america. this is new york's time squares. a flash mob broke out in times square in memory of the "soul train" founder. i have a programming note for you tomorrow night. singer and dancer jody watley will join me live at 6:00 eastern to talk about her memory was don cornelius. she was an original "soul train" dancer. don't miss it. i'll see you back here tomorrow night. good night. this is an 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 on his dramatic win in florida, now capturing nevada as well. we do not, we do not yet know who is going to come in second, who is going to come in third, but there is a dramatic, a dramatic race under way for second and third place. now you can see romney headquarters in las vegas. the crowd hearing the news that mitt romney won the nevada ca k caucus caucuses. very, very excited. we're at mitt romney headquarters in las vegas. the crowd is pretty excited there, as they should be. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. this is a very pumped-up crowd and very big crowd. we talked over the last couple of weeks of this campaign that

mitt romney has trouble drawing large crowds. that's not the case today. this is a big, boisterous crowd here for the massachusetts governor. we're expecting to see mitt romney come out here and address this crowd within the hour. it was thought he might come on an hour from now, but they might move it up sooner. they have some ground to cover over the next couple of days, and one interesting thing i think that you can point to from the romney campaign, a sign of confidence, perhaps, is they take 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. you can hear the crowd chanting behind me, mitt, mitt, mitt. this is a very happy crowd tonight, and for good reason. mitt romney is doing something tonight he hasn't done in this campaign so far. that's win two in a row. wolf. >> the event tonight where you

are, where in las vegas are you? a casino or hotel? >> reporter: we're at the red rock casino sort of on the western edge of las vegas out by those red rock canyons so beautiful here in this state. it's been a crowd waiting out outside of this ballroom for the last couple of hours to get in. they started to let this crowd in about 30 minutes ago. you can see people of all shapes and sizes coming in here. families, and there's a good sizable crowd of mormon supporters for mitt romney. that's not too surprising, and according to all the entrance polls, 26, 27% of these republican voters casting their votes for mitt romney in these caucuses are from the lds church. there are some of those folks here tonight as well, wolf. >> a lot of supporters of mitt romney in las vegas tonight. a dramatic win for mitt romney coming on the heels of a dramatic win in florida, and almost in iowa.

soledad, over to you. big night for mitt romney. >> he yes, it was. glory bore engineer and david gergen joins me right now. we knew he was way ahead in the polls and most likely would win and the percentage was what we looked for. what's the big take-away nen? >> it's a significant night. mitt romney has won three out of five altogether. he's got the last two. he has two big battle ground states in a row, and in looking toward the fall, republicans up want a nominee who can compete very, very well in a battleground state. there are about a dozen of them. there are a couple more coming up. there's a good chance mitt romney will win both of those. it will put them in a more commanding position. the question is still out there, though. is the turnout down significantly tonight? what should we read into that? we'll learn that as the night goes on. >> there's early indications that in rural areas it's down 20%, xhswhich is a huge number. >> his unfavorables have gone up

national nationally. he's locked with obama head to head. there's things changing that he has to pay a lot of attention to. if he can win and wrap it up fairly quickly, it will pivot and do more than essentially beat up on obama. he has to present himself as a much fuller candidate. he has to connects in ways far beyond what he's done so far. he's got to be listening and relating to people that are lower income people, working people. >> does he have to shed santorum and gingrich before he can do that. >> the key point you were making is it has to be wrapped up u, a from what we 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 d donors today but to top staff to figure out what he does going forward. does he become a more positive

candidate again? he started out positive and went negative and maybe positive again. how does he proceed to talk about the reagan legacy, which is what he says he represents. >> one last point on this. as he emerges as the all but certain nominee, you can see the obama forces and the left in general, the press in general is starting to gang up on him. they're going to try to define him. >> on romney? >> on romney. he has to take that on. he can't spend all of his time worrying about santorum and gingrich. >> let's talk about the next contest. jessica yellen is at the white house. it is colorado and it was a strong state for president obama >> reporter: it was for president obama. he held the democratic convention there four years ago. it was a purple state. we call it that that he won. now it's in play, up for grabs. it will be one of those states that both men whoever the nominee on the republican side

