and this can be defended on constitutional grounds and moral growns and economic grounds. the politicians and the bureaucrats are not smart enough to know how to spend your money. it's based on the principal of individual liberty. we get our life and we get our liberty. and we ought to be able to keep the fruits of our labor under those circumstances. [ applause ] therefore instead of thinking cutting government spending is a detriment it's a blessing. it's a help. the money would be spent more wisely. and the allocation of credit would be the same thing. today the federal reserve does everything to say they will allocate credit to their friends in the bubble formation and to their friends when the bubble bursts and they need their

bailout. at the same time individuals, middle class people who don't want to speculate in the stock market and want to save money. what do they do? they put their money in a cd. and bernanke laughs at people and says well the fact they only get 1 or 2% that's unfortunate but we have to take care of those of those who are going to stimulate the economy and give the money to the bankers. so what we need the allocation of credit should come from the marketplace. people should be encouraged to save. people take money and say we are going to take care of the elderly when they retire and have social security benefits but they debase the currency which is a moral and economic issue. so the people receiving benefits right now are they keeping up with the cost of living? no. they're losing. but if you ask bernanke and crew

they say inflation is only 1 or 2% don't worry about it. but what if your inflation is 6 or 8% it's theft. the founders called it counterfeiting. [ applause ] but because the government is too big we have to ask a couple of questions. we have to ask what should the role of government be? should be the to operate an entitlement system? a lot of people in this country have come to believe that entitlements is equivalent to having a right. you have a right to your life in a natural way. you don't get your life or liberties from the government. you get them in a natural way. and we should say that the entitlement system is not a moral right. entitlement means the government is going to give you something for free. the government can give you free education, free food, free housing, free medical care. the government has never

produced a thing. the only thing they can do is steal it from productive individuals and give it to another one. it's totally destructive. [ applause ] >> where we have a right to our own life and should have the right to the products of our labor you can't steal from your neighbor just because they have more than you do. [ applause ] but you shoounuldn't have the rt to send a politician to go into your neighbor's house to take what they have because you want it. it's not right. it's not fair. and it doesn't work. [ applause ] but if we want to give those who want the redistribution of wealth, you know the benefit of the doubt many of them are well

motivated. they really care about the poor and they don't understand economics. they don't understand how government destroys the plux of wealth. they want to help people. take for instance the housing. everybody should have a house even if they can't afford it. print a lot of money and pass out the money and have you know affirmati affirmative action programs and give special incentives to fannie mae and freddie mac. and everybody will get a house. and the number of people who had houses went up. but there were a lot of people making a lot of money on this, the people churning the credit, the people in the mortgage markets and the building trades. the people in the derivatives business and they were doing great and the houses kept going up in prices. how could it ever go wrong? the people could borrow against

the rising prices except for one thing. the austrian free markets knew what was going on and understood it clearly and said this will not last. this is an artificial bubble and it would collapse and it did. [ applause ] a characteristic of systematic debasement of a currency if that is all you are dealing with is debasement of a currency and devaluations the middle class suffers. the wealthy benefits. the people in the middle class get to use the money last when it has less value and the prices go up. but to the people who get the money first, the politicians and big business and big banks and the military industrial complex they use the money first. they have an advantage. what happens when the bubble collapses? because they are so in charge

and the special interests have so much charge of the monetary system and the system of our foreign policy, they will yell and scream and they say there is a depression coming and we need bailout if you don't do this we'll have a depression. they were right about one thing there would have been a depression for the rich people. instead they got the bailouts and we got the bankruptcy. so the middle class bore the burden of assuming the debt and the big banks got bailed out. but it's still in process. they still want to do this. the only limiting factor right now is the fact that there is an economic limit to how many dollars can be printed. we did in the bailout you know the congress appropriated a trillion. that is a fair sum of money. but the fed was involved with 15 or $16 trillion of churning credit and bailing out their friends domestic and

international. international governments and banks and still in a position to do this and behind the scenes promsing europe we'll be there. the credit is devalued once already. and people are starting to wake up saying you can't keep printing money and spending money and think you can bail out the world no more than we can be the policeman of the world we can't be the financial caretaker of the world either. [ applause ] for the first time the fivs has become an issue in this campaign. [ applause ]

but if we reject the notion of the failed policy of the entitlement welfare state which we are in the midst and it is failing. even those on the receiving end are worried too. but we have to ask about the foreign policy. the constitution is clear. the president is the commander-in-chief and we should have a strong national defense. we should defend our country. we should have -- you know, protection of national security. and that is a precise function that we should have. but that is one area where we don't have to worry very much right now because we have the strongest military in the history of the world. there is no power in the world even if they all got together we are so powerful because we have more weaponry. we are not going to be attacked. nobody is on the verge of invading us. and yet what are we doing?

we have distorted things by distorting our defense. not only do we allow our presidents to go to war we allow our presidents to go to war under nato and u.n. resolutions. that's wrong. but what we have to do is decide that how much engagement we should have around the world. i think we should have plenty. it should be engagement with trade and friendship and travel and expressing of ideas. i find it interesting that those who will challenge our views on nonintervention in foreign policy will say you are a bunch of isolationists. it's the opposition of isolation. we don't want to build fences and borders.

matter of fact if you have listened to the debates i have been explicit about who the real isolationists are. it's the ones who are resisting our efforts to open up diplomatic relationships and trade with cuba. listening to ron paul who is speaking about 1300 miles away. he is happy today but not because of his results. we will see tonight as he moves into another staid. our panelists are filling us in on what to expect. let's talk about ron paul to this race. while we are not talking about him a lot he has been third or fourth. but early results are showing he is doing better than what the polls expected. >> that is one of the things i have talked about. what do we expect out of ron paul. it's easy to write him off. but we know he has a strong and

passionate base of support. and nevada was up wione of the s he could surprise people. if he wins second place that is news. if he wins third place that is also news because he has that level of support and he talked about nevada. i think that ron paul is going to continue to be an issue. we all know that he's going into go into the election and one of the reasons i think that a lot of republicans and conservatives really like him is as opposed to mitt romney he is somebody who never changed his position on anything. he can be trusted with that core with principles. >> i'm sure there are folks at home saying what is the big deal of second and third place. in 1988 reverend jackson goes to the convention with power in the platform when it came to giving a primetime speech.

they changed the delegation as a result of that election. when you come in second or third in delegates the power comes in when you go to the convention in terms of placing your people in the convention this summer. >> if ron paul made nevada where he was going to make a stand if he comes in third behind gingrich that is a problem. but there is a dynamic here. a lot of ron paul supporters have shown up as delegates to go to the convention. and the ron paul campaign theory is -- >> done in the past. >> if they keep mitt romney from going to a majority they are only locked in on the first ballot. this is an organized effort in pennsylvania and georgia to make it happen. whether or not they can pull it off is an indicator of how he does in the caucuses. if he doesn't do well in the

caucuses. >> you call him an insurgent? >> surging is not the word i would use. >> still ahead there are still very, very interesting results to come for a crucial voting block for mitt romney. awaiting numbers as the nevada count continues. getting new information. stand by. we'll take you back inside the nevada caucuses. [ male announcer ] what if we told you that cadillac borrowed technology from ferrari to develop its suspension system? or what if we told you that ferrari borrowed technology from cadillac to develop its suspension system? magnetic ride control -- pioneered by cadillac, perfected in the 556-horsepower cts-v.

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nomination. mitt romney has the early lead. we are here to watch the caucuses and the candidates. >> tonight it's a new frontier for the showdown between mitt romney and newt gingrich. >> we are going to beat a big lie campaign with a big truth campaign. >> going after me for one thing or another. >> will he surprise us again? >> it's nevada's choice. romney had his day in the sun in florida and wants to keep the momentum going. >> i will lead us back to prosperity. >> gingrich vows to fight on. >> we will be in teach as the nominee. >> the final four candidates in a marathon race for delegates. >> we are in third place for delegates. >> one step closer to tampa and their big prize. >> ours will be a united party with a winning tect for america. >> will the infighting last for

months? >> i don't believe the republican party will nominate a liberal. >> the grass roots stop is the cause of liberty and we we will prevail. >> we need new leadership in washington. >> every contest matters. in nevada right now, all bets are off. >> welcome to our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer in the cnn election center. we are an hour away from the first big release of raw vote the four candidates are eagerly awaiting the results of the first caucuses since iowa. we have been following the action at several voting sites across nevada.

we will bring you the results that has happen. our correspondents on this night are out in full force including jim acosta. jim at mitt romney headquarters right now. folks haven't started arriving yet but they will fairly soon. >> they were just poll herbing up the glass on the teleprompters. the deck was stacked in his face-to-face with so many mormons participating. but mitt romney is on the verge of doing something he has failed to do yet and that is win two in a row. he wants to turn his sights to president obama. >> and over at newt gingrich's headquarters, set the scene for us. >> newt gingrich keeping a low profile today. his best care scenario is to

hang on to second place and point to support from conservative voters. february will be a tough month for him. he hopes to stay relevant until super tuesday when the conservatives head to the polls in the southern states. i want to talk to soldad o'brien. >> we are expecting results in 45 minutes. there is one caucus in clark county for those who could not attend for religious reasons. at 10:00 p.m. most of the vote totals will be released. mitt romney heads into the contest with two victories. newt gingrich and rick san torment have one win apiece. as the results come in we will map out the results and bring us entrance poll data.

>> we knew that governor romney was leading going into the race. we are asking what is on their mind. 54% of the caucus goers, the economy is the number one issue. this backs up the early results. 63% of the voters back governor romney, gingrich at 17, ron paul at 15. let's come over, the candidate quality. nevada is a swing state in nef. 44% voters said they want a candidate who can defeat obama. governor romney 74% of that vote. speaker gingrich way behind. on the big issue and the candidate quality. governor romney running well ahead. nevada is an important contest for the republicans now. we started in iowa and went to new hampshire and south carolina and florida and the first

contest in the west. as we await the contest tonight let's go remind ourselves, president obama carried nevada in 2008. but in '04 a narrow victory for bush. nevada is a swing state. republicans thinking that maybe their state will matter in november. >> thanks. we will break it down like no one else can. we are working sources tonight along with the best political team in the election center. and john at the romney headquarters in las vegas. >> the battle between mitt romney and newt again rich got more pointed and personal this week. they are both in nevada right now awaiting the results of the nevada caucuses. ron paul and rick santorum are moving on to states with contests on tuesday. jim acosta is at romney headquarters. and gary tuckman is at the santorum campaign in colorado.

jim, first to you, mitt romney zeroed in on the economy on this day. clearly the most important issues for voters in nevada and all over the country. >> that's right, wolf. we have seen a difficult play book from romney. he is spending more time talking about president obama. and at an event in colorado springs the former massachusetts governor did just that, going after the president on his handling of the budget deficit. >> i will get america finally on track to have a balanced budget. [ applause ] >> i just think it's -- i mean i know it's bad economics to keep borrowing at this level. i know it puts america in danger. i know the level of borrowing we're carrying out slows the economy and makes it harder for people to find work. but i believe it's immoshl.

it's wrong for us to pass on to our kids and their kids burdens we can't pay for. i will not allow this nation to continue to spend our kids future and their kids' future. >> a side note on the comments from mitt romney he made them at a metal works factory that received stimulus money. mitt romney commented on the stimulus saying it failed to keep unemployment below 8%. but the unemployment rate dipped to 8.3%. it is very close to that boundary line that mitt romney has drawn throughout this campaign as a threshold as to whether or not voters will reelect him. >> we'll hear more about the economy when he speaks. >> at the newt gingrich headquarters in las vegas it got nasty. a lot of bad blood between the

front runners right now. >> that's right. you could hear this last night when newt gingrich at an event was bristling from the tv ads and the mailers that the romney campaign has put out here in nevada questioning the speaker's ethics. newt then questioning the character of mitt romney. >> i am ashamed of the negativity and dishonesty that has characterized this campaign. it is unworthy. these young people deserve leaders who care enough to tell the truth. and they deserve leaders who don't shave corner and dose take things out of context because we are in trouble. >> it's a sign, wolf, that this bruising style of politics will continue out here on the trail. and a lot of republicans are not

happy about it. it gives president obama a chance to watch from the sidelines as the republicans beat up on each other. >> what is newt beginning restructure up to today? what is the game plan for tonight? >> we haven't seen him at all today. nothing on the public schedule. and we won't see him until this evening. no rally. he will be talking to the media. perhaps a seen that he has all but cedeed nevada. >> thanks, very much. brianna keilar is in vegas. gary tuckman is with rick tantorium's campaign. they are in colorado. gary, tell us what is going on.

>> that's right, wolf. rick santorum is moving on. he will be coming to this huge ballroom at the university of northern california in the city of greely an hour north of denver making a speech at an annual event. there are about 600 people expected to be here. this is the kickoff of the western caucus season. the roses are in a vase or a vase depending on how you pronounce it in a boot. to honor the beginning of the western caucus season. alum dropped the roses. one thing that rick santorum is dealing with. an endorsement by the denver post. they endorsed mitt romney saying that santorum is short on real world experience. but he thinks he can do well in colorado and minnesota, missouri which all have their caucuses and primary on tuesday. while santorum is on the stump

he says he is a serious man dealing with serious issues when he's president. >> i know it's not a rally speech. but this is not a rally time. this is a time for big things. this is a time for [ indiscernible ]. this is a time to think about what's at stake. and it is inspired not by words but by inner strength and conviction of doing the right thing. >> rick santorum is expected to be jove yal when he speaks here but it will not be a celebration. he hopes to celebrate more tuesday after the three caucuses and primary. back to you. >> gary in greely, colorado. we'll expect to hear from rick santorum tonight as well. you are about to get a look at an actual caucus in nevada.

