mitt romney who is holding second place is working to shore-up the conservative vote. he filed the official paperwork to run in the new hampshire primary which could happen just 11 weeks from now. on the west coast, president obama told supporters 2012 is going to be a tough fight. he's raising cash for his campaign headlining six fundraisers on his three-day trip. danielle nottingham, cbs news, the white house. >>> well today president obama will tape an appearance for the tonight show with jay leno and then he goes to a fundraiser in san fr

&p the iowa republican party ha made it fficial... ts caucuses will now be held on tueeday, anuary thirdd.. instead offin february.the move comes after florida oved its primary to january 31st. iowa repuulicans say they had no choice but to move theirs up too... since iowa is the first state to hold caucuses. a colorado couple is facing charges....for leaving their baby in a car... to go gamble. the baby was discovered byya man named sammy kent... who was walking through the paaking ggrage... to get to his caa.when he looked over into the car next to hii... he was startled to see a baby &pinsiie. casino seeurity used the intercom to announce the license plate number... looking ffr the driver. kent says he was astonished by what "sheecomes walking out and she says, 'is there a probbem?' and i said, 'is this our baby in the car?' and the police offfcer says, 'yeah, is this your baby?' and he says, 'yeah.' and then he handcuffed her and put her in the car." car."police believe the baby was left alone in thh car for about an hour.the paren

republicans. one candidate who won't be there, jon huntsman. he's boycotting it after nevada pushed its primary ahead of new hampshire's. >>> the iowa republican rty has officially moved their caucuses to january 3rd. this comes after nevada and florida pushed their dates forward. iowa pea caucus was set to be held february 6th. iowa also moved its caucus back to january 3rd in 2008 because of a similar chain reaction of states changing their dates. >>> san francisco board of supervisors will discuss free muni youth passes when they meet in less than two hours. there is debate over how much it will cost to offer free rides. according to "the examiner" a study released estimates the cost will be $3 million. but an earlier supervisor study put the number at around $7 million. >>> caltrain riders in san bruno noticed the change this morning. starting today, trains will debart and -- depart and arrive at a new temporary station south of the current san bruno station on hunting ton avenue. the change is part of a $147 million project that will elevate caltrain tracks over several streets and eventually build a future permanent station. >>> well, for

. >> just over two months until the republican iowa caucus, herman cain has his 9-9-9 plan. ou hearing from the republicans when it comes to the economy? >> what i haven't heard is anything new, across the board whether it is coming out of the congress or from the republican candidates so far. >> 9-9-9 is? new? >> essentially what it says is that we are going to make sure that the wealthiest among us pay less and we replace any revenues with a sales tax that would be a huge burden on middle-class families and working families. that's not new. one of the things i am most surprised about. they want to roll back all the wall street reforms we put into place as if they have got amnesia about how we got into this problem in the first place. >> reporter: the president generally begged off talking about any specific republican presidential candidates but said there would be a clear contrast between him and who ever the eventual presidential nominee is. he said, the general election would be about the direction of the country not just for the next four years but the next 20 or 30. ja

the reason for the campaign descending on the hawkeye state. >> reporter: tonight in iowa, almost all of the republican candidates for president are going to get together for the iowa faith and freedom coalition forum in des moines. before they do, herman cain, who won last night's western republican leadership conference straw poll in vegas is trying to explain to the state's social conservative when he said he was pro-choice, he meant he is pro-life. if he is president, anyone wanting an abortion will have to commit a crime to get one. >> abortion shouldn't be legal. that is clear. if that -- that is not the decision to make the law, that is the family's decision. that is all i'm trying to say. >> on the economic side, governor rick perry thinks his flat tax is more attractive than cain's 9-9-9 plan. he's in iowa, too, campaigning and hunting. he's been a past supporter of congresswoman michele bachmann, who is working hard this weekend herself to shoot down rumors her entire new hampshire staff jumped sit had ship. the coms director did quit and so did caroline gilger. we didn't know yesterday becau

a new cnn/"time" poll shows romney ahead of herman cain by 3 points among registered republicans in iowa, again, he's essentially tied within the marriagening of rearer. new hampshire, overwhelming favorite. 40% support herman cain is down there, 27 points behind cain. texas governor rick perry continuing to lose support in the polls, not even making the top five in new hampshire. on to florida, romney with a comfortable lead there, as well, over herman cain. up 12 points among registered republicans. newt gingrich, rick perry, ron paul, round out the top five. in south carolina, it's a dead heat between romney and cain. romney has a two-point lead, of course, well within the margin of error. some of the early battleground states there. as cain rises in the polls increased scrutiny of his campaign and joked about attacks from other republican candidates at a dinner last night in corpus christi, texas. >> the last debate, how many did you see it? i didn't realize that that bull's-eye on my back was that big. they came after me like i had talked about their mother. >> but cain may not need

