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CNN Live Event/Special
America's Choice 2012
Aired January 03, 2012 - 23:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: There's a lot more to still happen. We're not going away.
Welcome to the CNN election center. I'm Wolf Blitzer reporting.
A historic night in Iowa right now. I don't think there's ever been anything this close in the Iowa Republican caucuses.
Take a look at this. See what's happening, how close it is between Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, and Mitt Romney, the former Massachusetts governor. They are so, so close with almost all of the precincts reporting.
It is a virtual tie between Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney.
We've already heard from Ron Paul. He's coming in third. Newt Gingrich, we heard from him. He's coming in fourth.
We heard from Rick Perry, a dramatic change. The Texas governor not going to South Carolina, as he originally anticipated. He's going back to Texas to reassess whether he should continue in this campaign.
Michele Bachmann, we heard from her. She says even though she's come in a very, very disappointing 5 percent, virtually last. She says she's going to continue. We'll see if she does.
Jon Huntsman didn't really campaign in Iowa, he's campaigning in New Hampshire. So, he's not dropping out. But a dramatic night, indeed. It doesn't get much closer than this.
Let's go over to CNN's John King over at the magic wall.
First of all, John, Rick Perry, I think it's fair to say, all but announcing it's over for him.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He said he was going back to Texas to reassess. That means he's going to sit down with the team. They'll look at the polling. They'll to talk to donors and says, is there any path to success in the campaign? Why? Iowa sent a pretty resounding message. Dark red is Romney, purple Santorum, this orange pink color, that's Ron Paul.
Rick Perry won two tiny counties down there in the southern corner of the state. I talked to him several hours ago, Wolf. He said the plane will be warmed up in the morning. I'm going to Aiken, South Carolina.
Obviously, the people in Iowa, the Republicans in Iowa humbled Rick Perry tonight. Sounded very much like he was going home to call it quits.
The question is, in New Hampshire, South Carolina, and beyond -- who does that benefit? Well, Senator Santorum will think it's him. Speaker Gingrich will think it's him.
We're going to watch this one play out. What we're waiting for now, though, are the final votes. We're up to 97 percent. You see Rick Santorum with the tiniest lead, 27-10. Do I have that right? Is that 37 votes?
That's 37 votes. I wasn't so bad at arithmetic. That's 37 votes. Well, that's nuts, right?
BLITZER: Yes.
KING: So, can he make it up? Can Romney catch up? Can Santorum pad the lead? What's left out?
Story County, 2.7 percent of the population, only 56 percent of the vote in from this county right now. Mitt Romney is running ahead. Santorum third.
You can see right there, not a lot of votes, but if that margin stays the same, as that adds up, that alone is enough for Romney to make it up when you're talking about 37 votes.
Let's boom it back out. Let's come over here. Dubuque -- 92 percent of the vote, precincts, not vote, precincts. Let me make that clear.
That means 8 percent of the precincts. Again -- Mitt Romney ahead, Rick Santorum third. If those margins keep up, that's a place Mitt Romney can -- doesn't mean he will -- can make up the votes.
More of the votes still out over here -- 95 percent of the vote in Linn County. Romney winning fairly convincingly in this county right now, convincingly by tonight's standards in Iowa. So, again, a place where he could make up the votes.
If you're the Santorum campaign, you're looking and seeing, where can we make up votes? That's what's interesting.
The smaller counties, where Santorum did so well, 100 percent counted, 100 percent counted, 100 percent counted. Come out to the western part of the state, 100 percent counted, 100 percent counted. You keep coming out there.
So, if you're looking for areas where the vote is still out, they are areas where right now, Mitt Romney is leading. They're not all big areas. But there are enough votes still out there, Wolf, for Mitt Romney to catch up and eke this out. I do want to make one other point, this is the second time around for Mitt Romney, spent $10 million in Iowa last night. Not as much this time.
Look at the dark red. That's Mitt Romney now. That's Mitt Romney four years ago.
I want to just emphasize it by doing this very quickly. Do this on the map, this on the map, this on the map, this on the map, then do this.
Up here. Governor Romney may still eke this out tonight by a couple hundred votes. Some people will say, though, Mitt Romney then, Mitt Romney now.
Look at this. This is Ron Paul cutting into Romney country here. This is Rick Santorum cutting into Romney country here.
The biggest change tonight, wolf, the thing that may eke this out for Mitt Romney in the end, right here, Polk County. He's winning with 29 percent. We still have more to come in tonight.
If you go back in time four years ago, that was Mike Huckabee. It could all come down to the biggest populated county in the state if, big if, we're counting the votes. Pull it back out, 97 percent. Wow.
BLITZER: Yes. It's a very, very close race there.
Well, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, no matter what happens, they're heading off, they're continuing. Ron Paul is continuing.
Newt Gingrich says he's going. He's going to be at the debate in New Hampshire this weekend.
Rick Perry, he's going back to Texas to reassess what's going on.
Michele Bachmann, she seems to suggest she was continuing. We'll see if she does.
Jon Huntsman, we know is in New Hampshire.
