good evening upon. i'm ali velshi sitting in for erin burnett tonight. out in front, campaign is kicking into high gear. candidates are criss-crossing the state, trying to pick up last-minute support for the first contest in the race for the gop nomination. let's go straight to the political correspondt. jim acosta is on the ground in iowa. good to see you. lots of campaign events and everybody is back in the game. a recent poll shows 12% of voters in iowa, still undecided. you spoke with the iowa gop chair about the race. what did he have to say? >> reporter: ali, basically he said this is a caucus race in iowa that he has never seen before. basically, this is the most unsettled field of candidates that a lot of republican operatives have seen in the state in a long time. if you look at the polling you have three candidates at the top right now. mitt romney, newt gingrich and ron paul, and below them is a medium tier, the other three candidates campaigning in the state, rick santorum, michele bachmann and rick perry. and basically, according to the chairman of the republican party, any of those candidates could rise or fall over the next seven days. it's a wide open race and it could go, as you just said, down to the wire. >> let's talk about the evangelicals. exit polls from 2008 show 60% of republican caucusers in iowa describe themselves as evangelical. my colleague, christine romans, is from iowa and likes to point out that she thinks the rest of us, we sort of used this word and don't fully understand what this means and we almost use it interchangeably with religious fundamentals and she says, in iowa, it is substantially broader than that. so how do these court this vote? >> well, they're doing it tonight, there's a prominent social conservative who hosts a radio talk show. his name is steve diest and that talk show host is hosting a town hall that will feature four of the republican candidates, gingrich, santorum, bachmann and rick perry and they'll be calling in. and it will be interesting to listen to that talk show because basically they're all going to be appealing to this voting bloc. the social conservatives that figure so prominently in the iowa caucuses. folks like pat robertson, the christian broadcaster, has done well in the past. he ran for president, as you know, and did well here in iowa because of that segment of the republican voting population here. it will be interesting to watch rick perry. he's playing harder for this vote maybe more than anybody else in this field right now and it's a smart play. >> jim acosta, thanks for the reporting. we'll talk to you soon. jim acosta in des moines, iowa. >> there's a new national poll just out and it shows that newt gingrich's popularity has faded. the former speaker still at the top of the list. he's at 25%, down from a high of 37% earlier this month. mitt romney, who regrouped his forces, now has 24% support, putting the two in an essential dead heat. newt gingrich might be feeling the heat. he just sat down with a one-on-one interview with wolf blitzer and he slammed his main rival, mitt romney. >> mitt romney is the guy running the most ads attacking me and he's doing it through the disingenuous, gee, i don't control my staff and my millionaire friends. it's baloney. if he wants to defend his negativity, show up in iowa, 90 minutes face-to-face let the people decide whether or not he'll back up what he's been saying and let him back up his moderate record and not conservative record as governor, and i don't think he'll do it. >> make it moderate a bad word and saying that thing that he likes to say. come and debate me. let's bring in a former mccain adviser and will cain, columnist for theblaze.com. welcome to both of you. hey, nancy, this is in this weird space where perry doesn't like to debate. he said it again to mitt rom ney. come and talk to me 90 minutes, no moderator one-on-one. is this a good strategy for him? >> it's his sweet spot. his sweet spot is not organization, but i would argue that the longer you run the mike on the former speaker, the more you are apt to get a potential problem. this is an individual who is almost like a shakespearean character. he's got profound strengths and he's got the potential for oops moments that we almost cannot wrap our arms around. i think it is very dangerous for him to be throwing a moderate rock at mitt romney when he criticized paul ryan's budget as right wing social engineering and he was in favor of cap and trade. this is newt gingrich. he was championed in individual mandate, which is the pillar upon which obama care rests. this is not just throwing a rock at a glass house. he has a glass castle. >> it's a tricky rock, will cane, because it's the rock that could help you win the nomination that may not help you win the election. >> it's not a bad word to be any. >> he's on shaky ground here. >> yeah. >> let me talk about why that poll might be coming down, why newt gingrich's numbers are dropping and we talked about the massive negative. among conservatives, newt gingriches rise with fundamental conservatives with the tea party has been completely confusing event. how can a man that embraces big government principles be the choice of small government enthusiasts. what i tell you, the role of money and politics, these ads being run by mitt romney and ron paul about newt gingrich are having an effect on newt gingrich. and we're seeing the role of money and politics inform the voters about newt gingrich and we're seeing the positive effect of money and politics. >> let's play a little of this conversation that newt gingrich had with wolf blitzer. listen to this. >> a person who thinks the united states was responsible for 9/11, a person who wrote in his newsletter that the world trade center bombing in '93 might have been the cia plot. a person who thinks it doesn't matter if the iranians have a nuclear weapon. i'd rather just say, you look at ron paul's total record of systemic avoidance of reality and you look at his newsletters and then you look at his ads. his ads are about as accurate as his newsletters. >> now if he were to get the republican nomination -- >> he won't. >> let's say he were. could you vote for