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Down to the Wire in Iowa; Man Questioned in L.A. Arson Spree; Zero Hour For Ron Paul; Following Movements In Iowa; Body Found In Mt. Rainier Manhunt; Santorum's Surge in Iowa; Iowa's Record Of Picking Presidents; Icy River Rescue

Aired January 02, 2012 - 14:00   ET

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

BROOKE BALDWIN, CNN ANCHOR: And hello to all of you.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Let's go, on this first Monday of the year, "Rapid Fire," beginning with Iowa.

Huge news in Iowa. We are hours away from folks there speaking up. The first test for the Republican presidential candidates coming down to the Iowa caucuses. That happening tomorrow night.

Take a look at this with me. The latest poll by "The Des Moines Register," Mitt Romney is in a statistical tie with Ron Paul. Rick Santorum, you just heard from him. He is also on the rise, up from single digits, and now in third place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: And still, half the people in Iowa are undecided. I just think they're going through the serious process of making an analysis of who the right person is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: Also, President Obama and his family about to end their holiday vacation in Hawaii. They are expected to return to the White House tonight.

The Obama campaign is planning for the president to speak to his Iowa supporters online. That is tomorrow night, of course, as the GOP caucus results come in. The president supporters say they don't see how much excitement among Republicans here with the choices for a nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD WOODHOUSE, DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: There seems to be a lack of enthusiasm for a Republican nominee. I mean, they have the flavor of the month. We now have Rick Santorum. We've had Newt Gingrich. We've had Cain, we've had Perry, we've had Bachmann. And then we have had the flavor of the month, and then we've had Mitt Romney, who's just kind of been -- if he's a flavor, it's been stale.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BALDWIN: Also should tell you the president reluctantly signed the defense authorization bill just over this past weekend. He said he had serious reservations with certain provisions within this bill to regulate the detention and interrogation and prosecution of suspected terrorists. The White House lifted a veto threat against the bill after Congress made changes in language involving detainees.

And we've got to go to Los Angeles for this one. This is now day four of an arson spree scorching the streets there.

Fifty-three fires thus far, 11 of them just happening overnight. Also overnight though, investigators detained a man for questioning. They have yet to confirm if he is in fact the same man in this surveillance video authorities released to the public.

We're going to go live with the latest to L.A. within half an hour.

Iran says it has successfully test-fired a new long-range missile designed to evade radar. Iran's 10-day navy drill ends today when the military practices what it calls a new tactic designed to prevent any movement in the Strait of Hormuz.

And police in New York, they're investigating three arson attacks there. A molotov cocktail was tossed at an Islamic center in Queens. The attackers also threw molotov cocktails at a convenience, also there at this house. No one was hurt.

Governor Andrew Cuomo is condemning these attacks. The Council on American-Islamic Relations is calling for police to increase security all around mosques there.

And in Texas, an active-duty soldier is charged with trying to board a plane with a military-grade explosive on him. TSA agents spotted this explosive Saturday when the soldier's carry-on bag was x-rayed at Midland International Airport. As a result of this, part of the terminal had to be evacuated. The FBI said there was no way to ignite the explosive and they also say no one was in danger at the time.

And this coming in. It appears the manhunt inside Mount Rainier National Park in Washington State is over.

Our Seattle affiliate KCPQ is reporting via the Washington State Patrol that searchers have found the body of a man. The park has been closed for the last two days as people have been looking for this guy.

He is Benjamin Barnes. He has been wanted in connection with these two shootings. One happened at the park, killing 34-year-old park ranger Margaret Anderson. A park spokesman says Barnes was trying to get away from another ranger when he attacked her. Three other shooting -- the shooter injured three people at a party in a Seattle suburb.

The number of homicides in Mexico's most violent city reportedly dropped by more than a third last year. "The El Paso Times" is reporting that Ciudad Juarez, just across the border from El Paso, Texas, saw a little over 1,900 murders in the year 2011. That is down from a little more than 3,100 the year prior. Homicides in Juarez are oftentimes blamed on two violent drug cartels fighting for turf there.

And now to that small Arkansas town, Beebe, Arkansas, where hundreds of blackbirds were found dead just over this past New Year's weekend. You remember the same thing happened a year ago on a much bigger scale than last year. We were talking thousands of birds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I left to back out of the driveway and it was, like, freaky, man. I mean, there were dead birds laying everywhere. I mean, this year is not near as bad as it was last year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: About 200 blackbirds were found dead this year. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission blames fireworks set off near trees where the birds roost.

