Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
Decision Day in Iowa; Why Iowa is Different; Iowa Caucuses Predictions; Washington Stinks; Iowa Caucus Comedy
Aired January 03, 2012 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Soledad, thanks so much. Good morning.
Well, it's a race to the finish in Iowa. This morning the Republican candidates are blitzing the state and racing the clock. We're just 11 hours away until Iowa holds its presidential caucuses. Heartland voters will crush some dreams and, of course, fuel some others. And every candidate is hoping for the most elusive Iowa export, political momentum pushing them towards the White House.
Our crews are covering it all. Jim Acosta is shadowing Santorum, Gingrich and the Romney campaign. He's pretty tired. Paul Steinhauser is following the rest. And Christine Romans shows you why Iowa voters may not be asking the same questions as you.
Let's go ahead and begin with Jim in West Des Moines.
So, Jim, you've actually been with Santorum almost 24/7. You do let the guy sleep. What's that been like?
JIM ACOSTA, CNN POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: You know it has been -- it's been amazing to watch, Kyra. I mean who would have thought, you know, when all of this got started that had we would be chasing Rick Santorum around in the final 24 hours before the Iowa caucuses that the international press, I mean, he had the Japanese, the German, the French, the British press, all tailing him yesterday and he was drawing some very big crowds partly because he is sort of the last alternative to Mitt Romney to emerge in this process because a lot of evangelical voters in the state have finally said, you know what, let's go with Rick Santorum.
He's going to be inside this high school gymnasium later on this morning along with Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul to make some final arguments as part of a "Rock the Caucus" forum here in west Des Moines. And so we're going to hear Rick Santorum sort of give his closing argument.
We're all going to be watching to see what he has to say. But don't forget Mitt Romney is still the man who -- to beat in the state right now. If you look at the latest "Des Moines Register" poll, he is the one who's on top. He was sounding very confident at events across Iowa yesterday, predicting that he will win these Iowa caucuses. And then Newt Gingrich, it's interesting, yesterday he was saying, well, you know what, after everything that I've been through in the state, it hasn't been very pleasant, I might not win the Iowa caucuses. It was sort of remarkable to hear Newt Gingrich say that. But then earlier this morning here on CNN he said, you know what, I might win this thing after all.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I think it's going to be a very big turnout tonight and I think a lot of people are going to walk in still trying to decide what's the right thing for America and what's the right thing they want to do as Iowans to start this process. So I think we could win. We were, after all, up by 13 points. And I think there are probably four of us in a position to win this come late tonight.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ACOSTA: So these Iowa caucuses are going to pose some very interesting questions for Republicans. If Mitt Romney somehow wins the Iowa caucuses, and it's not a very big stretch that he won't or will, you know, basically this is going to be a man who is going to be very hard to stop.
If he goes into New Hampshire and then wins that, he'll have a twofer under his belt and it will basically be Mitt Romney's Republican Party. If -- unless somebody can stop him. If he doesn't win the Iowa caucuses, who is it who's on top?
Is it Rick Santorum? Well, is he now the new un-Romney? Is he the new alternative to Mitt Romney heading into these other contests? He says he's going to compete in places like New Hampshire and South Carolina. He doesn't have the resources to do so. Or will it be Newt Gingrich? Can he mount a comeback? Rick Perry.
It's so up in the air, Kyra. That's what makes this so much fun to watch because we really just don't know going into these final hours before the caucuses who's going to come out on top -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. I know. We're going to be paying close attention, Jim, and talking a lot more. Thanks so much.
All right. Let's talk about the Bachmann, Paul, and Perry campaigns, shall we? CNN political editor Paul Steinhauser is in Des Moines for us.
So, Paul, let's go ahead and start with Ron Paul who surged in recent weeks. What's he doing to mobilize his followers today?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know here's the thing about Ron Paul. He will be out on the campaign trail today. He's going to be at that "Rock the Vote" event that Jim is at right now in Des Moines, in west Des Moines.
Kyra, everybody says that Ron Paul, the Texas congressman, has the best ground game here. The best organization. And it may be true. We've seen it and you've seen it last time he ran for the White House as well. He's got energetic followers, devoted, energetic people who come to caucuses regardless of what's going on. And for Ron Paul, yes, he would like to win here. Sure he would. But if he comes in second and third, he's continuing on, Kyra.
This man may go all the way to the convention in Tampa in August. So that's kind of Ron Paul's situation. He would like to win, but if he doesn't, he is going to march on regardless.
Rick Perry, the Texas governor, spent a lot of money here. In fact his campaign has paid -- spent more money on ads here, to put up ads on Iowa TV than any other candidate. He's still kind of in those low double-digits. He would like to finish in third place here but a fourth place finish may still be enough for him to continue on. I think you'll see him go right to South Carolina tomorrow and also hit New Hampshire as well at the end of the week for those debates.
Bachmann, that is the big question mark. You heard last hour with Soledad say, listen, I'm moving on regardless. But I don't know, Kyra, if she finishes in the single digits here, the low single digits, it's tough. It's tough for her to move on. She doesn't have a lot of money. Her campaign does not have a lot of money -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: So what's your sense about other issues that might impact the turnout tonight?