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...we inspected his brakes for free. free is good. free is very good. my money. my choice. my meineke. within a half hour or so we get another round of caucus results. the latest numbers coming in at the top of the hour. >> you expect secrecy when you step into a voting booth. but a caucus is a public events. even our cameras are allowed to watch. >> we are in becker middle school. we're in the cafeteria. three precincts going on at the same time. this precinct they are just voting. >> we have for rick santorum

three votes cast for newt gingrich three votes cast for ron paul eight votes cast for mitt romney 36 votes cast. thank you for your participation. [ applause ] >> in henzerson, nevada these ballots were just counted and mitt romney wins this precinct substantially. mitt romney got 31 votes. only 42 ballots cast in this precinct where there are 300 registered republicans. turnout is very low but this is mitt romney territory. i'm paul vercammen here in carson city. here are four of the precincts. 24 in all in carson city. this county does lean republican. it's like their super bowl their game. in the end they've got to get

behind one republican candidate and beat barack obama in nevada. i'm paul vercammen reporting from carson city. heading into the nevada caucuses, mitt romney had a 20 point lead in the most recent poll. rick santorum and ron paul were lagging further behind. romney hasn't had a huge advantage around the country. gingrich was the leader in national polls two weeks ago after winning the south carolina primary. the race tightened after that. and gingrich and romney were running neck and neck. but romney jumped back in the lead boosted by his primary victory in the state of florida. will kane if you look at the state of florida mitt romney lost who said they were strong tea partiers. you look at the entrance polls in nevada and it seems

different. >> mitt romney is the establishment candidate. but after looking at the numbers in nevada. i don't know how it will compare to the rest of the nation, the only thing that is defining establishment these days are those who made peace with their disappointment prematurely. >> that sounds sad and not like a way to win a general election in november. >> look you want to beat president obama in november you have to have enthusiastic votes coming out to the polls. it's hard to say my first choice versus i'm excited about this candidate. romney is going to need that. when you talk about hispanic voters in nevada and arizona and colorado and talking about illegal immigration that is not polling at the top. the latino decision at the polling deal. they are showing economy and

jobs and the dream act. they need to figure out what that messaging is going to be to attract those voters. >>on paul is talking to latinos in the state of nevada. >> on the enthusiasm question i mean i think that what's going to happen is that republicans hope and the romney campaign hopes that eventually barack obama himself will be the person who rallies republicans and in the end they are all going to join together. it might not have been as enthusiastic of mitt romney throughout the process but if he becomes the nominee what the romney people believe is that voters will get out of the polls because barack obama will unit republicans -- in a way -- >> if you are betting on the other die -- >> i agree with you. i think every republican wants this to be an election about

barack obama. so i'm not worried about the enthusiasm level. >> but can that be a flawed theory when you look at the job numbers? this is the first time we we had a contest since the job numbers on friday. if they go in that direction doesn't that have a problem on the theory? >> absolutely. if the job numbers don't improve, barack obama will be a strong candidate in the fall. we have had two false dons on jump numbers. they start out strong in the beginning of the year and tail off as the year goes on. you have to wait to see how it comes out. tonight yes there is an enthusiasm gap but it is significant tonight that in a state which is -- like nevada which has such a high turnout of very conservative people and strong tea party supporters, mitt romney is breaking through with those groups. >> it will be interesting to see what that turnout number is and

if it is high. >> we do know about the percentage of people who said they are conservative who voted. >> the high percentage of people be. you the turnout number -- >> the problem with the enthusiasm issue. i ran campaigns for a number of years. it's hard to keep your side motivated by the other side. you have to give them something to vote for. everything we say here tonight is to some degree irrelevant if the economy improves -- >> if the economy improves, barack obama wins the election. if it does not barack obama loses. i'm not a mitt romney fan. but if the economy goes further in the tank mitt romney wins. mitt romney does have one enthusiasm trump card, the supreme court will issue a decision on the obama care. >> we're lacking inspiration. >> looking at nevada and talking about the consolidation vote

they didn't have anywhere else to go. no one was competing for nevada and he won on the strength of the florida win. he -- >> he hasn't won yet. >> you foe -- >> but again -- >> but 13,000 ads against newt gingrich's 200. if you have the best car against a bunch of lemons. >> 57% of the people said that made up their mind before january. it's not like santorum and gingrich are setting the house on fire in nevada and december. this is a home win for romney. >> i want to ask about ron paul he polled in third or fourth place but could be in second place. >> this is a bad night for ron paul. nevada is teed up for him. >> no polling show -- >> 87% of land in nevada is federal. these are bumping up --

>> this is a delegate race. this is not a polling race. it's a delegate race. >> and president obama lost nevada to hillary clinton. one more delegate. it's just a question of how many votes you get. >> don gone total votes? >> sure did. >> the g.o.p. electorate in nevada is not indicative of the overall electorate. >> back to you. i want to show you the vote tallies. we are the only news organization going out to the caucuses around the state and heard the official numbers coming in. that's why we can share with you what is going on. no one else can right now. 3% of the vote. that is what is in. an impressive win so far. 3% only. 52% for romney to 20% for ron paul and 19% for gingrich and 9% for santorum. we have gathered these numbers

ourselves. we have reports at polling places in nevada. many more numbers are expected at the top of the hours. but we have an appreciation of why this is happening based on the entrance polling. >> we talked about the states. the west land rights is a big issue. you find more members church of the latter-day saints. look right here this is winning big. that is one in every four votes said i'm a member of the church of the lds, romney getting 91% of those voters. but if you look, romney is winning the catholic vote. 53% of that. protestants, 27% of the electorate. and romney with a lead over speaker gingrich there. the only interesting one among those as describes as having no

religion. take a look. ron paul at 55%. and 27% for romney. but a smaller slice of the electorate. the smart people on the other side of the room 74% of the people describe themselves as part of the tea party. it's a different tea party in different states. the tea party is different in every state. but in the state of nevada a majority of them are supporting governor romney. that bodes well for mitt romney. is there a lesson for the next stop but opening this month that is important for his momentum. governor romney looks like he is heading for a convincing night. >> do you think is it the activists that got sharron angle the senate nomination? >> she did lose. but the nominees in florida were not the nominees the

establishment wanted. the nominees in 2010 were not the ones the establishment wanted. if romney is getting 51% of the tea party that means the nevada republican party is going governor romney's way. >> we have a lot more coverage coming up including my one-on-one interview with ron paul. we are about to speak with him. he and newt gingrich in a neck and neck race for second place. you saw the numbers as they are coming in. and what you need to do to understand why the voters are so angry. the state leads the nation in a category that is devastating.

we're at the cnn election center. we have votes from our reporters in various locations in nevada. 3% of the vote in. mitt romney ahead with 52%. ron paul right now with 20%.

ne newt gingrich with 19%. rick santorum with only 9% of the vote so far. but let's talk to ron paul right now the republican presidential candidate joining us from arden hills, minnesota. thank you for coming in. would you be satisfied with a third place, a second place. it doesn't look like you are going to win but we don't have terrible results yet. >> i think i will be second but it is still early to make any declarations. but we have a few other numbers and they are looking pretty good. but we have to be patient and find out what the final number is later in the evening. >> a lot of people thought nevada was well-positioned for you, the libertarian element out there. you are from texas. it looks like mitt romney will have a strong night though. >> i think so. but i think that everybody does recognize that the mormon vote is significant and he picks up a

lot of vote and they're good turnout. that would play a role in it too. i think it is a libertarian state and a friendly state. we had good reception there. but i think we just have to wait and see how these numbers come in and see if we have a good second place coming up. >> give us your feeling looking ahead to tuesday. you are in minnesota. there will be caucuses in minnesota on tuesday and caucuses in colorado on tuesday also a primary although it is not binding in missouri. what is your assessment? >> i feel good about it. we have good reports on what is happening in maine and the colorado reception was fantastic. we got really good support here in minnesota. so i think we're going to come out pretty good on this. but i don't usually make wild predictions or claim anything. but i have felt very good about it. the reception has been excellent.

>> maine is a week from today. they wrap up their caucuses which continues over several days. you are watching what is going on. i just want to get you on the record. you're in this cop test at least through super tuesday if not much further right? >> yeah, certainly. it would be pretty difficult even if i had a personal desire not to continue there would be a strong rebellion with my friends. but we are doing so well there is no reason to think about that. we are starting to see the accumulation of delegates. after tonight we'll have more. and next tuesday we'll have more. and i think other people will be starting to think about our position and we may well by that time be in second place. >> at some point you have to win a state, win one state. which state will you win in first? >> well, i -- probably not the

best person. i don't look at the numbers carefully. i see myself responsible for delivering a message and trying to motivate person. i don't think i'm good at saying the very best state is this state and this is the one we're going to win. i'm going to defer because i don't have the numbers in front prediction. >> i just want to clarify your reaction to the controversial comments that mitt romney made earlier in the week when he was on cnn. he made awkwardly phrased comments he's not really concerned about poor people because they have a safety net, maybe you need to tweak that. heap said he misspoke. what was your reaction when you heard that? >> i kept asking about that and i kept thinking about the last time he had a statement and i think it was taken out of context. i try to give people the benefit

of the doubt. i know governor romney well enough he doesn't come across as at person that i don't care about poor people. when i listened to his statement, it wasn't like he was saying that. but my contention is people say, well, what is your concern? well, see, i think he's a victim of his own economic policy. so when people ask me about that, i'm really a strong defender of the poor and middle class and see how monetary policy destroys the middle class and how all these programs back fire on the middle class, how they use their jobs and houses. in many way i have deep concern about the middle class and the poor. i think mitt and others are thinking in terms if we have a program in place, an entitlement system and a welfare system, we've done our job. i just look at this a little bit differently. we can only do our job to maximize the wealth for the middle class and poor is to have a better economic system and

balance the monetary program. >> the defense secretary leon panetta was reported this week, he believes there's a strong chance israel might launch an attack on iran's nuclear facilities either in april, may or june. if you were president of the united states, what would you do in a scenario like that? >> you mean if they did it? >> what would you try to do? if you were president right now and your intelligence people said to you it looks like israel is preemptively going to try it die dee strr destroy iran's nuc facility, what would you do? >> if i had any say or asked me my opinion, i would try to discourage them doing it. why start a war? besides, i've heard the head of

the massaud say even if they got a nuclear weapon, they would not be an existential to help people know they should think before they start a war. >> thanks very much congressman. >> thank you. >> we're approaching a critical moment for new raw numbers from the nevada caulk uses. they're about to come in. plus rick santorum will join us live. he's on the campaign trail. stand by for that. ♪

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inflow of information from the actual voting of the nevada caucuses right at the top of the hour. i want to go over to john king at the magic wall for us.

it's a race to 270 electoral votes. that would be in november. but you're getting a sense of what's going on. >> at the moment it's a race to 1,144. the winner of the republican nomination will compete in a very different map. let's take out the states we assume will be swing states, new hampshire, virginia, north carolina, florida, ohio and indiana. maybe michigan. let's take it out for the sake of argument. iowa will be in play, colorado, maybe new mexico, maybe nevada. let's take this for the sense of argument. at home, this is a hypothetical. let's watch this play out. let's assume, for example, the republicans take ohio and indiana. let's assume president obama, especially because of his help for general motors and chrysler can keep michigan in his column. assume florida goes republican and let's split these two. these are big swing states. let's give the president virginia, let's say he pulls

that out again, say the republicans keep north carolina. at this point 257 to 253, you need 270 to get there. for the state of iowa, let's just say the republicans dprab that one. then we're going to come out here to colorado. up know what, why don't we do that and we'll come out hoar and give this to the republicans. look at this, 267 to 262 as you come to the west, you have to get here. the line is here. the line is here. that doesn't want to work at the moment but the state of nevada could decide the presidential election. last week we showed you a scenario where florida could do it. that's because of this. i should know better, right? if you do that the republicans win. if do you that the president wins. nevada could be key not only tonight but on a late night in november. >> that's why we're watching nevada very closely. they're also watching it closely at the white house. jessica, what are the obama folks looking at as far as

tonight is concerned? >> you won't be surprised to know they're looking at something you were talking about earlier, turnout. they will be interested to see if it's any higher than it was four years ago, 44,000 gopers turned out. they'll be looking to see if there's any organization on the ground there tomorrow. er that intrigued you, won't surprised to know that in new hampshire just three weeks after the polls closed there, the president in a new poll is 10 points ahead of mitt romney in new hampshire. they want to see how nevada looks just a few weeks from now. wolf. >> john, as we see, both of us former white house correspondents, we know what they're doing. >> i have a question for jess. i want to pull up the national map and show nevada, bring up the current unemployment state. it has the highest unemployment

in the country the president did get good news, the economy roared back and got some new jobs. do they have any concern this happened too soon and some people on the sidelines might come flooding and looking for jobs and that could cause the rate to go back up? >> that's one concern. the other obvious concern as you pointed out is there's outside forces that could drive those numbers down. sudden shock in europe could drive the forces down. there could be ricochet effects here. and even if the saber rattling that we've talked about in israel, between israel and iran turns into some military action that, could drive oil prices up, which would cause gas prices here to go up and that could cause our economy to take a hit and that would affect jobs numbers. so the posture here will not chang from unconscious optimism into any kind of victory lap. they're just going to continue on the messaging we've heard so

far. >> jessica yellin. the darker the greern tn, the hr the unemployment rate. >> most of the caucus sites in nevada are closed. we going now to carson city, nevada. paul, they've been counting numbers. you have new votes that have just been tallied. >> yes, on a piece of paper i was handed the final numbers out of carson city. there are about 12,000 republican voters here. the turnout wasn't as high as they thought. the raw numbers are mitt romney wins here with 656 votes, 37%. newt gingrich comes in second in carson city with 32% of the vote, 562 votes. then ron paul has 268 votes. that's 15% and then santorum 252 at 14%. so here in carson city many of

the people, and can you hear this in the room today waying in for different candidates, all of them wanting to show their support for the four different candidates and suggesting they will all have some sort of voice in republican politics in nevada. what's interesting here to a person after some of this healthy debate all of them would say, this stay unified we shall do not want to carve each other's candidates up verbally because in the end, and they almost had a super bowl-like spirit about this, we want to win the game. meaning in the end in november, they want to beat obama. so that's going to be something to watch, as you know nevada is a key swing state. >> based on the numbers that you've exclusively reported to our viewers here in the united states and around the world, i want to update our tally as of right now and you see we're going to put it in right now. we're going to change the numbers based on the outcome in carson city and you can see mitt military still ahead with 48%,

newt gingrich second, 23% ron paul, 18% rick santorum, 10%, 3% of the vote in nevada now in. up saw a chang here. we're the only news organization that is already tallying these numbers, counting these numbers coming in. we've got reporters and producers at various locations around the state. official numbers will be coming in. but you make a great point, paul. i want to bring you back for a second. the folks there in carson city, see it's on the western part of the state, not far from reason york they really want these republicans to sort of get their act together and get someone who can beat the president of the united states in november. >> absolutely, wolf. you didn't hear any of this bit ear rancor. this is a state capital, there's a lot of white collar jobs here. they want intelligence discourse. the one thing you did hear out of everybody, throw everybody out of congress.

