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How Iowa Helps Shape the Race; Police Question Man in Los Angeles Fire Spree; Interview With Congressman Ron Paul, Senator Rand Paul; Ron and Rand Paul Campaign In Iowa; Strategy In Iowa: Ground Game; NASA Probe Joins Its Twin; 2011 Economy Thrills And Spills

Aired January 02, 2012 - 12:00   ET

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

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: Top of the hour. I'm Suzanne Malveaux.

Want to get you up to speed.

The Iowa caucuses just a day away, and the candidates are making their final push for votes. A poll by "The Des Moines Register" shows Mitt Romney and Ron Paul neck-and-neck in the number one and number two spots. Now, Rick Santorum is third, followed by Newt Gingrich, Rick Perry, and Michele Bachmann.

Ron Paul campaigns with his son Rand Paul shortly. Perry and Romney also having campaign stops this hour.

Candidates are taking aim at each other while trying to rally the supporters. They're focusing their attacks on the man they hope to beat in November, of course, President Obama.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Remember when he said if we let him borrow $787 billion, almost $1 trillion, that he would hold unemployment below 8 percent? It has not been below 8 percent since.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: When I watch Obama and the Congress today, and I just think this is like second graders. It is so childish and so -- and for the president's staff to announce he's now going to govern without Congress, well, that means he's not going to govern.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: He routinely divides this country, he poisons the well routinely in Washington, all because he thinks it's to his political advantage. He blames everybody but himself for any problem that occurs under his watch.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MALVEAUX: California police are questioning a man in an arson spree. Overnight, there were reports of almost a dozen different car fires in Hollywood and the San Fernando Valley. That makes at least 55 suspicious fires around Los Angeles since Friday. An update from the fire command center, that is coming up.

Plus, we find out how police actually track an arsonist.

Well, everyone visiting Mount Rainier National Park has been cleared out as police are now trying to find a killer. Investigators, they want to question a man in the shooting death of park ranger Margaret Anderson. Now, they say they believe that that man, Benjamin Barnes, is heavily armed, wearing body armor, and has experience surviving in deep woods and snow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ED TROYER, PIERCE COUNTY SHERIFF'S DEPT.: We know at a minimum, he's got an assault rifle. He's already shot some people at a Party earlier. He's killed a law enforcement officer and he's out there armed. So we're doing what we can to catch him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: A reminder of why police urge people not to celebrate by firing guns into the air. Diego Duran (ph), a 12-year-old Florida boy, was hit in the head by a falling bullet. Now, officials believe it was shot during a New Year's Eve celebration. Don't know who shot the gun. That's not clear. Diego now remains in critical condition at Tampa General hospital.

Well, people in northeastern Ohio, they are now bracing for the possibility of more earthquakes even though an injection well has now been shut down. The latest jolt just happened on Saturday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were sitting there and, all of a sudden, it sound like something exploded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The floor kind of dropped and then everything rumbled.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: Our affiliate WKBN says it is the area's 11th earthquake since March. All of them within two miles of that well.

So, opposition activists in Syria -- you see the pictures there -- say that government forces killed at least 10 more people. This is the funeral of a child who was allegedly killed while riding in his parents' car.

An Arab League adviser is calling for the immediate withdrawal of monitors from Syria. The adviser says that observers are failing to prevent government troops from killing civilians, but an Arab League official says the monitors are going to remain there and that more are on the way.

Iowa, the center of the presidential politics right now. We are just a day away from the Iowa caucuses. It's the first votes of the presidential race.

And joining us to talk about that, John King.

Good to see you here in person.

JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you. Finally, people get to vote.

MALVEAUX: We've been waiting for this moment for a long time.

KING: Yes, we have.

MALVEAUX: You and I both covered the caucuses before, and it's a lot of handshaking, town halls, pancakes, blizzards, you name it.

And what does it actually do? I mean, what is the accomplishment at the end of it all?

KING: That's always the question. Some people say why does Iowa go first? Why do Iowa and New Hampshire go first? Does it matter if you win Iowa? Well, it depends.

If you're Barack Obama, you're the president of the United States, you got your start, you beat a Clinton in Iowa. Iowa was a big deal.

On the Republican side, the history is a bit more mixed. Go back to the last Republican campaign.