is will fight to hold, and it's one of those decisive states. the obama team thinks if 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 if in november. they look at different alternative ways to win in november. >> jessica yellen at the white house. the neve tablet thing, that's not enough. >> it doesn't work. it's funny because when the romney campaign started there was an air of neve tablet about hem. >> it's connected with electability. what the people in the campaign learned quickly is inevitablelit is not a campaign message. voters think they ought to vote

and decide who is the candidate. that's not a message. what he has to play upon is what you just mentioned. i'm the most electable in these swing states. look at my numbers against barack obama. but, again, he's still going to have to pay some attention to newt gingrich and rick santorum both out there criticizing him as just more obama. >> i agree with you, soledad. there's a lot of volatility and unpredictable about this. it could well continue. a couple weeks ago there was a plausible path from newt gingrich to the nomination. >> there is no plausible path for ron paul to win the nomination. yes, i can see mitt romney losing it, but it's hard to see these other guys winning it. that's what it becomes. >> the question is what damage do they do to mitt romney along the way. >> i agree with that totally.

very good point. >> wolf blitzer has a closer look inside the victory tonight. wolf. >> a dramatic victory for mitt romney. we're getting ready to hear from the republican presidential candidates as folks stand by. let's go behind this dramatic win by mitt romney in nevada tonight. >> to david's point, part is psychology. governor romney is convincing the government electorate, and i have it wrapped up. look at the entrance poll in nevada. this is how to show it up front. who won among moderate and liberal voters? governor romney did? who showed up to caucus? governor romney did. who described himself as very conservative? governor romney did. what about the big issues. you see now faces here because such a small percentage was abortion was an issue or illegal immigration. the two were the budget deficit, and if you like right here, who

has the right experience, governor romney. strong moral characters and voters said that was most important, governor romney. who is the true conservist. they said ron paul was the number one quality. 45% of the voters in the nevada caucus said this was their number one priority, and governor romney winning among those defeating president obama getting almost three out of very four votes. this has been gingrich's strength in the state of south carolina, wolf. the voters thought he was more electable, and now two states say governor romney and here in nevada tonight by huge margins. let's look at one more. if you look among faith, obviously a church of the jesus christ of latter-day saints. he won nine out of ten votes among mormons and congressman paul in second place. those who have no religion voted for paul, but others are going for governor romney. this is a sweep across the

electorate tonight. some would say it's a steady one in 2008. who cares. the point of beginning february with a win and big a win starts a process in which they think they could run the entire may perhaps losing in may to ron paul the psychology will kick in at boint. he's p in through tampa to convince fund raisers if if the next few weeks are tough, keep sending me money. >> as i said romney getting ready to sfeek to supporters in las vegas. at somt point newt gingrich will have a news conference in las vegas. jessica yellen is standing by. 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 fought him for a long time. >> they have, and this has been a good week for them on that front because mitt romney handed them a series of campaign commercials. in a sense he locked in the

campaign message they want to do. 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. by giving that interview with soledad, no matter what the romney campaign wants to see about taking it out of context, et cetera, it locks in this narrative that the obama team wants to run with that he is out of touch. no matter what they say, they can at least replay those sound bites p in a string 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. >> all right, jessica. stand by. we'll come back to you. we're also standing by and hear from mitt romney. he's going to speak to his supporters p in las vegas at that hotel. that's coming up fairly soon. the crowd is excited. we have projected that mitt romney is the winner of the nevada caucuses. at some point later there's a news conference by newt gingrich. we take that live as well. you hear the questions from

reporters and his answers he asked. a new sfraej is about to unveil tonight to get the republican presidential nomination. i'll speak with rick santorum, the republican presidential candidate. we stand by for that. also there's a special caucus under way in las vegas. there's surprise developments happening right now. you look at live pictures from this caucus. we'll go there, and you want to see this. our coverage continues from the cnn election center right after this. uh oh. should we be letting him p-l-a-y with our t-a-b-l-e-t? [ mom ] i think it's fine. it's the new element from at&t so it's w-a-t-e-r proof. cool. what else does it d-o? it's fast. it's 4g lte. what's l-t-e spell? nothing. w-h-y? hey, can we stop spell talking now?