And LeBron James pops the question and she said yes. The Miami Heat star proposed to longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson in front of teammates and close friends at a Miami club on New Year's Eve. James and Brinson are the parents of two children, who were also there for the big announcement.

And we are just getting started. A lot more to cover for you in the next two hours, including this --

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Just hours from now, voters will have their say in Iowa. But get this -- a whopping 41 percent of them say they could still change their minds.

I'm Brooke Baldwin. Welcome to the heart of the CNN Election Center. The news starts now.

(voice-over): After months of campaigning, weeks of different faces on the leaderboard, one of the most volatile political races in history comes down to the wire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We could make a perfect candidate out of the candidates that are there.

BALDWIN: In California, a city on edge. Nearly five dozen fires breaking out in Los Angeles, and one city leader is calling this a new form of urban terrorism.

CASEY WIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: -- a white male emerging from a structure.

BALDWIN: Now police are talking to a person of interest.

Plus, Iran flexing its military muscle as tensions rise with the U.S. Find out where the missiles Tehran is testing could actually hit.

(END VIDEOTAPE) (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right. This is really the final stretch here in Iowa. And just to let you know, obviously we are going to be dipping into these different candidates as they're making their closing arguments, if you will.

In fact, you're looking at live pictures. This is Texas Congressman Ron Paul's son, Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. He is speaking there live. This is an event in Davenport, Iowa. And we'll be listening in as soon as the Texas congressman speaks here any moment now, and any other candidates as we deem appropriate.

I do want to go now to Marion, Iowa, where Joe Johns is standing by with the Romney campaign.

Joe, we talked about this last week. He's also been out with his wife speaking, and I caught some of what Romney was saying this morning. I mean, he's specifically going after the president, talking about how once when it was Senator Obama, right, back in Iowa, pointing out the gap between promises and reality.

JOE JOHNS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. And that's all part of the Romney inevitability campaign, if you will. He's been sort of projecting, trying to make the case to the voters here in Iowa that he's going to be the eventual nominee, so why not get on the bandwagon now rather than later?

You said I am in Marion, Iowa, right now. This is a little workspace where we're going to see an event for Romney in a couple of hours, Marion. He's been around the state to a number of places some of the other candidates have gone to -- been to Dubuque -- and he's going to continue on from here to one more stop that happens pretty late, something like 9:45 Eastern Time this evening. A full day for Mitt Romney.

But yes, you're right, he really has been pushing on President Obama hard, but I have to say, in listening to all of the speeches to far today, he's played it very safe. He stayed with the stump speech. He really hasn't diverged from it in any significant way at all. And from what I can tell you, hasn't answered a single question, whereas some of the other candidates have actually stopped for questions to try to sort of get a leg up.

So Romney is playing it safe -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: So he's playing it safe, not taking questions today.

Where you are, Joe, I know it's pretty quiet, but in the different stops where you've seen Mitt Romney, give us a sense of just his confidence and the energy there. I mean, strategically, this was not a must-win initially for the Romney camp.

JOHNS: Right. They're projecting a lot of confidence, but they're being very careful not to say that they expect a win. In fact, if you talk to some of the people at the campaign, publicly or privately, they'll say they did not expect to win Iowa, and of course that will be their excuse if they don't. So it's good for them in that way. They've focused so much -- so much on New Hampshire.

Just the same, I think a lot of people will agree that there's been something of a stealth campaign. They haven't ignored Iowa. They've had people on the ground working here all along. And they very much would like to see a win -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: Let me go back to his wife Ann. We have seen more and more of her, along with her husband Mitt Romney. Is that to just help soften his image, you think?

JOHNS: Yes, and that's very important, because I know you've heard a lot of people say that Mitt Romney is robotic on the campaign trail. She very much is not.

She's sort of a gentle spirit. She's very spontaneous, if you will. Watching her this morning, she made some comments that seemed very spontaneous about the crowd feeling as though -- telling her that her husband is the guy to beat President Obama in November, even though some people were telling us privately there wasn't very much energy in that room and it wasn't filled up. And it may have been a mistake by the events people, or whatever, but it didn't look like there were a lot of people there, according to people on the ground.

And that, Brooke, as you know, is the one thing we really look for. We look for energy and enthusiasm on the day before the caucuses, because that could be some indicator of who's going to turn out for whom tomorrow night.

BALDWIN: Joe Johns in Marion.

Joe, thank you very much.