STEINHAUSER: A good question. And it is decision day here, right? You can see right here from the "Des Moines Register" newspaper "Decision Day." What's to look for, well, first of all the weather. And Christine Romans can tell you, she was a native out here, you know, it's cold. It's supposed to be cold.
Look, there's -- there is no snow, Kyra. We're -- Christine, where's the snow? It isn't here. And that could be important because a nice -- a nice weather tonight, and that's what we're supposed to be, no snow really, can help the turnout and it could help candidates who don't have those devoted followers.
And the other thing is the turnout, 118,000 went to the caucuses four years ago on the Republican side. Let's see if that goes higher. That will be an indication how Republicans are really, really ready to try to beat President Barack Obama in November. Remember, this is a battleground state -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Yes, it is. And you'll be there battling it out among everybody.
Paul, thanks so much.
All right, so, Christine, we're just going to get right to it. Usually you're our money gal, you know, with your best-selling books and your advice on what to do with our financials but you're my sweet Iowan as well.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: That's right. PHILLIPS: Now Paul wants you to tell us about the weather. We'll do that last.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: Weather girl, too.
PHILLIPS: Yes. Exactly. She does it all. But when you were home you were telling me, and it's interesting, it played right off what we just heard from Paul, everybody was talking about Ron Paul.
ROMANS: Right. Yes.
PHILLIPS: Even your 18-month-old?
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: My 18-month-old niece has seen Ron Paul on television so much and she kind of goo-goos and gagas and (INAUDIBLE) right to the TV screen. And that's what happens to Iowans every four years with these caucuses, right? Because they're inundated by all of these advertising spending about all of this -- all of this hoopla around these candidates.
And what's interesting this time is that they're not settled. I mean Iowans aren't settled. And usually by now I'm seeing yard signs everywhere. I always see the Ron Paul yard signs and people are still trying to figure out who they want to support and they're asking each other, they're asking me, over and over again, what are you hearing? What do you think? What are people telling you? Well, what about the tax policy of so and so?
And so they're still asking questions right now down to the wire.
PHILLIPS: So are we covering it correctly? Because I know you're watching -- you're watching -- you're not there as a reporter. You were there as being home with the family and neighbors.
ROMANS: Right. Right.
PHILLIPS: And so what's the real deal?
ROMANS: So when you look at polls and the like, right, I mean, those are all -- and you talk about the evangelical vote, this monolithic evangelical vote, when I'm there talking to people, my family and friends, it's not so cut and dried. I mean they're really still changing their ideas. The quote/unquote, "evangelical vote," is looking for a Republican candidate but they're also talking about Jesus and what we're supposed to be doing to help our fellow man, so they're also talking about safety nets.
So they're worried about too much government but they're also, how are we taking care of each other if the economy is not going to come right back? So there's more nuance discussions that are happening within these circles and it's not this monolithic kind of discussion happening all the time. And the other thing about Iowa is that it's -- the economy is incredibly important, and this feeling that we're not going in the right direction, they don't like that. Because it's a very can do kind of a place. You know? But by the same token, things are going OK in Iowa.
PHILLIPS: And so --
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: It's 5.7 percent, the sixth lowest in the country.
PHILLIPS: OK. And you know we were talking about your grandmother's farm.
ROMANS: Right. And the farm prices.
PHILLIPS: And boy, oh, my gosh, incredible, right?
ROMANS: $6,000 an acre on average, a record high last year. I mean everyone has been very nice to Grandma these days in Iowa because anybody with a family farm suddenly, I mean, you've got real money there in that soil and you've got real demand, and Iowans are feeding the world, you know? And so there's this talk about globalization, about taxes, what these candidates are going to do on all of those things, and it really, really matters to a lot of people.
PHILLIPS: All right. Before I let you go, but then on the other side of things -- I mean I just remember this because I put Pella windows into my home.
ROMANS: Right.
PHILLIPS: You know, you talk to folks there and they do want to hear about what these candidates have to say about job creation because they've been losing jobs since houses haven't been built like in the past. Pella is suffering.
ROMANS: And manufacturing has been the sore spot for Iowa, quite frankly, and for the rest of the country like all of the other sort of Midwest rust belt places. But you look at anything that has to do with a tractor, for example, Deer & Co. is in Iowa. They're hiring and they're building.
Anything that has to do with agriculture is doing well. So yes, you're right. That part of the economy there, people are struggling and that people are very -- you know, there's a big Maytag plant that closed in Newton but you're looking at signs of life again in Newton a few years later. Not clearly what it was before, but trying to recover in a globalized new kind of economy.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIPS: Learn how to build a tractor, is what it sounds like.
ROMANS: I know, but you know agriculture has really been a powerhouse there in Iowa. And so that's been a big help.
PHILLIPS: Great to see you.
ROMANS: Sure, nice to see you too.
PHILLIPS: Stick around. Yes.
ROMANS: I will.
PHILLIPS: I love talking politics.
(CROSSTALK)
ROMANS: We have a couple of things going on the next few months so you'll be seeing me.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, Christine.