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i didn't know how i was going to do it, but i knew i was going to get that opportunity one day. and that's what happened with the university of phoenix. nothing can stop me now. i feel like the sky is the limit with what i can do and what i can accomplish. my name is naphtali bryant and i am a phoenix. mitt romney is the winner of the nevada caucuses. cnn has made that projection. we're going to hear from mitt romney. he's getting ready to speak to his supporters at this hotel in las vegas. stand by for that.

newt gingrich not the winner of the nevada caucuses. he's going to hold a news conference at some point tonight. we'll have athat live. he's taking questions from reporters and supposedly going to outline a new strategy going forward. i'll interview rick santorum the republican presidential candidate. stand by for that as well. look at the votes right now with 13% of the vote in. mitt romney decisively ahead of newt gingrich 47% to 22%. a battle, though, under way for second place. ron paul right now with 13% of the vote in coming in third at 19%. rick santorum at 12%. a very impressive win for mitt romney in nevada right now. there's actually a special caucus that has been taking place in las vegas, and it's a fascinating development. our own paul steinhauser is stands by with details of this. paul, tell us what's happening at this special caucus. >> reporter: wolf, this special

caucus was supposed to start at the top of the hour. no action yet. peel are filing into the auditorium here at the educational complex named after sheldon adelson who donated a lot of money to build this school. to take part in this caucus, you have to get into -- you have to stein this affidavit to get in, wolf. you have to say that you didn't take part earlier today in the caucuses p in clark county. they started at 9:00 a.m. local time. you also have to say the reason you didn't take part and stroet in that presidential preference poll in the earlier caucuses is because of your religious beliefs. this caucus is basically for orthodox jews and seventh day adventists. he they had to wait until sundown was over. that's the story. about 200 people to come in, but there was a little fireworks a half an hour ago. i guy called evan donohoe. he says he's a volunteer for the paul campaign in nevada.

he was not allowed in because obviously he had already voted, and he was understand an observant jew or a seventh day adventist. there was a scuffle, and take a listen to how it played out. >> this is private property. >> i am not jewish. you're not taking me anywhere. all you folks are committing a felony. this is it right here. it says conducted openly in such a manner that it is open to any registered voter. i am a registered voter, sir. i want to see what's going on in there. imt not leaving. i'm not leaving. i will never leave. you will never stop me. >> all right, okay. >> i'm here to defend democracy, and i want to see what's going on. >> reporter: donahue says the practices here are discriminatory because to get in you have to sign the affidavit. the nevada gop is here, the clark county gop says this is a

caucus that's run by the party. party rules. evan donahue is right behind me right now. he's here to observe, and we'll see what happens. wolf. >> so it was one thing to be precise to actually vote in this special caucus. it's another thing to go in and observe what was going on. that's what this ron paul supporter wanted to do. he didn't vote. he already voted. he was just there to observe, is that right? >> that's what he said. just to get into the room, you have to sign this affidavit. according to the clark county rules, he shouldn't be in the room right now because he already voted earlier in the day. a lot of other people have been turned away, wolf, because they voted and couldn't sign this affidavit. still 200 people out there waiting to get in. we haven't started here yet. >> paul steinhauser thanks very, very much. we're waiting to hear from mitt romney. he's getting ready to speak to his supporters at a hotel in las vegas. nnz nnz will not speak to supporters but it answering questions from reporters.

he's getting ready to hold a news conference. i speak with rick santorum, another four remaining republican candidates. earlier i spoke with ron paul. our special coverage will continue right after this. 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. i have to be a tree in the school play. good. you like trees.

