i disagree a little bit from charles with the iowa thing in particular, i think the fudging out of what happened happened in iowa looks bad for romneyromney only has one win in the state of new hampshire, where he is a favorite son and campaigned for six years. it makes him look weaker and loss of a juggernaut than a few days ago now. we are going to south carolina where i think newt gingrich has a good shot and the odds on favorite to beat romney. which means he set up a romney versus gingrich battle for the states ahead. >> bret: this is-go ahead. >> i disagree on iowa. if the state republican officials announce that the ballots are missing and we will never have them or know the outcome, then you can't have a concession and you can't have a winner or loser. what you have is what we had at the beginning. essentially a tie. i think it alters nothing. santorum has to make sure he doesn't finish last. if he does behind paul he has to step away. >> bret: quickly as we do a popotperi of topics. santorum was leading romney by double digits, bumpy road at the beginning. some say if he had delivered the speech today and had debate perform

in iowa, santorum got almost 30% and romney got 25%. >> i think this pulls off the same themes. you have live free or die in new hampshire and in iowa you have social conservatives were the themes that santorum talked so authentically about, about his belief in pro life, the fact that he and his wife have lost some children. the fact that he's ardently against gays being part of the military openly and all these themes that socially conservatively resonate in south iowa just simply don't play in new hampshire and i think some of those themes for women simply -- i think that's why they came out strongly for romney and not santorum. >> very good and insightful insights so early on this wednesday morning. margaret standing in the cold and doug here in the studio, thank you both. >> thanks. >> you bet. we're coming up on the top of the hour. straight ahead, he orchestrated a second term for president bill clinton but dick morris does not see the same thing happening for president obama. huh? he'll join us shortly to tell us why and get ready for another remake. brand new details on t

in iowa's republican caucuses. in a nail biting count that lasted into the early hoursst morning, today mitt romney can claim victory at least by the numbers in the first big test of the 2012 presidential election. the win may be his but all signs now point to a tough fight with a late surging rick santorum at the top of the pack. romney and santorum claimed 25% of the vote. ron paul in third place in the caucuses followed by newt gingrich. after a disappointing fifth place finish, rick perry said he's going back home to texas to "reassess his campaign." michelle bachmann finished behind perry in sixth place but remains a candidate for now. in such a close race, romney and santorum won 11 delegates. ron paul leads with three of the hawk eye state's total of 25. none of those have been allocated yet. when the race was still close to call, romney framed the caucus as a great victory for his campaign as well as rick santorum and ron paul. the former massachusetts governor focused attacks on president obama striking a similar tone. >> you were working and i'm working and we're all working together because of our passion

romney's race in south carolina and beyond, right? >> that's the way it looks now. mitt romney won in iowa. he won in new hampshire. he has momentum. that's showing up some some of these polls. his events are also very well attended, and also if you look at south carolina in 2008, which mike huckabee ran, he was a big favorite of a lot of conservative elites, well, john mccain won that state. he also won 30% of evangelical voters which means evangelicals are not just voting for the candidate the elites in their order tell them to vote for. so this is a state that has a lot of votes that mitt romney can get. >> okay, political director john dickerson tonight, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> iran today claimed it has reliable documents-- this is a quote-- and evidence that the c.i.a. was behind the killing of iranian nuclear scientist. he was killed wednesday by a magnetic bomb attached to the side of his car. the united states has denied any role in the killing. a suicide bomber outside the iraqi port city of basra killed 53 people and wounded more than 100 others today. the victims were pilgrims on their way to observances at

is winning in new hampshire and hopefully having a margin larger than iowa. >> i'm looking ford to coming back to new hampshire in the fall. >> reporter: he came in eight votes shy of romney i got them where i want them. they continue to underestimate and that's a beautiful thing. >> reporter: in new hampshire the independent vote matters and some say ron paul has the edge. >> young people in new hampshire are very active because politics is our past time. >> reporter: the statest r-'s largest -- state's largest newspaper endorsed -- then there's huntsman and his all new hampshire strategy, campaigning with his unconventional daughters in tow. your dad said a new more reporters than we used to have. is that speakingÑimtm:l to t$ momentum? >> yes. mq likely anotherxdÑiÑiÑiçó victory. m1 think the nomination has all been locked up. if you're wondering where rick perry was, he was in new hampshire for the debate but has moved on to south carolina where he said his campaign will have a comeback. >>> now let's shift to the other side. a new book is coming out about the president and mrs. obama. this claims there's tension between the first lady and the white house staff and