they are frustrated with congress. they are calling for unity and that was the theme throughout the day here because they're talking about what is it going to take to defeat barack obama. and just as a lot of political junkies at cnn like to look at the electoral map, they envision a scenario where nevada could be the end game if the race stays that close. as we said, everybody -- nobody less than santorum with less than 14% of the vote. we're going to see if they do indeed come together and unify here. you may know, newt, here in the northwest and nevada they tend to lean much more conservative and outweight what's going on down south in las vegas. >> once again, let me just update our viewers in is a cnn exclusively, you'll see it only here on cnn. the numbers, i want to bring them back up and show our viewers what's going on. this is our tally after the

numbers just came in from carson city. mitt romney is about 1,400 votes ahead of newt gingrich with 23%, 1,300. ron paul 18% coming in third so far, rick santorum 10%, 584 votes. still very early but these are initial indications of what's going on. >> wolf, for analysis we go to david gergen and gloria borger. let's talk about the state of nevada. four years ago 40% of the people who were polling at the caucuses were very conservative. that number's gone up by 8% in just four years. what do you think of this? >> if you look back to four years ago, unemployment was at 5.5% and guess what there was not in the state of nevada? there was not a tea party. was tea party had not been invented at that particular point.

so what we have an electorate that is more conservative, they have the highest unemployment and foreclosures in this country. we'll have to see what the turnout is but it is is a more determined republican electorate here because they're very upset. i think the question we have to answer is whether they're now rallying or when accept mitt romney as a tea party standard barer, which we have not seen before this or whether romney's just going to win so big that maybe a rising tide lifts all up. >> sort of the opposite results as we saw in the case of south carolina. it looks from entrants polls maybe that's flipping. >> exactly. mitt romney now is winning a much higher -- more than half perhaps -- of the very conservatives and of the tea party types. that's a big breakthrough for him. i think this is a romp for romney that is going to serve him very, very well in the weeks

ahead. but just as importantly, as we talk about who is going to come in second and who is going to come in third, from my perspective, all three of the other candidates have had a bad night. >> the not romneys. >> right. the not romneys. santorum, ever since iowa, he's had a hard time catching fire. >> but wait till minnesota. >> but it's a long, long time between. here's caucus state. he's still around 20%. and newt gingrich, who needs to raise money desperately beyond mr. addelson, he's going to come in around 20, 25. he may come in second but he doesn't have a lot of bragging rights. the only person who comes out i think with a shining knight is mitt romney. >> you know, i think newt gingrich was depending on the tea party to give him the organization that he didn't have and he couldn't pay for. and what we've seen, and we seen it throughout these primary

contests is that the tea party has disbursed. the fact they're not rallying around newt gingrich and are supporting mitt romney this time is not good news for him. hang on till i get to the other side of the room. i'm in heels. come on. >> if 25% of the folks voting in this primary were mormon and he's winning 91%, that's like a democrat getting the lion's share of the black vote in south carolina. duh, you're going to win. it should not be a shock that mitt romney is blowing them away in nevada. it shouldn't be. >> but isn't what is a little bit of a shock when you look at the tea party numbers and the entrance polling, when you look at the people who describe themselves as very conservative, isn't that sort of the whole -- what did peggy noonan call it, the great coalescing that everybody's been waiting for. >> a that is the number we should be talking about.

nevada is looking very establishment tonight. >> 25% of the vote is mormon. nevada has the fourth highest -- >> don't say nevada. most readers are going to get upset. >> this is considered a home state for romney. they expect him to win it in 2008 and in 2012. it's going to be a very good night for him and a very bad night for ron paul if he comes in third. >> but that's not really news. again on the consolidation, no other candidate really competed in nevada. the conservatives really had nowhere else to go if their vote really wanted to kout. >> newt gingrich won in north carolina because it was a romp, okay? he did really, really well. what we may be looking at with tea party voters here and we don't know yet, it has to play

well, is whether because it's a romp and he's doing well or if it's because the tea party. electability was the key number tonight. in all of these primaries, republicans want to nominate somebody who can beat obama. >> i'm more impressed that mitt romney consolidates tea party folks in a state that's not home field advantage. >> so what do you get out of the state of nevada, first caucus, northwestern state, what are the implications? >> the freedom work, american for prosperity, they're all split across the board. they pretty much all griagree gingrich is questionable. again i think it goes to gloria's point that some of them are saying, hey, he's going to win, i might as well go vote for him. >> just because there's no

surprises tonight, which is true, does not mean there's no significance in the way it came out. the significance is romney has won throughout out of the first five, the first one to put back to back, the only one who has taken two battleground states. all of that adds up to stature in terms of the potential nominee. it's hard to see how any one of these other guys breaks out of this. >> so what happens to someone like newt gingrich. let's say he is not able to break into second place. heap said he's not going to drop out of the race until august. that keeps mitt romney fighting the fight on two front. he's talking about president obama but also has to deal with newt gingrich. what happens to him? >> he's going to have a bad february because his home field, home turf is the south. >> can he afford it? >> we might see him tone it back over the next month as well. >> money and delegates. >> what else does he have? >> he could continue to run on fumes. but going back to the

significance, i agree it's significant for romney but it doesn't necessarily mean that it has implications for the general election. because if you look at the gop electorate in nevada, it looks absolutely nothing like the general election electorate in nevada, which will be very significant. >> you're talking about latinos -- >> talking about latinos. mitt romney is absolutely nowhere with latinos, obama trounces him completely. >> you do what ron paul did in florida. you say that's great, i'll skip those. for gingrich you spoke us on super tuesday. you want to compete when you talk about georgia, you talk about ohio, when you talk about tennessee. you start on the ballot in virginia. if he doesn't do welcome march 6, he has no shot. focus on march 6. >> gloria. >> you want to talk about the economy and the issue set for the general election. mitt romney is very laissez

faire when it comes to the foreclosure issue, right? he's been talking about let the marketplace work, let investors comes in and buy the homes that have been foreclosed on, let renters come and rent the houses. there are conservatives who say we actually need government help. so i think this is going to be an issue aside from all the other issues. >> show him the poll and he'll chang his position. >> that's a good defense. >> that's a conservative defense. >> on that point, though, part of the problem with president obama, his housing policies have not worked thus far. it very well might be a wash there. but he's trying. >> at least he's talking about it. >> i want to get to candy crowley in washington, d.c. >> how are you? >> i'm exhausted from breaking up the fighting. help me out here. >> do your ears hurt?

listen, in terms what newt gingrich does, he has to focus on just the plate. arizona could well be very good for newt gingrich so i wouldn't leave that out of the mix. but in general the gingrich campaign has always felt super tuesday was their chance to make a mark, in those southern states and in ohio. i think it's significant that one of the states on gingrich's short-term itinerary is in fact ohio, where i think there have been some recent polls showing him leading there. so he's got to -- you have to pick and choose at this point even if you're winning simply because there's too many states coming up in march to be in all of them. so i think he goes south and i think he goes to ohio. >> the nevada congressman apparently has said now is time for gingrich to drop out. maybe he tweeted that i believe. >> the guy's not going anywhere. one of the things we were just talking about, what gingrich could do, you look at michigan.

romney made it clear, hey, let gm go aside. gingrich has been talking about the poor. if he can make an argument, even in michigan, he can say this is the guy that would have let your town die, let these factory dies. that could play in michigan. i'm not saying it will be a winning, ament but he at least could make that argument in michigan. >> let me check in with wolf blitzer. >> we've had a change in the vote tallies once again. these are our official numbers that only cnn has these numbers right now. we're beginning to get more of the vote in, 4%, based on what we're getting from various caucus sites in nevada, mitt romney with 48%, newt gingrich 23%, ron paul 18% and you can see it beginning to color in

some of those counties in nevada right now. the red is counties where mitt romney has a decisive lead, an impressive lead. we just heard from ron paul. you heard him live here on cnn. you heard his speech. i interviewed him. we're still waiting to hear from the other three candidates. they're getting ready to speak to their supporters out in nevada, also in colorado, much more of our coverage from the cnn election center right after this. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds )

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will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. don lemon has a look at the housing and the economy in nevada. >> where's the bulk of your wealth mostly?

most people it's in their home. if you live in nevada, two people here would be hit by foreclosure. if you're going to super bowl party tomorrow, if there were 16 of them, one of them would be hit by foreclosure. it has the highest foreclosure right in the country and it's been going on for the last five years. i'm going to call this the rest of the state here. these are the two most populous counties, where reno is and carson city and clark county. two most popular counties. the way we did this, these people tend to vote the same, that's why we did this. if you're looking at this and the rest of the state housing prices fell almost half, 50%. if you have a home that's $100,000, chances are now it's worth about $40,000. if you look at washoe county, 52%. you interviewed someone --

>> $180,000 she owes on it and now it's worth $32,000. >> unbelievable. so let's take a look now. dana bash went out to take a look. it's not an easy fix when it comes to fixing this problem. take a look. >> here in nevada it is ground zero for the housing crisis. two out of three homes are underwater. las vegas in particular has the highest foreclosure rate of any city in this country. 1 out of 150 homes is in foreclosure. >> foreclosures are in every time of neighborhood in all price ranges. my name is paul bell. i've been practicing real estate since 1990. >> all of these new homes, how many do you think of these have been in foreclosure over the past four years? >> i hi about 70%. >> 70% of these houses? >> in this zip code. >> there is some good news here.

in 2011, it was a record breaking year for sale of new home. but because they're being sold at bargain basement prices. this is classic. it th has has been foreclosed. >> can you see. this pool. the house was emptied out. this house was $800,000. it's foreclosed and now it's on the market for half that, under $400,000. >> my name is karen tores. i've been renting this house for over a year. got a notice on the door saying it was going into foreclosure and now we're being evicted. i'm at a loss. i don't know what to do. >> here we are doing story on a housing crisis in nevada. we stumbled on someone who is affected in the most significant way. chuck is homeless. >> it's a decision to make between some of the things that you like in life, like my lamb chops or eating absolutely

nothing and going around the food kitchens and getting food to supplement your nutritional needs in order to live in one of these roach infested, crack infested places. is it nice living out here on the rocks? oh, no. come on. >> really sad. when you look at the homeless problem there, why are so many people homeless? well, that's because most of these people who are out of work have been out work longer than six months. >> it's extra bad in that state. >> big problems in nevada. like all over the country but worse in nevada. candy crowley is watching everything unfold in washington. i know you're getting ready for the state of the union as well tomorrow as well. >> i am indeed. i had a chance to sit down tonight and talk to him about the flow of the campaign so far. one of the things i asked but b

is one of the things you all have been talking about. we saw on friday, lowest unemployment rate in almost three years and the highest dow jones industrial average since before the recession. i put it to him point blank and said if this economy keeps going and is looking good in september, what is plan b for republicans who wanted to run on the economy? here's some of what he said. >> obviously we'll have to wait and see but i think we're pleased that things are ticking down and not up. but ultimately what this is about is about how people feel. it's about how people feel in america. >> consumer confidence. >> that's really what campaigning and politics is all about. number one, am i better off today than i was three or four years ago, did this president fulfill the promises he made to the american people. jobs, that's an important issue but i don't think 8.3, 8.4, 8.2, 8.6, whatever it's going to end up being, that is one number but

the reality is -- there's a lot of reasons for those numbers, number one. ultimately we're happier that they're going down and not up but this election is going to be about much more than just what one department of labor statistic says. >> sure, but i'm just saying that there are other signs that sort of show that perhaps the economy is picking up, perhaps it will be better than we think it is come this fall. and so i wonder if the case that's being made is he spent all this money and has got nothing to show for it when in fact he can come in and say this is the worst recession since the great depression and i have brought it this far along, isn't that a president that has a pretty good record to run on as far as the economy is concerned, which is what republicans want to run against him on? >> and i don't want to be a bucket of cold water here. i don't want to lose the fact

that we're happier -- >> you can't be rooting for a bat time. >> to suddenly now take the leap that our country is on the right track, that spending is down, the deficits are cut in half as the president promised, the debt is not going to bury our kids and grand kids, that we're fulfilling the dream for middle-class americans, i don't think that's the case. i think we're hurting in this country as far as the economy is concerned. people aren't better off than they were three or four years ago. we probably don't have enough time to go through each of these things but clearly we're not on the right track, americans don't feel like we're on the right track and i think what republicans want to make sure and what our message is is that if you work hard and you play by the rules, we want to make sure you get to live the american dream. that's the message.

>> you have defended for a couple -- at least a month the idea of a long primary season, saying what doesn't kill suus i going to make us stronger. you pointed out the hillary clinto clinton/barack obama candidacy. if it should become clear along the way that you have a candidate but the delegates haven't all come in, because that happens, would you be for the others dropping out? >> no. i have to play by the rules, candy. we have rules at the rnc. when we have a presumptive nominee, then we'll join forces with the presumptive nominee and get everything else going and moving in the right direction. i'm just not going to be in position as chairman of the party to force people out, to suggest people that get out pip just don't play that way. >> you couldn't see yourself signing on to the whoever the

presumptive nominee might be but not necessarily saying you others need to get out. >> if we have a presumptive nominee -- >> who may not have the delegates -- >> there's a rule for that, candy. they have to have the delegates and then we would join forces with them. presumptive nominee is you have the delegates but we haven't met at the convention -- >> i know you don't -- you're agnostic in this but i am always curious whether republican chairman or democratic chairmen do have favorite. at some point you're going to be in a state and you have to vote. at some point in your own mind -- >> you're very sharp to try to trap me like that. i don't have any favorites. my objective is to put a republican in the white house and, quite frankly, i believe we need to defeat barack obama because he hasn't delivered on his promise. i think that is essential to us,

that's my goal. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. >> i also asked the chairman about newt gingrich's letter saying that florida's 50 delegates should be apportioned, it should not be winner take all to mitt romney. i asked him if that was possible and he said, well, you know, somebody could write a letter and we could work it out at the convention but he added if we're down to figuring out where 16 delegates ought to go and it comes down to that in florida, we've got a lot bigger problems than just whether florida is winner take all. >> rick santorum is suggesting maybe he should be on the ballot in indiana. he apparently didn't have enough signatures in some of the counties to get on the ballot in indiana. we know newt gingrich complained he's not going to be on the ballot in virginia. there's a lot of issues for the republican party chairman that he would have to deal with down the road if. and it's obviously right now a huge if, if it really comes down to that. >> yeah. and he doesn't i don't think expect that to happen but this has been an unexpected primary

season, shall we say. and all you can do is what you're doing now, is watch is state by state by state. >> candy, thanks very much. we're going to get back to candy. obviously she's go to be at the state of the union tomorrow morning as well. i'm told we're about to get some more numbers coming in, official numbers. 6% of the vote now in in nevada. take a look at this, 48% for mitt romney, 23% for newt gingrich. actually, it just changed. we're getting more numbers coming in, once again 6% still but mitt romney ahead with 48%, newt gingrich 23%, ron paul 18% and rick santorum 11%. if you go over to the map over here, can you see three of those counties now romney is ahead but one of the counties, take a look just outside of carson city in reno, newt gingrich is ahead over there. we're still waiting for las vegas. those numbers should start

coming in around 10:00 p.m. eastern when all the caucuses will close from there. we're getting all these numbers coming in. we're also hearing tonight from all four remaining republican presidential candidates. stay with us. i'm about to go one-on-one with rick santorum. also, we'll hear from josh romney, the son of mitt romney and stand by for more updates to our exclusive vote count as it comes from the nevada caucuses. every time of day. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it is meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. the other office devices? they don't get me.