So, it looks like they may have lost one, maybe two as a result of this.
KING: Traditionally, Iowa's role. Winnow the field. Send it on to New Hampshire. Then from there -- traditionally you have a decisive day in South Carolina. We'll see if that happens this time.
BLITZER: Yes. Anderson Cooper is here.
Anderson, it's going to be fascinating if in fact Rick Perry after reassessing in Texas announces he's dropping out or suspending. Who's going to get that support, that Rick Perry support?
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Right. And with that, change Michele Bachmann's calculus at all. Because even in her speech tonight, she wasn't talking about, she never mentioned going on to South Carolina, fighting in New Hampshire. She just talked about she still felt she was one of the best candidates. All her panelists, all pundits, analysts have been listening in.
The race suddenly seems changed now with Perry gone and Gingrich angry.
Where do you see things? You sent out a tweet, listening to going to Gingrich. What did you say?
ARI FLEISCHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: I've never heard an attack concession speech before. I just thought that was one of the most ungracious moments in politics. Typically when you lose, you accept the loss. You move on and make your case the next day.
COOPER: He was gracious toward Rick Santorum.
FLEISCHER: But then we went after Ron Paul and he went after Mitt Romney, which you just don't do in a concession speech.
So, Newt is throwing the gloves on the ice and he's getting ready for the fight tomorrow.
COOPER: Although, I think we heard a couple of amens from James Carville during Gingrich's speech.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: I think I saw hand waving in the air.
ROLAND MARTIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: He had church over here. The tie on the table.
COOPER: Do you anticipate a tougher fight? Is that what excites you?
JAMES CARVILLE, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Look, Ron Paul and Romney savaged Gingrich. I mean, that's part of -- he is mad. I thought that Bachmann's speech was probably one of the really weird speeches I've seen now in an election.
COOPER: She read it all out.
CARVILLE: It's kind of read it out. It was not sort of typical her. And I hate to say this, because it wasn't a good night for him, but Rick Perry is the worst presidential campaign/candidate in American history. No one started --
DANA LOESCH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: No.
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: Who's worst? MARTIN: Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Let him finish his thoughts.
CARVILLE: He was afternoon fire. He was on fire for a while. There's nobody that had worse debates than he did. There was nobody that raised more money to less effect. Not Giuliani, not Fred Thompson, not John Connolly (ph), not anybody.
COOPER: You said the worst candidate in American history.
CARVILLE: Given the expectation of where he started. (INAUDIBLE) if somebody, like, started and was a major tier candidate, we were ready to be sort of blown away here. And this is -- I'm sorry, he was the worst ever. (INAUDIBLE) was the best ever. This guy was the worst ever.
MARTIN: Rick Perry is Ryan Leaf. But Rudy Giuliani is certainly JaMarcus Russell.
Anderson, look, first of all, here's what amazes me --
(CROSSTALK)
MARTIN: Well, they certainly know JaMarcus Russell, LSU.
When you look at Newt Gingrich, New Hampshire is about the economy. He goes on this tangent attacking Ron Paul about foreign policy, makes no mention about the economy. You would think he would make that pivot.
And so, clearly as David said, he's so upset and so angry. What you need to focus if you want to stay in this campaign. So, I'm not quite sure what in the world he was trying to accomplish here.
The other piece, Rick Perry, first time he's ever lost the election. He got his hats handed to him. Look, this whole notion of go back to Texas and reassess, look, he's not going to be in this campaign. So I mean, look, he's done.
LOESCH: I was a Fred Thompson girl last turnaround. Perry was one of the candidates that I didn't completely love. When I looked at the GOP bill. It's harsh, but I don't -- there are certain candidates I strongly disagree with.
He's -- I feel like he's having his Fred Thompson time. He came in with a lot of energy, just like Fred Thompson did. Fred Thompson took a nap right in the middle of the election. I don't want Perry to take a nap in the middle of the election but I look and see who could take out Mitt Romney?
Rick Santorum cannot take out Mitt Romney. Neither can Ron Paul. Neither can Newt Gingrich.
Perry seems to me one of the stronger candidates to take out Mitt Romney.
COOPER: That was always his calculus for staying in.
FLEISCHER: But here's, again, what's so important in this race. Whether there's a significant anti-Romney wing of the Republican Party, and it's playing out tonight. Who was running the smartest race? Who was the one who's focused on the economy, focused on jobs, disciplined, doesn't take the bait?
Mitt Romney is running a smart campaign. That's why, again, you got to give him credit for it. His problem is he still has a lot of Republicans -- and this is why Rick Santorum surged -- who aren't for him. As long as multiples stay in, that's what gets fascinating about Perry drops -- if he drops out. If Perry is out, Bachmann is out and it's a four person race in South Carolina, is that enough to divide and conquer? I don't know. That still is pretty good for Mitt Romney.
LOESCH: I had to say this. It's amazing to run a smart race when you're coddled by absolutely every one, including other candidates in the race. I notice that none of these candidates would even dare knock him on a single issue because I think some of them quite honestly are angling to get jobs if he's the perspective nominee.
