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Turkey Explosion; Too Close to Call; Bone-Chilling Cold; Provoked Tiger?; Over a Barrel

Aired January 03, 2008 - 11:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Iowans caucus tonight. The nuts and bolts of how it all works.
Plus, get ready to pay at the pump. Oil flirts with $100 a barrel for a second straight day. Driving and crying, in the NEWSROOM.

Breaking news to tell you about out of Turkey this morning. A car bomb exploded in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Turkish security forces tell CNN the bomb was detonated by remote control as a military convoy went by. A state-run news agency says at least 20 people are injured, at least one soldier among those casualties. There are also reports Turkish police are now searching for two suspected Kurdish militants. Last month Turkish war planes struck Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq. We will continue to follow this story as it develops.

The road to the White House; the first weigh station, Iowa. The first presidential vote now just hours away. This morning single digit temperatures and double fisted glad handing. Candidates are scrambling to get votes in hand and voters out to tonight's caucuses. Campaign workers are offering to shovel your sidewalk or baby-sit your kids.

And we're doing what it takes to bring it all to you. Both races are too close to call. Joe Johns and Candy Crowley covering the democrats for us. Dana Bash and Mary Snow are following the republicans, and Tom Foreman has a closer look at how the caucuses work. After all, what Iowans decide may ultimately shape who you can elect later on. The democrats, they are in the battleground of Iowa, but share common ground on many of the issues. CNN's Joe Johns is keeping them honest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: By far, Iraq is the top concern here in Iowa among democrats. Hillary Clinton voted for it, but now she says she wouldn't.

SEN. HILLARY CLINTON (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have said that as soon as I am inaugurated, I will ask the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the secretary of defense, my security advisers to give me a plan so that I can begin to withdraw troops within 60 days.

JOHNS: Ditto John Edwards. He voted for, now regrets it, and now wants the troops out ASAP. Barack Obama feels exactly the same, except that he spoke out against the war before it started.

SEN. BARACK OBAMA (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: We have to end the war in Iraq. It costs us $9 billion to $10 billion a month.

JOHNS: Keeping them honest, that gives Obama bragging rights with the anti-war crowd, but other than that the top three democrats are pretty much in lock step. Healthcare; Clinton wants to mandate, a Washington word for force, health care coverage for all-Americans, and anyone who can't afford it would get taxpayer money to help out. Obama would create a national healthcare program for anyone who can't get one at work. Edwards puts the burden more squarely on employers, either provide insurance, or help your workers way for it privately or else.

JOHN EDWARDS (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Tonight 47 million people in America will go to bed knowing that if their child gets up in the middle of the night sick, they're going to have to go to the emergency room and beg for healthcare, while the CEO of one of the biggest health insurance companies makes hundreds of millions of dollars.

JOHNS: Three candidates, two issues. While they may differ on the details, the goals are the same. Good luck choosing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: And Joe Johns joining us now live from Des Moines. So, Joe, what are the candidates planning for their final push today?

JOHNS: Basically just trying to get out the vote. I mean, here we are, we've got an army of people on the ground all over Iowa, and the trick is to get your people out to the caucuses and get them to stand up for you. So you've got student soldiers, citizen soldiers, everybody talking about going out to the caucuses.

The question always is who is actually going to go out. If you look at the organizations though, you have to say that John Edwards probably has an advantage because he did this before. Six years ago he had an organization that did pretty well here in Iowa. The question for Barack Obama perhaps is will he be able to get all of those students who say they support him so fervently out to the caucuses to do what Obama wants them to do, Heidi?

COLLINS: So all that snow shoveling and baby-sitting, is that really going on?

JOHNS: Yeah. That's the kind of stuff that goes on. You know, I mean you got to figure out a way to get your people to the caucuses. Otherwise, all of this is for nothing. So if you can shovel somebody's driveway to help them get out, go ahead and do it. I mean, there's also some hope at least here in the Des Moines area that weather is going to be just a little bit better today, although still cold, than it has been the past two days. That could affect turnout as well. COLLINS: And they have snowshoes there and cross country skis. They know how to deal with it in Iowa.