Well, tonight the country's first real votes, the candidates' first true test, take place in the Iowa caucuses. So watch it all happen from all the sides, special live "AMERICA'S CHOICE 2012" coverage from the Iowa caucuses tonight 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN.
All right, coming up next, we're turning two of our political buzz players into fortunetellers. They're actually going to give us their predictions on tonight's Iowa caucuses.
Also, the arson fires in Southern California have stopped. Police arrested this man and say that he's the one who started them. But who is he and what set him off? We've got details.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. We're pretty used to Dana Loesch and Will Cain's verbal fireworks in our "Political Buzz." Now we're going to kind of change up the rules. We still do expect some debate but this morning we actually want their predictions.
So let's start, guys, with Iowa caucuses. And now you've got me all screwed up.
Dana, Dana Loesch, Loesch, why do you keep changing your name on me? It's driving me crazy.
Will, do you have her name straight? Maybe we should debate that and we'll have her say her last name.
(LAUGHTER)
WILL CAIN, COLUMNIST, AT THEBLAZE.COM: This is the first I've heard of this problem.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: OK, Miss Loesch, I'll remember that. Easier. Your predictions on the caucuses tonight.
DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think it's -- gosh, I don't know. Romney will probably end up winning Iowa. I know Ron Paul is in a strong second place right now and I know Santorum has a surge. There's a lot of individuals saying, well, Rick Santorum is going to take this. But I just --
PHILLIPS: I need a prediction. Come on now. Go out on a limb.
LOESCH: I need my crystal ball. Where is my CNN crystal ball here? I'm in studio.
(LAUGHTER)
PHILLIPS: If you had to go with your gut then, you're thinking Romney?
LOESCH: Romney, from my gut, will probably take Iowa.
PHILLIPS: All right. Will, what do you think?
CAIN: OK. I'm going to back into this, Kyra. OK? I do think predictions are a fool's game but I am going to give you one at the end of this explanation.
PHILLIPS: No. That's not good.
CAIN: First of all, I think that a lot of people don't understand how a caucus actually works. You know tonight some 100,000 Iowa Republicans are going to go out to church basements and community centers and they're going to listen to people talk and debate and persuade for their candidate and then they're going to get a blank sheet of paper and they're going to write down a name.
So let me give you three factors that helps each of the three frontrunners. The Republican field is prone to momentum, tides going in and out and right now the tide is going in for Rick Santorum.
Ron Paul has a ton of very, very persuasive certificate gat surrogates. Passionate, people that are going to argue for him tonight. That could help Ron Paul. But I think in the end the 40 percent of undecided Iowans will see the electability issue with Mitt Romney, that he is far and away seen as the most electable and I'm going to predict Mitt Romney.
PHILLIPS: OK. Bottom line, are you guys -- no argument there. All right. So we've just prevented one fight.
All right, why don't we talk about the impact that the Iowa results will have on the future of the Tea Party movement. What do you think?
LOESCH: This has -- this has been kind of a struggle that I've seen grassroots go through. They're trying so desperately to find that non-Romney candidate, and they've been playing sort of musical politicians for the past several months. A lot of people were very excited about Michele Bachmann. But Michele Bachmann was little known outside of the grassroots movement, and coming from the House and the fact that she is still relatively new.
Then everyone went to Herman Cain and the 9-9-9. We had Newt Gingrich. And Rick Santorum now is the non-Romney.
Whoever ends up winning Iowa, I don't think that it's going to have a huge standing overall or huge effect on how all of grassroots across the country reacts. I think a lot of individuals are going to be disappointed if it's someone like Mitt Romney because he's a very controversial figure within the Tea Party movement. So, it's kind of -- it's difficult to say. I'm really looking forward to like South Carolina and Florida.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Will?
CAIN: Well, you know, actually, I have a question for Dana on that front as well. Look, I don't think the Tea Party is exclusively focused exclusive on, or exclusively about the presidential election. And Dana has talked about that. There's a huge senatorial election going on at the same time next year.
But I do wonder what the influence of the Tea Party will be because I do think Mitt Romney is on the inevitable path to the Republican nomination. So then what happens? Does the Tea Party just fall in line and support Mitt Romney versus Barack Obama, or is there a possibility or a threat of a third party Tea Party candidate somewhere down the line?
I have to wonder that. I don't know the answer.
PHILLIPS: Dana?
LOESCH: Well, and that's a good point, too. I -- discussing who the presidential nominee is going to be, if it ends up being someone like, say, Mitt Romney, and I know a lot of people really want to just go ahead and throw their hat in the ring and say it's definitely going to be Mitt Romney, which I don't think so. We still have time.
The House and Senate races are -- they get so little attention and there needs to be more focus on Congress, frankly, because -- I mean, the president -- it's not to say the presidency isn't important but the presidency in this particular election, in my opinion, is not more important than the congressional races. We have to focus on House and we have to focus on Senate.