CARVILLE: Look, that's the point. He's running a smart race. He has a talented campaign.
He's not made any mistakes. They still don't want to vote for him. If he had an excuse, it would be easier --
(CROSSTALK)
CARVILLE: He's going to beat a nominee, but they don't want to vote for him. And the fact he's run a good campaign and the fact they've been smart about everything, the fact that they made all the right decisions makes it all the more stunning that he can't do any better now than he did in 2008.
COOPER: How nasty do you think it's going to get between Gingrich and Romney?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delicious.
CARVILLE: Can't get no better. LSU is in the BCS championship game. The Saints in the playoffs. And they're getting ready to go after each other with meat cleavers. I'm excited.
COOPER: You know about delicious coming from New Orleans.
MARTIN: I will say this about Governor Rick Perry. When you start your campaign in a burnt orange tie, as an Aggie, you deserve to lose.
(CROSSTALK)
COOPER: Wolf Blitzer is standing by looking at the numbers -- Wolf. BLITZER: All right. It's about as close as possible, Mitt Romney and Rick Santorum.
Here's something you're going to see no place else. When we come back, we have a brand new CNN poll. We've just conducted in New Hampshire, from Iowa. They're all going to New Hampshire next Tuesday. The primaries in New Hampshire, the first primary in the nation.
We're going to tell you what we're seeing in New Hampshire now in the aftermath of what we've just seen in Iowa.
Our special coverage continues right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: The next contest, New Hampshire, next Tuesday.
And we've just taken a poll in the aftermath of what has happened in Iowa to see what's going on. How have likely primary voters in New Hampshire, how have they changed, if at all, as a result of what has happened in Iowa?
John King is here with us.
Take a look at these numbers. This is the new CNN/ORC poll.
Caucus watchers, people who watched Iowa closely in New Hampshire. How have they changed?
And take a look at this. In late December, 47 percent were for Romney, 47 percent still for Romney in New Hampshire. Ron Paul 17 percent late December, 17 percent still. Same for Huntsman hasn't changed, 13 percent then, 13 percent now.
But Santorum has doubled from 5 percent to 10 percent in New Hampshire. Gingrich has lost a little bit, 12 percent to 9 percent.
But Romney's got a huge lead in New Hampshire.
KING: If you look at the top three there, you would say, and as a New Englander, I can say this, stubborn Yankee pride saying we're not going to be influenced from what happens in Iowa. It happens pretty consistent there. However, you do see the evidence perhaps of a Santorum bounce.
We should make clear. This is a poll of people who are watching the Iowa caucus coverage tonight. Not a poll of all Republicans in New Hampshire. If you poll all Republicans in New Hampshire, our most recent poll I believe had Governor Romney at about 40 percent in a healthy lead.
This is a higher number among the more active Republicans who are watching the coverage. So, you see a bit of a bounce for Santorum. We'll see if he can grow. He's got one week, it's a lot of time to go from 10 percent to 47 percent. And a bit of a hurt for Newt Gingrich, underperforming in Iowa. Tougher tone for Newt Gingrich. We'll see how that plays out.
But if you're Governor Romney, one of your questions tonight was, if I have a tight race in Iowa, if I come in below what I did in 2008, will I then suffer in New Hampshire? Zero early evidence of Romney having any negative effect. That's the biggest impact here.
He's the overwhelming front-runner in New Hampshire. That's good number.
BLITZER: And this poll has just been taken in the aftermath of what we've seen in Iowa. Hold on for a second.
We also have some breaking news involving this Republican presidential campaign.
And you got the news. John, tell our viewers what you've learned.
KING: I'm told by a senior Republican source who is very close to the Arizona senator, John McCain, the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, that he will travel to New Hampshire tomorrow to endorse Governor Romney. Remember, John McCain carried New Hampshire last time. It was his strongest state in the primary campaigns. Romney was a rival then and quickly endorsed McCain after he dropped out of the race after New Hampshire around Super Tuesday
The irony here, remember, Rick Santorum has faced questions in the last week in Iowa about why did you -- if you're a conservative, how did you endorse, how did you possibly endorse -- you see Senator Santorum -- how did you endorse Mitt Romney last night? Santorum said he endorsed Romney to try to stop John McCain.
They were not friends in the Senate. You could say Senator McCain is returning a favor.
BLITZER: Little payback right now.
Here's Rick Santorum. He's done amazingly well. Let's listen to him give his speech to his supporters.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: As all of you know, I do not speak from notes but there are a couple things I want to say that are a little more emotional. So, I'm going to read them as I wrote them.
C.S. Lewis said, "A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you've forgotten the words."
My best friend, my life mate, who sings that song when I forget the words, is my wife, Karen.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) SANTORUM: People have asked me how I've done this, sitting back at the polls, and not getting a whole lot of attention paid to us. How did you keep going out to Iowa in 99 counties and 381 town hall meetings and speeches?