It was Mike Huckabee who was the big surprise winner in Iowa. What did he do with that? Well, he fizzled in New Hampshire, couldn't deliver in South Carolina. He was soon gone from the race.

You go back to 2000, though, George W. Bush, a famous name, the governor of Texas then, he went on to win the Republican nomination. So Iowa was a good start for him.

Bob Dole, in 1996, he went on to be the Republican nominee. He won Iowa. But if you go back to 1988, Bob Dole won Iowa that year, too. Then George H. W. Bush ended up being the Republican nominee.

And if you go way back, George H. W. Bush actually won in 1980 in Iowa, when the Republican caucuses in Iowa began to get more stature, if you will. Ronald Reagan was the nominee, but because of that strong Iowa showing, George H. W. Bush did get the vice presidency out of the deal. So not so bad.

MALVEAUX: Not so bad.

So, you talked a little bit about President Obama and before. When he was in Iowa, he always talked about, if they just get to know me -- if they get to know me, they'll like me, they'll support me. And it seems like a really long time ago, because he's president, but it was really shocking when he won Iowa.

Is this about exceeding expectations? Is this all just a big expectations game?

KING: It's a huge expectations game. And there's usually two to three tickets out of Iowa -- the winner, and then does somebody surprise you in second place or surprise you in third place?

Now, Barack Obama surprised us when he beat Hillary Clinton, when he beat John Edwards, when he beat an established Democratic field when he was relatively new to national politics. So he did it the old- fashioned way by working very hard in the state.

Iowa also tells you about candidates. Can they do retail politics? The debates have dominated the Republican campaign this year until the last couple of weeks.

So you see Rick Santorum surging up? Why? He does it the old- fashioned way. He has worked very hard in Iowa, all 99 counties, retail politics. You benefit from that.

It also tells you though a lot about the mood of the country. We weren't sure, could Barack Obama beat the Clintons, could he beat John Edwards? What did we learn? The anti-war sentiment in Iowa was a big deal. He was a good candidate, but he also had the right moment because of his record on Iraq.

MALVEAUX: And Hillary Clinton started working a lot harder after that.

KING: Yes, she did.

MALVEAUX: OK. John, very good to see you. Thanks.

KING: Good to see you.

MALVEAUX: The candidates, they've got a lot of work to do in the coming year. So we thought we'd ring in 2012 with a list of suggested resolutions.

All right. On my list, get to the morning meeting on time. I'm going to work on that.

But this brings us to today's "Talk Back" segment. If you could pick a resolution for one of the presidential candidates, what would it be?

Just name the candidate, tell us what you think their resolution should be this year. Post your responses to my Facebook page at Facebook.com/SuzanneCNN. We're going to air some of your thoughts later in the hour.

Here's a rundown of some of the stories that we are covering.

Next, 55 fires around L.A. since Friday. Now a man is in custody in this arson investigation.

Also --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): By God, we will hold anyone accountable who is oppressing us, all of them. We know the officers who are giving the orders. We know all the people who are killing our children.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MALVEAUX: The presence of monitors in Syria is not stopping the violence. The latest on the protests there.

Then, in 20 minutes, James Carville. He's going to join us for our "Strategy Session."

And later in the hour, a new probe joins its twin. What are we talking about? NASA returning to the moon.

And at 12:55, taking stock of the stocks. A forecast of the markets in 2012.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Police in Los Angeles actually may have a break as they scramble to catch a suspect arsonist. Almost a dozen fires broke out overnight, more than 40 others burned in the past couple of days. Almost all of them started in cars. Some of them threatened nearby homes.

Right now police are questioning a man they detained today.

Our Casey Wian, he's at the fire command center in Hollywood.

And Casey, there's a meeting with the fire investigator there this morning. What unfolded?

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It was a really dramatic night, Suzanne.

When we arrived here about 1:00 in the morning at the command center, local time, an arson investigator told us there wasn't much going on, it was pretty quiet. Well, right after that, things erupted.

There were, as you mentioned, 11 different fires near here in about a two-hour period. Fire crews were responding to those blazes that were all started in vehicles, some of them near structures, and some of those fires actually spread to the structures at one point. We were listening to the radio traffic over the scanner and you could hear that they did not have enough arson investigators to man all of these active scenes at the time that they were going on.