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economic checking out two different pictures here. the romney headquarters at a hotel in las vegas. lots of supporters getting ready to hear from the winner, that would be mitt romney. over here on the right, newt gingrich headquarters, no crowd at all. he's not going to give a speech but do a news conference and answer reporters' questions supposedly getting ready to unveil a new strategy. he wants to implement in a struggle to get the republican presidential nomination. we'll see both of those live and speak with rick santorum tonight. we spoke earlier with ron ball. a big huge night for mitt romney, not necessarily so good for the other candidates. but there's a fierce battle under way for second place in nevada. >> absolutely. i think the pictures behind you say it all, don't they? the cheering reporters and

waiting for a press event. let's bring it to the contributors. the mormons delivered for mitt romney. is there anything to take from what we know about from mormon response, mormon commitment to mitt romney that you can say and trans pose to the general election? >> i think when you get into the general election, they become your typically republican voter. they're a funding source. >> the funding organization. >> organization will be a good thing for the mormons. that was a selling point for romney, although it didn't pan out in the primaries in 2008. nafs one selling point people made, is the way mormons organized in wards around the country. those voters, brigham young students help him. i don't know that true as much as hype. >> david gergen talked about national polls. you see mitt romney going down and down, and he's the defacto candidate. when you ask the question, the

candidate connect with understand the problems in america. it's president obama, polls at like 55% and mitt romney polling at the educational backgroundened -- end of january polling at -- >> it's no shock his numbers go down. as you get deeper in a primary, his numbers go up. you have the ads and newt gingrich slinging arrows at him and rick santorum in his speech tonight condemning the health care plan in massachusetts. people begin to hear more about you. he will have an issue when it comes to connecting with voters. i go back to when he goes to ohio in pennsylvania and goes into michigan, what does he say to those voters? how is he going to say, oh, before when i say it, let the market take over when it comes to foreclosures but you're underwater. let gm go into bankruptcy? he has to deal with that. those are real blue collar

workers. if he doesn't make the argument to them, how does he win them over. >> he's having trouble connecting to the republican base. >> that's what i'm saying. >> this is critical for the general election. his win tonight really doesn't have implications for the general election other than negative ones, i think. he can't win the latino vote. >> shocker. shocker. >> you think he lost this primary tonight listening to you guys. >> that's what i'm talking about. >> that's right. >> 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. 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 through and who's going to put forth policies that is going to fight for you? that's not just a talking point. if you look at mitt romney's economic plan, a tax cut for middle class families, $167.

a tax cut for millionaires, $146,000. that's the reality to contend with. >> that's the reality he lost with today. he won by a lot today. >> the series is lower this year than in 2008. >> it reinforces what gloria and david talked about. this word we're batting around for months no, it reinforces this. it's going to be the nominee. it reinforces inneve tablet. >> the republican presidential candidate is joining us right now. senator, thanks very much for coming in. you're in colorado. didn't waste any time in nevada. i suspect you realize you weren't going to do all that well in nevada. that's why you got out and looking ahead to tuesday's contest in colorado? >> yeah, absolutely. i mean, you know, we're playing the -- demographic alally you'r

playing in mitt's home court in nevada. he's been campaigning for five years and organizes as has ron paul. these first five states there's an inherent advantage to the folks that have run before that spent a lot of time and money in those states, and now we're moving out to states where they had to play sort of catch-up four years ago and didn't have the organizations, 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 begin to turn and begin to come toward our direction. >> have you had a chance to call mitt romney and congratulate him yet? >> well, as a matter of fact i just gave a speech here in gr greel greeley, colorado and did a couple of interviews and now i'm doing yours. i haven't had a moment to do so. i understand he's going to sfeek in a minute, so i'll try to reach him maybe after he gets off the platform. >> you will call him? newt gingrich has made a point of not calling him to

congratulate him after he won in florida. you will call him to congratulate? >> oh, look, you know, one of the things i feel very strongly about is that politics is a rough enough game it shouldn't be personal. when someone has an accomplishment, if someone beats you fair and square, you pick up the phone and you give them a call and congratulate him for his good work. we'll see him on the campaign trail. >> i can't tell you how many people, so-called experts and pundits and analysts say to me the reason rick santorum is staying in the race is in case newt gingrich would drop out, he can emerge as the non-mitt romney and the so-called real conservative and develop a real challenge to mitt romney. is that the way you're thinking? >> i think eventually this race will come toward us. we're the candidate that provides the real best perspective of beating barack obama. i think that will become more and more evident. it's the opposite of what people thought at the beginning of the race.