And hey, we want to remind everyone, tomorrow night, the big night, the country's first real votes. The candidates' first true tests take place at the Iowa caucuses. Watch what happens from all sides, special live, "America's Choice 2012" coverage of the Iowa caucuses starting right here on CNN, 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

Now, firmly, though, in second place in the most recent CNN poll, who we saw in a live picture a moment ago, Ron Paul. Coming up in just about 10 minutes, we're going to speak live with Ron Paul's national campaign chairman. We want know if they're worried about this last- minute surge by Rick Santorum. Also, we want to know how Ron Paul is being treated by the other candidates on the trail.

Also, in other news, homes -- look at this -- businesses, cars torched. We are talking about someone setting dozens of fires in California.

Coming up after this quick break, we're going to bring you the latest on the investigation, the new information about a man now detained by police. Also, a park ranger is dead after a shooting at a national park in Washington State. Later this hour, the search for the gunman and what's being done to keep tourists safe.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Before we go to Los Angeles, we want to dip in. Texas Congressman Ron Paul speaking, saying less government is better government in Davenport, Iowa. Take a listen.

(BEGIN LIVE SPEECH)

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: So, therefore, we have to bail out everybody.

But guess what? The people who were ripping us off and making bundles during the boom times, they got the bailout and the bad debt got dumped on the people. And that's what we have to reverse. We need to take care of the people and make sure the people who get all the privileges and the benefits and the bailouts, that should stop.

(APPLAUSE)

I'm convinced if one understands the principles of liberty, they understand the market, they understand property rights, they understand the foreign policy. And this is where I'm encouraged.

People are starting to understand this, that that is and was supposed to be the purpose of the government. Part of protecting individual liberty in a limited fashion, the federal government has very little to do.

They should provide a strong national defense. Quite frankly, I do not feel safer because we have become the policemen of the world and have gotten involved in way too many wars. It's time that we look after our own national defense and start getting our troops back home here.

(APPLAUSE)

We spend a lot of time overseas dealing with the internal problems of other nations and the regional squabbles that go on. We worry so much more about the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan than we do about our own borders.

I think it should be reversed. We should think about our borders.

(APPLAUSE)

(END LIVE SPEECH)

BALDWIN: All right. Ron Paul standing alongside his son, Rand Paul.

You know, Dana Bash, our senior congressional correspondent, caught up with him earlier today. You know which candidate he called too liberal? Santorum.

We're going to play a little bit of that interview coming up. And I'll be speaking with Ron Paul's national campaign chair and see how they feel about the sudden Santorum surge. That is coming up in a matter of minutes.

But I want to move along to California, because now one Los Angeles city leader is calling what is happening in and around the Hollywood area -- and I'm quoting him here -- "a new form of urban terrorism."

An arson spree over the course of the last four days now involves 53 fires that have burned cars, apartments, homes, including one where Jim Morrison of The Doors used to live. But what makes today different than the last three? This.

Investigators are questioning a man seen in the back -- you see this? This is the guy in the back seat of this car. Could he be the figure seen in the surveillance video here that authorities released to the public?

Casey Wian is live at the fire command center for us in Hollywood right now.

And Casey, got to ask, is the man they've detained the same person in the video?

WIAN: Law enforcement officials are not saying whether he is, Brooke, but what they have told us, according to a law enforcement source, is that a reserve sheriff's deputy spotted this person very early this morning in an area of West Hollywood, not too far from where I'm standing at the fire department command center.

Now, what happened overnight -- let's back up a little bit -- it started out as a very quiet night. We arrived here at 1:00 in the morning local time, and an arson investigator said nothing is happening. In the next two hours, though, things dramatically changed.

Nearly a dozen fires near here were set on cars, some of those fires spread to buildings. Crews were fanned out all over this area. At one point, there were so many fires burning at one time, they didn't have enough arson investigators to be at every one.

Then, when this person was taken into custody for questioning, and then transported away from the scene, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department, and according to what we heard on the fire scanners, all of these suspicious arson fires came to a halt. There were no more fires in the next several hours until daybreak.

So that's what we know at this point. We're expecting a news briefing later on today. We're not sure of the exact time. We're expecting to have more details, but this investigation is still continuing -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: What about these fires, though -- specifically, you mentioned homes and cars. Is there any kind of pattern emerging? WIAN: The one thing that investigators tell us is that incendiary devices were used. Now, they were very careful about not giving too many details about those incendiary devices, where they were placed in the car, whether it was inside the car, outside the car, because they did not want to, first, tip their hand in the investigation. They also did not want to encourage copycats. And officials are saying they don't know how many of these fires -- 54 by last count -- were actually --- may have been set by more than one person.