If we have a moderate candidate the in the White House but we have a strong conservative House and Senate, that's going to circumvent any sort of RINO moves that this moderate candidate would make. But --
CAIN: So no third party? No third party threatening --
LOESCH: No, I think third party is a bad idea and I've always thought as well that any -- the grassroots movement should consume the GOP from within and not splinter off, not divide the vote and form a third party, because third parties historically aren't successful.
PHILLIPS: All right. Let's talk New Hampshire, shall we? We're going to definitely move forward. I know we should be talking a lot about Iowa tonight. But we're trying to, you know, bump -- Will, why are you rolling your eyes?
CAIN: I lost you guys. Kyra, I don't know. I can't hear you.
PHILLIPS: Are you with me? Are you back with me? Can you hear me, Will?
All right, let's try, because I both want them to respond to this. Let's see if we can get connected back to Will.
All right. So looking ahead to New Hampshire, we'll try -- oh, he is back. Fantastic. All right. Will, you got me?
CAIN: I got you now, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK, terrific. We're talking about New Hampshire, predictions for New Hampshire. What do you think?
LOESCH: Mitt Romney. It's his backyard. And he's surging right now in the polls in New Hampshire. I know Jon Huntsman has placed all of his chips on New Hampshire but I don't think Jon Huntsman is going to take New Hampshire.
PHILLIPS: And Romney has got consistency in his favor as well.
Will, what do you think?
CAIN: I think Mitt Romney is the safe bet in New Hampshire.
But let me say this, the guy who spent the most time in Iowa shaking hands, been to all 99 counties, Rick Santorum is surging and doing well.
The Rick Santorum version of New Hampshire is Jon Huntsman. He's been there. He hasn't gone to Iowa. He's been putting his time in New Hampshire. You can see a big Jon Huntsman surge there.
PHILLIPS: Thanks, guys. Will, appreciate it.
Nice to see you here in person.
LOESCH: Yes, nice to be here.
PHILLIPS: All right. We'll do it again.
And don't forget, tonight is the country's first real votes, the candidates' true test to take place at the Iowa caucuses. Watch it happen from all sides, special live coverage at 7:00 Eastern tonight.
And you know the chase is on for Iowa's undecided voters. They could decide tonight's caucuses. And coming up, we're going to look through the eyes of one Iowa caucusgoer.
Plus, winter is back with a vengeance -- and this is exactly what it can do. Police blame it on a 30-car pileup in Kentucky.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Let's head cross-country now.
We are talking about the weather all over the country. Take a look at Cleveland City. Much of the upper Midwest got pounded by lake effect snow, up to a foot and more in some places.
And blame the snow on a 30-car and truck pileup in Interstate 75 in Grant County, Kentucky. That stretch of interstate shutdown for more than three hours. Nobody seriously hurt.
And blinding snow blamed for this accident that shut down Interstate 80 in Washington Township, Pennsylvania. Nearly two dozen vehicles, many of them big rigs, slammed into each other. Several people were taken to the hospital, some with serious injuries.
And in Los Angeles, the arrest of a man has apparently stopped a series of 52 arson fires since Friday and here he is. He's been charged with arson. And if he's proven guilty, the question is why did he do it?
Casey Wian is live for us in Los Angeles.
So, what exactly do we know? He's got sort of an interesting back story now, Casey.
CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He sure does, Kyra. And I want to start out by mentioning that Los Angeles police chief Charlie Beck in a news conference last night said it's highly inappropriate and premature to speculate about a potential motive at this point.
But what has been reported and what it is clear investigators are looking into is the fact this suspect, Harry Burkhart, apparently had some dispute with U.S. immigration authorities over the immigration status of his mother. They are clearly looking into that among other possible motives.
They are still conducting investigations at many of these arson sites and at a residence here in Hollywood believed to be Mr. Burkhart's residence. So that is ongoing.
We can report, also, that he will make his first court appearance tomorrow morning, 8:30 local time, to be arraigned in the Los Angeles superior court in Van Nuys area of Los Angeles. He is being held downtown on no bail -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: All right. Casey, thanks so much.
And the other story we're talking about this morning is the new beginning for stocks, the first trading day of 2012. And after a pretty dismal 2011, we're all looking forward to a fresh start.
Isn't that right, Alison Kosik?
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And it looks pretty fresh this morning, Kyra. Good morning to you.
It looks like Wall Street is ready to ring in the New Year with a new rally. Futures right now are pointing up at least 200 points on the Dow. Opening bell ringing in about seven minutes.
You know, Wall Street is apparently focusing on some overseas reports they got on manufacturing, focus -- they did show improvement and here in the U.S. we are expected to get some manufacturing, and construction spending reports as well that are expected to show improvement as well.
So, overall, as we begin 2012, the first trading day investors focusing on the positive. The bulls looking like they're going to be taking charge -- Kyra.
PHILLIPS: OK. Alison, thanks so much.
And all across Iowa today, the Republican candidates are rallying supporters and trying to win over uncommitted voters. Right now in Des Moines, see Mitt Romney is hosting a grassroots rally? He and his opponents have a full schedule of events today. We're going to check in on most of them throughout the morning.