JOHNS: That's very true.

COLLINS: CNN's Joe Johns, Joe, thank you.

Now to the republican side of things, that race and CNN's Dana Bash has last minute messages.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DANA BASH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Come from behind candidate Mike Huckabee is trying to rally republicans to caucus like he's leading a revolution.

MIKE HUCKABEE (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If we win, it will be the most unbelievable political story in decades. You will tell your kids and grandkids, I helped make political history.

BASH: Reminding Christian conservative voters why they like him, consistency, authenticity on their issues.

HUCKABEE: When I tell you I'm going to fight for human life, it's not something that a poster just told me last week that I need to say.

BASH: Millionaire businessman Mitt Romney wants to close the deal with leadership.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have run things. I have built teams. I have been able to make differences, not just talk about differences.

BASH: And an uplifting litany of promises.

ROMNEY: I want to strengthen America. I want to strengthen our homes and families with good health care, with great schools and great values. I want to strengthen our economy so our kids will have great jobs and will be able to have the kind of prosperous life that we've enjoyed in this nation for so many years.

BASH: But the urgent battle now isn't on the stump, it's out on the streets.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm with the Mitt Romney campaign. I'm here to remind you about the caucus.

BASH: And back at headquarters on the phone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you know of anybody could you bring with you, friends or family?

ROMNEY: We had people out knocking on doors in bitter cold weather. There were over 12,000 calls made yesterday from my headquarter headquarters. BASH: The great unknown? Will Romney's well-funded established organization win the day or will it be Huckabee's last organized last minute signups in the back of the room?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're going to call them and remind them to come and show up.

BASH: And passion from churchgoers, home schoolers, and first time caucus-goers.

HUCKABEE: Load up your car, injure van, rent a van, whatever it takes, get out there and caucus and take friends and relatives and people from work and neighbors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Get your whole darn family out there. That's what he says. CNN's Dana Bash joining us now from Des Moines to talk more about the issues, specifically, Dana, that could get republican voters to turn out tonight.

BASH: The issues are the issues that these candidates have been pounding over and over again. Immigration is a huge issue for Iowa republicans. You know, issues that relate to the economy have really risen in the priority list for Iowa republicans. Of course, tax cuts are always a big issue for republicans. But more issues like about healthcare, things like that, things that really affect these voters' pocketbooks. Abortion and social issues like that, those are very, very big here in Iowa among republicans. Remember, about 40% of the republican electorate, they consider themselves evangelicals. That is why you heard in that piece there, Mike Huckabee hitting this idea that he is not only obviously staunchly against abortion, he's somebody who has always been that way. So he is making clear he's sort of consistent on that issue, unlike Mitt Romney.

But it's interesting, as much as the issues matter and they do matter and there are differences among the candidates, at this point what they're trying to sell is more their personalities, their styles, and sort of the way that they would act and react in the white house. At this point, that's really kind of the message that they're hitting home to the voters, particularly those undecideds.

It's important to remember even at this late date we did a poll that just came out about 24 hours ago, 50% of the electorate on the republican side, they're undecided still, and that is really -- that's what makes this so unknown that as much as they get out and try to get out the vote and try to get out their supporters, there will be a lot of people, a lot of people we talked to over the last 24 or 36 hours that say I don't know what I'm going to do. I am going to walk into the caucus site and figure it out there.

COLLINS: Wow. I hope they do. CNN's Dana Bash joining us from Des Moines. Dana, thank you.

As you know, Iowa could determine who goes forward and who goes home. Our political insiders on what's at stake for the candidates at the caucuses. That's ahead in just a couple minutes.

It is bone-chilling cold up and down the east coast, even into Florida, with frigid conditions putting citrus crops at risk. So far it looks like they dodged a bullet. It didn't get cold enough overnight to do much damage, but the agriculture commission says it looks like the state citrus fruit did okay and vegetables were spared the worst, but they're still assessing some areas because it is darn cold. Bonnie Schneider in the weather center with more on what's going on. It's cold in Georgia, too.

BONNIE SCHNEIDER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: That's what everyone is talking about in Atlanta. It was down to 16 degrees this morning.