Well, every morning, when I was getting up in the morning to take on that challenge, I've required a strength from another particular friendship. One that is sacred. I've survived the challenges so far by the daily grace that comes from God.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: For giving me his grace every day, for loving me, words (ph) and all. I offer a public thanks to God.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: Third thanks. Thank you so much, Iowa.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: You, you, by standing up and not compromising, by standing up and being bold and leading, leading with that burden and responsibility you have to be first, you have taken the first step of taking back this country.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: This journey started officially just a few months ago in June when I stood on the steps of the county courthouse in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. I decided to go there, not the typical place someone announces for president. It's not where I was born. It's not where I ever lived.
But it's where my grandfather came, back in 1925. He came by himself, even though he was married with two children, one of them being my father. He came after having fought in World War I because Mussolini had been in power now three years and he had figured out that fascism was something that would crush his spirit and his freedom and give his children something less than he wanted for.
So he made a sacrifice. He left to the coal fields of southwestern Pennsylvania. He worked in the mine at a company town. Got paid with coupons, he used to call them. Lived in a shack.
Eventually, he figured out that that was a trip to nowhere, so he started taking money less so he could start to save. And he did.
And after five years, he got his citizenship and brought my father over at the age of 7. He ended up continuing to work in those mines until he was 72 years old, digging coal.
I'll never forget the first time I saw someone who had died. It was my grandfather. And I knelt next to his coffin and all I could do is eye level, was look at his hands. They were enormous hands. And all I could think was those hands dug freedom for me. And so to honor him, I went to Somerset County, because I believe foundationally, while the economy is in horrible condition, while our country is not as safe as it was, and while threats are rising around the world, while the state of our culture under this administration continues to decline with the values that are unlike the values that built this country, that the essential issue in this race is freedom. Whether we will be a country that believes that government can do things for us better than we can do for ourselves, or whether we believe, as our Founders did, that rights come to us from God and when he gave us those rights, he gave us the freedom to go out and live those rights out to build a great and just society not from the top down but from the bottom up.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: My grandfather taught me basic things that my dad taught me, over and over again: work hard, work hard, and work hard.
And I think about that today. There are so many men and women right now who would love to work hard, but they don't have the opportunity. We have two parties who are out talking about how they're going to solve those problems.
One wants to talk about raising taxes on people who have been successful and redistributing money, increasing dependency in this country, promoting more Medicare, Medicaid and food stamps and all sorts of social welfare programs and passing Obamacare, to provide even more government subsidies, more and more dependency, more and more government -- exactly what my grandfather left in 1925.
And then there's another vision. There's another vision. Republican vision which is let's just cut taxes, let's just reduce spending and everyone will be fine.
I believe in cutting taxes. I believe in balancing budgets. I propose cutting $5 trillion from this budget over the next five years. I support a balanced budget amendment that puts a cap at 18 percent of GDP as a guarantee of freedom for this country.
But --
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: But I also believe we as Republicans have to look at those who are not doing well in our society by just cutting taxes and balancing budgets.
And that's why I put forth a plan that Iowans responded to. It's a plan that says, yes, let's flatten the tax code, get rid of it, replace it with five deductions. Let's create two rates, 10 and 28.
Why 28? It's good enough for Ronald Reagan, it's good enough for me.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE) SANTORUM: Then I'd take the corporate tax, cut that in half because it's the highest in the world and we need to be competitive.
But when I traveled around Iowa to the small towns, I found a lot of those small towns were just like the small towns that I traveled around in Pennsylvania. They were towns that were centered around manufacturing and processing.
Those good jobs that built those towns, and those jobs slowly, whether it's in Hamburg, whether it's in Newton, or any place in between, we found those jobs leaving Iowa. Why? Because our workers didn't want to work, because our workers weren't competitive?
No. It's because government made workers uncompetitive, by driving up the cost of doing business here. It's 20 percent more expensive to do manufacturing jobs in this country than it is in the top nine trading partners that we have to compete with. And that's why we're losing our jobs.
And so, when Republican purists say to me, well, why are you treating manufacturing different than retail? I say, because Wal- Mart's not moving to China and taking their jobs with them.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: So we eliminate the corporate tax on manufacturing so we can compete. We take the regulations, every regulation that's over $100 million and we repeal all those regulations. Repeal them all. And there's a lot of them.
Under the Bush and Clinton administrations, they averaged 60 regulations over $100 million a year. This administration hit 150 last year.
You don't want to know what's crushing business. This administration is crushing business.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: People have asked me, well, why do you think you can win? Because we've been told by so many people there's another candidate in this race who is running a rather close race with me tonight.
(LAUGHTER)
SANTORUM: That is a better person to choose because he can win. Let me tell you --
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Romneycare.
SANTORUM: What wins -- what did you say?
AUDIENCE MEMBER: Romneycare.
