kids to tell us why in a "starting point" exclusive. plus, get real. we have not found any skeletons in rick santorum's closets. a lot of sweater vests. like a lot. facebook twit irpicked up on his wardrobe. if you don't believe me, we're going to show you the music video of the sweater vest. not kidding. a very busy two hours. besides michele bachmann and family, newt gingrich and his two daughters joining us. senator rand paul pitching for his father, and members of occupy iowa will be occupying the diner right here. so "starting point" begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com a lot of heavy rockmusic this morning. good morning, everybody. you're looking at the waveland cafe. inside is where we are in iowa. the caucuses finally here, first ever the nation's caucuses. this is a horse race it's mitt romney leading by a nose. ron paul trying to mike it a photo finish. it's rick santorum surging from the rear and newt gingrich hedging his bets, admitting he may not be winning in iowa. michele bachmann says, put your money on the long shot and, perry, well, he is chasing santorum at this point. take a listen. >> in this thing with all of our passion and the strength and do everything we can to get this campaign on the right track to go across the nation, and to pick up other states and to get the ballots i need, the votes i need to become our nominee. >> who knows what's going to happen tomorrow night. i think i'll probably come in somewhere between first and fourth, but i have -- i honestly have no idea where we'll be on that list. but it's, to me, very exciting, a very exciting time. >> it liberty is the most important issue, the most important responsibility of government is to protect liberty. and not to be the policemen of the world and not to have a runaway welfare state. >> i think tomorrow night will issue a very different result than what people are seeing, because, again, still, 50% of the people register in the polls as undecided, in iowa. very strong suspicion we're going to see a lot of people coming out and voting for me. >> yeah, but undecideds not the word of the day. the word of the day is momentum and the candidate who has momentum going into tonight is rick santorum. a survey taken december 27th to 2es 30th had his 15% behind mitt romney and ron paul. then in a smaller two-day poll using just the two most recent days in that survey, he explodes. jumps to 21%, surging past ron paul. let's get right to jim acosta, who's in des moines, for quite a while. at the site of the rock the caucus event where santorum and ron paul will speak later today. jim, good morning. give me a sense of the feel. is it desperation among candidates? is it enthusiasm? is it confidence? what are you seeing? >> reporter: you know, i think it's excitement. you know, we were out chasing rick santorum around yesterday, and, you know, honestly, soledad, i felt i was beamed into a twilight zone universe. here we are with the international press and hundreds of iowans chasing rick santorum around. you know, this is a senator, former senator, who lost his re-election bid back in 2006 by 18 percentage points and now is on the verge of perhaps winning the iowa caucuses. it is kind of amazing to behold. at the same time, i think the big question that will be answered tonight, soledad, which republican be party are we looking at? the republican party of mitt romney? if he wins the iowa caucuses and then goes on to win the new hampshire primary, he's going to be very hard to stop. if not, if rick santorum or ron paul wins these iowa caucus, then, perhaps, it's a republican party who hasn't figured out who their standard bearer is. perhaps oun to stop mitt romney from winning this nomination. exciting and interesting to see what happens tonight. >> yes, we'll be watching closely as well. jim acosta, thank you. appreciate it. right to our panel. ron bownstein, senior political analy analyst, jamal simmons, dnc communications adviser. david fromme is with us and a cnn contributor, appreciate you join us. right to it. the tone is so interesting. like, i can't believe i'm chasing santorum, who did not even win his re-election bid. >> 1,000 votes in 2006. a big number. what feels even more -- rick perry. we got in the race, looked like he was the co-front-runner with mitt romney and here in the final days of the caucus attacking rick santorum, which is kind of a measure how far his star has fallen. someone has to win this caucus. >> what the surge is -- >> a last-minute standing element. >> did you see the science fiction movie, everyone on the planet die, one guy wakes up and he's the only guy on earth? that's rick santorum. he has a retail campaign, actually, but not on tv. no one saw him. all the other candidates died. when newt gingrich collapsed, that vote had to go somewhere. guess who, the only guy they didn't know? rick santorum. >> his supporters would say, working every county. they would say, here's a guy talking about blue collar jobs and connecting with people. not that everybody else in the campaign trail dropped dead and he's just the last guy. >> the message, blue collar jobs is important and one that's referred to little in this race. that's very powerful. his support is responding to the pro-life message much more. i think we would -- a lot of press would like santorum to do well, that would validate campaigning. he has been doing iowa the way you're supposed to. the way jimmy carter did it. >> old school. 