Then, a couple hours later, a suspect was taken into -- excuse me. I should not use the word "suspect." I want to make it clear that this person is not being considered a suspect -- a man who matched the description of a police surveillance video was taken into custody for questioning, and he was taken into custody in an area that was very near the last of the two fires that were set overnight. And after he was taken into custody, those fires stopped.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But we have not had any additional fires within the last two to three hours.

WIAN: And what inference can we draw from that, do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Again, it's too early. That would be purely speculative.

We want to allow the investigators -- there is a joint taskforce between L.A. City Fire, L.A. Police Department, L.A. County Sheriff, L.A. County Fire and ATF. They're working together, putting all of the pieces of the puzzle together. We want to allow them to do their job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIAN: We're expecting a briefing from officials a little bit later this morning. Right now they're saying it's still an active investigation, but they are questioning this man -- Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right. Thank you, Casey.

The mayor of West Hollywood calls the arson spree a new kind of domestic terrorism. Why would a person be compelled to carry out this kind of act?

Well, we've got HLN law enforcement analyst Mike Brooks here.

You were also a former fire chief as well.

What do we know, first of all, about this individual that they have in custody?

MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: We don't know too much right now, but we were talking about -- the mayor calling this person, whoever is doing this, a terrorist, a domestic terrorist. We don't know what the motive behind these fires are.

Is it for excitement? Is it vandalism? Is it revenge? We don't know.

But I'll tell you what -- as an investigator, Suzanne, and from what Casey was talking about, and when this person was taken into custody and what witnesses were seeing, he apparently was in a minivan. And after he was taken into custody, then fire apparatus responded to that area.

What does that say to me? That there could possibly be maybe some evidence that was there. They are talking about the possibility of an incendiary device use. Why would you have fire apparatus come to scene there where the minivan is if there wasn't a threat of a possible fire? That's one of the things I just was looking at as an investigator.

MALVEAUX: All right. Mike Brooks, thank you very much.

BROOKS: Thank you.

MALVEAUX: Want to go straight to Iowa. The third time running for president. Right now, Iowa very important for Ron Paul.

Our Dana Bash, she is live in Des Moines with the candidate, I understand. And they are joined by his closest ally -- I think that's right -- his son, Rand Paul, a senator from Kentucky.

First of all, tell us what -- Dana, if you will, a quick question for them -- for Ron Paul. The strategy for the next couple of hours to get out the vote, what's he doing?

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Suzanne. We actually are -- it's very nice of the congressman and the senator, father and son, to join us, because their event is going is to start really soon here.

Your first event of the day, the day before caucus day here in Des Moines.

The first question I want to ask you is something that your son said on CNN a short while ago. You said, "If Ron Paul split off" -- meaning from the Republican Party -- "like Ross Perot split off, it just defeats the Republican nominee, but not necessarily a third party candidate."

So, once and for all, if you do not succeed in this Republican contest, will you continue to be a Republican?

REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have no plans in doing that. Tomorrow is a big day. We're going to see what happens, but I have no intention of doing that, no plans, and no desire, and flat out, I don't want to.

BASH: OK. Because before you have been a little bit circumspect.

You've run as a libertarian before.

PAUL: Right. And I've never spoken in absolutes. I mean, I have no plans to do it and no intention of doing it. And I would not see myself doing that.

BASH: Now, this is the first time in this last stretch that you've been out with your dad. What do you expect to say to the voters and what do you hope that your message will be in these closing hours.

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: You know, what's amazing to me is the excitement. The room is overflowing with people here, and I think we can win. I think there is a real chance we can win.

I think one of the really cool things is, is that my dad's bringing all these Independents along, too. Not only Republicans, but Independents. That's how you win elections. You can't win with just Republicans. If you look at all the polls, CNN polls, all the polls, you'll find that Ron Paul does better with Independents than any other Republican candidate.

BASH: Now, you told CNN yesterday that you were going to come in second. The recent polls show that you're actually declining right now as we get closer to the caucuses. And one of the reasons is because Rick Santorum is surging.

You've been hitting Newt Gingrich in your ads. You've been hitting Mitt Romney in your ads. But not Rick Santorum. Was he a surprise?

RON PAUL: You know, I'm always amazed at how you pick and cite certain things, because I read just a few minutes ago -- it was the most recent one -- they said that we were in first place. I see the citing of polls sometimes as orchestrated for a purpose.

It's a tight race. It's in three places. Anybody could win out of those three, but we are excited about the enthusiasm.