SANTORUM: Oh, Romneycare. OK. I just didn't hear you. What wins, what wins in America are bold ideas, sharp contrasts, and a plan that includes everyone, and a plan that includes people from all across the economic spectrum. A plan that says, we will work together to get America to work.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: How did I win when I won in Pennsylvania? I won because I went out and worked in the communities like I grew up in. Butler, Pennsylvania, a steel town. How was I able to win as a congressman in a 60 percent Democratic district, and then in a 70 percent Democratic district which represented all of the old abandoned steel mills in Pittsburgh? All of them, all of them along the Monongahela River, those mills were in my district.
And I ran in a tough election year when George Bush Sr. was losing the election by a landslide in my district. And I got 60 percent of the vote, because I shared the values of the working people in that district.
If we have someone who can go out to western Pennsylvania and Ohio and Michigan and Indiana and Wisconsin and Iowa and Missouri, and appeal to the voters that have been left behind by a Democratic Party that wants them to make them dependent instead of valuing their work, we will win this election.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: Those are the same people that President Obama talked about who clinged to their guns and their bibles. Thank God they do.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: They share our values about faith and family. They understand that when the family breaks down, the economy struggles.
(APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: They understand when families aren't there to instill values into their children, and into their neighbors, as little league coaches, as good neighbors, of fathers and mothers being part of a community, that the neighborhood is not safe and they are not free.
These are the basic values that America stands for. And those are the values that we need if we're going to go up against Barack Obama and win this election and restore the founding principles of our country to America.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: I want to close by thanking all of you. This has been an incredible journey. Ninety-nine counties, 381 town hall meetings, 36 pizza ranches.
(LAUGHTER)
SANTORUM: And you notice I'm not buttoning my coat for a reason.
(LAUGHTER)
SANTORUM: OK. I love Iowa, but the fair can be a little bit thickening.
(LAUGHTER)
SANTORUM: It's been a great journey. And I just have to say, I always said, you know, the three words that I heard most often when I traveled around this state. Well, that was -- that was late --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Welcome to Iowa.
SANTORUM: Welcome to Iowa.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: I want to thank the Iowans who are up here on stage, who introduced to many of them. Folks who stood up when no one else was standing up. Folks who when I was sitting at single digits in the polls believed in the message and the messenger, believed in the cause, and were willing to stand behind us and do what was not popular in the world today. Lead.
They led. And to each and every one of you, I want to thank you for leading, for doing what was necessary to promote the cause of liberty. Thank you, including Matt Schultz.
(APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: I have to -- I have to particularly give a shout-out to the guy who really helped us on the ground here as a volunteer late. Became a little bit of a symbol of the campaign. The owner of the Chuck truck.
(CHEERS)
SANTORUM: I love that -- I don't really often talk about "The New York Times," but I love that graphic in "The New York Times" that had how the entourage has traveled around the state. And there were these long rows of buses and people and airplanes and SUVs and people and staff, and then all the way at the bottom was the Chuck truck, me and Matt, and one of my kids.
That was -- that was the most -- Chuck.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: I started with this. I'm going to end with it. You know I've written a whole bunch of books in my life. I've written just one. It's called "It Takes A Family." I started my speech talking about my wife. And I'll end it talking about the other gems in my life. Six of my kids are up here. Elizabeth, John, Daniel, Sarah Maria, Peter and Patrick. They have not seen much of their daddy over the past several months, yet they've stood by me every step of the way, encouraged me and loved me unconditionally. There's another little girl who's not here tonight. She is with a little button. She's our little angel. That's Isabella Maria. Isabella Maria, we don't take her out in crowds. She's -- has a disability. She has a disability that has a -- according to the records, the statistics, has a 1 percent chance of survival after one year. She is 3 1/2 years old.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: So Bella is here with us in spirit and is deeply embedded into my heart. People ask me what motivates me. I say, the dignity of every human life.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: God has given us this great country to allow his people, to allow his people to be free. Has given us that dignity because we are a creation of his. And we need to honor that creation. And whether it's the sanctity of life in the womb, or the dignity of every working person in America to fulfill their potential, you will have a friend in Rick Santorum.
We are off to New Hampshire. We are --
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
SANTORUM: Because the message I shared with you tonight is not an Iowa message, or an Iowa and South Carolina message. It is a message that will resonate across this land. It's a resonate -- it will resonate, I know, in New Hampshire, because you think I've been in Iowa a lot. I've been to New Hampshire 30 times and have been more times and done more events than anybody but Jon Huntsman and he cheats, he lives there.
(LAUGHTER)
SANTORUM: We will be in New Hampshire. We'll leave tomorrow. We'll spend our time there. And with your help and God's grace, we'll have another fun night a week from now.
God bless you.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BLITZER: All right. Rick Santorum, former Pennsylvania governor, giving his speech to his supporters. His family on the stage with him. He's off to New Hampshire. Then South Carolina.
The only candidate we still haven't heard from is Mitt Romney who's doing amazingly well right now.
Candy Crowley is over at Mitt Romney headquarters.
I take it he's getting ready to speak any minute now, Candy. CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: He is. We've been told that he was going to come out after Rick Santorum finished. So I suspect that you will see him quite shortly behind me.