It's not cold in San Francisco, but it sure is overcast and windy. This is a live picture courtesy of our affiliate KGO in San Francisco. Look at the clouds. The winds are gusting now at 28 miles per hour, and we're looking at a lot of rain mainly to the north of the San Francisco area in and around Eureka, just to the north, but this rain is actually going to slide to the south as we go through much of the day today and into the evening hours.

Take a look at our radar picture. We can show you what's going on. You can see some of the heaviest rain in northern California at this time. The storm system is so powerful that even in advance of it, we're getting these fierce winds that are slowing down your travel.

The airports, two hours and ten minute delays already in San Francisco, and the high wind warning is not even in effect yet. So it will be soon. These are really for arriving flights. So today we could see winds as strong as 50 miles per hour in and around the bay area with high wind warning going into effect noon today until 4:00 p.m. tomorrow.

If that's not enough, we're going to see heavy snow in an around the Sierra Nevada. Lake Tahoe could see two feet or more. Blizzard conditions are likely to develop into Friday. You can see we have a series of storms coming in. Our extreme weather shows what's happening. One front coming in today, tomorrow we will start to see the snow accumulate with subtropical moisture bringing that one-two bunch. That's the second punch. This one is going to bring a lot of moisture, meaning rain for southern California, and snow to the north.

COLLINS: Wow. All right. Extreme weather all around it seems. Bonnie Schneider watching it for us. Thank you, Bonnie.

A report of a new witness raises disturbing questions about a deadly tiger mauling. The San Francisco Zoo reopens today without the big cats. Our Chris Lawrence is there. Chris, tell us more about what this new witness has to say.

CHRIS LAWRENCE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Heidi, you can see the gate is closed behind me right here. They're going to reopen in less than two hours. Now you have this witness, a woman who was here at the zoo with her husband and kids on Christmas day. She says that she saw a group of young men screaming and even growling at the lions. She also recognized the teenager who was mauled to death by the tiger. She says he himself did not taunt or tease the animals.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAWRENCE: As families return to the San Francisco Zoo, officials are questioning whether the victims provoked a tiger to attack on Christmas day.

SAM SINGER, SAN FRANCISCO ZOO SPOKESMAN: There are a number of things that have been found in the tiger's grotto that the police are looking into.

LAWRENCE: A zoo spokesman says they discovered a large rock, branches, and pine cones. Things not usually found in the habitat.

SINGER: It's too soon to determine or to tell whether those were part of taunting or whether the kids were throwing the things at the tiger.

LAWRENCE: The 350 pound Siberian mauled one teenager to death and attacked his two friends. All the big cats have been removed while crews secure the habitat.

This is a blueprint of one of the security upgrades that the zoo is considering, including a glass wall in front of the viewing area that rises about 19 feet from the bottom of the moat. That's three feet higher than the recommended height and nearly seven feet higher than the old wall. Investigators believe the tiger jumped the moat and scaled the wall.

The survivors have hired Mark Geragos. He says the teenager bled to death while zoo workers wasted crucial minutes responding to his friend's cry for help. I asked the zoo director to respond.

Did they take the attack seriously enough?

MANUEL MOLLINEDO, SAN FRANCISCO ZOO DIRECTOR: My staff reported to the police and the fire department what they knew at the time.

LAWRENCE: But 911 dispatch logs show the first call to the fire department showed little sense of urgency. The zoo worker even suggested the victim reporting a tiger attack might be mentally disturbed and making it up.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

And again, when the folks started coming through the gates today, the tigers will not be on display. They are all locked up for the time being. The big picture, the zoo is going to implement a park wide emergency notification system. They're also going to put surveillance cameras around that tiger habitat and of course the glass wall, none of which was in place on Christmas day. Heidi?

COLLINS: CNN's Chris Lawrence reporting from the San Francisco Zoo this morning. Chris, thank you.

To Kenya now. A country on the brink. Police shut down an election protest before it can start. We are there live with a report in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins.

A spunky boy reels in a 550 pound shark.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For about maybe 20 minutes it was complete agonizing fighting. Then after that you just completely lose feeling in your body.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most people would give up. He didn't give up.