BASH: Rick Santorum is a former senator. You know what it's like to serve in the Senate, you know what it's like to serve in the Congress. Why wouldn't he be a good Republican nominee?

RON PAUL: Because he's very liberal. And --

BASH: Rick Santorum's liberal?

RON PAUL: Have you looked at his record? Go with his record.

BASH: What makes him liberal?

RON PAUL: He spends too much money. I mean, he wasn't leading the charge to slash the budget and vote against big government.

BASH: What do you think, Rand?

RAND PAUL: He voted to double the size of the Department of Education. He voted to expand Medicare and add free drugs for senior citizens. And he's voted for foreign aid. Those are not conservative principles. Seventy-seven percent of the American people are opposed to foreign aid, and Rick Santorum's voted for it every time it's come down.

BASH: I just have one last question on substance.

I was talking to a very well-plugged-in Republican here in Iowa who told me that one of the reasons why you're losing support is because of your -- with Republicans is because of your foreign policy. Specifically on Iran. Specifically on Iran.

So, my question for you is, what would a President Paul do if Iran were to get a nuclear weapon?

RON PAUL: Well, that's long answer. We're running out of time. Just come to the meeting we're going to have. If I mention anything about the troops and coming home and stopping the wars, you'll get the loudest applause, and that's why my crowds are growing, because I have a different foreign policy.

I have the old right foreign policy. I have the foreign policy of George W. Bush of 2000 when he says no nation-building, no policing the world, no entanglements, none of these wars. That's what he ran on.

That's why the Republican Party does support this. They have in the past.

But to say that Republicans are going to shy away from this, 77 percent of the American people are agreeing with me about getting out of Afghanistan. That's what you ought to be talking about.

BASH: OK.

One last thing before you go, because people might not realize this. This is actually on every single seat at a Ron Paul rally. It is the Ron Paul cookbook which your wife, your mother, wrote.

RAND PAUL: It's a secret weapon.

BASH: Secret weapon? What, the Oreo Cake is a secret weapon?

RON PAUL: There you go.

BASH: Got to have a little fun.

RON PAUL: All right. Very good.

BASH: Thank you very much. Appreciate it.

Suzanne, back to you.

MALVEAUX: All right, Dana. Great get. We appreciate that.

Just hours to the Iowa caucuses.

Thanks, Dana.

This is a journalist who must remain anonymous for safety reasons, slipped into the Syrian city of Homs. We're going to bring you this look of the changing face of the protests.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: In Syria, protesters are still being killed. But there is some progress.

Here's amateur video that you're looking at here. This is the city of Homs, which is at the center of the opposition movement.

Now, these protesters were preparing for the arrival of the Arab League monitors. Right? Well, the head of the Arab League says Syrian tanks have now withdrawn from residential areas and cities, but there are still snipers who are out.

A non-CNN journalist who is remaining anonymous for safety reasons slipped into Homs earlier this month, came out with revealing stories from the front lines. In this report, a look at the changing face of the demonstration.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): On the outskirts of Baba Amr, in Homs, there's massive destruction. But inside this neighborhood, one of the first to be completely free of Bashar al-Assad's forces, people can take to the streets without having to fear government snipers.

In the early days of the uprising there were large protests that would often draw the fire of government forces. Now the demonstrators are much smaller in size, but there are more of them in places government troops can't reach every day and every night.

Many women and children are among the protesters in this area, where the rights to protest is protected by the fighters of the Free Syrian Army. The ports are among the most popular at the gatherings and among the most hated by the regime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Ben Ali flew from Tunis. Ali Saleh is burned by fire. Mubarak is in court and Moammar killed by the revolutionaries. Your day is coming soon, Bashar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This poet says that he is inspired by the atrocity committed by Assad's forces.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): I write about the destruction that Bashar has inflicted on us, about the tanks that strike us on Bashar's orders, about the warplanes that he sent to us while he claims there are no warplanes. I write on everything. Everything that Bashar denies happening I write about.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Others vent their anger in moments of despair. Activists took me to this funeral in the village of Dar al-Kabir outside of Homs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): By God, we will hold anyone accountable who is oppressing us, all of them. We know the officers who are giving the orders. We know all the people who are killing our children. We are the sons of this country. We are not leaving this country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A man named Malik (ph) was being laid to rest, and almost the whole village turned out. Malik (ph) was shot to death by government militia at a checkpoint. His little brother couldn't hide his despair.