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a good answer for everyone. so, by reducing the impact of production... and protecting our land and water... i might get a job once we graduate. let's update you on the vote count as it's coming in from nevada. the caucuses, almost all are complete, except for clark county, the largest county in the state. 6% of the vote -- even as we're talking, 8% is now in. mitt romney with 45% to newt gingrich's 22%. very close battle for second place because ron paul has moved up. he's got 21%, rick santorum 11%. a fierce battle for second place under way right now. 8% of the vote coming in right now. you can see the state -- the dark red are counties that romney is ahead in. some of the other counties newt

gingrich and ron paul is taking some of those counties as well. let's go in depth now to the magic wall. take a look at the state. >> you mentioned this county ron paul is carrying. he will carry it. this is nye county. ron paul winning with 46% of the vote in this one county. 454 votes. it's a very small turnout in a very small county. i want to go back in time for consistent city. in the 2008 election, ron paul carried the vote then as well. here's the county gingrich is winning. less than 1% of the population in mineral, he's winning the county. mitt romney has won these three counties, almost all of the votes are down here and the rest of the votes are up here. so we're still waiting on the two most populous counties to turn in.

if you go down to clark county and take a look at it, it's 70% of the state population. most of your votes are going to be down here. >> we're not going to know that until 10:00. >> not until 10:00. when you come up here -- i don't know why that's small like that but that's 17% of the state population. we've got a while to wait for the big population centers. but as we wait, we can say the map is starting to fill in. pretty fierce fight for second place. >> not necessarily a fight for first place. almost 70% of the people live in clark county, where las vegas and henderson is. let's go back to soledad. >> mitt romney should have had a great february and maybe is poised to have a great february but the first day out after his win from florida, fumbles through his i'm not concerned about the poor. you see him getting attacked

really viciously by conservatives. seems like everyone is coming out and taking a piece of him. what's going on here, eric? >> peggy noonan in this week's wall street journal saying the truth is it's a myth that the establishment likes him. in fact the establishment doesn't like him either, they don't trust him. >> they don't like gingrich -- >> they don't like gingrich either. i think the last danger for romney before he becomes the nominee, and i think he's on the path to becoming the nominee, i don't think we've had time for his comment for you to percolate yet. it usually takes -- >> the poor? >> the comment about the poor. maybe in minnesota, missouri, colorado we'll start seeing the impact of that comment, if there's going to be one. at the same time you have a lot of people who think he's got it in the bag. he'll he had a huge win in florida, he'll probably have a huge win tonight. you have people who are with romney not necessarily because they like hem but because they

dislike everyone else so much more feeling like they can speak nor freely because they won't do harm, which may be too soon. >> if you're a conservative, you need mitt romney to do well with white, blue collar voters in hai expennsylvania, to make the argument in virginia, to make the argument in michigan. if the obama campaign is able to say this guy doesn't care about you, this guy isn't thinking about you, this guy will not fight for you, that makes it even more difficult. if you look at how the unions have risen in ohio, in wisconsin, you're dealing with working class people. when romney says don't bail out gm and now gm is back to being the number one automaker in the world, that play into a narrative that benefits the obama campaign. >> it's a narrative spoken by mitt romney's own words. it wasn't just the poor comment that he made to you, soledad but that is just the late nest a huge string.

it's literally 10 or 12 or 15 things, the $15,000 tax cut, letting detroit go bankrupt and then when he stands with donald trump as drum -- donald trump is endorsing him. >> one of romney's economic advisers was doing the math on the improvements of the economy and what that would mean for president obama and came one a figure of 2%. the backlash of that is it never a good sign when your own advisers are starting to calculate from the person who is going to run again. >> that's an extremely premature analysis. this is nine months away. there are so many global influences on where our economy will be come november, from iran, to china slowdown to what's going on in europe. there are things beyond a

one-month jobs report, one-month -- president obama's economy is doing well pu but that doesn't mean it's going to be doing -- >> that's the same argument that president obama has been saying, don't just make it about me. >> georgia borger zip just want to talk about the numbers and house of representatives you play them now because obviously the unemployment numbers are very, very good for barack obama. but the question in my mind is will barack obama be ronald reagan in 1984 where the numbers did move down very quickly, where the growth rate was 8%, which we don't have anything near that now, what do we have 1.6%? or will he be george bush '41 whose unemployment numbers started coming down but they didn't come down fast enough for him to win in 1992. >> but there's no ross perot in

2012. >> we don't know, do we? >> well, i'm saying right now ross perot was talking about running at this period in 1992. >> right. but i don't know. >> david gergen. >> the irony tonight is that even as mitt romney is gaining momentum as a nominee, he's losing ground as a national candidate. >> how so? >> he has been slipping, president obama has been gaining on him and i now think has moved ahead of him in term of likely head of winning. president obama's chances of winning as a yesterday after the unemployment numbers came out, he got an odd job, that they had moved from 46% chance of winning reelection in october to 56% now. he's been moving up pretty steadily and it is in part -- yes, it's partly the economy and that is very uncertain, but it's also been the campaign is taking

a toll on mitt romney as as in candidate. >> president obama also had decided to finally have a much more start, populous argument. he's been running against congress. he's finally -- the language that he's been using also has been playing into the mood of the country as well saying i want to -- >> has -- >> if you look at the state of nevada, he was very careful to say nothing. no, truly. he stuck to a very tight, short script that he did not go off of. >> in the macro picture, the economy from yale has a big calculation who last year said barack obama would win it. it looks like it lab very close election where barack obama may lose because of the growth of the economy, which more so than unemployment has been a very good indicator for where independent voters go in

november if the growth of the economy stays at 2%, ut president is going to have a tough reelection. >> you have to -- >> try to make this worse. >> okay. hold on, i'll get to you in a second. >> it's right off what david said. there's essentially two different sets of analysis, a primary election analysis and general election analysis. in the primary election analysis, it's been an awesome night for mitt romney. he won votes -- when people said the kme was their number one issue, he von that vote. are this things that hurt him in the general election? well, we'll just see. >> let's go to wolf. >> we're about to go to soledad.

mitt romney with a sizable lead over newt gingrich, 45% to 22%. battle for number two under way right now. we're go b to get a new sant trum. we're going to be speaking with newt gingrich's daughters. much more going on from the cnn election center right after this. if there was a pill to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. [ male announcer ] it's called ocuvite. a vitamin totally dedicated to your eyes, from the eye-care experts at bausch + lomb.

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rick santorum getting ready to speak to his supporters out in colorado. the colorado caucuses are scheduled for this coming tuesday. a primary at the same time tuesday in missouri. right now the focus is on nevada. we're watching what's going on. we see what's going on right now with almost 10% of the vote in. it looks like a very good night for mitt romney. >> it does look that way coming in. one of the things we asked on their way in, the entrance poll, nevada voters were asked how much role do the tv ads play?

41% said, yes, the campaign ads is important for their votes. wolf, 54%, a majority of consultants are saying why did we spend all that money? 54% said the ads weren't a factor at all. 53% of that vote went to governor romney. so it's always a debate. voters say i don't like them, i'm not affected. when you pop out nevada here, this is the state results coming in so far, we can take a peek here at tv ad counts. as can you see, this is mitt romney, that's newt gingrich. this is by romney's campaign and his supporters in the pacs. you see them right here, the dark red here in vegas and reno. then you have here this is ron paul's spending, not newt gingrich spending in the state. and so that's the two big

markets, wolf. that's the tv spend being you have and romney's campaign dominating yet again his campaign and that pro-romney pac dominating spending. >> only romney and ron paul spent money advertising in nevada. the other two didn't spend a penny as far as i know. >> not a dime. they decided to save their money. they decided not to invest there, saving their money for march. soledad is standing by. they always say negative advertising bad, bad, bad but they do it because the works. >> yes, one would imagine that is the case. we have gary tuchman now with rick santorum who is in the state of colorado. gary, is the candidate out? i guess they have started with the pledge of allegiance. let's listen in for a minute.

don lemon. here's what we're doing. we're going to talk about ads and spending. mitt romney way outspending his rivals. >> i want everyone to keep this figure in mind, $30 million. that's what has been spent on ads in the entire united states. up said it was romney and paul spend being the most money in nevada. this is u.s. the first number i showed you is what the cam pan spent. the second number is what added with the super pac. so you look at the united states, that's $30 million. let me show you nevada, a state whose economy is hurting the most, you would think the candidates may say we want to put a little money into the economy. this is nevada right here in is what the campaign spent. we had to adjust it because it's $488,000 and then ron paul, ron

paul and mitt romney the only people spending. this added on top of it is what the super pacs are spending. not a lot of money. they're spending zero here. it's interesting, they're not add together economy. when you look at the five places they've had caucuses and primari primaries. $561,000 not a lot. you say negative ads work. from the romney campaign, this is about newt gingrich. it's a negative ad. let's look. >> gingrich resigned from congress in disgrace and then cashed in as a d.c. insider. if newt wins, this guy would be very happy. >> when you look here at the bottom, this ad is played 500 times. in florida, 1,700 times it played. this also a negative ad in the romney super pac about newt gingrich and his relationship to ronald reagan.

>> you'd think newt gingrich was ronald reagan's vice president. >> i worked with president ronald reagan. >> reagan. >> reagan. >> gingrich exaggerates dropping reagan's name 50 times but in his diary reagan mentioned gingrich only once. >> people in nevada know you're sick of it. the other person who is spending money down in nevada, ron paul. this one is about ron paul. it's not necessarily a negative ad but it shows i want smaller government. this is what i would cut. i think he's talking about the departments he would cut. i think this was for rick perry, who is no longer in the race but listen. >> cut $1 trillion year one. department of education, gone. interior, energy, hud, commerce, gone. later bureaucrats. that's how ron paul rolls. >> there you go. that one ran 200 times.

>> he's had some of the best ads of the campaign i think. >> this ran 500 times, this ran 120 times, this one ran 100 times. one ad in florida 1,700 times. >> when we come back, we'll hear from the candidate rick santorum who is in colorado. stay with us. back in just a moment.

the other office devices? they don't get me. they're all like, "hey, brother, doesn't it bother you that no one notices you?" and i'm like, "doesn't it bother you you're not reliable?" and they say, "shut up!" and i'm like, "you shut up." in business, it's all about reliability. 'cause these guys aren't just hitting "print." they're hitting "dream." so that's what i do. i print dreams, baby. [whispering] big dreams.

. gary tuchman is in colorado with rick santorum right now. i want to go there. i think we have a little exclusive interview coming up with the former pennsylvania senator right now, right? >> that's exactly right. rick santorum has just walked into the room. it's the night of the nevada caucuses but we are in colorado, a big republican party dinner. 600 people. senator, how come you decided to spend the night of the nevada caucuses in the state of colorado? >> well, the caucus is coming up on tuesday, we think we can be competitive here and in minnesota and missouri. we're going to work those states very, very hard. that's what we're doing. we spent the entire day here in colorado. >> can you win here in colorado?

can you win in missouri? >> i think we can do well. i'm hopeful, optimistic we might be able to pull out one of those three and finish well in all three. this is where the race turns a little bit. governor romney has had campaigned and worked for a long time. this is the first time as the field widens he doesn't have the advantage. >> an article today said you know the issues but you don't have world experience. what do you think about that? >> i'm a father and i think that gives you world experience. i worked for a tech company for three years. have i a lot of experience in the private sector but i'm not running for ceo of a company. i'm running for president of the united states and having

experience in how to lead this nation is much more important in being commander in chief than running a company. i've experience in both public and private sector. here's the other difference. i've got a consistent record, a clear contrasting record that mitt montana doesn't have. he's been all over the map in every issue and gives away three of the biggest issues in this campaign, health care, cap and trade and the wall street bailouts. we can't afford to nominate a candidate who simply gives away too much to start this race. >> do you feel you have a realististic path to this nomination? >> i expected to win this nomination. >> you do? >> there's a poll out today that has mitt romney trailing obama by 3 and having me ahead by 1. this is a long, long way from being over. people are looking at this race and they're going to start to see that mitt romney and newt gingrich doesn't have what it takes to win the general election. they may be able to win a nomination but that's not what republicans voters are looking

for. they're looking for someone who has what it takes to beat barack obama and we've got the right message and the right background and contrast to do that. >> isn't it crucial for you to be one-on-one against mitt romney right now? >> we'll see that in missouri. >> newt gingrich is not on the ballot there. i mean overall at every primary caucus, don't you have to be one-on-one to win this? >> eventually. we have a long, long way. we have to get a little share of delegates along the way here and eventually this race will come to us as the strong conviction conservative who presents the best chance to win. >> this is the lincoln day dinner here in greeley, colorado. what are you going to say to the people in colorado? i'm sure you want 600 of these people to vote for you. >> sure do. we just had in montross, we had about 750 people there, we just left a 500 people rally and we've been traveling all over the state of colorado, north,

south, western slope and feel very good about the crowd we're getting and the response we're getting. >> best wishes to you. >> thank you. >> our coverage continues now on the nevada caucuses. >> the controversial race has been won by governor ronald reagan of california. >> george herbert walker bush. >> too close to call. >> there it is, george w. bush re-elected. >> barack obama president elect of the united states. >> it's shaping up to be a huge night for mitt romney. we're watching the return from the caucuses all across nevada. >> and another headline is the surprisingly tight race for second place. tonight mitt romney is on track for a third win but about half of the votes still are out. will he keep his momentum going? >> i intend to be that leader

with your help. >> it's nevada's choice. newt gingrich is vowing to fight on no matter hough he does tonight. >> we are going to contest every place and weep are going to win. >> the final four candidates in america on race for delegates. >> it's nice to see a nice crowd. >> one step closer to the convention in tampa and their party's big prize. >> people of this country are going to decide who the president is based on who they think is the best person to run this country. >> the votes are coming in. the stakes are high and in nevada right now, all bets are off. i want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. i'm wolf blitzer at the cnn election center. in less than an hour, all the caucuses will have been

completed in the state of nevada. but votes are coming in right now. let me update you on what we know as of right now. 9% of the vote is actually been accounted for, 47% for mitt romney. he's ahead of ron paul with 21%, 20% for newt gingrich. a fierce battle for second place under way right now in nevada with 9% of the vote in, 11%, 11% for rick santorum. but right now ron paul has moved slightly ahead of newt gingrich, as can you see, with 9% of the vote in the state of nevada. we've got all of our reporters standing by watching what's going on. jim acosta is over at romney headquarters in las vegas. jim, first to you. at some point we're going to hear from mitt military but it is shaping up as a very big night for the former massachusetts governor. >> that's right. i can tell that you team romney has arrived here in las vegas after an event earlier in