And on the ground in Iowa. We have our political expert says that the biggest issue tonight is whether there will be anyone to challenge Mitt Romney. We'll take up that conversation in just a few minutes.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Live pictures now of Mitt Romney at a grassroots rally there. As you know, the caucus is tonight and he's in Des Moines, Iowa. As soon as he starts talking, he's introducing his family right now, we'll check back in and listen in.
Meanwhile in Iowa, you know it's the undecided voters that could decide tonight's caucuses, and polls released earlier this week showed that nearly 50 percent of those planning to attend had a hard time choosing a candidate.
Well, Adam Vandall plans to attend the caucus tonight. He joins me live, well, live via Skype actually from Newton.
So, Adam, I know you've been asked this three different ways until Sunday -- have you decided on a candidate yet?
ADAM VANDALL, IOWA VOTER: As of right now, I still am undecided. I attended a Rick Santorum event yesterday afternoon. He answered me truthfully, I believe. I got to verify that on his record.
But pretty much, it's up in the air between him and Michele Bachmann. Newt Gingrich might sneak in there as well. I don't know.
PHILLIPS: All right. So, while you remain undecided, let me ask you a couple more questions. Where exactly are you going to go tonight and how did you decide which meeting you were going to go to?
VANDALL: Well, we have the Republican Party (AUDIO BREAK)
PHILLIPS: It looks like we've lost -- if you can still hear me, Adam, we lost your audio, so let's double-check that and come back to you.
Meanwhile, while we try to get reconnected with Adam, as I was just mentioning, Mitt Romney is at another grassroots rally there in Des Moines, Iowa, and his wife, Ann, by his side. And yesterday when we dipped in, he had handed the mike over to her. She seems to be speaking at a number of these rallies to introduce her husband.
Let's go ahead and listen in for a minute, and we'll try to get reconnected with our undecided voter in the meantime.
(BEGIN LIVE COVERAGE - IN PROGRESS)
ANN ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S WIFE: I am sure of it. He was the one whose shoulders we're standing on today. And I also think of my ancestors and the sacrifices they made to be in this country and my welsh grandfather who worked in the coal mines. And you think of family on days like today and you think of America and all the sacrifices that our ancestors made so that we could live in this extraordinary nation.
And I think some of us feel like the light is dimming a little bit, that shining city on the hill, and we have to do everything we can to brighten that light and to turn it back on again because it's not only important for Americans, it's important for all of the world that America stays strong.
And in my heart I believe so completely that there is one person that can do what has to be done to go back to Washington to get people employed again, to bring the economy around, and to, more importantly, talk about the soul of America and how important the destiny of the United States of America is, and how this land is a land blessed by God, and that we need to make -- be mindful of that as well.
So I am anxious for this process to get started because I also believe that Mitt will be the nominee, and I also believe he will defeat Barack Obama.
(APPLAUSE)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Thanks, sweetie. Thank you, sweetheart.
I have mentioned that in the last several days, I've had the privilege of going on YouTube with my colleagues and looking at some of the speeches of President Obama, then-candidate Obama four years ago, and listened to the promises.
He was going to get everyone back to work. He was going to repair the nation and repair the world. Extraordinary promises.
But there's a huge gap between the promise and the delivery, the promise and the performance. As you look at the greatest threat that I think the world faces right now from a national security standpoint, it is, of course, a nuclear Iran, a nation which is suicidal, it speaks of eliminating another people. A nation that supports terror around the world, to Hezbollah and Hamas, not only in the Middle East but also now in South America.
This is a very dangerous development, and this president said he would engage upon a new strategy with Iran and a policy of engagement. He would meet with Ahmadinejad in his first year. Well, how has that all worked out?
He has put in place crippling sanctions against Iran, he failed to stand with the dissident voices in Iran, and he failed to build and communication that we have credible military options to prevent Iran from having a nuclear weapon.
Other failures, he said he'd put Americans back to work. Remember he said I have to borrow -- right after he got elected -- I'm going to borrow $787 billion and that will keep unemployment below 8 percent. It has not been below 8 percent since.
Twenty-five million people out of work or stopped looking for work or underemployed. You have median incomes in America dropped 10 percent in just the last four years, home values down.
It has been a failed presidency when it comes to our economy.
And then, of course, there's the budget and government itself. He was critical of President Bush, appropriately so for the large deficits we had. And that his deficits are three times larger.
And he's on track in his first term and his only term to --
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: -- to have amassed public debt which will be almost as much as all the prior presidents combined.
He went on the "Today" show shortly after being inaugurated and said if he's not able to turn around the economy in three years, he'd be looking at a one-term proposition. I'm here to collect. He's out.
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: Now, I want to tell you what I'll do to get this economy going again. I will first make America the most attractive place in the world for job growth, for investment, for small business, for big business, to convince businesses around the world that this is the place to grow and invest not elsewhere.
How do you do that? Keep our tax rates competitive with other nations, particularly for employers. Get regulators to see their job as including keeping the burden on business down and encouraging the private sector. Taking advantage of our own energy resources, we need oil, gas, coal, nuclear, renewable resources developed here so we can become energy independent and manage our own energy future.