With every civilian killed, the hatred for the regime grows and any chance for a peaceful end to the bloodshed in Homs seems to fade a little more. (END VIDEOTAPE)

MALVEAUX: Back to U.S. politics next. Democratic strategist James Carville joining us with is insights as we ramp up for tomorrow's Iowa caucuses.

Good to see you, James.

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: All right. Here we go.

MALVEAUX: Here we go.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: Want to go to Des Moines, Iowa. That is where candidate Ron Paul is speaking. Let's listen in.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

RON PAUL: Enthusiasm has been building. Of course, I've been in the business of promoting a cause of liberty for a lot of years, and it has changed over the years.

For a long time it was very subtle and quiet. I did it by voting all the time in Washington the way I thought I should vote. Frequently, it required me to vote no oftentimes.

But today, the enthusiasm has tremendously seen an increase. And it's a big difference even from four years ago.

Four years ago, there was enthusiasm, excitement. The college campuses were coming alive. The Federal Reserve became an issue. And a lot of people back then were talking about it was time to change our foreign policy. Today, 70 percent of the American people are saying it's time to get out of Afghanistan and come on home.

(APPLAUSE)

RON PAUL: But the excitement has built steadily, and the campaign has been remarkable in the organization. The funds that come in, they've come in, as it was mentioned in the introduction earlier, even four years ago, raising $6 million in one day, which is historic.

But the funds still come in, which is a vote of confidence. The idea that as well that military personnel send a lot of money to this campaign. More than any of the other campaigns, but I tell you what, enthusiasm is growing by leaps and bounds.

The crowds are getting bigger and the issue as far as I'm concerned, there is only one issue. You know, they talk about a lot of issues. They talk about the foreign policy, monetary policy, and economic policy.

There is one issue that has made America great, an issue that can answer all your questions is -- individual liberty. That is the issue. And it was the abuse of this liberty that provokes the revolution and the writing of the constitution.

The constitution was written as a document, though were coming together into one country, the document was written, it was intended to at least, to strictly restrain the federal government. That's what the constitution is all about.

Yet today, we have a federal government that's grown by leaps and bounds and the best demonstration of that is spending that never ceases, one administration to the next, it is always spending, increases.

Even today when they talk about cuts, you know they're not talking about cuts. They're talking about nibbling away at the proposed increases. What we're talking about are real cuts and the shrinking of the size of the federal government.

You cannot do that unless you raise the one significant question and that is what the role of government should be. If liberty is the most issue, the most important responsibility of government is to protect liberty and not to be the policeman of the world and not have to a run-away welfare state.

But somewhere along wait we lost our way, went in the wrong direction. We've accepted the idea the federal government's responsibility was to intervene in the economy. Not to protect the free market economy, not to protect private property and contracts and sound money, it was to intervene and play mischief.

It wasn't to protect your privacy. Right now, government spends more time and energy in passing law invading your privacy. It should be the other way around. We want exposure and openness of government. We want your privacy back.

And we don't want the government to be messing around with the internet invading our privacy. We don't need a Patriot Act that tells you that the government can come in and invade your house and your homes and your papers and everything that you do without a proper search warrant.

And we certainly don't need to be moving on to the next stage which is happening right now. Last week or two weeks ago, it was passed, and then just recently signed by the president authorizing the military to arrest American citizens and allow an American citizen -- for citizens to be held indefinitely.

That is the wrong direction. We need to reverse that direction, but we have to answer the question properly, what is the proper role. Stay out of -

(END LIVE SPEECH)

SUZANNE MALVEAUX, CNN ANCHOR: You're listening to Ron Paul there, Republicans fighting it out in Iowa. Democrats, of course, watching very closely and waiting.

President Obama's already starting campaigning, but doesn't know who he's going to run against. Joining us to talk about that, CNN contributor and Democratic strategist, James Carville. James, good to see you in person here.

JAMES CARVILLE: Yes.

MALVEAUX: So you and I were watching Ron Paul. Is he the guy who you want if you had your wish list to run against Obama? Who's the guy you want to see run against the president?

CARVILLE: But that's wishing for something that's not going to happen. Yes, I mean, everything about Ron Paul - that'S a speech he could have given four years ago, eight years ago.