we got this dynamic, romney in first, in iowa. santorum a close second. the question is going to be, how big is romney's victory in new hampshire and who is in second place and if it is santorum, how close is it? bill: you're likely right about santorum. we'll see how it plays out in next 48 hours. huckabee 11% in the end coming off victory in iowa four years ago. karl, see you down the road. >> you bet. martha: sounding the alarm on iran's nuclear progress and he says one of his opponents is dangerously underestimating the threat from tehran which could become a big story in months to come. bill: a family dropped in a drowning car, freezing, nowhere to go and oxygen running out. how they lived to tell about it. >> for the first time in my life i had zero, zero control and i knew that whatever happened was in the hand of god. juice drink too watery? ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for unsurpassed fru and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion. could've had a v8. or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. t

in new hampshire today. he gave romney a run for his money with his amazing finish in iowa but catching romney in new hampshire. he is comfortably ahead in the polls and left this afternoon to campaign in south carolina. but before romney left, he continued his attack on president obama. >> it's killing jobs. this president is a crony capitalist. he is a job killer. >> reporter: newt gingrich is using a series of town hall events to reach out to his party's right. >> governor romney in the end has a very limited appeal in a conservative party. >> reporter: the candidate who perhaps has the most to lose here is jon huntsman, who bypassed iowa to focus his energies on winning new hampshire. his daughters told "the early show" his low poll numbers are not discouraging him. >> not looking at the poll numbers but just, you know, working our hardest until the final day. >> reporter: they are four more campaigning days and two more debates before tuesday's primary. randall pinkston, cbs news, concord, new hampshire. >>> general motors is having chevy volt owners to bring their cars back to the dealers to lower the ri

romney. jim acosta joins us tonight. jim, a narrow, eight-vote victory in the state of iowa, mitt romney obviously know his needs a bigger victory in new hampshire. how big do they think to make clear, i'm the prohibitive front-runner? >> reporter: absolutely, john. mitt romney needs new hampshire to be a blowout after what happened in iowa. that slim eight-point -- excuse me, eight-vote margin of victory for the former massachusetts governor is not what anybody had in mind, least of all him. it was once thought if he had run the table and had one iowa and come into new hampshire and won this state, that would make him sort of an unstoppable force for the gop nomination. that didn't happen and that might explain why we're seeing john mccain out on the campaign trail with mitt romney. sort of reset the campaign, reset the tone of what's happening here in new hampshire to remind folks that mitt romney has on his team the man who resurrected his political career four years ago, coming into the state, holding town halls like where we are standing now here in peterboro and launching his campaign on to the gop nomination and t

pat due cannian was in second place. >> jon, kay just talked about romney strategy in iowa a muddle messagef whether he's competing or not competing. what has been the reality of his strategy in the hawkeye state? >> romney, hands off on iowa. noncommittal. they didn't compete in the ames straw poll. big question on whether or not they would make a run in iowa. what i'm told that republicans here have noticed that romney has had a sub terrae knee campaign. romney people signing people up in the summer. romney has had much more of a campaign in the state than he has let on. >> kay, we haven't had a debate in several weeks, i'm actually going through debate withdrawal, we had them at seemingly every day for several months, but without the debates that clearly hugely impactful on iowa voters, how have voters been getting their information in the absence of these debates? >> they have been doing it the old-fashioned way, listening to what the candidates are saying on the stump. they're listening to these campaign ads. that's why you have seen gingrich fall so precip us toly. >> jon, romney and

just barely beat rick santorum by eight votes in iowa. >>> romney may not have won iowa by much but today his campaign is getting another boost from a man republicans wanted to be president back in 2008. >> i am really here for one reason and one reason only and that is to make sure that we make mitt romney the next president of the united states of america. >> my how things can change in just a couple of years. senator john mccain is returning the favor after romney endorsed him in 2008. >>> president barack obama angered republicans by apoirnting a new consumer watchdog while congress is in session. he has appointed cordray. republicans have blocked him at every turn. >> the only reason republicans in the senate have blocked richard is because they don't agree with the law that set up a consumer watchdog in the first place. they want to weaken the law. they want to water it down. >> so this move by the president would let cordray serve through at least december when the congressional session ends. >>> we're also watching the markets for you. the d