COLLINS: Spunky, I guess so. Is the haul a record? Find out coming up in the NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: Over a barrel and more pain at the pump. The price of oil trading just below the $100 a barrel mark this morning. You can see that number we've highlighted there. It's also in red. Light sweet crude, $99.25. That's the current number. It's likely to mean higher gas prices down the line. Crude oil prices briefly hit that $100 milestone yesterday, and a report just released last hour showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. oil inventory. This could push the price above the $100 mark once again. We will be watching that number closely for you and keep you updated.

What happens in Iowa will help determine the next president, a lot at stake for you, no matter which state you call home. With us now from New York to talk about tonight's Iowa caucuses, Bill Bennett, CNN contributor and host of Bill Bennett's "Morning in America." Hello.

BILL BENNETT, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi.

COLLINS: And Roland Martin, CNN contributor and syndicated columnist. Hello to you Roland. Thanks for being here.

Bill, let's start with you. Talk a little bit about the republican candidates. Does one candidate have more to lose in Iowa tonight than another?

BENNETT: Yeah, Mitt Romney does not want to lose tonight. If Mitt Romney loses in Iowa and loses in New Hampshire, it doesn't look good for Mitt Romney. New Hampshire is obviously neighboring state of Massachusetts. He's put a ton of resources into Iowa. He's got a great organization. It looks like a very close race. He does no not want to lose it.

COLLINS: All right. Roland, what about on the democratic side of things? Anybody got more at stake tonight than someone else?

ROLAND MARTIN, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I think so. I think John Edwards. He has not stopped campaigning in Iowa since he came in second in 2004. So he really needs that state to give him some momentum going into New Hampshire, but also into his native South Carolina.

Senator Hillary Clinton, she also cannot afford to come in third place. The last thing she wants to do is really be behind Edwards and Obama, and so I don't think Obama has to win Iowa. I certainly think if he's in second place, he's going to be in a better position, but certainly Clinton, she can't be in third. Edwards, he needs first place.

COLLINS: I am looking at notes from both of you before we did this interview. Bill, you say, yeah, actually Hillary Clinton could come in third tonight.

BENNETT: I think she could come in third. I think Obama is going to win. I said so two months ago. I won't be on your show tomorrow in case I'm wrong.

COLLINS: We'll call you. We will find you.

BENNETT: I'll tell what you, here is what I see. You may have a different view of this and Roland may have a different view. I look at Hillary audiences, it's the standard democratic fare. Looks like a much of people from the Iowa education association bussed in. I see the Obama audiences. They are full of enthusiasm and idealism. They're also very young. Will they show up?

MARTIN: Absolutely. Heidi, the one thing that Obama cannot do is get seduced by the young, those first-time caucus-goers. Here is the difference between what Obama is doing and Mike Huckabee. Huckabee is praying that his people come out. So he's really trying to get them to come out where as Obama, what he has done, he has used his apparatus to target independents, republicans, and young voters and driving them to the polls. I think that's the difference. The bible says faith without works is dead. Huckabee, he needs the works part. He has the faith part. He needs the works part. Obama has that infrastructure that he needs.

COLLINS: All right. What are you laughing at Bill?

BENNETT: Roland is partial to prayer I understand for a very good reason, but he's also playing the guitar at the rock and roll rallies. He's on the "Tonight Show." He's made a couple really bad missteps. I may have enough to win this thing. I don't think he goes much further than Iowa. He's made too many mistakes.

MARTIN: He may not go further than Iowa, but I firmly believe though that Huckabee is certainly a viable VP choice being a former governor from Arkansas, being able to target Christian conservatives. He certainly can fill that void because of the audience that he can target because if it's a moderate in Giuliani, or even if it's Romney with his issues, you know, Huckabee is a pretty good southern choice.

BENNETT: I think he's a temporary excitation. I don't have a dog in this fight, I don't have a candidate, but he's a temporary excitation. People look at him close, I think he will disappear. COLLINS: I think for a while, guys, we've been talking about the fact there's no real front-runner in either party, and then when you look at the issues and how it separates the candidates, when we look at the republicans, it seems there are some pretty major differences amongst them. Then the democrats starting to look a lot the same. Is that going to have an impact tonight, Roland, do you think?