I also thought he was a little tired, but that's understandable. He's 76 years old. He's campaigned very hard this time and he'll do pretty well tomorrow night in Iowa.

MALVEAUX: What about Romney? I mean, everybody makes a big deal. The Republicans are split over whether or not, who is the true conservative and who is electable. Is Romney the guy who is electable you think?

CARVILLE: Well, Romney is not the true conservative that's obvious. We'll know in November if he's electable, but he's got to be the nominee. No one else in this field is going to be the nominee. The only that would someone is that Romney just simply can't close a deal. We'll get a pretty good indication of that tomorrow night and see how well he does.

MALVEAUX: What does the president need to do? What do you think is going through on his mind? If he's saying Romney's going to be the guy he's up against.

CARVILLE: Well, I think what they're hoping is this thing strains out a little bit. I think it's been a very good season for Democrats. We hope that every Democrat wants this thing to go a little bit deeper and wants a few more debates to move around.

Nobody harbors any illusion that anybody else other than Romney in this field is going to be a nominee. I will also say this. Assuming it is evident that Romney is the nominee, I think the president's campaign is just going to hit him on his income tax like you've never seen before.

They're going to bring that issue. So they can make it look like they forced him to release his tax returns. I think that they're just waiting --

MALVEAUX: So far he hasn't budged on that issue.

CARVILLE: He hasn't. Once you get to the general election, it is going to be very tough. If he does and it will make the president look tough and look like Romney was forced to do something, which Romney doesn't want to do.

MALVEAUX: You and I were talking before this has been the most bizarre campaign. To see the Republicans rise and fall, each one of these guys and take turns at this. Almost like six weeks, there's a new frontrunner. What's happening here?

CARVILLE: You know, Neil Newhouse (ph) is a friend of mine, a very prominent Republican pollster said there have been eight different frontrunners. There have been eight. I don't think anything close to this has ever happened in American politics.

I think it is a combination of things. There is a lot of intensity to beat President Obama. There is a lot intensity they don't want Romney. Also a lot of people just didn't want to run.

It has produced by any account the most bizarre nominating process I've seen in my time in American politics. I can tell you that nothing close to this in terms of this sort of the ups and downs of various candidates.

MALVEAUX: You've been around a long time!

CARVILLE: You know, longer than I want to think about. Thank you.

MALVEAUX: All right, stay with us. It is all about the ground game in Iowa and we're going to take a quick break. We'll talk about what it is like to be on the ground in Iowa.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MALVEAUX: All right, we are back with CNN contributor, Democratic strategist, James Carville, to talk about political strategy and Iowa caucuses and all the years you spent out there in Iowa. It is bizarre. It is a strange process, the Iowa caucuses.

Last go-round we were out there in a blizzard. I think it was -- I think we've got video of this. It was like 20 degrees below zero. Everybody was freezing. You see that clip?

Biden actually asked me, he said your hands are freezing. It is absolutely miserable out there, but you went to all these events. We saw President Obama campaigning out there. What's the most bizarre thick out there in Iowa leading to the caucuses?

CARVILLE: Actually, it is all the people that come out, people working on the campaigns, the interest, and the kind of excitement. What's going to happen, when this is over this is going to be a real downer for a lot of these people.

Because you're so jacked up, you're so pumped up and a lot of people sometimes just go to Des Moines or go to Iowa City, Ames, you go out to these smaller places where they have these phone banks, these people are having the time of their lives.

I think a lot of the Iowans get into these caucuses, too. It's very much out of front and center. In 1992, we didn't do Iowa because (inaudible) in New Hampshire. It was so cold. People from Arkansas wanted to fire up a pig. We being from Louisiana wore tennis shoes. Not a good idea in February in New Hampshire. MALVEAUX: I don't think people even realize how hard it is to be out there during this time of the year and just how barely cold it is. But do you think what really matters what's going on there? Folks come out. They debate this. They talk about it and then they raise their hands and people love it.

CARVILLE: Yes, I think so. I think it's good and they go to these diners and these things and actually talk to people and we're there, we're covering it, we see how they answer it.

We sit here and we watch Ron Paul talking to real people. Yes, I mean, look, it is the system that we got. I think the whole thing is just a blast. I mean, I look forward to it.