BALDWIN: And also, Casey, just the sheer force behind this investigation. I mean, from what I've read, we're talking ATF, police, homicide, and also now federal agents, part of this investigation. Yes?

WIAN: Absolutely. ATF has been brought in on this, investigators from the Los Angeles Fire Department, the sheriff's department, several city police departments. And we should point out that today was a big day for law enforcement in terms of keeping this community safe.

We have the Rose Bowl football game going on later today. We had the Rose Parade earlier this morning. So to say that resources around the Los Angeles area have been strained over the last couple of days is a little bit of an understatement -- Brooke.

BALDWIN: All right. Well, once that news conference happens, let us know if they do, in fact, connect the dots between the man seen in the video and the man in the back of that car and what more we know about him.

Casey Wian for us in L.A.

Casey, thank you.

Republican presidential candidates are cutting ruts across Iowa right now, trying to drum up support for tomorrow's caucuses. The candidate with some of the most unconventional appeal, Ron Paul.

Standing by live right now, Ron Paul's national campaign chairman, Jesse Benton, coming up. We're going to talk strategy for Iowa and also beyond.

Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: Joining me now from Des Moines is Jesse Benton. He is Ron Paul's national campaign chairman.

Jesse, nice to see you and have you on here.

Question here out of the gate, will Ron Paul win the Iowa caucuses? And by that, I mean finish first?

JESSE BENTON, CAMPAIGN CHAIRMAN FOR RON PAUL: We're gunning for it. We're poised to do very, very well, and we've got a good shot at it. BALDWIN: How good of a shot?

BENTON: Fifty-fifty.

BALDWIN: Fifty-fifty here.

BENTON: It all depends on whether our people turn out. We've got to turn out our voters better than the other guys.

BALDWIN: I want you to listen to something that your candidate and also his son, Senator Rand Paul, said to CNN today, to Dana Bash, about Senator Rick Santorum and the family values conservative.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DANA BASH, CNN SR. CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: 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?

PAUL: Because he's very liberal.

BASH: Rick Santorum is liberal?

PAUL: I mean, have you looked at his record? Go look at his record.

BASH: What makes him liberal?

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

BASH: What do you think, Rand?

SEN. RAND PAUL (R), KENTUCKY: Well, 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BALDWIN: So your candidate calling Rick Santorum too liberal. I mean, did you all anticipate, you know, the "S" word everyone's using, the surge, the Santorum surge? How worried -- how much does that factor into the 50/50 figure you just gave me?

BENTON: Well, we think our main competition is Mitt Romney. We see this as a two-man race both in Iowa, both in New Hampshire, and both nationally, quite frankly. You know, Rick Santorum is doing quite well, but if people start to look at his record and see just how much money he spent, and really how crooked he's been with his pipeline to K Street, they're going to realize he's not the guy we need right now.

BALDWIN: How much on your radar, though, is Rick Santorum? BENTON: Look, I mean, just as much as anybody else. We wanted to make sure that we got out the word about just what Newt Gingrich had done when he was in power and then out of Washington. If we need let people know about just what Rick Santorum did siding with pro-abortion candidates, spending, giving government new ways to take over control of the family's education and things like that, we'll let them know. But at this point right now we have no plans to do this. This is a race between Ron Paul and Mitt Romney.

BALDWIN: OK.

Jesse, as of late last week, when the Romney folks were putting out word that they hardly give a hoot what Ron Paul does, I mean, they were saying that their targets are these two guys, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry. So the Romney folks say Gingrich and Perry are the only ones left who have a fighting chance.

Just hearing that, Jesse, does that -- I don't know -- does that get under your skin a little bit?

BENTON: Well, they're trying to do the same thing that we are. We've had several candidates try to pretend that they're real limited government people and represent real change. So we've had to try to knock them off.

At the same time, the Romney people, they are trying to take out the other establishment people. So they're going after newt Gingrich, they're going after Rick Perry. And they want to consolidate all the establishment support. I think they're doing a good job of that, and it's going to come down to Mitt Romney and the establishment status quo versus Ron Paul, the candidate of real change and the candidate of the people.

BALDWIN: Obviously we're talking so much about Iowa, and you look at your candidate's numbers in the polls and they're pretty strong. And you have plenty of folks saying no matter what happens in Iowa, Ron Paul is one and done, that he can't build beyond his base of the -- and I hear you laugh, but I have to ask, we have New Hampshire coming up and your guy is way -- we have the numbers here -- way behind Mitt Romney. Romney at 41 percent; Ron Paul, 17 percent.

Where is, Jesse Benton, Ron Paul's mass appeal outside of the state you're sitting in right now?

