good evening. i'm ali velshi sitting in for erin burnett. the iowa caucus is just eight days away. republican presidential candidates have just over a week left to prove to iowans that they're the first to win the nation's contest held on january 3rd. polls show the race there is still very much up for grabs, but there was only one candidate out today with an official campaign event and it wasn't one of those top three. it was rick santorum and he went hunting with an important guest. our senior congressional correspondent dana bash joins us now with more. who is this special guest that got rick santorum out on a campaign event today? >> he's congressman steve king, a very prominent republican from the state of iowa whose endorsement is coveted big time. he didn't endorse santorum today and i spoke with him by phone as he was driving in the car, ali, to this hunting event with rick santorum. he told me he'd planned to endorse months ago. he wanted to back one of these candidates to try to have a big impact in the iowa caucuses and he still to this day, eight day away, he says he can't do it because just like many other republican voters in iowa, he can't make up his mind. so certainly helpful to rick santorum to have this picture that we're showing right now, but he did not get an actual endorsement from steve king and it's fascinating that he is just perplexed that he can't make up his mind. >> santorum is going to all 99 counties in iowa. michele bachmann is about to achieve that. he has really, really worked hard in iowa. is it helping him? the latest poll has him at 4%? >> no. if you look at the poll, it's not helping him at all, but the thing about iowa and the thing about the caucuses and the way they work is, you know, you never know where the activists are going to come from and where they're going end up and if, this is a big if, he could get the help of someone like steve king who can fire up his activists, that certainly could help rick santorum, but look, for somebody like rick santorum, it was certainly a smart move for him to get out on a day when nobody else is out today and this is make or break, the state of iowa is make or break. >> he's kept the idea that he wants voters to think he's the most conservative or reliably conservative in the group. mitt romney has released an ad called conservative agenda. let's listen to that. >> i'm going do something to government. i'm going to make it simpler and smaller and smarter, getting ri of programs and getting programs back to states and finally making the government itself more efficient. >> the different conservative than the one rick santorum champions. this is a fiscal conservative and more appealing to a lot of the conservatives with money to donate. rick perry also has an ad out there taking a completely different approach. he slams congress and he's talking about making congress part-time. listen to his ad. >> if washington's the problem, why trust him to fix it. they spent three years in congress leaving us with debts, earmarks and bailouts. >> dana, two very different approaches for conservatives in iowa. one, the fiscal conservative message not touching on those social conservative issues that santorum and bachmann play to and he's talking about the outsider and how congress is a problem. which one plays better in iowa. >> they both are playing the best cards they've got. when it comes to mitt romney, of course, he's going play up at least as part of his closing argument, the idea that he's a fiscal conservative. i was with mitt romney a lot four years ago in iowa. he spent millions of dollars and he had an incredible organization and he got pummeled because people don't buy him as a social conservative because he's changed his stance on the issues that social conservatives care so much about. when it comes to rick perry, look, when you've got two sitting members of congress, two former members of congress also running with you, of course, you're a texas governor, that's what you're going to say. and as a senior congressional correspondent, part time congress may not sound like a bad idea. >> great to see you as always. dana bash joining us from washington. let's bring in robert zirmman, a democratic strategist and republican strategist. thank you for joining us. let's just think about this for a second. mike huckabee makes a point. we're not expecting terrible weather particularly for io wans. >> if it's nice, those people who like romney will come out and vote. if it's not nice, they might say it's kind of cloudy outside. i'm hanging out inside, but the ron paul supporters will climb over three or four mountains to cast their ballot for him. what's your thought on this? >> i love mike, but i couldn't disagree more. the reason is that in iowa you have some of the most extreme republicans in the country. these people would come out in a tornado. when they make up their mind and they have their candidate and this is the smallest sliver of people who will participate in any primary or caucus anywhere in the nation and believe me, when they make up their mind they'll be out to vote regardless of weather. >> christine romans, my colleague, she's from iowa and she says this is the first time that it's so late in the season and you haven't seen people's lawn signs. you do see ron paul lawn signs because those folks were committed from the beginning and remain committed. but we're getting to this place where these iowans have not made up their mind. >> that's part of the culture there. in 2008, 40% of the i on what voters decided in the last week and we see a significant number that are undecided or publicly saying they'll switch positions. they're leaning one way, but they're open to switching in other positions. the problem they've got in with a wash the right hand doesn't know what the extreme right hand is doing. and that's the challenge and to see them consolidate and that's why if you look at the field as it is laid out, the issue is not who wins. the issue is who comes out of iowa with momentum. and for mitt romney, ron paul's victory -- or ron paul finishing second is a tremendous victory for mitt romney. it potentially blocks newt gingrich from consolidaing the anti-romney onstituency. >> one important point to remember, ron paul is very much in this race. the advantage he has is he has a base that goes with him. he has the 13, 14, 15%. he doesn't have to go out and earn his dinner every night. romney for all his money and gingrich, for everything these people have in terms of attention, they don't have what ron paul has right now, and that's a solid base. i think paul is in this. i don't think he'll win, but i think he can play a big role in these primaries. >> but, jack, ron paul has shown to have a very niche constituency or a boutique constituency. he gets the 20%, 22%, but doesn't show potential for growth. the real issue is -- >> you're right. >> -- the candidate in iowa has the potential to consolidate anti-romney votes. >> that's a good point. newt gingrich has been of the group the most successful at the moment, but they have the big problem in virginia. they were talking about how they were