Just one funny moment, Wolf, in the middle of Santorum's speech, rather at the beginning, when he began by thanking his wife and then said he wanted to publicly thank God. And this room had been quite quiet and respectful. And the minute he said I'd like to publicly thank God, there was this huge cheer.
And it seemed so dissonant that we all looked up. And it was because the clicker at the bottom of the screen showed Romney pulling ahead, albeit, very -- that changed, too, very quickly. So the music is generally a real hint, Wolf, that the candidate is not far behind. So I'm going to get out of the way and let you guys see him.
BLITZER: There they are. The Romney family.
CROWLEY: Yes.
BLITZER: You can see Ann Romney. She's getting ready to introduce her husband. Let's listen in.
ANN ROMNEY, MITT ROMNEY'S WIFE: What a great welcome. We love you, Iowa. Thank you so much. This has been such a terrific night. Congratulations to Rick Santorum. He's fought so hard. We don't even know who's won yet, but here we are.
(LAUGHTER)
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
A. ROMNEY: This is the beginning of a journey, and I think all of you in this room recognize how important this journey is. And so I'm thrilled to introduce to you the next president of the United States.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I thought she was going to talk for a while. What happened?
Yes, we don't know what the final vote tally is going to be, but congratulations to Rick Santorum. This has been a great victory for him and for his effort. He's worked very hard in Iowa. We also feel it's been a great victory for us here.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: Ron Paul as well. Ron Paul's had a great night. This is -- this has been terrific. I think it's great that here in the heartland of America today, a campaign begins, all three of us will be campaigning very hard to make sure that we restore the heart and soul of the entire nation.
And thank you, Iowa, for the great sendoff you're giving to us and to the others in this campaign. Look, this is a -- this is a campaign night where America wins. We're going to change the White House and get America back on track.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: I'm proud tonight to have been introduced by my sweetheart of -- well, I was going to say 42 years. But we've been married 42 years. We've been sweethearts for longer than that. And behind her, four of our five sons. One of our sons, Ben, is a resident in a -- at a hospital. And so he can't be here tonight.
But this has been a family affair for us and in this room, we feel like family with you. You guys have been extraordinary.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: This -- for those who don't know, this volunteer team has done extraordinary work. I mean, I hope you understand. When I ran four years ago, we had 52 members of our full-time staff. This campaign we've had five. And you guys have done the work under the direction of Dave Kothecel and Sarah Craig. They are just heroic.
Thanks, you two, for the work you've done.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: And you are working and I am working and we're all working together because of our passion for this country and our concern that it's being led by a president who may be a nice guy, but just is over his head. And you look -- I mean, I look -- I look at his campaign. You know, four years ago tonight, he was giving a victory celebration speech here in Des Moines and he'd been going across the state making all sorts of promises.
The gap between his promises four years ago and his performance is as great as anything I've ever seen in my life. We face an extraordinary challenge in America. And you know that. And that is internationally, Iran is about to have nuclear weaponry just down the road here. And this president, what's he done in that regard? He said he'd have a policy of engagement. How's that worked out? All right.
We -- yes, not terribly well. We have no sanctions of a severe nature, the crippling sanctions put in place. The president was silent when dissident voices took to the streets in Iran. And of course, he hasn't prepared the military options that would present credibly our ability to take out the threat that would be presented by Iran. He's failed on that.
And then how about with regards to the economy? He went out and borrowed $787 billion and his administration said they'd hold unemployment below 8 percent. Hasn't been below 8 percent since.
You got 25 million people today out of work or stopped looking for work, or unable to get the kind of job that will allow them to meet their needs. This is -- this is not just a statistic, by the way. These 25 million people, this unemployment at 8.5 percent. These are real people whose lives have been impacted severely. People who lose their jobs over a long period of time. They sometimes lose their marriages, lose their faith, become depressed.
This is just a tragedy and didn't need to happen. Almost everything the president has done has made it harder for businesses to grow and to hire and to put people back to work. And then, of course, there's one more aspect of his track record that's been a failure. He was critical of President Bush for not balancing the budget, for having such large deficits.
His deficits have been three times larger or more. He's on track, by the end of his first term, his only term, by the way.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
CROWD: Mitt, Mitt, Mitt --
ROMNEY: He's on track --
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: He's on track to put almost as much public debt in place as all the prior presidents combined. This has been a failed presidency. And I'm absolutely convinced that if we want to get jobs again in this country, it's going to be helpful to have a person who's had a job in the private sector, to create jobs in the private sector.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: You know, he said three years ago, after being inaugurated, he was on the "Today" show, and he said, look, if I can't get this economy turned around in three years, I'll be looking at a one-term proposition. And we are here to collect. Let me tell you.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: I will go to work to get America back to work. By making America once again the most attractive place in the world for job creators and innovators and investors and job -- the jobs will begin to flow like they have in the past. I'll keep our tax rates competitive, get regulators and regulations to see their job as to encourage enterprise.