we defeated mitt romney in iowa. >> mitt romney is reaching out directly to voters trying to shore up a narrow lead. >> south carolina is considered a make or break primary. it has already thinned the presidential heard. voters have sex sex vote -- successfully picked the nominee in every election since 1980. >> thank you. and now for that interview with newt gingrich's ex-wife. it is scheduled tonight on nightline. we are learning about some of the details. >> the timing of the interview is coming under fire by some republicans. >> some things we already know. he was accused of not only affairs but also leaving one while she was fighting cancer. newt gingrich has done fairly well with voters in separating politics and his personal life. this is a test that just 48 hours before a vote. >> he was asking for an open marriage and i refused. >> the accusations paint a very different picture of the man who often tops family values. >> i said to him, we have been married a long time. he said, yes but you want me all to yourself. >> i just there at him and he said calista does not care what

plus, romney and santorum gear up for a rematch after romney's razor thing victory in iowa. ntorum compete in romney's backyard? and the the iowa women applauded by our election team and around the country and the world. stand by to learn more about edith and carolyn, who solved the case of the missing votes. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> so long, iowa, hello, new hampshire. the republican presidential candidates are zeroing in on the next battlefield and a big primary coming up on tuesday. the front-runner, mitt romney, is following up his squeaker win in iowa with a new endorsement from senator john mccain who beat him in the new hampshire primary four years ago. several of romney's opponents also are in new hampshire right now. but rick perry says he's heading south. he sent out a tweet today saying here we come, south carolina. and a photo from his morning run confirming he's staying in the race despite his poor showing in iowa. michele bachmann made a very different decision, ending her presidential bid today after a crushing defeat in the state w

iowa. mitt romney won in the bigger cities. santorum worked the hardest in iowa. with more than 300 appearances in all 99 counties, and having lost by eight votes, he must have wished that he had stopped just one more place. bill whittaker is with the former pennsylvania senator tonight. bill? >> reporter: scott, rick santorum just arrived here in new hampshire. with the primary less than a week away, he knows he must keep up his momentum, beef up his organization and increase his cash flow. >> game on. ( cheers and applause ) >> reporter: even rick santorum staffers were surprised by his near victory in iowa. the trip to new hampshire today was more than a journey of 1,300 miles. the former pennsylvania senator was transported to a new political reality-- from also- ran to real contender to man of the hour. >> with your help and god's grace, we'll have another fun night a week from now. god bless you. ( cheers and applause ) >> reporter: his success in iowa was a combination of hard work, visiting all 99 counties, and good luck as other candidates rose and then f

in the 24 hours since the iowa caucuses. rob and paula? >> tahman, we know that romney is polling well in new hampshire. but what are his chances in south carolina with the state's more conservative voters? >> reporter: well, paula, michele bachmann may have ended her campaign yesterday. but rick perry tweeted yesterday that he's going to south carolina. he's staying in the race, despite a dismal showing in the iowa caucuses. and perry will actually split votes with rick santorum among conservati conservatives. that will benefit romney. now, paula, romney doesn't have to finish first in south carolina. he needs to finish second or third and do well. but, paula, if he were to win south carolina, it could be a knockout blow. >> he's still waiting for that moment to become the convincing front-runner in all of this. big days ahead. >> tahman bradley in washington. thanks for getting up with us this morning. all the new twists and turns should make for an exciting debate this saturday night, moderated by diane sawyer and george stephanopoulos. it's right here on abc at 9:00 eastern, 6:00 pacific. don't miss

because six is the number of votes that mitt romney lost in iowa compared to his total in 2008. after four years of nonstop campaigning, this is what he does? romney couldn't pick up a single vote in iowa? the fact is is that he lost six. it wasn't cheap, either. i mean, he was spending all kinds of money. he spent $49 per vote. rick santorum, ah, he's the cheap candidate. 73 cents, mr. efficient with his money, right? retail politics works again. iowa, i think, is just a reminder that, you know, mitt romney, he just can't fire anybody up. doesn't matter how long they look at him, doesn't matter how much they know about him or how much he's been around. he's even worse off in iowa. now, he was in new hampshire today getting an endorsement from mr. excitement, john mccain. but other candidates like jon huntsman, they want to capitalize on this enthusiasm gap that's out there surrounding romney. >> i was struck by the fact that 75% of those who voted basically rejected the establishment's favorite, mitt romney. which suggests to me that there's a lot of open space in this election.

in south carolina and florida. but after iowa, i mean, we have seen mike huckabee change the dynamics of the poll in 2008. i don't think romney count on his standing in other polls in other states, after iowa if he finishes purely there. >> that was the strategy on his part. after the early debates, every republican that watched him liked the fact that he didn't go after fellow candidates. he said that we only have one real opponent and that's barack obama. remember when perry and romney were going after each other? he was above it all. it worked for him until the romney ads came out. >> but he's been tanking. it's been ten days and he's tanked significantly after ten ten days of ads. it seems odd that he hasn't changed his strategy in the last week or so. >> i question if he'll have that opportunity to be that elder statesman after iowa. when the focus of the race is going to be on romney, ron paul or santorum, i mean, once again, he goes to the outside edges of the debate stage and can you still be that elder statesman? >> let's talk about romney for one second. another interesting note, in the des moines register poll, the

in new hampshire? maybe? yeah. >> reporter: even though romney beat rick santorum by only eight votes in iowa, it's a win. >> with romney, ron paul and rick santorum in the top tier as the three serious contenders coming out of iowa is almost -- it's the perfect scenario for the former massachusetts governor. >> reporter: santorum had virtually no organization, but his iowa win was worth $1 million influx in contributions. >> we're doing okay right now. and if the people here in new hampshire give us a shot, my guess is we'll do a lot better. >> reporter: with michele bachmann now out and south carolina and florida weeks away, the other candidates see opportunity. >> i'm told we got 66 more votes than in 2008, so virtually spent $10,000 per additional vote. >> i guess that means there's blue sky for the rest of us. >> reporter: if romney hold on to new hampshire, he'll be tough to beat. the latest polls out of new hampshire show romney has a 20-point lead on his closest competitor, who's ron paul. veronica? >> brian mooar in washington, thank you. >>> in a politically provocative move, president obama bypasse

rick santorum finished 34 votes ahead of mitt romney in iowa. now, one less candidate is in the race. >> we know where lucky fans will enjoy the game. jennifer franciotti is scoping out the competition and joins us with the latest leg of the land. >> i am here at one patriot place where our baltimore ravens are going to take on the new england patriots. i have never been to foxborough before, but we were very surprised that it is in the middle of nowhere. right around the stadium, there is a lot of shopping, a big cinema, and an outdoor skating rink. chances are if you are coming up here for the game, you are not going to stay here. you will either stay in providence, rhode island, or in boston. we will tell you about what those areas have to offer. we are definitely going to have to check that out. the only patriot signs have seen are here at the stadium. in baltimore, we celebrate our baltimore ravens everywhere. i have seen no one wearing spirit wear at all. do not worry. i have brought plenty of purple. pretty soon, hopefully we will run into

in with you as the night progresses. appreciate it. joining us now is peter alexander at the romney campaign headquarters in iowa. a lot of talk about what the romney campaign is trying to do to manage expectations. what's the latest from them in terms of what they want people to expect about mitt romney's performance tonight? >> that certainly is the case to give you some comparison. it was this time four years ago that the romney camp had completed 77 days in this state. this time around just 16 days. but the expectations are growing here for strong performance. a campaign official telling us a short time ago they feel good about tonight and that whatever happens here they believe will be considered a victory as they move forward. we were speaking about some of the other candidates and how they've been going out to stump on their own behalf in these caucuses tonight. the romneys have sent out four sons to do it for them as well as ann romney who just intersected with rick perry at one of those caucus sites a short time ago as well as the republican senator from south dakota john thune speaking on mitt romney's

mitt romney in iowa.slowed his momentum in new hampshire. john mccain was able to win in new hampshire, because fred thompson stayed in the race in south carolina, we were able to close out the race. but it's a very different race in 2012. romney still has a hangover of the problems from the 2008 race. in 2008, he entered the race as the conservative candidate. tried to position himself completely and plausibly as the most conservative person in the race. and that gave birth, i think, to the inauthenticity problem he carries forward to today. that was a major part of the architecture of the campaign against governor romney, but at the end of the day, john mccain won that race because the issue of the hour was the withdrawal debate about taking our troops out of iraq in the middle of the chaos, in the middle of the surge and john mccain, in a move you don't see often in politics staked his campaign and said i believe in this to the degree i would rather lose the election than see this country lose a war in

