butterflies could get too cold to eat and die of starvation. poor little guys. jon: getting chilly down there. weather can play a big role in voter turnout. as of now looks like mother nature is cooperating in iowa but will the good weather last through the caucuses tonight? meteorologist janice dean live in the extreme weather center. how is it looking, jd? it is cold and chilly across much of the country, jon scott, as our real first blast of arctic air makes its way southward and eastward. look at temperatures. 22 in des moines. 17 in cedar rapids and you factor in the wind, what it feels like on your skin if you re not protected feels like 3 in mason city, 10 in des moines and 4 in cedar rapids. yes it is called. the good news we don t have any storms moving through the state and the temperatures will warm up fairly quickly. in some cases 20, 25 degrees within just a matter of
generally for the establishment candidates in the past. what happens is, as joe said, as iowa begins to whittle the field it puts forth people that have a clear frontrunner or chaos. then you go to new hampshire and something will happen probably fairly decisive and probably romney will win. south carolina for the republicans has been the make-or-break state. it is what allowed john mccain to capitalize on his victory in last time after new hampshire. and it s important, it has been important for every republican. no republican in recent years has been nominated that has not won south carolina. just remember that. jon: here s a question, matt, for you. jim writes about ron paul. he says, i ve heard discussion about his ability to get independents and democrats to register as republicans yet i keep hearing about his inability to be elected. what other current candidate has this sort of appeal and isn t that is what needed to win an election? matt? he raises a good point,
we do have the ability for any iowan to register as a republican tonight at their caucus site. with congressman paul it has been very interesting what is driving, kind of fueling some of his growth in iowa. it has been almost singular focus on the exploding national debt. if you look at his television ads it focuses on cutting one trillion dollars in spending. literally show federal agencies evaporating before your very eyes that is lesson for everybody outside of iowa, with independent voters who have been leaving the president, that issue related to debt and spending really has americans, specially independents here in iowa really looking for change. jon: all right. the momentum contest that is iowa begins soon. thanks to each of you for joining us. thanks to our viewers for sending in those questions. matt strawn, joe trippi, pat caddel. thank you. thank you, jon. jenna: real interesting conversation. we ll look for more as we move along the campaign trail in 2012. meantime this i
hours. 41 is the daytime high in des moines. 32 in cedar rapids and the further west you go the warmest it gets. no reason why folks should not be voting today. look at the satellite imagery. not too much to tell you about. the lake-effect snow starting to taper off in the great lakes. looking at snow across the appalachians in upstate new york and pennsylvania. no major systems. much of the country into a deep freeze. look at temperatures. 18 in chicago. 26 cold degrees in new york city, jon scott. jon: it is bring your own blankets at the caucuses tonight, is that right? i think they re use to it out there. people like shannon bream who are from the south, they re tweeting me saying i can t handle this. gravy and business cuts, it is cold out here. jon: shannon bream is all bundled up. janice dean, thank you. talk to you later. jenna: we re certainly keeping an eye on the dow on the first day of trading this year. take a look at that the dow is surging more than 200 points. we ll
a suspect behind a series of arson attacks. this is brand new video. you see a man hurling a firebomb into a house. that same man is also suspected of attacking three other places including an islamic cultural center. in sports news, soccer star david beckham is expected to resign with the l.a. galaxy. the midfielder turning down a lucrative offer from the french team. he apparently looks hollywood. jon: posh likes hollywood. jenna: i think that might be right. jon: greatest country in the world, isn t it? just hours before folks in iowa head out to the caucuses to cast the votes in the first presidential contest of the 2012 election season the gop hopefuls are making their last minute pitches still trying to sway the undecided in iowa. so what do the locals want to hear? john roberts live at the polk county, convention center in des moines for us. reporter: they want to hear about some different things. 41% of the people according to the last des moines