him? >> no. >> and that's the headline there. he says he won't vote for ron paul and his views are so outside the mainstream and not only just republicans, but americans. will, i have to say, we've all heard ron paul talking about israel. we know that he doesn't share the views of most of the republican candidates on israel, so i thought newt was pandering a little bit on that particular thing. what he didn't take issue was the remarkable racist and homophobic stuff that was in the newsletters that ron paul has refused to come clean about. he will not tell us who wrote those newsletters but he made money off of them. in mainstream america this will cost him. >> give me a second on this. listen, the role of these newsletter, first of all, did ron paul write them? it's plausible he did not. did he raech them? we're stretching plauz ability. they're starting to stretch plausiblity more and we're begging the question, is ron paul a racist? by most accounts, his former aides he's not a racist. calling a libertarian a racist is by pointing out an impotent man is a nymphomaniac. it doesn't matter. >> the libertarian doesn't think he should be involved. >> individuals in small government, done embrace that. but, let me say the but, ron paul's letters reflect on his character. they reflect on a man who possibly is a poor manager, a poor leader and aligns himself with people of fringe thoughts, and that's important. >> nancy, final comment from you. first of all, does it pay gingrich to go after ron paul because we see national poll after national poll, he may have an organization in iowa, but he's still standing 11% nationally. >> paul has struck a cord with the essential anti-government crowd, and i would caution gingrich not to be so scathing in his attacks, and this is, unfortunately, i think, one of the potential downfalls for him is he can't resist that arrogance, that disdainful tone and, frankly, after listening to president obama for the last several years, i think they've had enough of arrogance. >> nancy, good to talk to you. will cain thanks for that. we'll continue the conversation. reminder, live coverage of the iowaic caucus begins next tuesday on cnn at 7:00 p.m. eastern. what if your employer owned all of your twitter followers? a new lawsuit is just about that. the latest developments in the penn state child rape scandal as well. the reporter who was covering the story comes out front with more information about the wife of jerry sandusky and the christmas day fire that killed a family of five. what the fire chief had to say about the tragedy in connecticut. p to t big apple tw! dinner! 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[ powers down ] uh-oh, flobot is broken. the "name your price" tool, only from progressive. call or click today. dottie sandusky, the wife of accused child rapist jerry sandusky, has been coming under increased scrutiny lately. how can someone be married to a man for 45 years and not know what he was doing. it turns out that dottie sandusky did tell her husband she was worried one day he would be falsely accused. about also a reporter for the patriot news joins us tonight from plantation, florida. good to see you. dotty sandusky was worried that someone would accuse her husband of molestation. she told somebody this. who did she tell and what did he say about it? >> ali, i talked to a man who is now a radio host in state college, pennsylvania, where jerry and dottie sandusky live. he grew up playing with the sandusky's five adopted children, they were neighbors. he's kept in touch with them over the years and he's now in his 30s, he's a grown man, and he's told me that over the years he's had conversations with dottie and particularly this one. he want remember when it was but it was some time in the last decade, probably sometime after one of the initial investigations by police in 1998 into jerry sandusky's conduct, but definitely before this grand jury investigation began that led to these charges that we're now talking about. he says that dottie had a conversation with jerry and said, look, i think that you might have a boundary issue, and i think that that could lead to a false accusation. we're not talking about child rape which is what's outlined. >> this issue here is what boundary issues means. >> right. exactly. not rape. not anything sexual. more of when they're wrestling and when they're playing football and when they're horsing around. these are all things that jerry has admitted to. he's admitted to touching with the key being that it wasn't sexual. apparently, she had a conversation with him about this. >> there's another thing that you wrote about. one of the alleged victims who said that he was -- jerry sandusky assaulted him in the family's basement and that he screamed for help knowing that dottie was upstairs. she claimed she heard nothing. no help came for him. what do you get out of that? >> we know dottie has categorically denied that. she's very upset that accusations like that have been made. accusations have been made that assaults happened in her home and she may not have done something about them. she's denied all of that. in a statement through jerry's attorney she says these children were part of our family. they ate meals with our family. they went on trips with our family. we took care of them like they were our own children. this man who i talked to, this neighbor said it was very clear growing up that jerry was busy with recruiting, with football season, with coaching and he was in the spotlight and had a busy life, and dottie was content being behind the scenes and being at home. however, in addition to what he told me about that conversation that she had with her husband, he said she was the kind of person that even though she was content behind the scenes she wasn't afraid to say if she saw something that she believed was wrong. she was very strict with her kids and he said it doesn't fit into the personality that he knows of dottie for her to be silent and do what these children have alleged, which is to ignore. >> sara ganim, thanks for your great reporting. sarah is a cnn reporter with the patriot news. we'll take a look at what you can expect for 2012. it will