This thing has really been fun with all the frontrunners sort of going up and down. Friend of mine said, man, I don't miss it at all. Imagine Romney people sitting around waiting for that "Des Moines Register" polls?

You can't imagine how the stress that these guys have gone. It's a lot, a lot of stress all the way down. A lot of stress on these candidates, these guys are tired, man. They're blowing, going. We're waiting in they say 1,000 words in a day, the wrong one is the one we pounce on. It's always been like that. It's nothing new.

MALVEAUX: And I imagine that we're going to start to see this list and this group dwindle after tomorrow night.

CARVILLE: Unfortunately, I think we will, but I hope not. I want to keep them all going, but let's see what happens here. I think Gingrich even if he doesn't do well will sort of stick around, but figure there's more debates to come and he can come back. We'll see, but I'm urging them all to stay in because this has been great fun.

MALVEAUX: It's good for you.

CARVILLE: I want to share the saints and the Republican nominating process, it's -- my golden time.

MALVEAUX: It's your Mardi Gras. All right, thank you, James.

CARVILLE: You bet.

MALVEAUX: President Obama and his family, they are heading back to Washington today after spending the holidays in Hawaii. Brianna Keilar, she's joining us from Honolulu.

So, Brianna, I guess a little bit of vacation is over now. The president is facing the political realities here and potentially who's going to be running against him. Are they watching now? What are they doing?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: I mean, obviously there will be eyes. The president's eyes, the president's re-election advisors will be watching the caucuses, of course. This is a president, you know very well, knows the importance of the Iowa caucuses, his eight-point lead there in 2008 gave him that early momentum, really made him a contender.

And I think the cautious expectation for some time and it continues to be that ultimately Mitt Romney is the one that President Obama will have to fight ultimately. A lot of focus of course on the organization that the Romney campaign has had, the fact that he has experience that a lot of candidates don't that has helped him at least up until now avoid some of these unforced errors that we've seen other Republican candidates make.

But President Obama is also someone knows all too well the changing fortunes that you can experience out there on the campaign trail. So for now, what we're going to be seeing here in the New Year and we've already been seeing this, is President Obama doing a bit of waiting to see who ultimately the Republican nominee will be and you'll see once that is obvious that then -- of course, this is obvious, he will then take his campaign for re-election into overdrive.

In the meantime, the strategy is really the president doing more of that go-it-alone, putting out executive orders and the foil will be Congress, not necessarily Republican candidates out there, Suzanne. It will be Congress as he kind of paints Congress as not really doing things to create jobs and help the economy. And we'll see him take that message on the road. He's going to be in Cleveland, Ohio. A very important state, obviously, this time of year. We'll see him there on Wednesday as he delivers remarks on the topic.

-- Suzanne.

ANCHOR: And, Brianna, one of the things that the last go-round with the Iowa caucuses, then Senator Obama, he was -- he always said, you know, if these guys get to -- if they get to know me, they'll like me and they'll support me. And they did. And it paid off for him. Does he plan on reaching out to folks in Iowa again this go-round and perhaps portray himself in a different way?

KEILAR: I don't know if it's a different way. I think he's obviously reaching out. He's got a lot more name recognition, right? But what he's going to be doing, because technically he is on the ballot there, Suzanne, he will be reaching out virtually to his supporters in Iowa. He's obviously not going to be there. He will be doing this through a new technology. It's a Skype technology, but it's more advanced. Reaching out to supporters in virtual locations. Because the way his campaign sees this, is it really is a bit of a trial run for the general election and he wants to have his face out there connecting with his supporters in Iowa for the next few months.

MALVEAUX: All right, Brianna, thank you. Looks beautiful out there. Enjoy the last moments of sun there before you go back to Washington. Thanks, Brianna.

Tomorrow night, country's first votes, candidates' first true test take place in the Iowa caucuses. Watch what happens from all sides. Special live "America's Choice 2012" coverage of the Iowa caucuses begins tomorrow night at 7:00 Eastern.

So, NASA paying the moon another visit. A probe just reached it and met its twin. We've got Chad Myers to break down the mission.

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MALVEAUX: One, sometimes the loneliest number, but now a signal NASA probe has become a party of two. What are we talking about? Chad Myers here to explain what the twin probes are doing together.

So, Chad, talk about this mapping the moon. What does this involve?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Mapping the moon. They are going to check the gravitation of the moon with something called a GRAIL. The Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory. G-a-i-l. G-r-a-i-l. GRAIL.