BENTON: Well, you just showed a poll, and public polling shows us in a strong second place in New Hampshire. We're going to continue to do very well in New Hampshire. We've got a great organization, a great ground game up there, some great ads.

In addition to that, we are poised to do very, very well in multiple caucus states moving forward after that. We have professional operations and campaign staff that have been in place for six months in Louisiana, Nevada, North Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, Washington State, Colorado, just to name a few. We're going to do very, very well in these caucus states and we're going to win delegates moving up to and through Super Tuesday. We're the only candidate besides Mitt Romney with a comprehensive plan to win the 1,100 delegates it's going to take to be the nominee. We're executing that plan and we're working very, very hard.

BALDWIN: I know Ron Paul supporters, they are dedicated. Enthusiastic, Ron Paul supporters. But then you also have to think, I mean, he is 76 years of age. Should Americans, outside of this realm of supporters of your candidate, should they worry that he's just too old to be president?

BENTON: Well, you have to look at the man, first all. He is the fittest man I've ever been around. He routinely walks three miles a day and bikes 15 miles a day.

He's young. He's sharp and most importantly his ideas are young. He's young enough to be president. He'd be a great president. He'd also bring the wisdom and experience to be steady, to guide us through these really tough challenges that we're going to face in this country. That we are facing in this country.

President Paul is going to have to deal with a lot of problems and he will have the courage of conviction and the wisdom behind him from his years to be able to stay on course.

BALDWIN: Jesse Benton, Ron Paul's National Campaign Chairman. Jesse, thank you very much. Stakes obviously very high where you are. Remember our live coverage of the Iowa caucuses starts in full force tomorrow night, CNN election center 7:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

In other news today, the latest on the hunt for the man responsibility for killing a park ranger over the weekend. It's happened inside this park in Washington State.

Patrick Ottman is standing by on the phone right now. He's going to bring you details after this quick break. Stay right here.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: All right, let's talk politics and continue talking about this big Iowa caucus that happens tomorrow with Wolf Blitzer. Hi, happy new year.

WOLF BLITZER, HOST, CNN'S "THE SITUATION ROOM": I'm glad I'm here at the CNN Election Center. This is a fabulous place you have here.

BALDWIN: It's pretty amazing. We got --

BLITZER: Very exciting. So you'd go from New York to Nashville to Atlanta within, what, two, three days?

BALDWIN: Two, three days.

BLITZER: You were great New Year's Eve in Nashville with Brooke was fabulous.

BALDWIN: It was wonderful. BLITZER: Your producer organized some video to show our viewers who may have missed what you were doing in Nashville.

BALDWIN: They're grouting in my ear right now.

BLITZER: Do we have some of that right now that we can show them?

BALDWIN: Always the Twitter love from you. I appreciate it. You know, maybe we'll work on it.

BLITZER: We want them to see that hat.

BALDWIN: You're here because of Iowa tomorrow. First, just why did Iowa go first?

BLITZER: It always, at least for 30 or 40 years, has gone first and they fight so hard, Iowa and New Hampshire, to make sure they go first. Every four years they try to change it.

Iowa is not necessarily representative of the country as a whole, very different demographic, economy and stuff like that, New Hampshire so small. But you know what, I hear this argument every four years, we've got to change it, never happens.

BALDWIN: What kind of track record? I mean, it doesn't have the best track record among Republican candidates.

BLITZER: It has an excellent track record in whittling down the number of candidates on the Democratic side four years ago. Remember, it was a fiercely fought battle for one, two, three between Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and John Edwards.

They came in, you know, one, two, three, actually Hillary Clinton came in third just behind John Edwards. But the other Democratic candidates all basically got the message.

Whether it was Joe Biden or Chris Dodd or Bill Richardson, they all dropped out. So Iowa has a good record in narrowing the field, not necessarily a great record in predicting the winner.

BALDWIN: Is that really what we're looking for, who's losing?

BLITZER: I'm looking who might drop out.

BALDWIN: Yes.

BLITZER: You know, if Michele Bachmann comes in last, she was born in Iowa. She represents a district in Minnesota next door neighbor. If she does really badly, does she go on?

If Newt Gingrich does really badly, does he go on? What about Rick Perry? You know, he spent the most money of any of the candidates in Iowa. If he comes in dead last, what happens, I don't know if any of that is going to happen, but those are things we're going to be looking at.

BALDWIN: When you look at the polls, I mean, we can throw those numbers up -- you have Romney at about 25 percent right now and then you have Ron Paul, then you have Rick Santorum. As Rick Santorum sort of continues this rise, come tomorrow, whose support may he be drawing from?

