american people. chief of which is stopping out-of-control spending. and if you have socialized medicine, all you re going to get is unpaid for spending. i have the ability to hold president obama accountable for how he s destroyed not only our economy, but how he will destroy our great health care system. good luck, congresswoman. thanks very much. we ve got 48 hours to go. we do. thanks again, wolf. good to talk with you. thank you. joining us from urban dale, iowa, congresswoman michele bachmann. we ve seen candidates rise and fall in this republican presidential contest. erin burnett will take us through the ups and downs in the polls for clues in the direction if race might take next. rack santorum surge. can he keep the momentum going on tuesday night and beyond? was. never took life too seriously. til our son was born. that day, he bought life insurance. now, there s no way i could send our boy to college without it.
polling station with the final numbers from iowa to show us who s on top right now and why everything could change on tuesday. and our ali velshi is over at the social media screen keeping tabs on what americans are saying online about the candidates. it s been a very busy new year s day out on the campaign trail in iowa. cnn s jim acosta is covering the last big push for votes. jim, set the scene for us. a very important day today. reporter: that s right, wolf. and newt gingrich is not crying anymore after weeks of taking abuse from mitt romney. the former speaker sent a clear message he is ready to return the favor. making his way through an iowa sports bar, newt gingrich signaled it s getting close to last call before the caucuses. what better time and place to start a brawl with his nemesis, mitt romney. frankly, if you re willing to be dishonest to try to get to be president, why would we think you d be honest once you are president? reporter: abandoning his clinch
cred for the winner. three major contenders running bus towards, all with the exception of jon huntsman are there. ron paul, mitt romney, michele bachmann and rick santorum have events this hour. we ll dip into the events and delve into the latest campaign intrigues in our fair game segment just about a half an hour or so from now. remember all that fuss about raising the nation s debt ceiling? well, guess what? it is time to ask for the final installment in a series of debt hikes authorized back in august. when we came within just days of a government default. this one is worth about $1.2 trillion, pushing the legal debt limit to $16.4 trillion, and this time the fuss should be less, but not non-existent. the increase can only be blocked if both houses of congress pass a resolution against it, and president obama, for reasons unknown, signs it. none of that, of course, will happen. rick perry s not giving up on virginia. one of several gop candidates who failed to qualif
lawsuit in virginia. what s this about and can will it work? hey, chris, how are you, from urban dale, iowa. it was a big fwloert perry contention not to make the ballot in virginia. you get 10,000 independent signatures to make that ballot. restrict the amendment [ inaudible ] constitutional rights both per rained the voters. they say he has a first amendment right to be on the ballot, to have voters say what they think about who should be the next president of the united states. it is a little bit of a tricky issue for perry, because on the stump, he is very vocal about activist vum judges, invol j little bit of a gamble for him. it seems like a bit of a long shot for this to happen. what is important for the perry campaign, they are pointing out there are other candidates,