it's going to become clear. look at the latest poll that has us beating obama by a point and has romney losing by three and gingrich losing by eight or nine. the more this race goes on, the more people see we present the best chance to win in, and you get a two-fer. you get the candidate who holds the values that republicans generally speaking in this country hold. >> tell it us what will happen on tuesday in colorado, minnesota and missouri. >> you know, i think, again demographical allally colorado the best state for us. i think we will do well here. i think we'll do better than in nevada. we can do better maybe in minnesota, and missouri's an interesting one because nut is not on the ballot and that presents an opportunity for a one on one match-up in a state that's a key state for republicans. actually, a must win state for republicans in this election cycle. so we're optimistic that we're

going to perform very, very well in all three states. >> i'm going to let you go. very quickly your little daughter, bella, how is she doing? >> thank you so much for asking. she's doing just great and almost back as good as new. i want to thank you and everybody again. what a relief and thank you for your prayers and for helping us out. it's certainly given me hour hop in my step these last few days. >> give her our love. we'll talk to you on the campaign frail and rick santorum joining us from colorado. >> we heard from rick santorum just now and ron paul we heard from earlier. we're going to hear from newt gingrich not long from now. mitt romney will also be coming out to do his acceptance speech. what do we need to hear from him? what do you up expect to hear from him? >> i expect him to turn to barack obama. i think he's not going touking about newt gingrich, but he's going to talk about what a great

win this was. i think he's just going to pivot and talk about barack obama and how he can take it barack obama and how he's better at fixing the economy and all of the things we've already heard we will hear repeated again. >> i think gloria is basically right. that's what he did after his new hampshire and florida win. i would suggest, though, that's not what he should do tonight. yes, he should take it to barack obama. he has to do some of that, but it's more important now that he begin making people understand what he would do. he's got this big economic plan. i haven't met a single person today that has three things to reel off and say here's what mitt romney would do if he's president. >> 59 points. >> people don't remember the 59-point plan. i can tell you when people were running in 1980, he had five things he was going to do. he got a mandate out of it. >> he has to work on connecting people. >> he has to connect emotionally but also in their heads about -- they have a great line about

being a take-over person and turn it around. his son did that tonight and his wife ann has been doing that. he's now got to sort of say, i can turn things around. >> does an improving economy make that a trickier pivot? >> it does. you have to be more nuanced. republicans cannot be seen to be rooting against an economic recovery. of course not. what mitt romney has said and will continue to see is barack obama hasn't made the recovery occur quickly enough and it may not be sustained. if you do the 59 things maybe you will sustain. i think this is a point for all the campaigns. we just heard from rick santorum, they're all refining their message. rick says p if gingrich goes, i'm the anti-romney candidate and they believe there's a base of support out there that is anti-romney. he's i can take on obama, and newt gingrich is i'm the conservative in this case. >> before we leave it, though.

rick santorum, we were talking about this. rick santorum. i don't think there's anybody in the race that has grown more than he has. >> he has. >> he's a much, much more appealing candidate today than when he started. the contradiction -- he had another contradiction tonight. he's grown as a candidate, and yet his chances of winning have gone down. it's an interesting question. he always has moved out 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. >> a gree with that. >> which he points outs in every speech he gives. >> he's done very well in these debates because he's just fointed out the contrast. one other thing about newt gingrich is he did not have a debate before nevada. debates have given him a lot of oxygen, except before florida. he had a good one and bad one.

>> the state to watch now in terms of santorum is ohio. >> ohio. >> for both gingrich and santorum. ohio, if they can pull out a victory there, that would being huge. >> let's talk about that over here. what happens in ohio with the fact they go santorum's way. >> santorum is presenting a blue collar message, and that's the exact message he has to present because, again, white, blue collar workers have not been breaking precedent barack obama's way. it was a difficult fight for him back in twaetd. so san to her dwrum is playing at that kind of message. >> we've wolf. going back to wolf because mitt romney is going to the microphone. wolf. >> thanks very much. ann romney is going to introduce her husband. i want all our viewers to listen. >> thank you, nevada. once again, i'm here to make sure that you listen to me this take and obey when i tell you

don't clap until i'm finished. nobody listened to me last time. i have to give special thanks to all the people that made this happen. by the way, the most people i need to thank are the volunteers. a big thank you to all the people that volunteered. our nevada co-chairs, lieutenant-governor and congressman joe heck. i want to thank congressman mark amaday, our nevada finance chair steve fellows and mark hutchinson. and the many nevada elected officials throughout the state who have been so crucial to our success here. we're so appreciative. of course, nevada state director sarah nelson, nevada senior advisory ryan irwin, nevada state finance director cory christians christiansen. i want to give a special shout-out to dema gwynn.

