by our election team and around the country and the world. stand by to learn more about edith and carolyn, who solved the case of the missing votes. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." so long, iowa, hello, new hampshire. the republican presidential candidates are zeroing in on the next battlefield and a big primary coming up on tuesday. the front-runner, mitt romney, is following up his squeaker win in iowa with a new endorsement from senator john mccain who beat him in the new hampshire primary four years ago. several of romney's opponents also are in new hampshire right now. but rick perry says he's heading south. he sent out a tweet today saying here we come, south carolina. and a photo from his morning run confirming he's staying in the race despite his poor showing in iowa. michele bachmann made a very different decision, ending her presidential bid today after a crushing defeat in the state where she was born. rick santorum lands in new hampshire later today pumped up by his almost win in iowa, a mere eight votes. eight votes behind mitt romney. dan lothian is joining us from manchester, new hampshire. it will be tougher for santorum to do that well in new hampshire. which is almost like mitt romney's home state. >> that's right and you know, political strategists here in new hampshire say that it would be very difficult to shake him from that high double digit lead that he has held here in new hampshire for quite some time. as you pointed out, he's the former governor of the state of massachusetts, which is close. has a vacation home here. spent a lot of time in this state when campaigning in 2008. n now, he has not strong among those social conservatives. that was an issue certainly in iowa, but that is less of an issue here in new hampshire. today, as you pointed out, he did pick up a big, big boost from an endorsement from his former rival, john mccain. very popular here in the granite state. he beat george w. bush in 2000. also beat romney in 2008, but today, he said he was here to help new hampshire quote catapult romney to victory. >> our message, the president barack obama is you can run, but you can't hide from your record of making this country bankrupt from destroying our national security and to making this nation one that we have to restore with mitt romney as president of the united states of america. >> now, newt gingrich, who took a lot of hits from romney in iowa, was one of the first to land here defiant as ever, painted himself as the true conservative and referring to romney as the timid moderate from massachusetts. so, he will be certainly turning up the heat. he has stayed away from the range -- launching a negative campaign, but he said he also wants to tell the truth and we've seen that already landing here having some strong words for gingrich. for romney. now, i should point out, wolf, one other thing on a lighter note, so much has been said about the razor thing margin of victory for romney in iowa. just eight votes. today, here e he was joking about it himself, saying he would try very hard to make sure he won here by more than just eight votes. >> the supposed 40 plus percent that mitt romney has in new hampshire now i think when people see what santorum's capability is, this has the potential to turn very fast. >> and that was a rick santorum supporter. a state senator. he has been supporting him long before he officially got into race and said one of the things he has been hearing from his friends is that they always felt santorum would be their first choice, but they never thought that he could get elected. well, based on what happened last night, in iowa, he says he's more optimistic that will change. wolf? >> very, very impressive showing by rick santorum. dan lothian in new hampshire. six days to go before that primary. the republican contest could heat up even more on january 21st. there are some key differences between south carolina and its primary in the contests that come before it. david matingly is joining us from aiken, south carolina. looks like it's going to be bitter and tough where you are, david. >> that's right, wolf, and that key difference you're talking about comes down to one word. conservatives. social conservatives, evangelical voters. by some counts, these voters make up more than half of the republican primary voters here, so by conventional wisdom, it looks like rick santorum coming out of a strong showing with these voters in iowa find a very welcoming crowd here in south carolina. but i had a long conversation with the director of the republican party here in south carolina, generally. he describes republican voters here as very energized and anxious to find someone they believe can beat president obama in november. they are looking now for that kind of candidate and mitt romney has been trying to position himself as that candidate from very early on. so, his message will also be able to resognate with voters looking in that direction. we're finding out today that rick perry is indeed in this race. he's going to be coming back here to south carolina. we're in aiken today. we were expecting to see him, but he went to texas. he's going to get back on with it, hoping that the conservative voters here get his campaign back on track, so for him, south carolina could become the land of second chances. it could also be that way for newt gingrich, who just a month ago, was polling double digits ahead of mitt romney. he did have a strong base of support here and it's going to be interesting to see if he can are reclaim that support after iowa. >> south carolina's going to be very, very important. david, thanks very much. let's talk about all of this with gloria borger and john king. gloria, why is rick perry after saying he's going to reassess, why is he staying in? >> why shouldn't he? he made the point today, there are lots of independent voters who participated in the caucus for ron paul. he's going to south carolina. it's terra firma for him. why not? he's got the money. he feels that he can, he can have some kind of an impact, that gingrich is going to be attacking romney, so if you're rick perry and you say, as his wife said today, we doebt quit. we're not quitters. why not do it one more time? >> i'll -- i raise the question because only hours before he said he was going to go back to texas and reassess, i think he told you, john, he's going first thing in the morning to south carolina. instead, he went to texas. >> that's what he said a few hours before iowa, then it humbled him. he's never lost an election. he got 10% of the vote and spent a lot of money. here's their calculation and you're right. gloria's right. there was a divide. some said go to south carolina. some said come home. protect your legacy. governor perry slept on it. here's their calculation. they believe if gingrich comes in third or fourth again, he's done in new hampshire. after the embarrassing iowa showing, that they think gingrich is done if he comes in third or fourth again. they think rick santorum has one week to prove that he is a credible, lasting conservative alternative to romney. if that doesn't happen in new hampshire, so many questions about romney, they will be looking for somebody. they think a texas governor, he's got one more state. >> and these are their values voters they really believe if rick santorum can't, doesn't have the money, can't make the play, they believe their theirs. i think the calculation was i don't want to go out with my tail between my legs. i want to go out strong and make this final showing. >> there's a history in terms of moderate republicans, conservative republicans, the fact that rick perry's going to compete in south carolina makes mitt romney's folks happy. >> to a degree, it does. if santorum comes out reasonably strong. romney people would have liked bachmann to stay in. remember what happened to john mccain. he eked it out in 2008 with 33% of the vote. huckabee got 30%. huckabee swept a bible belt from greenville to across the top of the state. fred thompson got 16% of the vote. if you're team romney, you're thinking if perry, gingrich and santorum can split the vote, that they can squeak through. but the question is, will gingrich and santorum be as strong or weaker, depending on who we're talking about, by the time we get to south carolina. south carolina's voters on paper are very conservative, but the party has a history of pragmatism. >> they're not going to. i think it's going to be florida. >> very quickly, gloria first. ron paul. he did well in iowa. came in third. impressive third, i must say. he's competing aggressively in new hampshire. he'll compete aggressively in south carolina. how does that impact what's going on? >> well, look, i think there are independent voters in new hampshire who are going to be attracted because of their antiwar feelings toward a ron paul. i think he has less of a shot in south carolina, where there are more conservative, more robust foreign policy. he's not a tea partiers as our entrance polls showed last night. tea partiers are not big fans of ron paul largely because of his foreign policy. they like his economic views, so i think he hangs around and again, that's probably good for mitt romney. because they're not attracting the same voters. >> paul has a very good chance of being an impact player again in new hampshire because of the looser rules. more moderate republicans, independents, young people. there's no democratic contest. they can vote in the republican primary if they so choose. south carolina will be the true test. the ron paul a lasting player to closed primaries. >> stand by because we will continue a lot of this analysis and also stand by to hear more about the race after iowa from rick santorum. he's john king's guest on right after "the situation room." the only theme on the gop race drops out. jack cafferty has a question for you about women in the oval office. and cnn after dark. when the hour is late, we get a little loose and anything can happen. including the birth of two new stars. edith and carolyn. we'll explain. healthy skin for . 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[ male announcer ] get back on track with low prices on everything you need. backed by our ad match guarantee. walmart. jack? >> wolf, michele bachmann's dreams of being president are history and so, too, is the possibility of the u.s. electing its first woman president for another four years. this was a second election in a row where a woman tried and failed to become president. hillary clinton made a great run in 2008, but in the end, she lost the democratic nomination to barack obama. when clinton bowed out, she acknowledged she wasn't able to quote shatter that highest, hardest glass ceiling unquote, but that her supporters had put about 18 million cracks in it. at the time, polls suggested americans were more ready for a black president than woman president. fast forward four years and there were high expectations for michele bachmann in the beginning in her birth state. she entered the race as a tea party favorite. became the first woman to win the straw poll in august. unfortunately for bachmann, that was a high point of her campaign. she finished sixth yesterday. got just 5% of the vote. she didn't win a single l one of her home state's counties. michele bachmann had been sliding in the polls since the summer in iowa as evangelicals and social conservatives jumped ship. bachmann's campaign was also marked by end fighting and a series of gaffes often coming from the candidate's own mouth, however, the campaign suggested that sexism was partly to blame. what a surprise. just like supporters of hillary clinton blamed the media for its sexest coverage. it's not like these men are doing such a great job. other countries seem to get it. f two recent examples of enlightened electorates. what's it going to take for this woman to elect a woman president? go to cnn.com/kafr fity file or go to our facebook page. >> thanks very much. good question. here's a look at some of the other political headlines making news. some tea party star power is in new hampshire getting ready for mitt romney. a source tells cnn that nikki hailey will campaign with romney on friday and saturday, just days before new hampshire's primary, one week from today. she'll also be stumping with him in her home state thursday. the new hampshire primary i should say, six days from today. hailey endorsed romney for president last month. new hampshire primary next tuesday trump tweeted, congratulations to rick santorum for coming out of iowa a winner. he saluted the only woman, michele bachmann got less than 1200 more votes in the caucus than the straw poll. very sad for her. a nice woman and he slammed ron paul tweeting he should be ignored. ron paul's foreign policy is a dream come true for our enemies and he has zero chance to beat barack obama. trump made no mention of mitt romney. for complete political coverage, be sure to go to cnn.com/ticker. just hours after the iowa caucuses, ron paul calls newt gingrich a chicken hawk. that and more. that's coming up in our strategy session and president obama just back from his hawaiian vacation, he hits the campaign trail. stand by to hear what he said to supporters in a key battleground state. [ male announcer ] the more you lose, the more you lose, because for every two pounds you lose through diet and exercise, alli can help you lose one more by blocking some of the fat you eat. let's fight fat with alli. ♪ 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 vitamins in every packet. just another reason why you get more... when you sweeten with splenda®. ♪ lisa sylvester is monitoring some other top stories in "the situation room." iran is essentially saying that the united states is looking for trouble if it moves warships into the persianen gulf. what's going on? >> that's right. wolf. the u.s. has had a presence since world war ii, but things escalated after the aircraft carrier passed through. iran warns of what it calls mayhem if the the u.s. comes back to the gulf to block the strait if its oil exports were sanctioned. and police are still working on a dna profile in the murder mystery of queen elizabeth's royal estate. a body of a young white woman was found on the grounds this week. it was just a mile from the house where the royal family spends christmas. british police hope cold case files will help the investigation. and separating the haves from the have notes. a government report says income inquality is growing as top e n earners receive better payouts from stocks and dividends while the bush tax cuts allow the group to keep more of their money. after tax income for the top 1% of taxpayers soared 74% on average. the bottom 20% saw their income fall by 6% and the irs opens the 2012 filing season with a bang, now saying taxpayers have until april 17th. the 15th falls on a sunday. it also announced new improvements including navigation features and interactive video to help with tax issues. >> thank you. john mccain endorsing mitt romney. details of what he's predicting will happen in new hampshire. stand by. >> and for someone who understands -- can you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? 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>> no. and it was so exciting watching you guys last night. i thought your o-m-g moment was classic, wolf. >> that was when about 98% of the vote is in, was in, and one vote separated the two of them. >> it was a classic moment. i love television when it jumps stumps even a guy like you. everybody else had their 15 minutes of fame. santorum benefitting from good timing, but he add also done the work. all that shoe leather. all the miles on that truck. it was going to pay off if he got a chance. you saw his stump speech last night. it was authentic. he connects with blue collar voters and he punched his ticket. >> how worried should democrats be about rick santorum? >> well, i think democrats are going to be ready and i've said this before, wolf. democrats are going to be ready at the end of this process to run against whoever becomes the republican nominee. because one thing is for sure. there is no difference between any of them on issues pertaining to the middle class, meaning they are doing nothing to protect the middle class and workers and small businesses while this president wakes up every single morning figuring out how to fight for them. so that is a fight we are willing to have with anybody. what last night really did a elucidate for the rest of the country, the fight for the soul for the republican party. mitt romney may end up being the nominee, but they still don't like him, trust him and they don't believe he's got the conservative bone feets they want him to have. >> 75% of the republicans who went to the caucuses, terry, didn't vote for mitt romney. he got 25%. he won by eight votes. he'll do better i assume, in new hampshire, but then comes south carolina. what will happen there? >> it's too stoon to say, isn't it?