MARTIN: What it boils down to right now really is personality. I think that's where likability comes into play and also the various messages. Obama has been very clear and consistent with his message on change. You see Edwards who is sort of ratcheting up his rhetoric.

The problem with Clinton is sort of like which Hillary Clinton is going to show up? Is it going to be quiet soft Hillary? Is it going to be tough Clinton? Is it going to be experience? Is it going to be change? She's presented far too many faces, if you will. The voters are going which one am I going to get? I think that's the difference right now is really personality and style because --

COLLINS: Doesn't it just depend on how well their voices are holding up? We've seen a lot of that, a lot of people very hoarse and sometimes we get the quiet candidate, sometimes we get the big and booming one.

MARTIN: Well first of all, I think you get that, but also it boils down to getting your people out. Overall, Heidi, I hate the Iowa caucus because it's all over the place. I do. I hate it. It's ridiculous.

COLLINS: Let's just call it ...

MARTIN: First of all, keep in mind you're not going to have more than 20 percent of Iowans voting. So already you hear talk Fred Thompson may drop out. You say, well, if this person doesn't win, it's all over for them. That few people, then I have to go to a caucus, stand up. I can't just walk in and vote. I have to stick around.

COLLINS: Let's be clear. This is the way the democrats do it. This is the way the democrats hold their caucuses, very, very different from what the republicans do, is that correct, Bill?

BENNETT: Right. You know, Roland, check your microphone, do you know how much money CNN has invested in this caucus coverage?

COLLINS: We are all watching, Roland.

BENNETT: On the substantive issues you talked about, foreign policy, look at the way it's intruded into our lives again, the situation in Pakistan, Kenya, Turkey this morning you're reporting about. When you look at the McCain's and Giuliani's, there's an advantage.

Hillary, it's a very odd thing. Roland makes a good point, which Hillary would be there. But there seems to be a consistent Hillary now saying pull the troops out of Iraq. Why pull the troops out of Iraq as we are turning this thing around? As foreign policy intrudes and you look for that kind of firmness, I think it's advantage republicans. I say that not as a republican. I just think that's the way it breaks down with the American people.

Personalities, I think Obama has got the personality contest won.

MARTIN: But Heidi I have to say this when it comes to Kenya, no republican has said anything about what's happening over there. Clinton finally came out with her statement today. Obama talked about it a couple days ago. His grandmother is still there. It would be nice if Kenya could get some dialogue because that's a democracy and so this violence and vote rig something a major issue.

BENNETT: George Bush has done more for Africa than the entire black congressional caucus.

COLLINS: Let's get back to Iowa.

MARTIN: We definitely can that conversation if you really want to.

COLLINS: We probably could. We'll invite you both back and talk more about that. Certainly news coming out of there for the past several days we have been showing video of here on CNN. This is really information interesting, some information we were able to dig up. Look at this now. Some info way back from 1980. It goes all the way down the line here for the different caucuses where you have the actual person who won as the Iowa democrat and then who actually went on to get the nomination. So you see there not always, clearly not always, the person who wins the Iowa caucus turn into the actual nominee on the democratic side of things.

Also want to take a moment to look at the republican side of things. Again, going back to 1980, and you can see whether or not they really translate into an Iowa caucus win to the actual nominee. Very interesting.

Guys, unfortunately, I would love to get your comments on this and much more, but we are out of time.

MARTIN: We have to come back and talk about Bush and the CBC. Any day.

COLLINS: All right. I feel a fight brewing. All right, gentlemen, thanks so much. We'll have you back again shortly. Bill Bennett and Roland Martin, thanks guys.

Results from the Iowa caucuses will be changing minute by minute, county by county tonight. You can track them yourself and stay up to the second at CNNpolitics.com, your one stop shop for the Iowa caucuses.

Bitter cold, high winds, and few clues. A hiker missing in Georgia. We'll have an update in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: You are in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Heidi Collins. Tony Harris is off today.