perry took part in an annual hunt hosted by iowa republican representative steve king. king's endorsement is highly sought after since iowa hold the country's first caucus. >>> the state of nevada announcing just minutes ago that it has moved back the date of its caucus. it was scheduled for january 14th but nevada will now hold the caucus february 4th. new hampshire republican leaders had encouraged nevadian republicans to make that change. >>> kate edwards the oldest daughter of john and elizabeth edwards got married just a short time ago in chapel hill, north carolina. on hand to walk her down the aisle her father the disgraced two-time presidential candidate and former senator from north carolina, kate's mother elizabeth died of breast cancer just two weeks after kate became engaged to her college boyfriend. >>> a lot of military families are expected to be very excited to have their loved ones home for the holidays. president obama's announcement that after nine years in iraq u.s. troops are leaving. that was music to the ears of so many military families. the presi

senator chuck grassley, republican from iowa. you for coming on this morning. >> thank you. >>> nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engle is live with me now. what can you tell me. you have been working the phones. >> seems that most officials in libya are saying that khaddafy is in fact dead, that he was injured and that he has succumbed to his wounds and died. there is one report from a witness. this is a libyan journalist who says that he saw the body of khaddafy being moved out of sirte in an ambulance, that it was a ministry of health ambulance and that khaddafy's body was being taken to an undisclosed location. what we don't know is who kill cad doff, and there are two completely contradicting stories. one, there was a nato air strike earlier on a convoy according to a nato official was maneuvering in the vicinity of sirte early today. nato officials don't know if khaddafy was in that convoy but they do confirm they attacked a convoy of khaddafy loyalest in the sirte vicinity today. the initial reports were coming if

i have to tell you, t.j., iowa's republican party is not happy at all with what florida is intending to do by holding this january 31st primary. as you mentioned, iowa is always traditionally the first contest in the presidential nominating season that holds the caucuses. iowa is banding together with new hampshire, with nevada and with south carolina. those are the four states that normally go first, according to the rnc rules. they're banding together and saying, look, we're going to move up our dates together, just to show how upset we are with what florida is trying to do. thou, we don't know those states yet, but aus mentioned, new hampshire could go in december. iowa could follow suit sometime tl thereafter. let me read a statement from the iowa republican party. the ar gans shown by the florida elected leadership is disappointing, but not surprising. equally troubling is to see this put ewe land behavior rewarded with our national convention, the consequences of florida a's intransagainst must be swift and severe including the refusal by the rnc to critical or seat any member o

. >>> iowas republicans are planning to hold caucuses january 3.y will day earlier to compete with new hampshire for the first contest in the nation. new hampshire is threatening to move its traditional first in the nation primary to december. >>> civil rights activist cornel west will not face charges after being arrested outside the supreme court. princeton university professor and 18 others were taken into custody on sunday after refusing to leave. . they were protesting corporate influence. prosecutors decided not to press charges against that groups. >>> engineers will start rappelling down the national cathedral again today, a second day searching more damage from the august earthquake. the same team that check out the washington monument is searching for loose parts in the north and south towers of the cathedral. engineers say that the cathedral is structurally sound. it has been closed since the earthquake and they hope to reopen by november 12. >>> 55 degrees outside. >> highlights from week five of "dancing with the stars." which celebrit

of iowa, the national committeewoman of the republican party of iowa, jennifer, executive director of iowa right to life, tamrara scott, and a host of truth of our times, jodie, assistant director of professional educators of iowa, charlie, with the tea party of america. thank you for working with us. [applause] we want to recognize the members of the republican state central committee, shelley adkins, david fisher, drew, jeremiah johnson, kim, emily, james mills, at john ortega, steve, thank you for your service to the republican party. [applause] we want to recognize the chairs of the republican county central committees. greg, laura, glenna, terise, bob anderson, randy horn, irene, kevin, jeff, corey adams, and dean fisher. thank you for your service to the republican party of iowa. [applause] we want to recognize the members of the iowa house. davis, julian, pat, chris, eric, kevin, glen massey, kim pearson, don, henry, jsoason schultz, and ralph. thank you for representing us. [applause] we want to recognize to members of the iowa senate, jerry and pat. thank you for representing

iowa poll is interesting. it'm wonder in talking to republican voters if it's not a couple of weeks behind. ing forward. perry is putting all of his eggs in the iowa basket or most of them. three days this week. he is on the air with a new ad. he is campaigning hard in iowa. we'll see if it works. >> bret: the big effort is be the not mitt romney candidate. right, juan? >> exactly. just to repeat, i'm sure the audience heard this many times but you have an establishment campaign. with tim pawlenty gone and governor christie of new jersey and daniels of indiana not running, mitt romney is not candidate. he can't get beyond the 25% bench mark. you have three out of four republicans looking elsewhere, tea party folks looking elsewhere. initially, people were interested in newt gingrich's campaign. he came out and said paul ryan's budget was the right wing social engineering. that turned a lot of people off. the business about tiffanys. a lot of baggage attached there. what we are seeing, on this day when we have seen herman cain run in trouble to cause him to fall back. if the other candidate,