99 counties. >> and because the alternative is that actually mitt romney can win even though he's campaigned here very little and simply used the overwhelming power of money to defeat and destroy newt gingrich and rick perry. if that turns out to be the story line i think a lot of people in the press will not be so happy. >> also, i'm going to, fake like you're gladys knight and we just joins they. s a s -- just joined the pips. >> we can't sing or dance. >> neither can i. i like that. go ahead. >> i think when you look at what rick santorum has been doing, opportunity means preparation. certainly true, this candidate is so much better than what he wa before. he's somebody who knows iowa. he knows a lot of people he's been talking to, been there so long. i went to see him yesterday for a little while and he is so much more compelling on the stump that i thought he would be. >> apartment calm. he's actually -- >> there have been two central namices in this race all wait through. mitt romney, solid, consolidating some of the more moderate secular pragmatic parts of the part and the more conservative wing of the party, overlapping circles of tea party supporter at evangelical christian whose have not settle and a candidate. that's where we've seen the bouncing around from bachmann to perry to cain to gingrich and now santorum. the process demands an alternative to romney. the question, if it is santorum here, does he have the capacity to the grow into a true national threat? the romney campaign, pretty dubious. >> that's really the translation, that's let's not attack him yet. we're not sure he can be a national candidate. >> for the budweiser candidate, the question you put on the survey is, who would you rather have a beer with? who's the populist guy? the working man's candidate? you said it. this guy's from pittsburgh. that's his home. he knows steel mills don't just build towns, they build families, and there isn't a candidate you know, mitt romney's campaign is a campaign for the american investor knop one's yet grabbed that slot for the american worker. hey, i don't blee washingteliev washingtonal going to solve our problem. i believe 300 million americans are going to solve our problems. i believe in you. if he goes to new hampshire and talks about the american worker, there's a place for rick santorum to go further than you think. >> move him out of the conservative social space and -- >> getting ready for the next state. and that is the mark on national security. he opened his rally, credit sized president obama for not dealing effectively with iran. not just an attack on president obama. the laying down of the attack on ron paul we'll hear moff you. >> speaking of the poll, go to non-electable poll pup like that, and ron paul has a dubious honor of leading the unelectedable poll at 29% and then michele bachmann at 28% and gingrich at 11%. mitt romney, one of those electable polls obviously. so ron paul, you know, is this where, really, he's going to reach his height and then die? >> ron paul running for president in the industry, i think he builds a newsletter, mailing list. he is going to -- because this is what he has been doing forever and will continue to do forever. it can be managed the way it becomes actually quite personally lucrative. the famous newsletters were about. a way of earning a living. he goes the distance, because he lives on the land in a way that a candidate like newt gingrich cannot do. >> he's got a built-in following of folks, libertarians who -- anyway, a lot of americans are libertarian more than conservative. philosophically. his is a pure boiled down essence of libertarianism. and you're thinking, rand paul, can't ignore the fact, rand paul spending time here, interesting to see if he shows up here -- >> ron paul and more about maybe what president rand paul? interesting theory. >> more about building a movement. >> it is but also -- you also are seeing, this is the kind of candidacy that has the rationale i think, dave was saying, for a lot of reasons to keep going long after it's clear you're not going to be the nominee. >> stick around all morning. i appreciate it. i know what you'll be doing tonight. we'll be together tonight. the caucus coverage for cnn. also we're going to talk about the occupy wall street movement as well. before i get to that, our special is called "america's choice 2012: coverage of the iowa caucuses." i'm sure we have a graphic, begins at 7:00 p.m. eastern right here in the cnn election center. also we'll get to christine romans with other stories making news for us this morning. hey, christine. good morning. >> good morning. nice to see you this morning, soledad. syria's news agency is reporting an armed terrorist group blew up a gas pipeline cutting off supplies to two power plants. anti-government activists claim the regime blew it up to distract international monitors from continuing their work in syria. in los angeles, an arrest in connection with that string of arson fires. police say 24-year-old harry burkhart is a pesuspected of mo than 50 fires. looking at an immigration dispute as a motive there. and mount rainier closed again to the public while authorities investigate the death of a park ranger and mother of two margaret anderson and the man suspected of killing her. the alleged gunman, benjamin colton barnes, he was found dead in that car apparently from exposure. u.s. markets back open today after being closed yet for the new year's holiday. stock futures for the dow, nasdaq and s&p, all up sharply pointing to a higher open right now to start off the new year, and soledad, for the year last year, the s&p 500 basically flat. after all of those ups and downs, it ended right where it started, soledad. back to you. >> christine, thanks. appreciate it. coming up on "starting point," the occupy wall street movement making its presence felt here in iowa. three members of the movement are going to occupy our space at the waveland cafe. what they have planned for today. also, senator rand paul live with us. he's going to discuss his father's chances of pulling off an upset in iowa. we'll ask him if the texas congressman is running for office or if it's really about building a movement that could help his son eventually in 2016. and michele bachmann will join us as well. she says she's banking on miracles. polling last, though, in iowa. she'll join us live along with four of her five kids. a "starting point" exclusive. we're back in a moment. stay with us. ski for a day. i want healthy skin for life. 