A planned million man march in Kenya ends before it begins. Riot police firing water canons and tear gas on protesters. We want to go live to CNN international security correspondent Paula Newton now in Nairobi.

In fact, Paula, we are hearing reports of churches being targeted into this latest violence, is that correct?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTL. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Heidi. I mean, new pictures just coming into CNN. We have seen this on the Kenyan airways for the last couple hours. It is a church burning in the slum areas here, Kabera (ph). It is where many of the opposition protesters live. We have no idea what prompted the attack right now. It's just being referred to as an arson attack.

Heidi, this is emblematic of the kind of flare-ups we have here day in and day out. Today it was that one million man march you talked about. Opposition protesters coming out, confronting the army, being hit with tear gas a water canon. It really was tense on the street here for much of the day. You didn't know exactly which way it was going to go. When the opposition finally came out and actually canceled the rally, their supporters did in fact go home. It seems to have really limited the damage.

But as we're seeing from a lot of the video coming here, this country still incredibly unsettled tonight, Heidi. And even the attorney general here, who is the judicial adviser to the government, is now calling for an official recount, an inquiry into this election, and also perhaps a coalition government. Right now the government is rejecting all of that, and there really seems to be no way out of this impasse.

You know, Heidi, I was listening to your political discussion that was just before, and they were talking about whether you're a Democrat or a Republican, what is the leverage you have in this corner. Right now Condoleezza Rice has called both sides, has tried to bring the American leverage to bear to get both sides to the table. She's been completely unsuccessful. The government has told basically the United States and the international community to butt out.

So whether you are a Republican or a Democrat, the point is what leverage can you bring to the table, especially here? This is an anchor of stability, always has been, in an area that's sometimes overwhelmed by crisis and chaos. They are very important issues right now, and, again, the deadlock continues.

COLLINS: Wow, all right, interesting. We know that you're watching it closely. We'll check back in with you a little bit later on. Paula Newton in Nairobi for us this morning. Thank you, Paula.

And breaking news to tell you about out of Turkey as well. A car bomb has exploded in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir. Turkish security officials tell CNN the bomb was detonated by remote control as a military convoy passed by. And CNN now confirms four people are dead, almost three dozen injured. Troops are said to be among the wounded. We are going to continue to follow this story as well as it develops and as we continue to get new video in to CNN.

Meanwhile, we keep hearing about the Iowa caucuses. How do they work? We'll have a step-by-step caucus primary in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BUSINESS HEADLINES)

COLLINS: The first steps in picking up the next president, just hours away. Live to Des Moines, Iowa, and CNN's Tom Foreman now, part of the best political team on television. So hey there, Tom, what actually happens in these caucuses?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what happens in these caucuses...

COLLINS: It's an easy question, right?

FOREMAN: It's not really a mystery; it's just sort of complicated. First of all, look at this, what a beautiful day for a caucus. We hiked down to the edge of the river. Look at this, the snow, the river, the town. There are bald eagles all fishing along the river there.

But all eyes today are on the hawkeyes. Thousands and thousands of Iowans, who are at their jobs right now, at school, doing whatever it is they're doing, but who tonight at 7:00 will descend upon about 1700, 1800 different precinct centers around this state for a lot of wheeling and dealing.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

(voice over): When the doors close and the caucuses begin in four rooms here at Merrill Middle School, three Democratic, one Republican, it will be up to Iowans to decide which contenders get passing grades.

JEFFREY GOETZ, TEMPORARY DEM. CHMN, PRECINCT 76: I'm preparing for 600.

FOREMAN: And Jeffrey Goetz, who will run a Democratic caucus in the gymnasium, says that some candidates fail to win support, others will try to take their followers away. How?

GOETZ: The arm twisters will say, well, your candidate's position on this issue is much more closely aligned with our candidate than the other. That's the type of reasoning that's used.

FOREMAN: And then caucus-goers will have a chance to vote a second time for the candidate who is their second choice. Even the losing campaigns will be in on the wheeling and dealing, trying to broker their vote to others hoping to gain favor in a winning camp. The problem is, in both parties, even the local leaders feel like they just don't know what's going to happen, but they expect it will be a long night. John Tone will run the Republican caucus in the school theater.