And then, of course, we have to open up new markets for American goods. We're a highly productive nation, the most productive of any major nation in the world. Highly productive nations that means output per person is the highest in the world, need to open markets for their goods around the world.
This president has negotiated no new trade agreements with any other nation. At the same time, these three years China and the European nations have negotiated 44 such agreements.
This has been a failed presidency. I will go to work to get Americans back to work and make sure that job one is concentrating on jobs for Americans, not just keeping one's own job. Now --
(APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: I'm also going to take on the budget. And I'm asked fro time to time, how are you going to do what you say you're going to do? I want to cut spending. I want to cap federal spending at 20 percent of the economy and I want to balance the budget.
I think it's simply immoral for us as a nation and as a generation to keep spending more and more money by borrowing money from other people knowing that those debts will never be repaid during our lifetimes but instead will be passed on to young people. I think it's wrong, and I'm not going to let that continue.
And how do -- how do I balance it? What do you do?
Well, let's talk about the things you cut. People say, how do you cut programs? And I'm not just talking about slowing them down. I'm not just talking about slowing down the rate of growth of certain government programs. I'm talking about eliminating certain government programs.
(END LIVE COVERAGE)
PHILLIPS: A lot of undecided voters still in Iowa as caucusgoers get ready to head to all the meetings tonight. Mitt Romney there at a grassroots rally in Des Moines, Iowa, trying to convince all those undecided voters to vote for him.
All right. Straight ahead, will Iowa produce a viable alternative to Romney? Well, our Ron Brownstein is there on the ground and he's go an opinion. As a matter of fact, he wrote about it. He's going to tell us about it right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right. We can't stop talking about Iowa, right?
Take a look at what CNN senior political analyst Ron Brownstein writes in "The National Journal." Quote, "The biggest issue is not who wins but whether the results create an alternative to Romney capable of competing seriously against him in other states."
Let's get right to it. Ron is there on the ground in Iowa.
So, who's that alternative? Who can it be?
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, first of all, good to be back with you again, Kyra.
Well, as we wrote in our 2012 blog, at 2012 Decoded blog at "National Journal" over the weekend, the key issue here if you're thinking about the big picture of who is going to win the nomination probably isn't who comes in first. It is whether Iowa will elevate someone with a chance of growing into a true national competitor to Romney because, right now, the way the cards are falling is very favorable for the Romney camp. In that, it looks like the top tier in some order is going to be Romney himself, Ron Paul, and Rick Santorum.
Now, Ron Paul is a candidate who has enormous depth of support but his breadth of support might be more limited. I think the Romney camp is confident he cannot grow into a full-scale challenger.
Rick Santorum is a candidate who has essentially as one of the Romney people said to me, run for governor of Iowa. He's been here over 380 town meetings. He has very little going on in other states. He's not going to be able to replicate that.
So, you have the possibility that Iowa will elevate the two candidates who may face the most difficulty into growing into full scale challengers while suppressing Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry, each of whom may have had at one time, more potential to challenge Romney in a more serious way across the board.
So, that is a pretty favorable scenario for them if it comes out that way. It almost doesn't matter what the order is in their mind if Paul, Santorum and Romney are one, two, three.
PHILLIPS: Well, and you write that the caucus' biggest winner could be Romney whether he gets the most votes or not.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes, right. The issue here is that this has been a very unusual campaign in that it has been volatile and structured almost at the same time.
Romney has been a solid if not spectacular front-runner. He's done a relatively good job of consolidating the more pragmatic, more secular, less ideological, roughly half of the party.
The other half of the party, the overlapping circle of Tea Party activists, evangelical Christians, more ideologically ardent components, have been resistant to Romney all the way through, but they have never coalesced behind a single candidate, as you know. They have cycled through Michele Bachmann, Rick Perry, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich. Now, the wheel is turning to Santorum, but it's not clear that he has the scale, even if he does well here, to really consolidate and unify the vote.
And you have the risk that the conservatives who are dubious of Romney face that he may never get to the point where he has an absolute majority of the party saying, yes, he's my guy, but he could win anyway because no one consolidates that potential majority of --
PHILLIPS: And you're waking up with all those undecided voters. Have they made up their behinds yet?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, I think they're waking up more in their own homes. No, I think, look --
PHILLIPS: Thank you for clarifying. I feel much better.
BROWNSTEIN: Yes. You know, when people say they are undecided, you know, what they mean, I think, is they are not locked into a candidate. I don't really believe that 40 percent of the voters are starting from scratch today. I mean, I think there is kind of as -- you know, you talked to voters before, they're kind of going back and forth between a couple of them.
The big question here in that regard is whether conservative voters who are more skeptical of Romney, particularly the evangelical Christians, he only won 19 percent of them, for example, in Iowa in 2008 -- whether they look at those final polls and say, OK, I may be for Michele Bachmann or Newt Gingrich, but Rick Santorum is the candidate who seems to have the best chance of beating him, and you could see some consolidation and movement toward him.