going to be on the ballot in virginia and we find out five of those candidates didn't make it on to the ballot including newt gingrich. he wanted to have a write-in ballot and the rules of the state didn't allow that. he has even referred to this -- his campaign manager referred to this as their pearl harbor moment. is this serious, jack? i don't think so. i think this will be decided before march 4th. if i were gingrich i'd be doing the same thing. you'd want to turn this into a big media win. you want to pretend you're the underdog. you want to do all of those things. i think this will be over long before that. the real issue here when you look at all of this stuff is whether romney can get through the south. my prediction is he can't and when you come out that other side there's just not enough oxygen. my prediction is only a conservative can win this. it's important to remember and you look at the layout of the primary and caucus season. february is a relatively quiet time and because of a proportional representation, it's not a winner take-all process. super tuesday, march 6th would be defining. romney is showing he has the national organization to go the distance. newt gingrich, for all his bravado has shown not just that he's an underdog, but that he's incompetent and it's a very clear message to the donor and political community when you can't even get on the key ballot states. the other problem is how he explains it comparing this to pearl harbor and the way he explained his infidelities by saying he did this out of love of country or preparing democrats to nazis. at one point just lose credibility in the process. >> all right, guys. we have lots of time to continue this discussion. jack, always good to see you. thank you very much for joining us. >> a reminder, live coverage begins next tuesday here on cnn, 7:00 p.m. eastern. still "out front" reports today that iran is strengthening its military ties with its long time foe, iraq. is this real or is this posturing? and authorities are investigating the cause of a fire that killed five people in stamford, connecticut on christmas day. we'll be right back. in fact, i'g your best friend, justin. ♪ i would have appreciated a proactive update on the status of our relationship. who do you think i am, tim? quicken loans? at quicken loans, we provide you with proactive updates on the status of your home loan. and our innovative online tools ensure that you're always in the loop. one more way quicken loans is engineered to amaze. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. sir, can you hear me? two, three. just hold the bag. we need a portable x-ray, please! 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>> so far, the pentagon says there's no impact on the military users, the military clients which purchased stratfor's information. as far as the company, they are posting a number of messages on their facebook page because their website's down, so they've turned to facebook to communicate with their clients, acknowledging that this information has been disclosed and telling people to be very cautious and perhaps go to some of these credit reporting agencies that we know about like equifax and others so that they can keep track of their credit card charges. the thing that's so mysterious here that no one is answering yet is whether stratfor encrypted the credit card data of its client base. could they possibly have just overlooked that and not even done it? ali? >> thanks very much for that, barbara starr joining us from washington. christmas is certainly over for a 7-year-old walmart greeter in upstate new york. she sustained fractures to the side of her face after being hit by a customer. she was punched on christmas eve after asking 26-year-old jacketa simmons to show her the receipt for her purchases. simmons was detained by employees and customers after she ran out of the store. she's been charged with two counts of assault. >> baggage handlers in argentina make a startling discovery inside a man's suitcase. this was no movie. and reports that iran may be cozying up to iraq. is this true or is this military posturing? and a fire at a home in stamford, connecticut claims the lives of five on christmas day. what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. investigators are looking into the cause of a deadly christmas day house fire in stamford, connecticut, that took the lives of five family members. they children, a 10-year-old, 7-year-old twins and their grandparents died. fire rescue tried it rescue them from the second story of the home, but were turned back by the heat and flames. the children's mother, madonna badger was taken to a hospital and released. her father had just finished his dream job of playing santa claus at saks fifth avenue's flagship store in manhattan. joining us with this story is staff writer for the local stamford paper "the hour." chase, thanks very much for joining us. tell us what you know about this fire. it seemed to be -- it seemed to get out of control. >> yeah. that's what it appears to be. we don't really know too much as to the cause of the fire at this point. we do know is that a fire broke out at about 4:52 a.m. is when the first calls were reported and as you said, when the firefighters arrived on the scene there was nothing really they could do to rescue those inside. miss badger and her acquaintance were already outside and the firefighters did what they could, but there was not much they could do at that point. >> she's been released from the hospital right now. they've already excavated the house. why have they done that so soon? is there something they're looking for? >> well, fire marshals have already conducted their evidence gathering, part of the investigation and the city's fire -- or the city's building inspector arrived at the scene and deemed the structure unsafe, and it was ruled that it needed to be torn down, so that's exactly what they did. part of the structure had already collapsed the day before. the top floor. it was too weak to be held up there. so all that remain were the first two floor, charred and two chimneys at the top of the structure. >> we're looking at it now, it was a big house. madonna badger and her friend escaped, got to the hospital. we know she's been released. what are they up to now, do you know? >> we don't know that the point. their whereabouts as far as i can tell are unknown at this point. she was released and he is still in the hospital in stable condition at this point. as to where she is with her ex-husband matthew, we don't know as of this point. >> chase wright, thanks very much for joining with us that update. chase wright is with "the hour" in stamford. reports that iran plans to strengthen ties with iraq. is this a clear any present danger or is it iran continuing to posture. and the fbi joins the search for a missing 9-year-old ft. wayne indiana girl. her grandfather comes out front next. i'd never ride without one now. and since my doctor prescribed lipitor, i won't go without it for my high cholesterol and my risk of heart attack. why kid myself? 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