she and i served together as first ladies together, and she became a very good friend of mine and she's been helpful in this effort. we so miss her sweet husband, kenny. a shout-out to my friend dema, too. thank you all. you know, as i've 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. it's a swing sftate in the general. he did the same thing in florida. that's a very important state to win in the general. we appreciate that. also this state is going to be an important state in the general, and you guys -- [ cheers and applause ]

now that we have all of you excited and energized and volunteeri volunteering, we're going to need you again next november. we appreciate that. maybe some of you are all waking up to figure out that our country is p in trouble. we're heading in the wrong direction. 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. [ cheers and applause ]

>> wow. thank you. thank you. thank 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 wauchled in nevada neighborhoods blighted by abandoned homes where people

wonder why barack obama failed him. well, mr. president, nevada has had enough of your kind of help. three years ago a newly elected president obama told america p if congress approved his plan to borrow nearly a trillion dollars he would hold unemployment 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 your own administration drew. if if you take into account all the people struggling for work or have stopped looking, the reason unemployment rate is over 15%. mr. president, america has also had enough of your kind of help.

let me -- let me ask you here a question. did obama care encourage businesses to hire more people? >> 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 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. it is thanks to the innovation

of the american people in the private sector and not to you, mr. president. >> 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 her husband has been out of work for three years. president obama said he found that interesting. interesting? really? i have a better word. tragic. america needs a president that can fix the economy because he understands the economy, and i do and i will.

this president began his presidency for apologizing for america. he should now be apologizing to america. we're not going to settle for a president that tells 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 of nevadans who gave me their support here today, and i thank them. nevadans know that our future is brighter and better in 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 saii 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. 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 just slow the growth of government, i will cut it. i will not just freeze government's share of the total economy, i will reduce it. without raising taxes, i will finally balance the american

budget. president obama's brand of capitalism sending your money to his friend's companies. my vision for free enterprise is to return entrepreneur shiship the markets and to the freedom of american people. >> now, like his colleagues and the faculty lounge that think they know better, president obama demonizes and denigrates almost every sector of our economy. i will make america the most attractive place in the world for entrepreneurs and innovators and job creators and get america working again. by the way, unlike the other people running for president, i know just how to do that.

if i'm elected president, my priority is worrying about your job, not saving my own. as you know, one of the most important and personal matter of our lives is our health care. president obama would turn the decision mifking over to bureaucrats. he forced through bahama care. i will repeal obama care. preside president, just this week president obama orders religious organizations to violate their conscience. i will defend religious liberty and overturn any regulations that tramples on four first freedom, our right to worship as we choose.

president obama is shrinking our military and hallowing out our national defense. i will insist on a military so powerful that no one in the world would ever think of challenging it. 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 mush an american century. >> 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 and ever-increasing checks from government if this election is a bidding war. you can promise the most benefits, but i'm not your president. you have that president today. if you want to make this election about restoring american greatness, i hope you join with us. fubl the disappointments of the last few years are a detour and not our destiny, i ask for your vote. i'm asking each of you -- i'm asking each of you to remember how special it is to be a american. i want to sacrifice to come to america and overcome the challenges of life in a new country, why they came here.

it was not for a free ticket. it was for freedom. 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 us. thank you! thank you. thank you. thank you.