colorado. there is a spring in their step, smiles on their faces. this is what winning feels like. romney supporters are starting to file into this ballroom where he is expected to talk anywhere from an hour to two hours from now. i think we'll whatter a tough speed, he'll go right after the president on commit. it is is a complicated subject for mitt romney. earlier today at the event in colorado, mitt romney was speaking at a factory that received stimulus money. mitt romney was trying to make the case that the stimulus hasn't worked for the president, hasn't worked for the economy, he's not exactly holding all of the best cards when it comes to that one issue of the economy if it improves over the coming months. >> he'll give i imagine a very carefully crafted speech. the teleprompters are already ready to go. >> that's right. the banner is up "believe in

america." it's not that "obama isn't working" banner that we saw in the last couple of weeks. it's going to be interesting to see what mitt romney has to say tonight, especially on the subject of the economy. when he was talking in colorado earlier today, he acknowledged once again that the economy is improving and that's an interesting dynamic that's starting to take shape in this race because mitt romney has staked much of his campaign on that issue of the economy, wolf. >> jim, we'll stay in close touch with you. . we go over to las vegas as well. as traditional as mitt romney might be, the former speaker of the house not necessarily going to give a traditional speech tonight, is he? >> no, he's not, wolf. we're here in the room where he will be addressing reporters and just take a look. can you see it's pretty quiet, right? he'll be addressing reporters, there are no supporters here and that is because this lab press conference, not a rally like you might expect to see and really

this low-key event is going to be pretty symbolic of how newt gingrich has handled nevada. he's hardly campaigned here. he's done some fund-raising here of course but he's hardly campaigned here. so what we're expecting is he will address reporters and will be asked a lot of questions about whether he plans to move forward in even february, as even he has admitted will be tough as he tries to hold on and be relevant. >> we'll see what you have to a. john king, as we watch newt gingrich, you and i have covered him for a long time hereby always comes in with a surprise or two. i remember a time on a night like this after an election, he goes on and has news conference. >> his team says he will fight on, wants to get through what he expects to be a tough february. if you look at the map, republicans play a little multiple choice, santorum, gingrich, romney. romney putting together

back-to-back victories and begin the month of february. a lot of delegates at stake. as you look at the map starting to fill in, just starting to get both. clark county is the biggest place right here. if you look here, 56% of the votes coming in for governor rock any. >> only 3%. >> only 3% of the volts and then you go up here. 3% of the vote, that's the second biggest. two counties for ron paul, one for newt gingrich. we're waiting for the bulk of the vote. governor romney with a healthy 2-to-1 lead at the moment. 12.6 unemployment in the state of nevada. no surprise at all the economy was the top issue, 54% said the economy was the top issue and nearly two third of those voters

chose governor romney. it's one reason governor romney is winning big tonight so far because on the top issue voters wanted him. what are they most looking for in a candidate? someone who can beat barack obama. we've seen this in other states. nevada likely to be a key fall category. we look at that, nearly 3 in 4. 70% of the voters in nevada say mitt romney meets the top quality, 18% went for speaker gingrich. governor romney hopes to begin february with a win in nevada and sweep through the month. >> looks like he's positioned potentially to do that. we want to go to candy crowley. >> i want to bring in joshua romney, number three son of obviously the candidate. josh, it's going to see you again. thanks for joining us. >> thank you, candy. i appreciate it. >> listen, it looks like your father is going to get a pretty

good win tonight. we've got lots of internal polling talking about people that thought economy was the number one issue went heavily for your father, mormons that caucused went heavily for your father. if you had to boil it down as to why your father looks as though he's going to get a pretty big win tonight, why would you say he won? >> i think there's two things that people are really concerned about right now. number one is the economy. they want someone who understands how the economy works to go in and turn things around in washington. and my dad is the turn around guy. he's turned around failed businesses, turned and the olympics and turned around the state of massachusetts. when it comes to the economy, my dad zbiet they look at to turn things around. the second big issue is who is going to beat president obama next november and again my dad is that guy. >> wolf bliter did an interview with newt gingrich late this week in which he talked about

why he hadn't called your father to congratulate him after florida. he's saying you, know, they're, quote, trying to destroy newt gingrich, he talked about how it's pretty hard to see how somebody is going to negatively carpet bomb his way to the nomination. is there any unease at all about your father's campaign that he has gone too negative and too heavily against gingrich? >> you know, i don't think so. you look at how politics is played. it's a tough sport. and, you know, i think newt's worried about how things have played out. i don't think president obama is going to be much nicer to him. this is what you go through, it's part of the vetting process. i think my dad has tried his best to make sure where different candidates stand on the issue, where my dad stands on the issues and where newt gingrich stands on the issue. voters should recognize these

the guy americans need to turn things around. >> i ask about the unease because so much of i don't dad's public per sonia has been this is a generally nice guy, he's the business guy. this is distonic with the reputation of kind of an up front kind of boy scout to just be pounding newt gingrich with these ads. >> you know, i can assure you my dad's a nice guy. he is a genuinely nice guy but, you know, this is politics and it's also helpful for people to say z when my dad goes up against president obama, a he's going to make president obama go up against his record for the last three years. i'm sure president obama would like to make this about anything but the issue of his record for the past three years. we're going to focus on that, what you've done and haven't done to turn the economy around.

>> suppose that record begins to look pretty good. a drop in the unemployment rate. what is there left in the arsenal in the fall if your father should get this nomination to go after president obama if it looks as though that the economy is righting itself. >> there are so many things president obama has done over the last three years to show down our economy. we would not be where we're without dodd-frank and we could be in a far better place had he not done those things. i think we'll continue to struggle along until we have a leader in the white house who really understands what it takes to get the economy going. and my dad is that guy. >> josh, let me ask you this, as you know a lot has been made about the comments that your

father made post florida, which in part said i'm not really that concerned about the poor. we knowy he went on to say they have a safety net, i'll fix it. but, you know, this is hard ball and you know how this is played. i think some of the reason it had such resonance is the rap on your dad is he is wealthy, lucky for him, i know he worked hard for it but the idea is he's is in a whole different rel of from, quote, normal people. what does your dad know about the every day life of middle-class americans and the poor? where does he get knowledge of that? >> my dad, that comment it's tough when something gets taken out of context, particularly for those reporters who are with my dad and hear him every day say that same line almost exactly the way with the mis -- my dad

apologizes for it and he said it wrong. you're on the campaign trail and you're occasionally going to say things the wrong way. my dad cares about the middle class and want to make sure -- they're the people affected most by the obama economy. so you look at his tax plan, his growth plan and what he'd like to do in this country and it really is focused on helping the middle-class to get them back on track. >> i guess what i'm asking is what is there in his experience and you do know him better than any of us do, what is there in his experience that makes him able to relate to, you know, i can't pay the mortgage. i'm worried about my kids even going to college. people have to believe that they're going to vote for someone who understands their problems. i'm trying to understand where that fits in for him, his

knowledge. >> he had a lot time as a church leader, being able to talk to a lot of different people about their struggles. my dad is a guy who is very compassionate. he's the guy who cared deeply by the middle-class and has had a lot of experience working with them as a church leader and doing different things. i this that experience would serve him well as pred p. >> lieutenant governor, does that sound good to you in utah? >> not right now. i have five young kids and am busy doing that into the future. >> thank you very much. i'm going to update our viewers on the vote tallies. we're getting more votes coming in we're out of the curve on this one. no one else has these updated numbers as weekly as we do.

10% of the vote in for nevada. 48% from mitt romney, 21% for ron paul, 20% for newt gingrich. what a battle right now between ron paul and newt gingrich. rick santorum coming in fourth. we're about to get a whole lot more at the top of the hour. that's when all the caucuses would have been completed, include. lynn in clark county. also coming up, newt gingrich's daughter they're about to life us down to greenlee colorado. rick santorum is getting ready to address his supporters. you'll hear what he has to say and a lot more. we're here at the cnn election center. stay with us.

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welcome back, everybody. we're back with our contributors. let's begin with you, will cain. two states romney has already won, the state of new hampshire and florida. if nevada -- or nevada -- if it goes as everyone is predicting it will, is this a roll? >> it is is a roll. there's no doubt about that. we try to look at things too often in silos. it's important is it by itself? well, it's just one state of 50. if you rack them up together, it can become a trend. >> 51% is what romney won in 2008. >> huckabee with 8%, he blew them away. >> so 51% and wasn't the nominee. >> that worked out well for him. >> you're saying he's not going to be the nominee? >> no, i'm making the point he

blew them away in 2008 because as erika has been saying, this is home field advantage. you could back and it shouldn't be a shock he's doing so well, which explains why you have virtually no spending of money by the other candidates. they said it's a wash, let's move on the to other states. it doesn't help us. >> do you agree with that? >> yeah, i do. gingrich had an awful ground operation in nevada. everyone knew going into it mitt romney was going to win. look what he did in eig2008. this time is different because he probably will become the nominee. the question is can any of the other candidates compete on the money game? mitt romney's huge money advantage has worked. nobody except in south carolina came at parity with mitt romney. >> let's go back to the primary, which of course you love to work about, will --

>> it happens to be occurring tonight. >> really? really? >> and a question wolf blitzer asked ron paul and it was basically do you need to win? and he really doesn't need to win. it's all about the delegate count. can you win the nomination by racking up all the delegates you need by winning one state. >> ron paul made that clear, i'm not going to win, i'm going to the delegates. >> you have to get 1,144 to win. can i not allow tonight to go without discussing rick santorum. can y'all put this picture up, please? >> i was going to get to this in ament. >> do we have it? i'm sorry. even erik is saying what is rick santorum wearing with that tie? >> i was just expecting a sweater vest. >> he should stick to the swaelter vest. >> come on now, will, you're from texas, i'm from texas. you do not wear a bolo tie with a button down shirt.

>> you just upset a world of old men. >> you go to florida, you talk about space, you go to colorado, you wear a bolo tie. >> but come on, the tie, the sweater. >> look at how ben knight did it. that's how you wear a bolo tie. >> john of a lon is at romney headquarters. i have to tell you, i took exception when candy crowley was talking to romney's son, josh, he said the comments from the interview he and i did the other day were taken out of context. that's a quote. how is that impacting his campaign, sort of the backlash from that? >> look, i mean, they weren't taken out of context. but the big problem is the romney camp does have a problem with the narrative that is emerging because of gaffes like that. you add together a romney gaffes, he's a very disciplined candidate with a very strong organizational advantage, the money advantage, momentum advantage but you tie together the statement that i'm not

concerned about the very poor, which is a comment about focusing on the middle class but you add that to corporations not people are my friend and you start to see a negative comment. that's why it took root and has made its impact on the narrative of this election. this party has spent a generation trying to get away from the idea that it was a party of the wealthy. so that's something that the camps had to wrestle with. but clearly here in nevada where he has that organizational advantage, he does have business behind him, it hasn't taken anything out of his step. we'll eventually see whether other candidates can coalesce support in the other direction around that. >> john, want to talk a little bit also what he said about his dad. he said my dad's a turn around guy. i think the problem is that the economy is turning around by itself slowly. will cain, a nod to you. >> slowly and not certainly. that's what i would say.

there are so many things involved in the economy. i promise you this is not coming from any kind of partisan perspective -- >> you don't have to promise me. just say it. >> when you make economic assessments, there's things besides job problems and unemployment, specifically debt, private market and household debt we have to keep eyes on and everything going on in the world, yeah, it's heading in the right direction, no doubt about it but we still need a turn around guy? we'll see. >> all i heard for the last three years, heard the same thing with president bush from democrats, they'll say the president cannot create jobs, the private sector creates job. you're saying, mitt, how can you magically create jobs as president? it speaks to again, creates this weird argument we always hear being made. >> gloria, you have a minute -- >> david gergen -- i have never seen that in all the years. i have a chance to talk to david

gergen eating potato chips. >> it's been a long night. it's been a long night. >> not yet. >> we're going to go after dark here at any time. >> i want to talk about the calendar. i think the february calendar is very favorable to mitt romney. and what mitt romney has to do is rack up some more wins in this february calendar and if you look at some of these states, for example, arizona is a state in which he actually runs to the right of newt gingrich on immigration, there's a sizable mormon population in the state of arizona, immigration is a key issue for republicans in arizona, could be a very good state for him if he does well in the next six or seven states. you head into super tuesday. heap has some steam behind him. newt gingrich has some good states on super tuesday. he's got georgia, he's got ohio, he's got tennessee, for example, some southern states.

virginia not on the ballot. but if romney can keep this going, newt gingrich isn't going to be able to raise the money and maybe his sugar daddy is not going to ante up for the super pac. >> i think that's right. the other thing -- we ought to be starting to look now for turnout numbers pretty soon. i think we're getting hints at little signs here and there that's it down. we've had two or three reports tonight. and i do think that even as romney moves to lock up the nomination, some of the enthusiasm within the party may not be holding up. we'll have to watch that. >> go ahead. >> if you look in florida, the counties that had increased turnout from 2008 went to gingrich. they were smaller population rural counties. the counties that had decreased turnout went to romney. same thing in south carolina, same thing in iowa. >> we got to take a break. >> david likes sun chips harvest cheddar. damn it, i got your chips so here you go. >> is that a sponsor of the show

since he's held them up? is that a sponsor? >> they'll be calling him. >> when we come back on the other side, we're going to talk to newt gingrich's daughters about how their daughter could be faring. tonight also rick santorum, we're waiting for him to make his speech in the state of colorado. we'll bring that to you as well. stay with us. how can you get back pain relief that lasts up to 16 hours?