Have you ever seen a presidential race as up for grabs as this one?

JOHN TONE, TEMPORARY GOP CHMN., PRECINCT 70: The simple answer is no. This is as close and as tight as I have ever seen it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN (on camera): That's what has so many caucus-goers very excited here because they really don't know. Some elections you kind of have a good idea who is going to come out on top. What's going to happen though, is all the Iowans are going to come together and they will have this discussion in these rooms. They'll talk about the issues. They'll talk about the candidates, they'll talk to their neighbors about what they think and they'll say right up front, I believe John Edwards or Joe Biden, or Hillary Clinton or whomever, is my candidate and this is why.

And then, basically, through a process of mathematics, those who don't have enough support will essentially be told by the precinct chairman, your candidate is not viable in this room. There's not enough support to give any delegates to your candidate. You must either pick another candidate or form another group if you can get a big enough group of undecided people, which they can also do, and then sort of broker those votes to somebody else in the process. It's a fascinating thing that goes on, the Iowans are very excited about it. And, we're expecting about 150,000 or so to take part tonight, maybe even more. That would be up considerably from the last presidential election -- Heidi.

COLLINS: Yes, that would be up considerably. Interesting, too, because you mentioned the undecideds, apparently quite a few undecideds as well. So it will be very interesting to see which way they go. CNN's Tom Foreman from Des Moines, Iowa.

Thanks so much, Tom.

FOREMAN: You're welcome, Heidi.

COLLINS: So results from the Iowa caucuses will be changing minute by minute and county by county tonight. You can track them yourself, though, and stay up to the second at cnnpolitics.com. It's your one-stop shop for the Iowa caucuses.

So cold it looks like icicles on your nose. You can't stop shivering. Does this kind of weather, though, make us more prone to catching colds? CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta has the answer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: An experienced hiker and her dog vanish in the bitter cold Georgia mountains. A news conference happening right now. Apparently, a person of interest in the case of Meredith Emerson. Let's listen in for a moment.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Anybody who has any information on this gentleman that I have just described should please contact us at our dispatch center, which is 706-439-6038 and give the information to the operator that actually answers the phone. We can follow up on that information. Just please give us your name and telephone number, a way to contact you. At this time, we are going to be assembling teams to go in with experience and nonexperience, which will probably be assembled after 12:00.

We're going to start getting everybody in together and start to set up teams. The local restaurants around here -- the local restaurants and the outcry and the support of everything here, our local restaurants have actually given us food and drinks for all the volunteers that are willing to come out here and help us at this time. That is all that we have at this moment. Any questions?

QUESTION: Can you tell us more about this man (ph)? Is there -- at one point we heard about a time that someone saw (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We do not know. We cannot confirm that as being an item that he had. All we can confirm is that he did have a sheet. We do not know what was in that sheet.

QUESTION: Where did this information come from? And you can characterize him as a person of interest, which means what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This person was actually seen with her on multiple occasions during that day, and that is something -- we want to find out who he was and talk to him and see what happened and what their conversation was throughout the day. You know, just somebody we want to find out -- kind of find out how their conversation went throughout the day and then (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He may recognize himself.

COLLINS: All right, as we listen in to some of the question and answer session going on right now with the authorities in the state of Georgia here, this person of interest that she was talking about in the case of Meredith Emerson, who disappeared a couple of days ago. Twenty-four-year-old Colorado native. You see the picture of her there. Want to go and get some sound on an actual description of that person of interest. So let's listen for just a moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've just been informed that (INAUDIBLE) is actually involved in the investigation now. They started assisting us as of late -- early this morning. From some of the information that we have had that has come forward within this time, we do have a person of interest that we are needing. I'm going to give you a description. We are trying to get a sketch artist to do a sketch for us.

It is going to be a white male, between the ages of 50 and 60 years old, approximately 160 pounds. It was described as he has bad dental. He had a sheet of some sort on one of his legs, an unknown item was in that sheet. Do not know what was in it, cannot confirm at this time. He had a dark reddish colored retriever that answered to the name of Danny that was seen on the trail yesterday talking to Meredith.