>> a very happy mitt romney with his family and kids and grandkids celebrating a big win in nevada. the nevada caucuses right now. mitt romney is the winner of the nevada caucuses. an impressive win on the heels of an impressive win in florida. now on to the next three contests this coming tuesday in colorado and missouri and minnesota. we're waiting also to hear from newt gingrich. he's not going to give a speech tonight. he's going to have a news conference, very unusual. not a traditional event, but then again 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 set backs he suffered in florida and also in nevada right now. we're expecting to hear from newt gingrich very soon, and he'll open up with a statement and take reporters' questions. we 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. right now you just heard mitt romney didn't speak very much about newt gingrich or rick santorum or ron paul. didn't even mention their names. certainly didn't even refer to nem in a great measure. he's apparently already looking ahead it 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 issues as opposed to the president of the united states. he's shaking hands right now. one thing different in the past. you see u.s. secret service personnel with mitt romney right now over the past few days. he has started to get secret service protection as well. soledad, let me throw it over to you. >> let's talk to our conservative contributors this evening. the two of you, will cain and eric eriksson. what did you think of the speech it sounded very confident and low on specifics. >> i thought it was good. i'll say this. he's getting better at giving speeches and doing debates.

when he does things over and over. do you know where his hole is? you know because you interviewed him this week. it's on interviews, and he's reluctant to give interviews even on fox and he's reluctant after his interview with you. the more he does things, the better the gets. >> it's the more energetic speech even more so than florida. it wasn't heavy on specifics, but these typically around that heavy on it. it was heavily energized. he realizes where he is and he realizes he's the nominee unless we get an upset in february. >> wolf said he didn't mention the other guys in the race, and that's how he did mention them in his speech. there's other people in the rash race, and i'm better than them, too. the other people in the race, too, could drag him down a big. he's tries to off-load them so they can focus on moving forward. we will hear from newt gingrich and the new strategy is i'm getting out of the race.

>> he has ayodele gate number he has to reach. we talk about he's won the states. he's winning delegates and unless he gets the majority, the other guys can drawing him down and go into a convention and have someone else be it. he has to clear that threshold. i suspect probably he will do it because money will dry up for other guys, but newt gingrich has put a lawyer nimed roger milsaps in. he's rearranging his priorities. between he and santorum fighting over evangelicals, it keeps mitt in first but keep him from getting the delegates. >> you don't drop out. anything can happen in a campaign. >> the other guys doentd drop out? >> yeah. romney has been extremely corporate and disciplined in his approach. anything can happen in the campaign. we saw it in 2008 when the whole issue of jeremiah wright came in. that could have derailed the campaign of senator barack obama, and he dealt with it and

gave the speech and got out of it. it could literally change the game. that's why you don't get out. wait. >> to eric's point kerlier, the poor comments i don't think have trickled down and had the effect i think they're going to have. gingrich and frankly ron paul can take advantage of that, and to your point, will, he didn't win all the demographics. he lost demographic much people who make $30,000 or less. that underscores the fact na blue collar workers which can't win without their vote do not see that this is a guy who will fight for them. >> here's the basic fact, though. nothing succeeds like success if in politics and in life. okay? and he won tonight, and he won big and he has momentum it. 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, because there's very little incentive for a candidate to get out of the race

if he's still getting millions of dollars from a super pac. if sheldon says to newt gingrich, okay, guess what. i'll give you $2 million -- >> he's nodding his head yes. >> what's the incentive of newt gingrich to get out. if he says no, he doesn't have the juice or money. >> we've been talking about the need for mitt mitt romney to warm up and reach people. he has one big asset going in that regard, ann romney. >> you think she's going to jump in and run? i'm kidding. >> they've used her now as a warm-up act in effect the last couple of tietimes, and she's terrific at it and warm and inhumane and there's a quality about her that i think reflects well on him and they've been very smart. they're putting him on events like this tonight. they put him in the midst of people thrung around him.

it's much more effective. i think he still needs to work on speeches, but he's getting better. >> it's a contrast to newt gingrich stwl, so rarely do you see his wife introduce him. >> so we'll talk about newt gingrich because he's coming out. he says he has a surprising new announcement and strategy about delegates he will share with everybody. no, no. actually i don't think it's my drop out. i think it is not dropping out. i new strategy -- let's not lie to the people -- a new strategy about delegates on the other side of this commercial break. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. for our free usaa retirement guide,

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