Make sure we open up new markets for American goods. And finally take advantage of the energy resources we have here in oil and gas and coal and nuclear and renewables.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: And I'll also do the work of finally getting ourselves to cut our federal spending and capping how much we spend and balancing our budget. I think it's immoral for us to continue to spend our kids' future year after year, trillions of dollars passed on to the next generation. Knowing we can't possibly pay it back. It's wrong and under my administration, it will end.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: And you've heard me say this before. I've been asked, how are you going to cut programs? And I'm going to look at all the programs we have in the federal government and I'm going to ask with regards to each one of them, is that program so critical that it's worth borrowing money from China to pay for it?
And on that basis, we're going to have a lot of programs we get rid of. And number one on the list is Obama-care. That will be gone.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: But this election is bigger even than jobs and a strong economy. It's bigger than a budget that's balanced and deficits and debt that begins to be reduced. It's really an election about the soul of America. The question is, are we going to continue to hue to the vision of the founders? When they crafted this country and wrote the Declaration of Independence, they said that the creator endowed us with certain unalienable rights, among them, life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
And that word, that phrase, "pursuit of happiness," deals with the opportunity associated with this great nation. We are an opportunity land. People came here from all over the world, seeking freedom, electorally but also freedom personally. Able to choose their own course in life. They came to America. And by virtue of their successes, their passion, their energy, their pioneering, they helped lift the entire nation. They didn't make us poorer by they're being successful. They made us as a nation better off.
The president has a different view. Instead of seeing a merit society, an opportunity society. I think he takes his inspiration from the social welfare states of Europe. He wants to make us an entitlement society where government takes from some to give to others. The only people who do well in that setting are the people in the government who do the taking from one to give to the others.
The right course for America is to remain a merit society, an opportunity nation.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: The right course for America economically, personally, morally, is for America to restore the principles that made us the shining city on a hill. Our conviction that freedom is a gift of God. Our recognition that America, as a merit society, where people based upon their education, their hard work, their risk taking, their dreams, can lift themselves and lift people around them and lift our entire nation. That's what we need to restore in this country.
I love this country. I love the hymns of America. "America, The Beautiful," "oh beautiful for spacious skies." For amber waves of grain. Corn counts, doesn't it, as an amber wave of grain. Yes. Another favorite verse, "oh beautiful for heroes proved in liberating strife, the more than self the country loved, and mercy more than life."
Do we have any veterans in the room tonight? Please raise your hand and be recognized.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
ROMNEY: And one more verse, let me just quote. "Oh beautiful for patriot dream, that sees beyond the years." The patriots, the founders of this country had a dream that was not just for their time but was an enduring dream. It sees unto our time.
I don't want to do as the president says to fundamentally transform America into something we might not recognize. I want to restore the principles that made America the hope of the earth. I love our freedoms. I love our constitution. I love our land. I love our people. And I love the fact that this is a land of opportunity.
Let us restore the greatness of America and keep this land the hope of the earth.
Thank you so much for all your help. On to New Hampshire. On to New Hampshire. Let's get that job done. Come visit us there. We've got some work ahead. Thanks, you guys.
(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
BLITZER: All right. We've now heard from all of the candidates. But it's an amazing, an amazing race in Iowa right now. The vote, it's so close right now. Look at this. Rick Santorum is ahead of Mitt Romney by five votes, with 99 percent of the precincts reporting. Only five votes.
We're going to hear -- we've heard from all of the candidates giving their speeches over their campaign headquarters. We expect to speak with Rick Santorum shortly. Get his thoughts on what has happened.
Let's go over to John King at the magic wall.
John, 1 percent of the precincts remaining. It doesn't get -- I don't remember a time when it's been this close. I think this is the closest Iowa caucus ever.
JOHN KING, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No matter what happens with the final 1 percent of the precincts, we have the closest result in Iowa history. Purple is Rick Santorum. You see the impressive nature, the breadth of his performance tonight. Unfortunately for Senator Santorum, a lot of these counties in the middle -- I'm not taking anything away from him -- are smaller counties population wise. You say he's ahead by five votes right now.
Will that hold up? Will that hold up? We don't know. We need to see the final precincts come in. Looking at the map suggests it will not hold up. And let me show you why. Story County, a large county, about 2 percent of the precincts out. Governor Romney winning here. Ron Paul second, Santorum third.
When you get to 98 percent very rare do you see a big structural change. Governor Romney, if he stays in first place with the two precincts coming in -- 2 percent precincts coming in, likely to pick up some votes there.
Let me move to the eastern part of the state. You see Dubuque, this is big Romney country, 100 percent of the vote in here. Come down just a little bit south. Ron Paul is winning this county. Jackson County. But Governor Romney coming in second. If these percentages hold up, a chance for Governor Romney to pick up a few votes there. We'll see if Senator Santorum can pick up the gap.
Move down. More votes out here. Three percent in Clinton County. You have Mitt Romney winning here. So the possibility exists, this narrow margin for Governor Romney to make up the difference. Either way, either way, the results tonight, essentially a dead heat -- Wolf.
BLITZER: Essentially a dead heat, indeed. And take a look at this. They've just changed, Santorum is now ahead by 27 votes, 29,892. Mitt Romney 29,865. Ninety-nine percent of the precincts are in.