probably be different from 2011. one company doing very well, google. we'll take an exclusive look inside the company's new york headquarters. the healing power of touch can be even more powerful. with precise from the makers of tylenol. precise pain relieving cream works quickly to activate sensory receptors. it helps block pain signals fast for relief you can feel precisely where you need it most. precise. only from the makers of tylenol. premier of the packed bag. you know organization is key... and so is having a trusted assistant. and you...rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle...d go. you can even take a full-size or above and still pay the mid-size price. here we are... [ male announcer ] and there you go, business pro. there you go. go national. go like a pro. i think we should see other people. in fact, i'm already seeing 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. after reporting a sharp decline in holiday sales, sears holdings announced it will close 100 to 120 of its sears and kmart stores. sears holdings reported that sales for the eight weeks leading up to christmas fell by 5.2%. that's not good when you consider that overall retail sales are higher this christmas season compared to last year. despite sears' disappointing news, a new report showed consumer confidence is up for the sixth month in a row. the index rose by 9.3 points. home prices, however, fell at a slower rate. as we near the close of 2011, really, i think what we need to talk about is what the economy is going to look like in 2012. joining me is nigel galt, he's chief u.s. economist at ihs global insight. and michael gapen, he's a senior u.s. economist at barclays capital. thank you to both of you for joining us. nigel, let's start with you, what's your general outlock for both the u.s. and the global economy in 2012? >> i think for the u.s. economy we see a continuation of the modest growth in 2012. the key drivers are the consumer and housing. housing maybe activity has hit bottom and we're going to see small improvement in 2012, but we're still working off previous excess supply from the boom. the consumer is seeing some improvement in employment and that's helping consumer confidence to pick up and they have a burden of debt. >> sure. >> so i think modest growth is most likely on the u.s. front. globally, the picture is more worrying than in the u.s. we've seen some slowdown in growth in emerging markets and in the euro zone, we think the picture is for recession and we think the euro zone has already dipped into recession and it's a question of whether they can contain the consequences of that recession in the financial markets. that's the biggest threat to the u.s. in 2012. >> two distinct threats. we know there's no economic growth and whether or not it becomes a credit and banking crisis is the bigger issue. michael gapin, where are the opportunities for our viewers in 2012? is the stock market something they should be staying away from? is real estate something they should sit on the sidelines about? >> we think equity prices may suffer in the first half of the year. some of these uncertainties that nigel mentioned and you mentioned bear little fruit. until we see how that shakes out, real estate and home prices does look a bit better. there's some cleansing that's taking place in the housing market in the u.s. areas that have lower concentrations of foreclosures have been faring much better. some of those regions like california, nevada, las vegas, florida, they're still suffering, but there's some improvement in the housing market out there and over the longer term and certainly reflect some better opportunity. >> similar views to both of you. it will be a little different in 2012, but you're still very cautious about what will happen. nigel galt and michael gapen, thanks to both of you. happy new year. >> thank you. >> when you think of the best song of the year, you probably thoifr adele, pit bull or justin bieber. the top could be one you never heard of. the official video for why a song written for the upcoming language film 3 was posted to youtube on november 16th. get this, since then it has taken the internet and the world by storm. listen. ♪ ♪ ♪ >> the song which roughly tranlates to why this murderous rage, tells a story of a boy rejected by his girlfriend, recorded in tamil and english. you're asking how popular? since last month it was posted by the original video has racked up over 28 million views and the song title is actually the first thing that pops up when you search for just the word why on youtube. it's also spawned hundreds of imitations and parodies including those performed by fans and animated salesmen, and of course, the chipmunks. and youtube individuals that include why this accounts for almost 40 million of youtube's total views. the song's popularity doesn't seem to be waning. last week a flash mob danced to the song. at a mall in auckland, new zealand. this week police in india started using versions of the song title to help combat road rage and encourage bike riders to wear helmets. if only police campaigns were as catchy in this country. a man faces a lawsuit from his former employer. they claim the company owns his twitter followers and the disturbing details about a christmas day house fire that killed a family of five. what the fire chief told us at today's press conference. and a tragic end to the case of a missing child we told you about last night. "outfront" next. 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. nyqui tylenol: me, too. ande cougnasal congestion.ers?e, nyquil:what? tissue box (whispering): he said nasal congestion... nyquil: i heard him. anncr vo: tylenol cold multi-symptom nighttime relieves nasal congestion... nyquil cold & flu doesn't. the stamford, connecticut, fire marshal investigating the christmas day fire that killed five family members said in a press conference today that the cause of the blaze were discarded fireplace embers. >> our preliminary findings have led this office to believe that the fire was accidental in nature. the fire appears to have been caused by hot fireplace ash and embers which had been discarded in this area. >> the three chi