BLITZER: From Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich, the collapse of Newt Gingrich has really benefitted Rick Santorum. I don't think there's any doubt about that. But, you know, it's interesting, some people are already suggesting -- let's say Santorum does really great in Iowa. It looks like he'll do well.

BALDWIN: And they're buying ad time now in New Hampshire.

BLITZER: Will he be the anti-Romney? Will be the candidate that all those conservatives are looking for because they never really liked Mitt Romney to begin with. Will it be Rick Santorum?

Some earlier thought it would be Rick Perry, then Newt Gingrich. You know the ups and the downs, but we're looking closely at Rick Santorum.

BALDWIN: I was reading earlier some of our articles from some of our, you know, team in Iowa and some of the consensus on some of the political tickers is, some people in Iowa like the political values of Santorum. But they think ahead, would Santorum be able to beat Obama? Perhaps not, therefore, they're thrusting support behind Mitt Romney.

BLITZER: A lot of people think Mitt Romney is it the most electable. So many Republicans in the end will probably vote for Romney in these primaries and caucuses because they think he's the most electable, not necessarily they agree with him more than they do with Rick Santorum or Newt Gingrich or Rick Perry or Michele Bachmann.

BALDWIN: This is it very exciting for you, isn't it?

BLITZER: It is.

BALDWIN: I see the sparkle in your eye.

BLITZER: Because I'm a political news junkie. You know that.

BALDWIN: We'll see you next hour. We'll talk about your blog.

BLITZER: It's cnn.com/situation room. North Korea, even while I'm here at the CNN elections, I'm very worried about North Korea.

BALDWIN: Nervous about North Korea meet the Blitzer blog. We'll see you next hour, sir. Thank you very much.

We're going to move along. Just in case I can't say enough, I'm going to say it again. Live coverage of the Iowa caucuses begins right here on CNN 7:0) p.m. Eastern Time tomorrow night with Wolf Blitzer and company. And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) BALDWIN: For the rest of their lives, the New Year will be heartbreaking for two little girls in Washington State. Their mother, national park ranger, Margaret Anderson, spent yesterday away from her 4 and 1-year-olds to do her job, and she never came home.

Now the manhunt for their mother's suspected killer may be over after searchers have now found the body of a man in a ditch. This is according to our affiliate out of Seattle KCPQ. A park spokesman says Benjamin Barnes shot and killed Anderson while on the run from another ranger.

We're still awaiting confirmation that the body is in fact that of Barnes. Authorities believe that Barnes, who also fought in Iraq, is connected to a shooting in a Seattle suburb earlier in the day. Three people were hurt during a party.

In Iowa, this is the last full day of campaigning before tomorrow's Republican caucuses, and polls show uncommitted voters could decide this race. One candidate has spent more than a year reaching out to them and these days Rick Santorum has been feeling their love. Joe Johns takes a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: I have done, what, 358 or 359 town hall meetings in the state of Iowa, all 99 counties and we weren't speed dating.

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Rick Santorum's polling number has surge in Iowa is starting to look like love. Though the question is, what took so long for a staunch conservative who's been courting the state for months, to finally get some traction?

SANTORUM: The crowds are bigger, but I think they'd be bigger in any circumstance because people are focused.

JOHNS: For some of those Evangelicals and social conservatives, he's been with them on all of their issues for so long, it's like they're just remembering he's actually in the race.

Anti-abortion, anti-gay marriage, pro-national rifle association, on the right side, the far right side of many things that matter to them most.

One Santorum selling point is that he appears to have no serious baggage compared to others because he was vetted during his years in Congress.

SANTORUM: You know, I got a thorough cleansing, if you will, when I ran in 2006. I had everyone look at everything, national profiles and everything else. The answer is, I've been through this.

JOHNS: That 2006 Senate re-election campaign haunts him. He got crushed in his home state Pennsylvania, a battleground state. So why would the Republican Party risk giving the nomination to a guy who got bounced out of office like that? Answer number one, it was a tough year.

SANTORUM: It was the worst election for Republicans in, you know, probably -- maybe in the history of the Republican Party in Pennsylvania.

JOHNS: Answer number two, to explain that drubbing in the Senate election, principle. He got advice to moderate his positions in order to suit the voters' moods, but he refused.

SANTORUM: Yes, I lost but I stood for what I believed in. My feeling was, there's one thing worse than losing and that's sacrificing your principles. I wouldn't do it. I didn't do it.

JOHNS: Democrats poked fun, of course, pointing out this humorous ad that makes Santorum look like quite the compromiser.