More than one incidence that he was talking to her and seen with her. At one time they were seen talking, then let the dogs run loose. The dogs ran up the mountain and they followed them afterwards. The gentleman that I have just described had a yellow jacket and a large older backpack which was for more than just one day. It was very large, something that you would use for a couple days. One of the eyewitnesses has described him as being weathered and no teeth and looked as if he had been hiking for quite some time.

We do have at this time, one sheriff's office SO team, which is comprised of eight members, one fire search and rescue team, and two volunteers from the Wallasea (ph) Center that are actually in the woods along with the GSP helicopter that is actually flying around right now. DNR mountain ...

COLLINS: All right, this is the Public Information Officer with the Union County sheriff's department, Kimberly Verdoun (ph), telling us a little bit more about the person of interest. A good description given there of a white male, 50 to 60-years-old, 160 pounds with bad teeth.

This was actually the description that was given of the person of interest in Meredith Emerson's case. Also wearing a yellow jacket with a very large backpack. You see Meredith Emerson there on your screen with her dog, a black labrador that she apparently was hiking with in the mountains.

Again, this is Buford, Georgia, we're talking about, missing for two days now. Again, this person of interest, white male, 50 to 60- years-old, 160 pounds with bad teeth, which is something that was apparently quite obvious and a good part of this description. A large backpack that apparently she mentioned looked like it could be used for several days, like this person had been hiking and planned to hike for quite some time. Also, a dog that he had that answered to the name of Danny.

So, some interesting new information coming in the case of Meredith Emerson. So we will continue to watch that and bring you any new information just as soon as we get it here at CNN.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes of the Iowa caucuses, once the people speak, how the votes are counted.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

COLLINS: We're hearing so much about how a caucus is run, but how are the votes actually counted. CNN's Suzanne Malveaux has that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): All eyes are on Iowa and they'll be watching this room, the nerve center of caucus night, where votes are officially tallied, verified, and announced.

CARRIE GIDDINS, IOWA DEMOCRATIC PARTY: It's going to all be computerized. Everything runs from our computers in our war (ph) room to the board up here to a secure media Web site to a public Web site and to media outlets across the country and the world.

MALVEAUX: Carrie Giddins from the Iowa Democratic Party says caucus results from precincts across the state are phoned in by party officials. The information is fed directly into a new computerized system to ensure faster and accurate results.

GIDDINS: When a precinct chair calls in to report the numbers from their precinct, they're using a secure code to get into the telephone line. They are also entering many numbers that they have to verify.

MALVEAUX: If the computer system crashes, they have six backup systems.

(on camera): Are you confident this is going to work with seven layers?

GIDDINS: I'm confident.

MALVEAUX: OK.

GIDDINS: Even though it's me running those numbers to that board, we'll make it work on caucus night.

MALVEAUX: On caucus night, all eyes will be on the board behind me as it tallies up the votes throughout the evening and the candidates pictures will appear. It's estimated it'll take until about 10:00 Central time and then we'll get a pretty good sense of the Democratic and Republican nominees.

(voice-over): The candidates will each have representatives at the hall to work with party officials to keep an eye on the results. And over 2,500 journalists have been credentialed from all over the world.

(on camera): NPR, TV Tokyo, National Journal, Real Clear Politics.

(voice-over): With no clear candidate in the lead for either party, Giddins says they expect more than double the number of journalists from four years ago.

(on camera): This is really kind of like, you know, the Super Bowl of politics.

GIDDINS: It is.

MALVEAUX: Right here.

GIDDINS: This is the place to be.

MALVEAUX (voice-over): The place to be to find out the first indications on who will face off in the run for president.

Suzanne Malveaux, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: The candidates have spoken, and now it's the people's turn. CNN special coverage of the Iowa caucuses begins at 8:00 Eastern tonight. And coverage, of course, all day long right here on CNN.

CNN NEWSROOM continues one hour from now. "YOUR WORLD TODAY" is next.

I'm Heidi Collins. We'll see you tomorrow, everybody.

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