It's kind of the Heisenberg principle of politics. You know, you change the phenomenon by observing it and the polls that have come out -- even the CNN/"TIME" poll last week that showed Santorum moving into third place, if you look at the "Des Moines Register" survey, he did much better after that than before that in their own polling.
So, as voters see who is moving, there is kind of a magnetic effect that can pull someone in that direction. One of the Romney people said to me the other night, you know, in Iowa a surge tends to continue surging. So, it would not be surprising if those undecideds, at least on the more conservative side, end up with Santorum.
Real quick, the other side of the factor is that Romney does best by far when asked who is the most electable and some of those voters, more moderate voters, may choose him in the end on those grounds.
PHILLIPS: Ron Brownstein -- Ron, thanks so much.
And tonight, the country's first real votes. The candidates' first true test takes place in the Iowa caucuses. Watch it all happen from all sides. Special live America's Choice 2012 coverage from the Iowa caucuses tonight, 7:00 Eastern, right here on CNN.
Now, if you don't mind, we'd like to just take up a moment, lift up a member of our family. I'm talking about Jim Huber. Jim actually shared 27 years of his wisdom and prose as a sports anchor, a reporter, and essayist, and a friend to a lot of us here at CNN and TNT.
And I mean this when I say, his writing stayed with you just like the images of the legends that he covered. His words were colorful, creative, and extremely meaningful.
And as a man, he was eloquent and he was humble and he loved telling stories and not just about the athletes. He wrote about people whose lives transcended their sports. Our dear friend died from leukemia yesterday. He was just 67 years old.
So, our love goes out to his wife, Carol, and his son, Matt. I will tell you -- Jim will be missed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Well, you know what L.Z. Granderson wants in a President, it's really simple. Just check out what he wrote on CNN.com. Quote, "I don't know about you, but all I want is a stronger economy and not to be blown up by Iran or a crazy guy with a bomb sewn into his tighty-whities."
All right L.Z. first of all, what's the proper spelling of tighty-whities. I don't think we got that right. And second of all please tell me something we don't know, I think we all want that.
L.Z. GRANDERSON, CNN.COM CONTRIBUTOR: Isn't that the same thing? Tighty-whities the correct spelling, we don't know that? I don't know. We went back and forth with my -- with my editor.
I'm just, you know I wrote the piece to remind us that everyone that's in Iowa right now, President Obama who is fighting for the White House, they're all politicians.
You know earlier today Newt Gingrich called Mitt Romney a liar and people on Twitter saying, oh, the gloves are coming off. Well, I've got news or at least have a reminder, that they're all liars. They're all going to tell us what we want to hear. And so as we go through this long ten-month process of campaign ads and abbreviated quotes and quotes taken out of context, to keep in mind that everyone on both sides of the aisle are just trying to tell us what we want to hear. And it's up to us as voters to be intelligent about this process and not to get caught up in the half truths that are coming from both sides.
PHILLIPS: Well, you say that they pull Jedi mind tricks. Give me some examples.
GRANDERSON: Well, Mitt Romney, for instance. He's calling himself a job creator while not talking about the fact that he -- he kind of made his money by laying people off. Now there's nothing wrong with making money, and I think that he will come to Washington and make a lot of good cuts, but to call himself a job creator when he made so much money by laying people off, that's what I mean by the mind tricks. I was like how are you framing yourself as a freaking job creator? And the same thing with you know like Newt calling himself a conservative. When you look at his record and his tendencies, they're anything but, you know.
Rick Santorum, he massaged his views on abortion. What he said in 2005 to the Associated Press is not what he's saying to the people in Iowa right now. And so they all do this.
PHILLIPS: All right. So you say they're no good. You say the President is no good. So who the heck do you want to lead this country? I need -- I need one answer right now.
GRANDERSON: The voters. The American people, you know, we can change the dialogue. We can change the rhetoric by refusing to just follow, just go along to get along but demanding more from the people that we're voting for. You know there is this defeatist attitude right now that, well, the lesser of two evils. Well, let's stop accepting evil.
Let's start at the local level and on the way up demanding more, demanding more honesty and a more thoughtful approach from our politicians. So we're the answers to this problem.
PHILLIPS: Go straight to CNN.com\opinion. You can read L.Z.'s entire column and, of course, respond. He'll love it. A quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: All right, let's fast-forward to several events that we're going to cover later on today on CNN. New York religious and community leaders are going to hold a news conference at 11:30 this morning concerned about a string of fire bombings in Queens. One of the targets? An Islamic center. The fires were set by someone throwing a Molotov cocktail.
And the Iowa caucuses start at 8:00 tonight. Look to CNN for up to the minute results. Our special coverage starts at 7:00 Eastern.
And not to be outdone, the President will hold a teleconference with the Iowa caucus goers starting at 8:15 tonight to give us impressions and spread Democrats to help him repeat his win in Iowa in '08.
All right, we're following lots of developments in the next hour of CNN NEWSROOM. Let's go ahead and check in first with our Paul Steinhauser -- Paul?
PAUL STEINHAUSER, CNN POLITICAL EDITOR: Hey Kyra, I'm in Des Moines I've got the state capitol behind me. You've been talking about it, all eyes on Iowa tonight because of those caucuses. Who will win, who may drop out. Let's talk about all of that details at the top of the hour.