SANTORUM: Barbara Boxer and I want a law protecting open space. I'm even working with Hillary Clinton to eliminate inappropriate material in children's video games because it makes more sense to wrestle with America's problems than each other.

JOHNS: He's also gotten slammed for earmarking while in Congress. He argues there's was nothing wrong with it.

SANTORUM: Yes, well, I did.

JOHNS: But, make no mistake, standing up for conservative social issues has defined Rick Santorum's career, to the point that some Republicans who know him point out he's gotten pigeonholed.

RON BONJEAN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: He's really revolved himself around social issues, like abortion, and, when you're talking about the economy as the number one issue to Americans in a Republican primary voters, you know, he's speaking one language, but he needs to speak everything to voters right now.

JOHNS: Joe Johns, CNN, Des Moines, Iowa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Joe Johns, thank you. Look, if you're not in Iowa, maybe, if you're not into politics, you could be saying yourself, why in the world do I care about the caucuses? We have that answer for you straight ahead.

And also a look back at past elections and the part that Iowa played in the race for the White House. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: I want to take you to Washington State now as it appears the manhunt for the man suspected of murdering a park ranger is now over.

Let's get straight to Patrick Oppmann, who is there. So Patrick, what you've been learning as you've been in the national park with these teams is they have now discovered a body. Tell me more. PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): That's right. We were just told within the last hour a body was discovered in a drainage ditch type area. Police have not been able to get to the area, it will take another hour to reach the body. They're very hopeful, though -- who shot Margaret Anderson yesterday when he drove into the park -- 200 law enforcement agents trying to find --

BALDWIN: It's too tough to hear on Patrick Oppmann. We're going to have to let you go. There in a very remote location I'm sure in this national park.

But again, he's talking about Benjamin Barnes who is an Iraq war vet, who shot this park ranger so it's extra difficult obviously for folks there at this national park.

As soon as we get confirmation, if in fact the two are connected, Benjamin Barnes and this body they found, we'll let know and get Patrick Oppman back up on the line.

Also, it's down to the wire with just one day left until the Iowa caucuses, the Republican candidates scrambling to get their message out.

They are fanning out across the state today for this final push in the nation's first contest in the presidential race. Our Jessica Yellin takes a look at really what's at stake here.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JESSICA YELLIN, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In Iowa, a win can thrust a candidate into the national spotlight.

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Thank you, Iowa!

YELLIN: While a loss can kill a campaign's momentum. Just ask Phil Gramm.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to congratulate the other candidates.

YELLIN: Or Howard Dean.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then we're going to Washington, D.C., to take back the White House! Yes!

YELLIN: But, in terms of picking a winner, whether it's the president or a party's nominee, the record for the Iowa caucuses is mixed. On the Republican side, Ronald Reagan lost here in 1980 so did George H.W. Bush in 1988.

Eventual Republican nominee, Bob Dole in 1996 and President George W. Bush in 2000 both claimed victories in the state. You may remember, just eight years later, Mike Huckabee won the caucuses.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love Iowa a whole lot. YELLIN: But John McCain went on to become the GOP nominee. For the Democrats, the original Iowa upset went to Jimmy Carter in 1976 when the little-known Georgia governor made a surprisingly strong finish here launching his political rise to the White House.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We need to reorganize completely the executive branch of government.

YELLIN: In 1984, Walter Mondale went from Iowa caucus winner to Democratic Party nominee. In 1988, Iowa Democrats chose Dick Gephardt over eventual nominee Michael Dukakis.

And four years later, Bill Clinton was humbled with less than 3 percent of the caucus vote. Native son, Senator Tom Harkin won that year. Democratic nominee John Kerry won the caucuses in 2004.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Iowa, for making me the comeback Kerry.

YELLIN: And, more recently, Senator Barack Obama staged a caucus upset that catapulted him to the front of the pack. Recall that Senator Hillary Clinton was considered all but a shoo-in until then.

MICHELE BACHMANN (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Hi, this is Michele Bachmann calling. YELLIN: What the Iowa caucuses are good at are winnowing down the field. The old saying is, there are only three tickets out of Iowa.

GOVERNOR TERRY BRANSTAD (R), IOWA: Who comes in second and who comes in third as well as who comes in first. If somebody else does surprisingly well, it could well launch their campaign. It's happened before.

YELLIN: Political upstarts have a chance here because caucus goers really do, as they say, kick the tires.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What I want to know is, if you get a Republican House and a Republican Senate in two years, will you fulfill all those promises?

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: The answer is yes.