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when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. we're still waiting to hear from rick santorum. he's about to speak to his supporters out in colorado. also newt gingrich will is a news conference when all the caucuses report. he's in las vegas. mitt romney will give a much more traditional speech at some point tonight. so lots coming up. we're also going to be speaking with newt gingrich's daughters at some point as well. let me update you on the vote. 10% of the vote is now in. mitt romney a significant lead, 48%.

look at this battle under way for second place between ron paul and newt gingrich. 21% for ron paul, 20% for newt gingrich. only a few votes separate the two. rick santorum in fourth place with 11%. let's go over to cnn's john king over at the magic wall for us. fierce battle for number two in nevada right now under way. >> depending on how close it is and where those votes are and how the rules are in the state of nevada could affect the delegate count coming out. as we move from january into february, this is the january results. santorum wins iowa, rom anyway new hampshire, gingrich south carolina, now we're waiting for nevada tonight. these are delegate estimates coming in. it's a race to 1, had 144. the leader has just 85. let's for the sake of argument give governor romney the state of nevada. other delegates counts also went up. this is based on an estimate, a ballpark figure, not exact.

assume mitt romney run -- you have minnesota, colorado and missouri on tuesday. missouri is nonbinding at this time. let's say governor romney wins them all and there are chances this might not happen, eight type they call to show you where if he also wins maine, we come through arizona, michigan, the big prizes. let's give that to governor romney. 1,144 is what you need. that's why speaker gingrich says he's hanging around. march 3rd are the washington caucuses. we'll give this one to congressman paul. he get the bulk of the delegates there. this is the day speaker gingrich says i'm hanging in for. it th is super tuesday on march 6th. he's not on the ballot in virginia. that's a very important point worth making. in tennessee, he could still win the state and come up short.

places where gingrich thinks he'll be strong. this is why he says he's staying in no matter what happens in february to get to march. the question is if governor romney runs the board in the month of february or maybe loses one state say to ron paul do, the money drive up for newt gingrich? yes gingrich has money in the bank, senator santorum has money in the bank. but the more states you have to play, the more it costs to staff and run and travel. the question is if governor romney runs the board this month or almost runs the board this month, does the money dry up for o others, including speaker gingrich. >> ron paul has high hopes for maine. they have a tradition of electing independents. >> we're doing this hypothetical just to show if romney runs the month. that's not saying he will. if you talk to republicans in maine, they're worried about

these caucus states. but they would -- anybody in the romney campaign would not dispute the possibility ron paul wins maine. >> our viewers who are interested, if they want to do what john king just did, go to cnn.com/calculator and you'll be able to do exactly what you do. >> or come in tuesday night at 6:00 and i'll yield the floor, it's all yours. >> super tuesday, march 6th, that's what newt gingrich is looking forward to. >> let's run it through. if you give gingrich oklahoma, tennessee and georgia and he starts to narrow the gap. let's just say that happened on march 6, you come forward a little bit. i'm going to essentially split right here kansas and wyoming, split those um, gingrich one, romney the other.

alabama and mississippi in the middle of the month, again states that newt gingrich would say if i could stay in the race that long, could i do business in the south. if you give those to gingrich, you could come back one further, missouri caucus, missouri votes tuesday, this is when the delegates get awarded here. if you gave that to romney, get to the middle of march, about half to half. >> but you still need 1,144. >> yes, you got to get all the way over here. speaker gingrich would say i'm still in the hunt. then could you run them through from here, the puerto rico primary, illinois primary, louisiana is a state, gingrich is hoping for this, hoping to get to the point where texas matters and he's hoping the support of rick perry and others would help him in texas. let's get through february before we worry about the 3rd of april. >> over the newt gingrich headquarters -- actually from mitt romney headquarters, they're beginning to fill in the auditorium over there. we're going to hear at some point from mitt romney but rick santorum is over in colorado.

he's getting ready to speak to his supporters. let's listen in. >> i thank you very much for your support, your endorsement, your kind words. it is great to be here in weld county, it is great to be here. i have been told that this is something i can now hold over my former colleague in the senate, john thune. prior to tonight thune drew the biggest crowd but we have 640 tonight which takes the record so i'm going to take credit for that. thank you. many of you notice i have different neckwear on when i first walked around. they told me they want to auction off this tie. so i -- and they wanted me to wear it. here i am wearing the tie. i will now take it off and sign the tie and then you folks, i'll do it right here in front of everybody. want me to sign it on the back or the front? the back. i didn't know whether you wanted a signature tie or one on the back. so we'll sign it right here in front of god and country.

there we go. now it's worth probably a nickel or dime more than it was before. all right. thank you all very much. and it's great to be here in colorado. it's i think our second day of campaigning here in the last week. i was out on the western slope this morning and they didn't have any snow over there. i was sort of surprised but we were very pleased when we flew in from missouri last night. we had a great crowd this morning and another great crowd over at loveland and now here and i just want to thank you for the warm reception that we have received. this is is a reception frankly we've been receiving across this country. i think folks are beginning to get excited about the real challenge that you all have. we're down to four candidates, three of which have won a state, probably three of which have a chance to get the nomination. it's down to crunch time. and you've got to make a tough decision. there's some good people up there.

friends of mine in some cases, people i've known in the case of newt gingrich for 20 years. and you've got to make a tough decision. and the decision has to come down to really two things -- who's the best person to do what must be done for this country first? and that's to defeat barack obama, right? [ applause ] and, secondly, who do you trust? who do you trust that's going to have the conviction, the principles, the courage to go out and do the job in a town that doesn't want change, in a town and in a world that likes to go along to get along? who do you trust that's going to go there with the strong moral convictions, with the strong ethical convictions, with the strong convictions about what is right for this country, to do

the job that is necessary, to shrink the size of government back to its constitutional framework, to stand up for the values of this country, of faith and family and to make sure that america is again respected by our allies and trusted by our allies and in fact feared by our enemies. [ applause ] this is the job you have. and in a few days you're going to step through a step in the process -- a lot has been said about winning this election, that the first thing we have to do is win this election. i agree. a lot of people said, well week have to go with the guy that has the most money or is the most moderate in order to win the

election. that was the siren song we heard a long time in republican circles. we heard it back in 1976 when we chose gerry ford offer ronald reagan. we heard it four years later when those who supported george bush over reagan. we heard it in '96 when we nominated bob dole and just four years ago we nominated john mccain. we need to nominate someone who can appeal to the middle, someone who can win. ladies and gentlemen, when we've nominated people who don't stand for the values that make this republican party what it is, who don't have the courage of their convictions, who aren't well oiled weathervanes, who are not people that will make the race about them and their character but will make the race about barack obama and his failure as a president, then we will not

win this election. we will win this election if we have someone who goes out and paints bold contrasts, someone that america trusts to do what in our heart we know needs to be done, to get washington under control. ladies and gentlemen, if you look at the candidates in this race, it is no longer really a question as to who can beat barack obama. if you look at the polls today, one came out at rasmussen, had governor romney trailing president obama by 3 points and had me defeating barack obama by 1 point. [ applause ] we still have a ways to go in name recognition across this country. i'm not a household name like mitt romney and newt gingrich. we have potential to grow, to improve our standing upwardly. we don't have the high negatives.

we've kept this campaign on a high plain. i didn't engage in petty personal politics. i had many opportunities -- [ applause ] i had many opportunities to take shots at governor romney for the way he conducted himself in business. i had many opportunities to take shots at speaker gingrich for the same. but, ladies and gentlemen, this race isn't about that. it is about big issues. it's not just about jobs. everyone talks about jobs as being the number one issue. yeah, it's an important issue, but i think each and every one of us knows, particularly if you were involved in the election two years ago, particularly if you are a member of a tea party, you know there's something bigger at stake in america today. it's not just about the economy, it not just about jobs. it's something more foundational. it's something bigger. we all know that barack obama

and the left in america doesn't see america the same way that you do. they see america as a country that is in decline. they see america as a country that needs to be managed. look at what he's doing to the defense department. he's gutting it. he's managing the decline of the military in order to fund a welfare state, to provide for people. why? because of course they believe that you need to be taken care of. look at obamacare. the signature issue in this campaign. it is destroying already it is harming the economy. just the uncertainty that obamacare has on the horizon is constricting business, that uncertainty of what the cost and regulatory burden of obamacare and dodd-frank and so many other things that this president has in mind is creating instability in the marketplace.

you have a bill with obamacare that says that washington knows best how to manage your health, how to provide for you. is that the america that transformed the world? is that the america that said that we need government to control your lives? that we need government to tell you how much you can spend on health care and what plans you're going to have and what fines you'll pay if you don't? >> no! >> ladies and gentlemen, this issue isn't just about health care, it's about freedom. [ applause ] barack obama has tried to tell you that he can give you the right to health care. is that where our rights come from, ladies and gentlemen, from the government? >> no! >> we're different than any other country in the history of the world. every other country in the

history of the world rights came to you from the king or the emperor or the government. but not in america. america we are different. we are different. it's why the left in america so much wants to transform us away from our founding principles. that's why they don't want it taught in our schools. but america is different because we were founded different. we are a great country because from the very beginning of our country, from that very first declaration america was different. barack obama does not believe that. he said about nine months ago in commenting on paul ryan's budget, he listed a whole host of entitlement programs from uninsurance to medicaid and he said this, he said "america is is a better country because of these commitments." reading from his teleprompter he

said. this was not an off-the-cuff line. this was something thought about, worked on and delivered. he said, "i'll go one step further. america was not a great country until these commitments." according to the president of the united states, america became a great country when the government of this country took money from you, sent it to washington and redistributed it to those who they believed were more worthy of the money than the people who made it. you see, barack obama doesn't understand that america was born great. [ applause ] in that declaration of independence and these word that make america what it is exceptional, our founders wrote "we hold these truths to be

self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their -- with certain unalienable rights, among them life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." those words is what makes america america. [ applause ] it makes us different than any every other country because rights we recognize from our very foundation do not come from government. they come from a higher power. they come from god, the god of abraham, isaac and jacob. [ applause ] and the government's one responsibility in drafting the constitution, our founders believed the one responsibility of the constitution, which is a great document, it is the operator's manual for america

and its job is to protect those freedoms so you, each and every one of you, your ancestors going back could have the freedom and the opportunity to be able to provide for themselves, to be able to reap the fruits of their labor, be able to form families, churches, communities and build a great and just society, not from the top down but from the bottom up. [ applause ] we are at a point in this country where that basic fact of america is in jeopardy. if we do not defeat this president, we do not repeal obamacare, we do not roll back all of these other government intrusions into the markets and into the lives of people and families, then we will be the

generation that lost face with america. we will be the generation, we will be the stewards who dropped the ball. and this country will be forever changed. margaret thatcher when she was prime minister of england said she was never able to accomplish what reagan accomplished in america in transforming statist britain back to its freedom, its glory days of believing in people. and she said the reason was the british national health care system. once people become addicted and dependent upon the government for their health, there is nothing the government will not be able to extract from you. if you want to care -- [ applause ]

and she was right. look at the conservative party in britain today. it is to the left of the democratic party in america. do you wonder why nancy pelosi and all these house and senate democrats were willing to march oft cliff to pass obamacare? because they know that if it sticks, they'll all be back. and sooner than you think. america will be different. america will no longer be the land of the free. ladies and gentlemen, we need to have a candidate who can make the case to the american public as to who we are and how things work in this country, from education to health care. from financial services to the real estate market. that we believe in free people and free markets from bottom up, not top down. [ applause ]

how do we do that? we have to have a candidate on the issues of the day that are the most important ones. who has a record that can draw contrasts with president obama. someone who has a strong, consistent record on the big issues, like, well, let's take health care. anybody familiar with health savings accounts? [ applause ] every conservative running for office in washington, d.c. runs and talks about the importance of health savings accounts. why? because it's a private sector market approach to health reform. [ applause ] john kasich and i offered that 20 years ago and we were the first to do it. i've been an advocate for it for 20 years. i've been preaching free market on health care for 20 years. look at the record of the other

two people that have a chance to win this election. advocating for a government mandate at the federal level to require each of you as a condition of being alive to buy insurance, which is the core of obama care. governor romney, worse yet, in the state of massachusetts, passed the identical bill, virtually identical bill on a state level to obama care. how can these two gentleman, as good as people as they are, how can they go before the american public, point out what's at stake in this election. >> so we're going to wrap it up with rick santorum. he's giving his speech and he's obviously not going to do very well in nevada tonight. he's looking ahead to colorado. i want to bring in the two daughters of newt gingrich right now, cathy and jackie, joining us and soledad is here, as well. first, jackie, to you. your dad looks like he's

fighting for second place right now in nevada, not going to win. what's your reaction? >> well, we're glad to be out here and glad to compete. as you know, it's going to be a long journey. and the way the rules are set up, no state is the set up the same. we've been spending some of our time thinking ahead and planning and we're very excited about where we are and where we're going. >> cathy, i want to be precise. your father is in this race, no matter how he does in nevada, what happens next tuesday in colorado and minnesota and missouri, he's in this there's through super tuesday. can you assure our viewers of that? >> oh, wolf, you nailed it on the head. he's in it to win it. we're working towards a victory, towards being in camp in august. we're here to stay, and it's going to be an exciting

opportunity for all. but yes, we're here for the long haul. >> quick question, cathy. your dad said she's going to announce a new strategy for delegates and also he's planning on making the raise positive from here on out. can you give us some details? >> soledad, i would love to. but if we did that, that would be unfair to our dad. we want him to have the primetime. but you should stay tuned. >> let me ask this question, why a news conference tonight as opposed to a speech to supporters, which is obviously a much more traditional route? >> well, i think your question gives the answer. he's not a traditional candidate. he's never been a traditional candidate. we've never had consultants to give us things to say and he walks out and does that. as you know, he has his own ideas and he's a real person. he's authentic.

and he's -- i was glad to hear senator santorum speak, because a lot of what he says is true. we need someone with a clear, conservative message. the difference is, we obviously think that our dad is the best articulator of that conservative message. >> and to add on to that if i may, he's also the one who has governed successfully. he actually has cut taxes. he has balanced the budget. he has helped reform welfare and he has helped get the unemployment rate down to 4.2%. so there are a lot of the ideals that we are all for as conservatives and are thought of being a reagan conservative, but he has governed. and we have all of your viewers that can see more about the details. >> cathy and jackie, we'll be standing by for your dad's news conference and take it live on cnn. thank you very much. only a few minutes before the top of the hour when all of the caucuses in the state of nevada will be closed. we'll have information on what is going on.