despite what national polls say, i still think mitt romney is the front-runner among republicans right now. >> tim, iowao will the battle for the republican nomination, will it be over by the end of january? will there be a nominee by the end of january? >> i didn't hear the question fully, but i think if ari fleischer is right and there's a chance he's pretty strong about this, he understands these things, the way the compressed schedule is working right now, if mitt romney can win in new hampshire, which is likely, if he does okay in iowa and he may pull off a win here depending on how well perry does, i don't see herman cain getting a win in iowa and we see south carolina come >>> good morning. it's tuesday, october 18th. this is your "a.m. wake-up call." it's christine romans in for carol cos stall low joining you live from new york. the time is now 5:28 in the east. >>> investigators poring over the horrific scene discovered in a dirty philadelphia boiler room. they're looking to see if there may be other victims. the suspects are accused of locking up four mentally disabled people. those are the s

despite what national polls say, i still think mitt romney is the front-runner among republicans right now. >> tim, iowao will the battle for the republican nomination, will it be over by the end of january? will there be a nominee by the end of january? >> i didn't hear the question fully, but i think if ari fleischer is right and there's a chance he's pretty strong about this, he understands these things, the way the compressed schedule is working right now, if mitt romney can win in new hampshire, which is likely, if he does okay in iowa and he may pull off a win here depending on how well perry does, i don't see herman cain getting a win in iowa and we see south carolina come next. that could be another good day for rick perry. it's possible it could be okay for herman cain. i think if mitt lom any does well in all those early contests, he'll get the big mo, and that will be it. that will be all she wrote for mitt romney. a lot of things have to play out between now and then. >> tim farley host of "morning briefing" on sirius xm potus. >>> another reminding, the republican candidates will gather in

when asked their first or second choice, 42% of iowa republicans say cain. romney is in second with 33%. cain also has the lowest negatives, when asked who they like the least only 3% said cain. congresswoman michelle bachmann won that dubious honor, 16% say they like her the least, a sharp fall after she won the iowa straw poll just two months ago. cain has taken hits for his 999 tax plan, which would bring down rates for most taxpayers but would also impose a 9% national sales tax on all americans. >> you still believe in maintain it is fair to put the same tax on grocerys and the say tax on medicine for poor peep as for rich people? >> yes, because the cost of those items are going to go down. >> reporter: opponents also question cain's views on abortion and whether he would allow exceptions for rape, incest and to save the mother's life. he said on face the nation he was against abortion in all circumstances. >> a am pro-life from conception, period. >> reporter: cain also took aim at planned parenthood, saying it encourages abortion especially among bla

romney, but with a margin of error of 5%, it's a dead heat in iowa and south carolina. 24% of iowa republicans back romney. 21% support herman cane. and in south carolina, 25% back romney. 23% support cane. >>> california medical marijuana advocates today filed a lawsuit against the federal government in at the forts to stop the crack down. the suit asked for an junction to keep the department of justice from interfering with dispensaries that meet state and local regulations. they said they were going to go to dispensaries that operate as fronts for illegal activity. >>> a group of gay and lesbian service members is suing the federal government. the eight same-sex military families filed the lawsuit today in washington, d.c. with the goal of getting full military benefits for their spouses. the suit claims the government's defensive marriage act violates their constitutional rights. they are now seeking the same health care, housing and family support that straight military spouses already receive. >> you say to somebody, i go to afghanistan and don't come back, my wife doesn't get benefits,

iowa. the herman cain surge has come to the hawkeye state. romney is neck and neck with cane. rick perry tied with michele bachmann at 10%. among tea party supporters, ruffle half of republican caucusgoers, cain tops romney, 31% to romney's 15%. among those that call themselves strong tea party supporters, it is a bigger cain advantage, 41-7. other interesting note in iowa, romney does better than first time caucusgoers than those that have caucused before. another big red flag for romney, despite rick perry's plummeting numbers, conservatives aren't moving to romney. in both iowa and new hampshire, republican voters say lec abili electability and experience are less important than those that share their value positions. expect more attacks on romney like the one from perry yesterday questioning his authenticity on some conservative positions. you see here, it is cain who is taking advantage of it. you see him overperforming as well among the more self-described conservatives in our new hampshire survey. it is not enough to close that gap with romney at all but when you look at what's going on among iowa republicans, you see why perry is trying to do what he is doing. there

a closely watched iowa republican poll now puts herman cain ahead of mitt romney even though cain has spent almost no time campaigning in that state. ron paul a distant third and everyone else including michele bachmann pulling a distant number. david kerley looks behind the numbers. >> reporter: herman cain will cut interviews to avoid making mistakes. he's blaming recent gaffes on exhaustion but does sense momentum. >> my message is connecting and people are connecting with me and the specific solutions i'm putting on the table. >> reporter: but while cain leads slightly in iowa the obama campaign is running against mitt romney. >> he has no core and you get the sense with mitt romney if he thought he -- it was good to say the sky was green and glass was blue to win an election he'd say it. >> reporter: this weekend romney provided more ammunition to the flip-flopper when he first said he had no stand on bargaining right for ohio government workers but the next day said restrictions should remain in place but the flip-flopper attacked have not stopped him from hitting the top of the