YELLIN: And Iowans take this work seriously, which is why the media and the country follows what happens here so closely.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BALDWIN: It is "Music Monday," the very first Monday of 2012. And today you're going to see a psychedelic experimental pop group from as they say middle of nowhere. Alaska, we give you Portugal, the Man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Jason and I play drums.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Ryan, I play keys.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm Zach and I play the bass.

JOHN GOURLEY: John, I sing and play guitar and we are Portugal, the Man. We always knew this was going to be a band and at the same time, we wanted it to make it like the Ziggy Stardust, Sergeant Pepper alter ego. So we decided to do a country for our name, Portugal being that, the choice and "The Man" just states he is the man.

Zach and I grew up on the border of Russia and Wasilla, Alaska. And it was -- I guess it was different -- I kind of moved around the state so I wasn't really next to Russia as much as Zach may have been in Wasilla.

We left Alaska for the sake of touring, ended up in Portland, Oregon, and this is the thing about Alaska. You take them out of Alaska and they realize there are things to do in the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would say that, in general, it's pop music based, but we are fans of effects on every instrument.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: People like to add in psychedelic to that, which doesn't bother me. I think that's pretty cool.

ZACHARY CAROTHERS, BASS: A lot of people thought that we were a lot more experimental at the beginning, but I don't really think that's true. I just think we didn't know how to write songs. We're starting to get the hang of it now especially with this last record.

John and I go back to Alaska every Christmas to hang out with our families, and he lives -- I live in the middle of nowhere. He really lives in the middle of nowhere. So he hangs out at his parents' house and writes songs in his room.

Then I'll come over and he'll show them to me and we'll start working on them, send them to these guys in Oregon with their families. We'll start talking about where we want the next record to go.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: And Julianne Comings, thank you so much for putting that "Music Monday" together. If you want to see any of my "Music Monday" interviews, go to my blog at cnn.com/brooke. Love you to watch, comment. Let me know what bands you're listening to, who we should feature on our next "Music Monday."

And I want to let you know, live pictures here, this is Los Angeles, we are watching and waiting to hear from the Los Angeles fire department. As we've been reporting on these 53, the number we have here at CNN, suspected arsons in and around the greater Los Angeles area.

They do have someone in custody. We're going to find out if that person is, in fact, behind these arsons as we cannot confirm that. So stay tuned for that. We'll bring that to you live from Los Angeles. But I want to tell you this story, here's is amazing, out of Utah to this dramatic icy river rescue. So this car tumbles upside down into this Utah River, trapping three small kids under water. Watch this report. This is from our affiliate KTVX and hear how a gun helped save the day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (voice-over): The driver of this car tapped his brakes to avoid a minivan, slid off the icy road and down a ten-foot embankment where the car ended upside down in the frigid Logan River. Chris Willden, a Department of Defense contractor came upon the accident just moments later.

CHRIS WILLDEN, DEFENSE DEPARTMENT CONTRACTOR: We saw some ladies coming towards us. They were screaming something about kids. So I jumped out of the car, ran around, jumped into the river next to the children's father, started helping him get into the vehicle.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Three children were trapped inside. The driver's 9-year-old daughter, his 4-year-old son and another 9-year- old girl were under water and time was running out.

WILLDEN: Felt the windows, all were rolled up. Tried to pull on the doors, none of them would open. I pulled out a handgun and shot out a window. I tried to feel for arms or legs and wasn't able to.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But then miraculously more help arrived.

WILLDEN: I looked behind me and there were six or eight guys jumping in the water. We pushed the vehicle back up on the side.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: At that angle, Willden saw something encouraging.

WILLDEN: I could see one of the girls in the back seat, she was looking at me. I said, get out of the car. She stated she couldn't because she was stuck with her seat belt. I pulled out my knife and cut it off. I pulled her out and gave her to someone else.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: But two more children remained in the submerged car.

WILLDEN: When I looked up towards the driver's compartment where I saw another one of the girls upside down floating and she was just as gray as could be.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Another rescuer reached her while Willden (ph) searched for the 4-year-old boy.

WILLDEN: Pushed the car up a little bit more and that's when we saw the 4-year-old still upside down in the car seat.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: He was lifeless.

WILLDEN: We cut the seat belt off of the -- or the car seat off the kid, pulled him out.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Another passerby started CPR.

WILLDEN: There were a bunch of people there. We just did what needed to be done right then.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BALDWIN: Those pictures. The little boy was revived and then airlifted to a hospital along with the -- one of the 9-year-old girls. At last word, both children were listed in fair condition.