What it's going to do, it's going to look for differences in the gravitation of the moon. There are two probes out there looking at it simultaneously, sending this image and this data back. We're going to figure out whether why the moon wobbles a little bit, why it's not a circle, and maybe answer a couple of other questions, too.

It's going to use the gravitational field to determine what's below the moon's surface. Maybe even what was there years ago, if it's still warm inside. It's equipped with a camera, too. Students can request pictures from the lunar surface.

Now, it's called the Moon Kam, Suzanne. M-o-o-n, moon, and then k-a-m. And we're wondering why it should be c-a-m, like camera? And it's almost like that krab with a k that you can buy. It's not real crab, but it is still with the, you know, it's that k-r-a-b. So I don't know what that stand for, but I'm sure it's just another acronym that NASA came up with.

MALVEAUX: That's pretty cool. Prove -- are they going to be able to prove or disprove this -- what you call a smush (ph) theory? Can you explain that, what a smush theory is?

MYERS: Yes. Well, yes, if you look at the three dimensional picture or an image of what the moon really looks like, it's not round. It really isn't round very much at all. And so the theory is, many, many moons ago, so to speak, two moons were in our sky. They smashed together to become one moon. And that's why the moon has some many mountains, so many kind of lumps on the other side that we haven't ever seen. But this will go around to see as it x-rays literally the moon. It will try to determine whether there is a piece of one moon inside of another moon or did they smash together and become -- or was it only one moon from the very, very start.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, the smash -- smush theory.

MYERS: It's good stuff.

MALVEAUX: Good stuff. Thank you, Chad.

MYERS: You're welcome. MALVEAUX: Today's "Talk Back," pick a presidential candidate and suggest a resolution that you think they should have in the new year. Carl says, "make them sign contracts with the American voters on their campaign promises." We've got more of your responses up ahead.

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MALVEAUX: You've been responding to our "Talk Back" segment. Name a presidential candidate. Tell us what you think their resolution should be this year.

Randy says, "all the candidates: stop answering every question with, "Obama messed up because," and just tell us what your policies are."

Jim writes, "Ron Paul: stop the corruption and create jobs."

Joe says, "Michele Bachmann's resolution should be to answer questions and not talk around them."

Brendan writes, "it doesn't matter. Mitt Romney would break his within minutes."

And finally Jason says, "for all candidates: to look in the mirror every morning and tell yourself, I'm here for the people, I'm here for the people, I'm here for the people. Note: clicking your heels while doing this is optional."

Keep the conversation going. You can leave your post on my FaceBook page. It is facebook.com/suzannecnn.

2011, a roller coaster year for Wall Street, as we remember. What can we expect in 2012? That's up next.

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MALVEAUX: All right. New York Stock Exchange closed to observe the new year. Giving us a moment to look back at the economy's thrills, spills in 2011. Alison Kosik in New York.

So, what kind of year was this for Wall Street 2011? Do we want to see that gone?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, you think about how to describe 2011, Suzanne, it was certainly volatile and investors, they're probably really happy that 2011 is now history.

You know, what's interesting is that last year it start out really strong, but with -- by the time the summertime came around, you know, there was a lot of drama going on. For one, the debt ceiling debacle was happening in Washington. It shook investors confidence to the core. And it's really the reason the ratings agency, Standard & Poor's, cut its rating on the U.S.'s debt.

Then, of course, there was the ongoing debt crisis in Europe. That had investors pulling their money out of markets in Europe and here in the U.S. And through all of that, the economy was ever so slowly recovering.

But in the end, the major market averages came away with mixed results, although it felt like we were on a treadmill for most of the year. We just ended up kind of in the same place. Kind of where we started, Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: That's kind of bizarre, actually. Crystal ball here, 2012. What are you expecting?

KOSIK: OK. So the crystal ball is that there is actually some optimism that stocks are going to have a better year in 2012, partly because, you know what, the economy is expected to perk up. Economists surveyed by CNN "Money," they expect growth this year to be at a 3.2 percent rate. That's about double what we had in the first nine months all together of 2011. So that's good news right there for you.

Suzanne.

MALVEAUX: All right, Alison, love the good news.

CNN NEWSROOM with Drew Griffin is going to start right after a quick break.

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