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09 seconds away from the top of the hour, when we potentially

could be making some news. john king is watching this unfold. a especially good night for mitt romney. >> we expect to get a lot more results at the top of the hour. governor romney with 48% and ron paul and newt gingrich with 21%. 20% right there. if you look, the two main population centers down here, 70% of the state lives down here. mitt romney carrying those places right now. one of the tests we'll watch, you see governor romney getting 48% at the moment. a lot of republicans are saying let's compare this to 2008 when he had 51% of the vote. that's one of the things we'll be looking for as we come back here and watch the map as it's about to fill in. don't go anywhere as our coverage continues.

we're watching what's going on, counting down to when all of the caucuses in the state of nevada will have completed their work. the folks in nevada, the republicans who have voted, will have achieved their results. we're watching what's going on. it's a dramatic night, a very important night in this process. this is the first caucus state in the west. cnn projects mitt romney the winner. the winner of the nevada caucuses. cnn projects that the former massachusetts governor has a decisive win in the caucuses in nevada. mitt romney going ahead, capitalizing only his dramatic win in florida, now capturing nevada, as well. we do not -- we do not yet know who's going to come in second or third. but there is a dramatic race under way for second and third place. but now you can see romney headquarters in las vegas. the crowd hearing the news that

mitt romney has won the nevada caucuses. very, very excited. jim acosta is our man over at mitt romney headquarters in las vegas. jim, the crowd pretty excited there, as they should be. >> that's right, wolf. this is a very pumped up crowd and also a very big crowd. we talked over the last couple of weeks that mitt romney has, at times, had trouble drawing large crowds. that's not the case tonight. it's a very big crowd for the former massachusetts governor. we are expecting to see mitt romney address this crowd within the hour. it was thought he might come on in about an hour from now, but they might move it up a little sooner. they have some ground to cover over the next couple of days. i will tell you that one interesting thing i think that you can point to, from the romney campaign, a sign of confidence perhaps is they're taking a day off tomorrow, wolf, after they wrap up this day, they're having a down day here in las vegas. they're probably going to watch

a football game tomorrow. but then it's off to colorado to get ready for the tuesday caucuses in that state. but you can hear the crowd chanting behind me, "mitt, mitt, mitt." this is a very happy crowd here tonight and for good reason. mitt romney is doing something tonight that he hasn't done in this campaign so far, that's win two in a row. >> the event tonight, where in las vegas are you, at a casino, a hotel? >> we are. we're at the red rock casino on the western everyone of las vegas, out by those red rock canyons. it's been one of those crowds -- they've been waiting outside of this ballroom to get in, and you can see people of all shapes and sizes coming in here, families. there's also a good sizable crowd of mormon supporters for mitt romney. that's not too surprising. and according to all of our polls, 26%, 27% of these

republican voters who are casting their votes for mitt romney in these caucuses are from the lds church and some of them are here tonight. >> a lot of supporters in mitt romney out in las vegas tonight. a dramatic win for mitt romney coming on the heels of a dramatic win in florida. soledad, let's send it over to you. big night for mitt romney. >> yes, it was. gloria, david joining me now. the victory was not a surprise. we knew he was way ahead in the polls. what's the big take away then? >> but it's still a very significant win, and mitt romney has won three out of five all together. he's got the last two. he's got two big battleground states in a row. and in the fall, republicans want a nominee who can compete very well in a battleground state. there are a couple more coming up. there's a good chance mitt romney will win both of those

and put him in a more commanding position. the question is out there, though, is the turnout down significantly tonight? what should we read into that? >> and there's some early indication that it's down about 20%. >> he is locked in tight races with some of these battleground states with obama head to head. but there are some things that are changing. if he can win and wrap this up quakely, it will allow him to pivot and do more than essentially beat up on obama. i think he has to present himself as a much fuller candidate and connect in ways far i don't mean to what he's done. he has to listen and relate to people who are lower income people. >> so he has to shed santorum and gingrich before he can do that? >> the key point you were making is it has to be wrapped up. >> yes. >> from what we've heard from newt gingrich's daughters and

from our own reporting is that newt gingrich is resetting his campaign, and that's probably what we're going to hear about tonight. that we've learned he's been meeting not only with campaign donors today, but also with top staff to figure out what he does going forward. does he become a more positive candidate again? remember, he started out positive, went negative, maybe positive again. and how does he talk about the reagan legacy? >> and what you can see happening as he emerges as the all but certain nominee, you can see the obama forces and the press in general starting to gang up on him and they're going to try to define him, romney. he has to take that on. >> let's talk about the next contest. jessica yellin is at the white

house for us. >> colorado was a strong state for president obama. he held the convention, the democratic convention there four years ago. it was a purple state that he won. but now it's up for grabs and it will be one of those states that both men, whoever the nominee on the republican side is, will fight to hold and it will be one of those decisive states. the obama team thinks if they can pick up nevada, colorado, north carolina, iowa, new hampshire, those states together could make up for a loss in ohio if they have to put up with that. and still get a victory and win the white house in november. so they're looking at different alternative ways to win in november. >> jessica yellin at the white house. the inevitability thing, there's something that's been proven over the last two, three weeks -- >> it's funny, because i think when the romney campaign

started, there was this air of inevitability about him. and it's connected to electability. but what the people in the campaign learned very quickly is that inevitability is not a campaign message. so it's not a message. what he has to play upon is what you just mentioned, i'm the most electable in these swing states. but he's still going to have to pay some attention to newt gingrich and to rick santorum, who be both be out there criticizing him as just more obama. >> i agree with you, soledad. think about this, a couple weeks ago, there was a very plausible path for newt gingrich to be the

nominee. that seems less plausible tonight. there is no plausible path for ron paul to get the nomination. it's increasingly impossible that rick santorum can win the nomination. so yes, i can see mitt romney winning it. but it's hard to see these other guys winning it. >> but the question is, what damage do they do to mitt romney along the way? >> i agree with that totally. very good point. >> wolf? >> a dramatic victory for mitt romney. we're getting to hear from him. john, let's go behind this dramatic win by mitt romney in nevada tonight. >> and to david's point, part of this is psychology. a big win in florida, now a big win in nevada. republicans who describe themselves as moderate or

liberals, governor romney won. who won among those who described themselves as very conservative? governor romney. that's very point, because that's a point where he's been weaker. what about the big issues? such a small percentage said abortion were an issue. if you look right here, who has the right experience? governor romney? strong character, governor romney. who is the true conservative? here's one weak spot, ron paul paul won among a small group. this 45% of the voters said this was their number one priority. and governor romney winning among those who say defeating president obama was the top priority getting almost three out of four votes. speaker gingrich a distant second. this has been gingrich's strength in south carolina. two states in a row have said governor romney and here in nevada, a huge margin. let's look at one more. if you look here among faith,

governor romney is a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints. he also won, those who say they had no religion voted for ron paul. but others all going for governor romney. this is a sweep across the electorate tonight. some will say it was a state he won in 2008. so what, who cares? but beginning february with a big win starts the process which team romney thinks they could run the entire month, perhaps losing in maine to ron paul. speaker gingrich says he has a delegate strategy to convince fund-raisers to keep sending me money. that's a tough argument to make. >> romney is getting ready to speak in las vegas. i want to go to the white house with jessica yellin standing by. we know, john knows, everyone in washington knows that the obama

re-election campaign for a long time simply assumed that mitt romney would get the republican nomination. they've been fighting him for a long time. >> they have and this has been a good week for them on that front, because mitt romney essentially handed them a series of campaign commercials. they want a contrast campaign, as we've been talking about on the economy. where they can say that mitt romney is out of touch with regular folks, and by giving that interview with soledad, no matter what the romney campaign wants to say about taking it out of context, it locks in this narrative that he is out of touch. and no matter what they say, they can at least replay those sound bites in a stream with, i like to fire people, and i'm not worth that much money or whatever he said in a campaign ad that will be played over and over you can bet, wolf.

>> we're going to be coming back to you, jessica. we're standing by to hear from mitt romney. that's coming up fairly soon. the crowd is excited. we have projected that mitt romney is a winner of the nevada caucuses. you'll hear the questions from reporters, his answers. newt gingrich is about to unveil a new strategy to get the republican presidential nomination. i'll speak with rick santorum, and also there's a special caucus under way in las vegas. right now there's some surprise developments happening. this is live pictures from this caucus. we're going to go there and you're going to want to see this. our coverage will continue right after this. [ jody ] four course feast. man it's great. the guests love it.

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mitt romney is the winner of the nevada caucuses. cnn has made that projection. we're going to be hearing from mitt romney, who is getting ready to speak to supporters in las vegas. stand by for that. newt gingrich not the winner of the nevada caucuses. he's going tohold a news conference tonight. we'll have that live. he's taking questions from reporters and will outline a new strategy going forward. i'll be interviewing rick santorum. stand by for that, as well. the votes, let's take a look at the votes right now as we have them with 13% of the vote in. mitt romney decisively ahead of newt gingrich, 47% to 22%. a battle under way for second place. ron paul with 13% of the vote in, coming in third at 19%. rick santorum at 12%. but a very impressive win for mitt romney in nevada right now. there's actually a special caucus that's been taking place in las vegas and it's a

fascinating development. our own paul steinhauser is standing by with details. tell us what's happening at this special caucus. >> this special caucus was supposed to start at the top of the hour and no action yet. people are starting to file into the auditorium here. here's the thing, wolf. to take part in this caucus, you have to have get into -- you have to sign this affidavit to get in. and two things you have to sign, you have to say you didn't take part earlier today in the caucuses in clark county. they started at 9:00 a.m. local time. and you have to say the reason you didn't take part and vote in the presidential preference poll earlier is because of your religious beliefs. this caucus is basically for a lot of orthodox and other very observant jews and others who could not take part during the sabbath.

okay, so that's the story. still about 200 people to come, but there was a little bit of fireworks about a half hour ago. a guy called evan donahue, who says he's a delegate for ron paul, a volunteer for the paul campaign in nevada, he was not allowed in because he had already voted and he was not an observant jew or a seventh day adventist. >> this is private property. you are making me very upset, sir. i'm not going anywhere. you're not taking me anywhere. all of you folks are committing a felony. this says, conducted openly in such a manner that it's open to any registered voter. i want to see what is going on in there. you are not making me leave. i am not leaving. i am not leaving. you will never stop me! i am here to defend democracy and i want to see what's going on.

>> donahue says that the practices here by the nevada gop are discriminatory because to get in you have to sign this affidavit. the nevada gop is here, as well. and they say listen, this is a caucus, run by the party, party rules. evan donahue is here. he says he's here to observe and we'll see what happens. wolf? >> so one thing to actually vote in this special caucus, it's another thing to just go in and observe what's going on. that's what this ron paul wanted to do. he didn't vote, he was just there to observe, is that right? >> that's what he says. but just to get into the room, you have to sign this affidavit. so according to the nevada rules, he shouldn't be in the room because he voted earlier in the day. other people have been turned away because they voted and couldn't sign this affidavit and still about 100 people waiting to get in. >> we'll stay in close touch

with you. paul steinhauser, thank you very much. we're waiting to hear from mitt romney. he's getting ready to speak at a hotel in las vegas. newt gingrich is going to be answering questions from reporters and getting ready to hold a news conference. we'll take that live, as well. i'll be speaking with rick santorum, another of the four remaining republican presidential candidates. our special coverage will continue right after this. imagine if you could always see life [music] in the best light. every time of day. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it is meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. premier of the packed bag.

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check it out, two very different pictures over here. the romney headquarters at a hotel in las vegas. lots of supporters getting ready to hear from the winner of the nevada caucuses. that would be mitt romney. over here, newt gingrich, no crowd at all. he's not going to give a speech, but do a news conference and answer reporter's questions, getting ready to unveil a new strategy. he -- we'll see both of those i vents live and we'll speak with rick santorum later tonight. soledad, big, huge night for

mitt romney. not necessarily so good for the other candidates, but there is still a fierce battle under way for second place in nevada. >> absolutely. i think those pictures kind of say it all, the cheering romney supporters. the mormons really delivered for mitt romney as we look through the entrance polls. is there anything that you can take from what we know about mormon response, mormon commitment to mitt romney that you can say and transpose to the general election? >> i think when you get into the general election, they become your typical republican voter, but they're a funding source for the romney campaign. >> organization? >> organization will be a good thing for the mormons. that was a selling point for romney, although it didn't pan out in 2008. but that was a selling point is the way mormons organize around the country.

i don't know that that's true as much as hype. >> david gergen talked about the national polls, you see him going down, down, down. when you ask the question can the candidate connect with -- understand the problems of america, president obama polls at like 55% and mitt romney polling at the end of january around 39%. how big a problem is that? >> first of all, it's no shock his numbers will be going down. as you get deeper into a primary, his negatives go up, because you have the attacks going back and forth. you have the ads, newt gingrich slinging arrows, rick santorum in his speech tonight condemning of course the health care plan in massachusetts. so people begin to hear more about you. he is going to have an issue when it comes to connecting with voters. i go back to -- when he goes into ohio and pennsylvania and he goes into michigan, what is he going to say to those voters? how is he going to say, oh,

before when i say it, look, let the market take over when it comes to foreclosures, but you're under water. what did i say? let gm go into bankruptcy. he has to deal with that. those are real blue collar workers. >> he's already having trouble connecting to the republican base. >> and this is critical for the general election. that's why i keep saying his win tonight doesn't have implications for the general elections because he's shown he can't win the latino vote. >> me thinks he lost this primary tonight listening to you guys. >> to roland's point, when a voter goes into the voting booth to vote and many studies have been done about this, they vote on their gut. and right now president obama is winning that battle of who is going to be the candidate who is

going to fight for you, who understands what you're going flu, and who is going to put forth policies that is going to fight for you. and that's not just a talking point. if you look at mitt romney's plan, his economic plan, a tax cut for middle class families, $167. a tax cut for millionaires, $146,000. that's the reality that he's got to contend with. >> it does make it sound like he lost today. not only did he win, but by a lot. >> but his percentage is lower this year than in 2008. >> this word we've been batting around for months now of inevitability. >> wolf? >> let's talk to rick santorum. he's joining us right now. senator, thank you very much for coming in. you're in colorado. didn't waste any time in nevada. i suspect you realized you

weren't going to do that well in nevada and that's why you got out and looking ahead to tuesday? >> absolutely. we're playing mitt's home court in nevada there. he's been campaigning and organizing for five years. as has ron paul. these early states, there's an advantage to the folks who have run before, that have spent time and money in those states. now we're moving out to states where they had to play sort of catchup four years ago and didn't have the organization, didn't have the strength, didn't run the campaign commercials and didn't have the strong identity. so we think this is an opportunity for us for this race to turn. >> have you called mitt romney and congratulated him yet? >> i just gave a speech here in greeley, colorado and did a

couple of interviews and now i'm doing yours. so i haven't had a moment to do so. i'll try to reach him maybe after he gets off the platform. >> but you will call him? i ask the question only because newt gingrich has made a point of not calling to congratulate him after he won in florida. but you will call to congratulate him? >> look, one of the things i feel very strongly about is that politics is a rough enough game that it shouldn't be personal. when someone has an accomplishment, someone beats you fair and square, you pick up the phone and you give him a call and congratulate him for his good work. we'll see him on the campaign trail. >> i can't tell you how many experts, analysts have said the reason that rick is staying in the race is in case newt gingrich dropped out, he could emerge as the non-mitt romney, the so-called real conservative and develop a real challenge to mitt romney. is that the way you're thinking?