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Christine Romans here in Atlanta at the election center where we're looking at Iowa and why they're so concerned about the economy there. With a 5.7 percent unemployment rate and a booming farm economy, Iowans are more well they were more comfortable in their searching for their next candidate. I'll have that story for you at the top of the hour.
ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: And I'm Alison Kosik at the New York Stock Exchange. Candidates are spending less money on campaign ads in Iowa, but guess what, it doesn't mean they're backing down on the attack ads. Kyra, I'm going to have more on that in the next hour.
PHILLIPS: All right guys thanks so much.
Also next hour will young voters in Iowa be the ones to decide who will get the state's GOP bragging rights? Well, Iowa's Drake University held a student poll of their own. One of the organizers will share those results -- coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PHILLIPS: Jeff Fischel knows exactly when to wake them up during a college football game.
JEFF FISCHEL, HLN SPORTS: A late night especially if you have to come to work really, really early in the morning. I couldn't stop watching, how could you? Two great games -- two BCA great games yesterday.
First let's start with the Fiesta Bowl, Stanford and Oklahoma State, number three and four in the country battling it out in Tempe. Let's go. Stanford alum Tiger Woods on the sideline, an honorary captain for Stanford. Quarterback Andrew Luck, of course, everyone's number one pick in the NFL draft, finds Ty Montgomery for the 53-yard touchdown. The Cardinal had a chance to win in regulation and in OT, but Jordan Williamson missed not once but twice. The Cowboys kicker Quinn Sharp did not. He makes the game winner, Oklahoma State takes it 41-38.
All right. If you're freezing right now, admit it, southern California looks pretty good. A high-scoring thriller between Oregon and Wisconsin at the Rose Bowl. Oregon's freshman phenom Anthony Thomas back home for the big game, he was a high school legend in LA where they called him the Black Mamba. two long touchdown runs -- this one for 91 yards, lots of points on the board. Two seconds left.
Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson tries to stop the clock to give the badgers one last shot at the end zone and overtime, but he's too late. He cannot believe it. I can't believe he tried to stop the clock. Should have just gone for the end zone, the ducks win it 45- 38. A great game.
South Carolina taking on Nebraska in the Capital One Bowl, check this out, Kyra, last play of the first half, the Gamecock quarterback Conner Shaw, the Hail Mary.
PHILLIPS: Hail Mary. Oh, look at the catch. FISCHEL: Jeffrey makes the catch and the touchdown. Jeffrey actually later in the game got ejected? He came back on the field because he was actually the MVP of the game.
PHILLIPS: Oh. Duking it out.
FISCHEL: Great day for college football and sports.
PHILLIPS: Yes. It was. Well, it's a great day in Iowa too and you were talking about unusual moments, of course, Jeanne Moos has that.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEANNE MOOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If you're unexcited about the Iowa caucuses, maybe this lady's enthusiasm will be contagious.
The candidates have been busy signing babies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you give me permission?
MOOS: And signing cups that other candidates have already signed. The last-minute tizzy even extends to posing with tizzy the coonhound.
Newt Gingrich suggested tizzy go to his Web page Pets with Newt where owners and pets like Flint, pledge their support. Though critics have called it --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pandering to canine Americans.
MOOS: But there's one pet you don't see with Newt, that would be Newt the aquatic amphibian. And Newt the candidate isn't just lowering expectations, he's submerging them.
NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Whatever I do tomorrow night will be a victory. Because I'm still standing.
MOOS: Lately Michele Bachmann has been standing in someone else's shoes.
MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the shoes and in the legacy of Ronald Reagan or you might say of a Margaret Thatcher. We're in need of an American iron lady.
MOOS: She even refers to herself that way in a last-minute ad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The consistent conservative fighter.
MOOS: America's Iron Lady, not to be confused with America's ironing lady.
Coming soon to a primary state near you --
MERYL STREEP, ACTRESS (acting): You haven't got the courage.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And she'll never back down.
MOOS: Michele Bachmann plays Maggie Thatcher who is played by Meryl Streep. She was an outsider who fought her weigh in.
BACHMANN: My favorite gun is an Air-15 because you could be so accurate with it.
STREEP: Gentlemen, shall we join the ladies.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michele Bachmann for president.
MOOS: And look how far Mitt Romney has come to practically the same stage he stood on with his wife in Dubuque, Iowa four years ago.
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I was standing here, she's standing there. And suddenly her half of the stage collapsed.
MOOS: Flashback.
ROMNEY: How are you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm good.
ROMNEY: Then later she said well, I fell on the butt in Dubuque.
MOOS: So there's nothing like Iowa caucus humor to soothe a sore coccyx.
Jeanne Moos, CNN
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I ride horses. That was nothing.
MOOS: New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PHILLIPS: Definitely a race to the finish in Iowa this morning. The Republican candidates are blitzing the state, racing the clock and we're just ten hours away from Iowa's presidential caucuses now. Heartland voters are definitely going to crush some dreams and they're going to fuel some others.