. >> we defeated mitt romney in iowa. rick perry throws in the towel. >> president obama rejects the keystone pipeline project. >> no other way to put it. the president is selling out american jobs for politics. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> ok, first, housekeeping. full disclosure for our pbs audiences. we are putting this together friday, we have to get it out to our pbs stations that day but the primary is saturday. so if you are watching this program on sunday and it appears dated, it is. but we soldier on. the field of candidates for the republican presidential nomination is narrowed to four. jon huntsman, rick perry got the message this week. voters just were not interested in what they had to offer. huntsman endorses and romney, perry endorses gingrich. thursday night the remaining candidates took the stage in charleston. here is a sample. >> i am steady, i am solid, i am not going to go out and do things you are going to worry about. >> i am tired of the elite media at protec

iowa caucuses and focused his campaign in new hampshire. rick santorum was at 11%. he failed to build momentum from his close second finish to romney in iowa. a back to back win in new hampshire would give a boost to romney's campaign. his revals are increasing attacks on the frontrunner. preliminary results are expected in a couple of hours. >>> human rights groups are increasing criticism of the syrian president after his defiant speech tuesday. assad defended crackdown on anti-government proerts blaming foreign conspiracies for the unrest. the president refused to respond to calls for his resignation. he says priority is on regaining security by hitting the terrorists with an iron hand. human rights groups said the speech was aimed at ordering troops to kill more citizens. the groups say government forces continue to fire on demonstrators across syria, killing about 30 people. the syrian administration has not offered any support to the monitors it has allowed into the country. opposition forces say the arab league isn't doing anything to halt the crackdown. >>> prime minister yoshihiko noda visited a fish processing plant in is

in iowa, romney, paul, santorum and gingrich. romney leads the pack with 22% support among likely caucus goers. ron paul comes in second dropping four points in two weeks. rick santorum surges to third place gaining two points since the week before christmas. gingrich is down four points since the last poll. rick perry and michelle bachmann round out the top six. both continuing to poll in the single digits. santorum becomes a competitive force in iowa and getting increasingly aggressive, aiming his shots at mitt romney. >> well, one of my opponents who now directed his attention to me surprisingly has said that he has executive experience. we are not looking for a chief executive officer for this country. we're looking for a commander in chief. ceos assign people who work for them. i can tell you as a senator, i did not work for the president. >> santorum is not alone, of course, in going after romney. gingrich desperately trying to regain his footing after being cut down by a barrage of negative ads in iowa vowed a full fledged

he'll have to do almost as well as santorum did against romney in iowa and he's not going to do that. what romney really has her is history on his side as well. the last candidate to win both iowa and new hampshire and not win the party nomination, ed mustski, 1972. he's got the money-- >> you want to roll this thing up already. >> there's an argument, paul, a long drawn out contest will help romley and make him battle ready, i'm not so sure and the press republican turnout. >> newt gingrich is staying in, a lot of people say he's staying in to hurt romney, he thinks he could be the last one standing. >> that's right. the assembled press and uniformly stated of course he is doing this out of spite. and that isn't really true. he's had a considerable sense of his own success and it's been, you know, mirrored in the response to him even today, so he didn't win in iowa, he's going forward because he really believed that he can set off a spark and he will be helping the upcoming debate that are coming up and it's simply nothing to show that sheer malice is driving him. it's a convenient n

. >> santorum who almost toppled that romney in iowa fell to fit better in the picture but since then he's been struggling to remain in serious contender even here in south carolina where more than half of gop voters call themselves evangelical leaders. they are now pinning their hopes and prayers on the devout catholic santorum. >> if you hold all the votes for the conservative candidates, between santorum, gingrich and terry, that would put the candidate at the top. >> the good news for santorum is bad for newt gingrich who has been courting the same conservative christian voters. but it could be even more damaging to mitt romney. voters tell cbs news that it's important that the presidential candidates share their views. that romney's mormon faith is the problem for some undecided california voters. brad atkins is president of the southern baptist convention with 600,000 at hearing, they are the largest christian denomination. he said he could have embraced romney as the fellow man but not the mormons. >> on the campaign trail round is asked to explain, explain his faith. >> still

romney doesn't believe in putting country first. >> reporter: rick santorum who nearly beat romney in iowa as a strong opponent of same-sex marriage but was not tripped up during the debate. >> what if you had a son who came to you and said he was gay. >> i would love him as much as i did the second before he did it. >> reporter: mitt romney loved by me conservatives but still on track. >>> it's hard to believe it was just one year ago when congresswoman gabriel giffords and 18 others were gunned down outside a grocery store in tucson, arizona. yesterday congresswoman giffords and thousands of others gathered in tucson to mark the bitter anniversary. we have the story. >> reporter: in one of her first public appearances in tucson since being shot, congresswoman gabriel giffords joined hundreds of others at the university of arizona and in a strong passionate voice led the crowd in the pledge allegiance. guided by her husband, astronaut mark kelly, she then lit the first candle in a vigil marking the one-year anniversary of an event that has forever scarred tucson. >> there is the reality for many of us that there are dreams for ou