>> i think eventually, as i said before, this race will come toward us. we're the candidate that provides the real best perspective of beating barack obama. that's going to become more evident. it's just the opposite of what people thought at the beginning of this race. look at the latest rasmussen poll that has us beating obama by a point and romney losing by three. the more this race goes on, the more people see that we present the best chance to win this and you get a twofer. you get the best chance to win, but you get the candidate who holds the values that republicans generally speaking in this country hold. >> tell us what's going to happen on tuesday in colorado, minnesota, and missouri? >> you know, again, demographically, colorado is not the best state for us, but i think we can do well here. i think we will do much better than we did in nevada.

missouri is an interesting one, because newt is not on the ballot and that presents an opportunity for a one on one matchup in a swing state for republicans. a must-win state for republicans in this election cycle. so we're optimistic we're going to perform very well. >> your little daughter bela, how is she doing? >> she's doing just great. thank you so much for asking. she's almost back as good as new. i want to thank you and everybody again, what a relief and thank you for your prayers and helping us out. it's certainly given a little more hop in my steps. >> thank you very much. we'll talk to you on the campaign trail. rick santorum joining us from colorado. >> gloria, david, we heard from rick santorum just now. ron paul we heard from a little earlier. we'll hear from newt gingrich soon. mitt romney, though, will also be coming out to give his

acceptance speech. what do you expect to hear from him? >> i expect him to turn to barack obama. i think that he's not going to be talking about newt gingrich. he's going to be talking about what a great win this was. i think he's just going to pivot and talk about barack obama, how he can take it to barack obama, how he will be better at fixing the economy and all the things we've already heard we'll hear repeated again. >> i think gloria is basically right. that's what he did after his new hampshire and florida wins. i would suggest that's not what he should do tonight. yes, he should take it to barack obama. but it's more important that he begin making people understand what he would do, because he's got this big economic plan. i haven't met a single person that can tell you three things and say here's what mitt romney would do if he's president. he has a 59-point plan and you

don't remember that. i can tell you when reagan was running, he had five things he was going to do, and everybody knew what they were. he's got to work on connecting emotionally but also they've got a great line about being a takeover person, somebody that can turn things around. his son did that tonight and his wife ann has been doing that. but he has to say i can turn things around by doing the following. >> does an improving economy make that trickier? >> it does. republicans cannot be seen to be rooting against an economic recovery. of course not. what mitt romney has said, and probably continues to say, is that barack obama hasn't made the recovery occur quickly enough and that it may not be sustained. and if you do these 59 things, th that maybe you will sustain. we just heard from rick santorum. they're refining their message. rick santorum is saying if

gingrich goes, i'm the anti-romney candidate and they believe that there's a base of support out there that's anti-romney. romney is, i can take on obama. newt gingrich is, i'm the conservative in this race. i can beat barack obama. >> rick santorum, we were talking about this, rick santorum, i don't think there's anybody in a race who has grown more than he has. >> he has. >> he's a much, much more appealing candidate today than when he started and the contradiction tonight, he's grown as a candidate and yet his chances of winning have gone down. and it's an interesting question. i didn't know about this poll, he has moved ahead of obama by one point. >> what's interesting about rick santorum is he has attacked both gingrich and romney on health care, but he hasn't been personally negative or nasty. >> i agree with that. >> which he points out in every speech that he gives. >> and he's done very well in

these debates because he's just pointed out the contrast. one other thing to say about newt gingrich is, he did not have a debate before nevada. debates have often given him a lot of oxygen. >> except for florida. >> except for florida. >> the state to watch now in terms of santorum is ohio. for both gingrich and santorum, if they can pull out a victory there, that would be huge. >> let's talk about that with our contribute fors. what happens in ohio if rick santorum wins? >> santorum has been presenting a blue collar message, and that's the exact message that he has to present because, again, white blue collar workers have been -- they have not been breaking president barack obama's way. it was a difficult fight for him back in 2008. so santorum is playing that kind of message. >> we've got wolf, going to go back to wolf, because mitt romney is going to the microphone. >> thank you very much. ann romney, the wife of mitt romney, is going to introduce

her husband. >> thank you, nevada. [ applause ] once again, i'm here to make sure that you listen to me this time and obey when i tell you, don't clap until i'm finished. nobody listened to me last time. but i do have to give special thanks to all the people that made this happen. and by the way, the most people i need to thank are all the volunteers. so a big thank you to all of you that volunteered. our nevada coach here, lieutenant governor and congressman joe hick. and i want to thank our nevada finance chair mark hutchinson. and the many nevada elected officials throughout the state who have been so crucial to our success here. we are so appreciative. and of course, nevada state director sarah nelson, ryan

irwin, nevada state finance director cory christianson. [ applause ] you know, i want to give a special shout-out to dee mcquinn. you're first lady from nevada from a you years ago and she and i served as first ladies together and she's become a good friend of mine. and we so miss her sweet husband, kenny. so a shout out to her. thank you all. [ applause ] you know, as i have just been observing things, as i tend to do, i've noticed that mitt has started to win in states that are so important for the general election. he won in new hampshire. that is going to be a very important state in the general election. he did the same thing in florida. that's going to be a very

important state for us to win in the general. we appreciate that. but also this state is going to be an important state in the general, and you guys -- [ applause ] now that we have all of you excited and energized and volunteering, we're going to need you again next november. so we appreciate that. maybe some of you are all waking up to figure out that our country is in trouble. we're heading in the wrong direction, and we're looking for a guy that can fix it and turn this economy around and create jobs. so we're excited to introduce the next president of the united states, mitt romney. [ applause ]

♪ >> thank you. thanks, you guys. wow, what a great showing. thank you, nevada. you know, this is not the first time you gave me your vote of confidence, and this time i'm going to take it to the white house. four years ago, candidate obama came to nevada, promising to help. but after he was elected, his help was telling people to skip coming here for conventions and meetings.

today, nevada unemployment is over 12%. home values have plummeted. and nevada's foreclosure rate is the highest in the nation. i've walked in nevada neighborhoods where people wonder why barack obama failed them. well, mr. president, nevada has had enough of your kind of help. three years ago, a newly elected president obama told america that if congress approved his plan to borrow nearly a trillion dollars, he would hold up employment below 8%. it hasn't been below 8% since. this week he's been trying to take a bow for 8.3% unemployment. not so fast, mr. president. this is the 36th straight month with unemployment above the red line our own administration

drew. if you take into account all the people struggling for work or have just stopped looking, the real unemployment rate is over 15%. mr. president, america has also had enough of your kind of help. >> mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt! mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt! >> let me ask you -- let me ask you here a question, did obama care encourage businesses to hire more businesses? no! >> did dodd frank get banks to renegotiate and make more loans? >> no! >> did the national labor relations board attack on boeing in south carolina encourage employers to expand here? >> no! >> did efforts to block the domestic production of energy and the keystone pipeline speed

job creation? >> no! >> and did those billions of dollars that the president sent to his green energy buddies give anyone here a job? >> no! >> mr. president, we welcome any good news on the jobs front. but it is thanks to the innovation of the american people in the private sector and not to you, mr. president. >> romney! romney! romney! >> this president's misguided policies made these tough times last longer. earlier in the week, he spoke with a woman from texas during an online event. she told him that her husband has been out of work for three years. president obama said that he found that "interesting."

really? i've got a better word. tragic. america needs a president who can fix the economy because he understands the economy, and i do, and i will. this president began his presidency by apologizing for america. he should now be apologizing to america. we're not going to settle for a president who telling us it could be worse. what defines us as americans is our conviction that things must be better. that conviction guides this campaign. it's rallied millions of americans to our cause, including tens of thousands in nevada, who gave many their support here today and i thank them. [ applause ]

you know that our future is brighter and better than these troubled times. it's better than 15% real unemployment. it's better than $15 trillion in debt. it's better than the misguided policies and broken promises of the last three years. and the failed leadership of one man. our campaign is about more than just replacing the president, however. this is really a campaign about saving the soul of america. president obama says he wants to fundamentally transform america. we want to restore to america the founding principles that made this country great. [ applause ] our vision for the future could not be more different than his. president obama will grow government and amass more

trillion dollar deficits. i will not slow the growth of government, i will cut it. i will not just freeze -- i will not just freeze government share of the total economy, i will reduce it. and without raising taxes, i will finally balance the american budget. president obama's brand of capitalism sends your money to his friend's companies. my vision for free enterprise is to return entrepreneurship to the genius of consumer markets and the creativity of the american people. now, like his colleagues, he demonizes and denigrates every sector of our economy. i will make america the most

attractive place in the world for innovators and job creators and entrepreneurs and get america working again! and by the way, unlike the other people running for president, i know just how to do that. if i'm elected president, my priority will be worrying about your job, not saving my own. now, as you know, one of the most important and personal matters of our lives is our health care. president obama could turn the decision making over to government bureaucrats. he forced through obama care. i will repeal obama care. the president just this week, president obama orders religious organizations to violate their

conscious. i will defend religious liberty and overturn any regulation that tramples on our first freedom, our right to worship as we choose. >> mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt! mitt, mitt, mitt, mitt! >> president obama is shrinking our military and hollowing out our national defense. i will insist on a military so powerful that no one in the world would ever think of challenging us. president obama seems to believe that america's role as leader in the world is a thing of the past. i believe the 21st century will be and must be an american century. >> romney, romney, romney! romney, romney, romney!

>> our mission -- our mission is to increase the freedom and opportunity of the american people and our blueprint is the constitution of the united states. we're going to build an america where hope is a new job with a paycheck, not a faded word on an old bumper sticker. and i will not attempt to bribe the voters with promises of new programs and new subsidies ander increasing checks from government. if this election is a bidding war of who can promise the most benefits, then i'm not your president. you have that president today. but if you want to make this about restoring american greatness, then i hope you'll join with us. if you believe the disappointments of the last few years are a detour and not our destiny, then i'm asking for

your vote. i'm asking each of you to remember how special it is to be an american. i want you to remember why it was that you or your ancestors who sacrificed to come to america and to overcome the challenges of life in a new country, why they came here. it was not for free ticket, it was for freedom. [ applause ] it was not for the pursuit of government benefits, it was for the pursuit of happiness. we still believe in that america. we still believe in the america that is a land of opportunity and a beacon of freedom. we believe in the america that challenges each of us to be bigger and better than ourselves. this election, we must fight for the america we love. we believe in america. thank you so much and god bless you. thank you!

thank you! [ applause ] you're the best! thank you! [ cheers and applausecheers ans] >> a very happy mitt romney with his family, kids, grand kids, celebrating a big win in nevada. the nevada caulks, right now mitt romney a win. an impressive win coming on the heels of an impressive win in florida. this tuesday will be in colorado and missouri and minnesota. we're waiting to hear from newt gingrich. he's going to be having a news conference. not a traditional event. but the former speaker of the house, not always a traditional presidential candidate. he's getting ready to outline, we believe, a new strategy going forward as a result of the

setbacks he suffered in florida, also in nevada right now. so we're expecting to hear from newt gingrich very soon. he'll open up with a statement and take reporter's questions. we'll watch to see what newt gingrich has to say as we get ready for the next three big contests on tuesday that are coming up. but right now you heard mitt romney. didn't speak very much about newt gingrich or rick santorum or ron paul. didn't even mention their names. didn't even refer to them in any great measure. he's apparently looking ahead to a presidential contest against the president of the united states. almost all of his words were directly addressed to try to contrast where he stands on so many of these issues as opposed to the president of the united states. you see he's shaking hands right now. one thing you'll see differently than you have in the past, you see u.s. secret service personnel, they are with mitt romney over the past few days. he has started getting secret service protection, as well. soledad, let me throw it over to you? >> wolf, let's talk to our conservative contribute fors

this evening. what did you think of the speech? to me it sounded very confident, low on specifics. >> i thought it was good. i'll say this, he's getting better at giving speeches and getting better at debates. when he does things over and over, he gets better. do you know where the hole is? it's on interviews. he's been reluctant to give interviews. maybe he should do more interviews. the more he does things, the better he gets. debates, speeches, do more interviews. >> i thought it was the most energeticic speech he's given. these typically aren't heavy on specifics. it was very energized. he realizes where he is, about to be the nominee, unless we get an upset in february. >> as wolf mentioned, he said he didn't mention the other guys in the race and i think that's how he didn't mention them. there's some other people in the race and i'm better than them, too.

so those other people in the race, though, could potentially drag him down a bit. he's been trying to off load them to focus on moving forward and we're going to hear from newt gingrich. he said he's got a new strategy and his strategy is not, i'm getting out of the raise. >> he's got a delegate number he has to reach. we talk about he won these states. he's winning delegates. unless he gets a majority, he's got to clear that threshold. i suspect he will do it, because money will dry up for the other guys. but gingrich has shaken up his campaign staff. he's rearranging his priorities. he's focussed on souper tuesday. between he and season fighting over evangelicals, that probably keeps mitt in first. >> anything can happen in a campaign. grant it, romney has been

corporate, very disciplined in his approach. but anything can literally happen in a campaign. we saw it in 2008 when the issue of jeremiah wright came up. that could have easily derailed the campaign of senator barack obama. he dealt with it and got out of it. but you never know what can happen based upon one interview, one event. it could change the game. that's why you don't get out. way too early from a delegate standpoint. >> i agree. the poor comments i don't think have trickled down and have the effect that they're going to have and gingrich and ron paul can take advantage of that. and to your point, will, he didn't win all the demographics. he lost the demographic of those who make $30,000 or less. so blue colors, he cannot win without their vote, do not see that this is a guy that will fight for them. >> nothing succeeds like success, in politics and in life. and hi won tonight and he won

big and he has momentum. the other candidates have to prove to their funders that they should continue to give them money. this is where the super pac story comes in. there's little incentive for a candidate to get out of the race if he's still getting millions from a super pac. so if sheldon says to newt gingrich, i'm going to give you $2 million to get up to super tuesday -- >> david gergen is noding his head. >> what's the incentive for newt gingrich to get out? if aidleson says no, he doesn't have the money. >> we've been talking about the need for mitt romney to warm up. he has one big asset in that regard, ann romney. >> do you think she's going to jump in and run? >> they've used her now as the warmup act, in effect, the last couple of times, and she's terrific at it. she's warm, she's humane, there's a quality about her that

i think reflects well on him, and i think they've been very smart, and they're putting him on these events like these tonight. it's a much more effective -- he's had a big night. he still needs to work on his speeches but he's getting better. >> it's a contrast to newt gingrich, as well, who rarely do you see his wife introduce him. >> okay. we'll talk about newt gingrich, because he's coming out. he says he's got the surprising new announcement, a new strategy about delegates that he's going to share with everybody. a new strategy about delegates on the other side of this commercial break. i love that my daughter's part fish. but when she got asthma, all i could do was worry ! specialists, lots of doctors, lots of advice... and my hands were full.

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