Anderson, the good news is Piers Morgan has joined us. Excellent news.
(CROSSTALK)
PIERS MORGAN, CNN HOST: (INAUDIBLE) have been doing this evening?
BLITZER: Excellent news not only for us but for all of our viewers.
MORGAN: Hey, can I ask you? Is it always this exciting?
BLITZER: No.
MORGAN: This seems like -- extraordinary. Five votes. And one of the great comebacks I would imagine in modern political history, isn't it, Santorum? I mean amazing.
BLITZER: Yes, it certainly is.
MORGAN: I've been enthralled.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: It's also just fascinating that this is a race where we have seen just about every one of the candidates be the frontrunner at one time or another. Santorum surged certainly timed perfectly for this actual caucus time.
GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: And just wait until they start ripping apart Santorum and Newt Gingrich goes after Mitt Romney as we started to see tonight. So the race is actually going to heat up.
COOPER: Does it matter at this point, I mean, who comes in first, who comes in second? I mean we're talking --
BLITZER: Well, in terms of delegates, remember, 25 delegates are at stake from Iowa. Really doesn't matter because it's not winner take all. It's proportionate. So in other words, they're going to divide up eventually the delegates from Iowa. But bragging rights -- David Gergen, I know you want to weigh in. Bragging rights are important. Even if you win by five votes, it's still a -- you know, I won, but still for all practical purposes it's a tie.
DAVID GERGEN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: I think in some ways it may be more important if Santorum wins by a few than if Romney wins. Because if Romney wins, he was sort of expected. He's just going to eke it out. But if Santorum wins, it goes to Piers' point. This great comeback. It gives him this sort of sense of trend. I have thought and listened to -- those two speeches tonight, we saw what was happening in this race. Mitt Romney gave a perfectly confident speech. He was, you know, very much on top of things. But Santorum speaks to the emotions.
COOPER: Right.
GERGEN: He makes emotional connections.
COOPER: He talked about his grandfather and his large hands looking at him at his casket. That was very powerful.
(CROSSTALK)
MORGAN: And also, I mean, isn't it a reward for just basic hard work?
BORGER: Right.
MORGAN: I mean this guy, 377 rallies in 99 counties. I don't know whether anyone has ever put more work into an Iowa caucus in history. I doubt it.
BLITZER: All right --
MORGAN: I think he's got a reward.
MORGAN: Piers, everybody, take a look right now. The vote has just changed, 35 votes, Rick Santorum is ahead, 35 votes ahead of Mitt Romney. Guess what, we'll take a quick break. When we come back, we're going to speak with Rick Santorum right here as our coverage continues.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BLITZER: All right. Take a look at this. Ninety-nine percent of the precincts in Iowa have sent in their ballots. Look at this. Thirteen, 13 votes separating Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney. Thirteen. Thirteen. 29,924, 29,911. Ron Paul is in third place. Newt Gingrich is in fourth place.
It just changed even as we were speaking. Now it's 19 votes ahead, 29,935, 29,916. Santorum slightly, ever so slightly, ahead of Mitt Romney. So bottom line is we don't know who has won the Iowa caucuses as of yet.
John King, you're looking at that 1 percent. That 1 percent of the precincts that have not yet reported. Do we get any clues who might emerge? Because, what, 19 votes is tiny.
KING: From looking at the results that have come in so far from what's still out, the clues tell you that Governor Romney, perhaps, will make this up and eke out a very narrow victory. Why? Story County, 98 percent of the precincts in. If it stays consistent with the rest of the night, Romney's winning this district. Santorum running third. Governor Romney could easily pick up a few votes right there, again, if it stays consistent.
Come out to the eastern part of the state. Ron Paul is actually leading in Jackson County. But Governor Romney is running second. Again if the percentages stay up, he could make up the ground there.
But either way, Wolf, you get a dead heat. And look at the map tonight, the breadth of the Santorum performance is quite impressive, winning in a lot of the small rural counties with evangelical votes, winning out in western part of the state that is conservative.
The question is, where do you go from here? If you go back and look four years ago, here's something eerie. Mitt Romney, 25 percent then. Mitt Romney, 25 percent now. Almost the same number of votes. The orange here is Mike Huckabee. The reason you heard Senator Santorum smartly talking about the economy tonight in his acceptance speech more than the social issues, look what happened to Huckabee when he went to New Hampshire four years ago.
There are no evangelical voters in New Hampshire. If you want to take your Iowa bounce and prove yourself in the next state, that is New Hampshire. Rick Santorum quickly turning to the economy. By the time he gets to South Carolina, a lot more evangelical voters here.
But Wolf, very smart, very smart Senator Santorum tonight saying yes, the social issues matter. But he knows the campaign moves next to New Hampshire. John McCain territory four years ago. Small Huckabee performance because not that many evangelical voters, blue- collar economics as we move on -- Wolf.
BLITZER: John, stand by for a moment because we're approaching the top of the hour and we've got more news to share.