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[ female announcer ] aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy, beautiful hair, try nourish plus haircare. only from aveeno. borrowed technology from ferrari to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v. we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. a shot inside the waveland cafe this morning. welcome back, everybody. the occupy wall street movement has literally spread to every corner of the country including right here in des moines. protesters using the iowa caucuses try to focus attention ton their cause. they tried to disrupt the candidates' campaign events, like michele bachmann, with their mike check chance, and then dozens of protesters arrested for disrupting rallies and protesting outside of candidates' campaign centers. they promised a protest tonight. they say they'll keep it 20 campaign headquarters. ship iowa republicans are worried there will be disruption of the caucuses themselves. so nervous, they've moved the caucus vote count to a secret location. so jessica, marty, martha, said i could call her marty, and judge are from the occupy movement. no signs, quiet. not enough coffee for protester. start with you. why are you part of the 99%? >> oh, i mean, the socioeconomic gap has become so large, we're all part of the 99%. everybody in this room here. it's our moral obligation to say, no, we need to take that money back and take those jobs back. we need to take our homes back. to make it fair, to make a fair and equal society. >> is it all about money and homes and jobs? marty, i was reading your story. you went from having no any posthigh school education to getting two bachelors degree, then your master's degree, then your ph.d i thought, this is the face of the american dream, that you -- why are you protesting? you sort of lived it? >> yes, i did go from poverty to middle class but i also have five grandchildren that i want them to have that chance as well. so i've been very fortunate and i feel very blessed, but i also know a lot of my friends and family -- >> you're worried. >> -- that aren't doing at well, and i want my grandchildren to have that same opportunity. >> dutch, you worked getting people mortgages and then declared bankruptcy yourself. what did that experience teach you about the economic crisis that this country is in right now? >> the american dream is becoming a dream of the past. like marty said. it's becoming further and further out of reach for the average iowan. >> why are you protesting here in iowa? when people think about the caucuses, almost think about the most grass roots democratic process there can be. people come together with neighbors, talk about issues. this, to me, seems almost the last place you'd want to occupy. why here? >> that's what the occupy movement is all about. we are the grass roots moovemen. they're so partisan, by the time we have the opportunity to vote for any politician, they're already bought and paid for. republican, democrat, two sides ever the same worthless coin. >> so you see -- we've heard a lot about has you're going on the republican side. what are you going to be doing on the democratic side to protest? >> we'll be there, too. we're definitely non-partisan. >> i've been arrested twice. i was -- the democratic party once at the iowa democratic party headquarters, i occupied obama's office for two days. obama's headquarters two days and arrested at the democratic national committee -- >> what's the goal with that? arrested here, but what's, the end goal, to be able to say, and we accomplished -- what? >> reshaped political and economic discourse that is currently being conducted. >> conversation? >> absolutely. starting about real issues. >> if we had the candidates all sitting right here, you've been trying to break into their campaign, brought them here. so what would you say to them? what is the conversation that you feel they're not speaking to? >> first of all, they're just not speaking to us, period. we invited them to come speak with us. that's what the caucuses are all about. candidates come to talk with us. so we would assume they would have wanted to talk to us, but they didn't. so we came to them. >> will you disrupt the caucuses? >> no. that is not at all our agenda. >> it appears that you will disrupt the caucuses? >> we're trying to get used to that idea that people are scared of us. >> what's going to happen tonight, in a word? just watching what happens? watching the turn out? >> the movement moves where it wants to move. it's very fluid. >> appreciate you coming up. have a cup of coffee and stick around with us this morning. straight ahead on "starting point," michele bachmann joining us, as well as her family. minnesota congresswoman, polling last in iowa but predicting a miracle, she says. bringing four of her five kids in a "starting point" exclusive. that's straight ahead. then it's time to get real. what is up whip the public's op session of rick santorum's xw sweaters? the sweater vest making a comeback. and then talk to ron paul's son senator rand paul, talking about his father's showing in iowa. "starting point" is back in just a minute. stay with us. welcome back, everybody. it is time now for a segment we call "get real." i highlight a segment that seems crazy to me. the public obsession with rick santorum's sweater vest. yes, rick santorum, just like my 7-year-old twin sons he does love the sweater vest. in navy, gray and a tan color. a twitter feed about his vests which is at fearricksvests. and rick santorum's facebook page. if that isn't enough, a music video, i kid you not, it's on youtube. take a look. ♪ ♪ >> pretty catchy. huh? santorum told the "times" his sweaters started getting interest, attention, a few weeks ago when we wore one to a forum in des moines and the other candidates were wearing suits, so he stuck out. really? let's focus on the issue, people. still to come on "starting point" this morning -- kentucky senator rand paul just walked into the dine are wearing, i should point out, the sweater vest. he's going to talk about his father's chances of winning the white house and maybe even rand paul's political future. plus, michele bachmann will join us with four of her five kids. we'll ask why she's so optimistic about the outcome today tonight. you look at the polls it is not a good story for her. a "starting point" exclusive. we'll be back in just a minute. stay with us. only from visine. just one drop instantly soothes and revives tired, overworked eyes. and comforts them for up to ten hours. visine® tired eye relief. try now and save $3. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa. and more. if you replace 3 tablespoons of sugar a day with splenda®, you'll save 100 calories a day. that could help you lose up to 10 pounds in a year. and now get even more with splenda® essentials, the only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitami