From NPR News

Several news outlets, including the AP and The New York Times, report that Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., will endorse Mitt Romney.

Rick Santorum's impressive turnaround in Iowa has given him a slight boost in New Hampshire, according to a "flash" poll conducted last night.

The CNN/ORC International poll talked to 554 likely Republican primary voters in New Hampshire first in December, and then last night. It found that Mitt Romney's sizable lead remained the same: 47 percent of those polled said they'd vote for him, followed by Ron Paul at 17 percent.

NPR News has prepared a special podcast on the first presidential contest of the year — and where the race goes from here.

The podcast includes highlights from NPR's reporting from the Iowa caucuses as well as analysis of the potential impact. You'll hear from the candidates — several of whom count themselves among the winners — plus others who are reassessing their chances. Republican caucusgoers weigh in on how they made up their minds, and we hear from Democratic caucusgoers preparing for battle in the fall.

At the start of his show yesterday morning, MSNBC's Chuck Todd could not contain his glee: "It's caucus day. Finally! I've been waiting for this day for 3 1/2 years."

Speak for yourself, Chuck.

In the build-up to the Iowa caucuses, we heard about the ground game, the expectations game, the endorsement game, and the super PACs. And we get the justification: It's blood sport, it's a vetting process, it's a surge, it's a generous slathering of awesome on an Iowa corn dog.

Erik McBee, 15, faced a test of his survival skills. He was traveling on Southwest Airlines, and fell asleep. He slept through the landing at his destination, Tulsa. KPHO TV says he woke up in St. Louis with no contacts, no money and no phone.

Transcript

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Linda Wertheimer. A British woman had a break-in in September. Thieves stole a life-size statue of E.T., the extraterrestrial from the famous film. She thought it was gone for good until last week, when a passerby saw it floating in a river and called the police. They reunited the statue with its owner. So, a little late for the holidays, a little soggy, E.T. finally did phone home. You're listening to MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.

You might think that after a spectacular night of political drama, one in which Mitt Romney eked out an eight-vote victory over Rick Santorum in Iowa, we might have a little more to tell you than the GOP field is just as unsettled as it was before the caucuses.

The Kaesong Industrial Complex is a joint North Korea and South Korea experiment. Every day hundreds of workers from South Korea go to work in North Korea, and thousands of workers from North Korea go to jobs in South Korean factories. Reporter Doualy Xaykaothao has more on what the atmosphere was like there after North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died.

The Iowa caucuses — the first contest of the 2012 presidential nominating season — were held Tuesday night. President Obama was unopposed, but Democrats met in caucuses across the state for what was essentially a pep rally.

Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum and Ron Paul were the big winners Tuesday night in the Iowa caucuses. They finished first, second and third respectively. Romney won by the narrowest of margins — eight votes.

Linda Wertheimer talks to Carolyn Tallet, president of the Clinton County Republican Women's Club, and Edith Pfeffer, chair of the Clinton County Republican Central Committee, about the events leading up to the final tally of votes in the Iowa Republican caucuses.

The Iowa caucuses ended with Mitt Romney's extremely narrow victory over Rick Santorum. The first presidential nominating contest of 2012 played out at hundreds of sites across the state. NPR's Sonari Glinton spent the evening at the Van Meter Secondary School.

Steve Inskeep has business news.

Linda Wertheimer has the Last Word in business.

In recent weeks a lot of polls and pundits said the Iowa caucuses might be too close to call. But nobody imagined just how close things would turn out Tuesday night in the first voting of the 2012 presidential nominating season. Mitt Romney was declared the winner by just eight votes. Former Pennsylvania Senator Rick Santorum came in second.

At Ron Paul's caucus night event in Ankeny, Iowa, most of his supporters were celebrating. Paul finished a strong third in Tuesday night's caucuses.

But one man in the crowd — famed Republican strategist Frank Luntz — was much more concerned with what happens next.

"I think over the next 24 to 48 hours the campaign's gonna get a little bit meaner, a little darker, and a little bit more personal, as the candidates now fight for their life," said Luntz, who spoke with NPR in between television appearances Tuesday night.

It's on to New Hampshire for at least some of the Republican presidential candidates, and The Associated Press reports that Newt Gingrich will take out a full-page ad in the New Hampshire Union Leader Wednesday contrasting himself as a "bold Reagan conservative" against Mitt Romney, who he labels a "timid Massachusetts moderate."

Texas Gov. Rick Perry said he will return to his home state and "assess the results" of Tuesday's Iowa caucuses, after getting just 10 percent of the vote.

"With the voters' decision tonight in Iowa, I decided to return to Texas, assess the results of tonight's caucus, determine whether there is a path forward for myself in this race," Perry said.

He was originally scheduled to campaign in South Carolina on Wednesday, but those plans were put on hold after his distant fifth-place finish.

The Associated Press adds: