aides say against that tie cal wave of spending they can't unilaterally disarm. this move would seem to threaten the president's brand as a critic of special interests. but remember, back in 2008 he also changed his position on how he would finance his campaign. and that didn't seem to hurt him with the voters. this would seem to follow the same calculation. there's no point in having a brand if you don't win. jessica yellin, cnn, washington. tonight the first 2012 campaign triple header. >> republican presidential

contests in minnesota, missouri and colorado. and there could be a curveball and there could be a curveball coming. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >> this president has failed. that's why he has to go and we need a good president. >> it isn't enough to nominate obama light. >> this could be a moment when the underdogs steal the show. >> i'm not a household name like mitt romney and newt gingrich. >> sounds like the revolution has already come to minnesota! >> will there be a dramatic upset in minnesota, colorado or missouri? it's america's choice. mitt romney's been on a winning streak but his momentum could stall again. >> i will stand for our rights and i'll stand for our values. >> newt gingrich is angry and determined to hit romney where it hurts. >> i have never before seen a person who i thought of as a serious candidate for president be that fundamentally dishonest. >> rick santorum and ron paul may be romney's biggest threats tonight. >> money is not going to bite

presidency. >> once you become a ron paul supporter you remain a ron paul supporter. >> who might surge or stumble once the results are in tonight? >> the contrast between obama and romney is just not going to work for us. >> all four candidates are signalling a bitter fight to the finish. >> i am a candidate for the president of the united states. i will be candidate for the president of the united states. >> three states are voting. big contests are around the corner. and this race is spreading all over the map. welcome to the cnn election center. this special edition of "john king usa." 33 delegates at stake in colorado tonight, 37 in minnesota, plus a missouri primary with no impact on the delegate chase but still a

potential momentum changer. mitt romney not long ago had dreams of a possible february sweep. but tonight two of his rivals have hopes of an upset. as always wolf blitzer is here to help guide us through every twist and turn. >> that's right, john. the underdogs in this race are trying as hard as they possibly can to even score. mitt romney has three victories under his belt. newt gingrich and rick santorum have one each. ron paul still searching for his first big win, john? >> wolf, our correspondents as always are covering all four candidates tonight. jim acosta, joe johns. jim, let's start with you. you're in denver tonight. is that governor romney think colorado's his best hope? >> well, we'll see, john. not everything has gone mitt romney's way today. there was a morning snowstorm that made romney late for his one and only event of the day. he was actually forced to skype from his campaign bus to the crowd waiting inside the event. but once he was able to get

onstage he sounded pretty confident he'll win colorado tonight. >> don't be late to the caucuses tonight. that's the important thing. you guys make sure and be there and we're going to have a celebration also together tonight at -- is that sarah palin? look at that. there she is right there. [ cheers and applause ] >> there are a lot of sarah palin look alikes out here. they want to be. anyway we're going to have a little celebration tonight in denver i guess at the hyatt. i really appreciate the warm welcome we're getting on such a cold and snowy morning. i guess it took a long time to get the snow off the windshield of the bus. so it slowed it down. but it did not slow you down. i appreciate your willingness to be here and to participate in this process. colorado's got something to say about who our nominee is going to be. and i think i'm going to be that nominee. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: now for the record, sarah palin was not in that crowd. it must have been a look alike. but behind the scenes the romney campaign released a strategy memo that laid out what he

thinks is his path to the nomination. but in that memo there was basically an acknowledgement that rick santorum will win one of these contests tonight. the memo also went on to predict a long haul to the nomination. basically saying that romney is best positioned to win in states out west and even the u.s. territories. john, when a campaign is talking about winning the u.s. territories you can bet it's probably going to be a bumpy ride to the nomination. >> clearly expecting a long road ahead. the one state they can't lose tonight would be colorado. jim acosta will be with us all night from the romney headquarters. joe johns in columbus, ohio. does speaker gingrich expect to be shut out? >> reporter: it's clear note th clear at all. i think he's trying to get a leg up on super tuesday because frankly it's so important for him, john. the strategy is for the speaker to amass a bunch of votes in

ohio and in the state of georgia and then just sort of hold on until he can get back to some of the southern states to try to replicate that big victory he had in south carolina. one of the most interesting things i found, columbus, ohio will be the third stop of the day for him. he started out in cincinnati, moved on to dayton, ohio. and in dayton that of course is the hometown of wilbur and orville wright who are the pioneers who are widely acclaimed for starting aviation, manned flight. and newt gingrich there sort of chose that place as the opportunity to take some of his critics on who have gone after him so much for proposing a space colony on the moon. he even took on "saturday night live" itself. listen to sound bite. >> "saturday night live" made fun saturday night about the idea of a colony on the moon. and i think that's terrific.

and i think "saturday night live" is a funny show. and my only challenge to them is when the colony is there i hope they will come and broadcast from the moon. >> reporter: so here he is trying to answer his critics in the state of ohio. newt gingrich says he will be in it for the long haul. but it certainly looks like it will be a very tough road for the former speaker of the house to try to get the nomination. john? >> joe johns tracking speaker gingrich tonight in columbus, ohio. speaker gingrich scheduled to speak later in this hour. let's show you more about what we expect to learn tonight. let's go over to the magic wall. we started with iowa, went to new hampshire. south carolina, florida and nevada. these three states voting tonight. we get more of a case in the midwest. you see santorum winning iowa here. he's very confident in minnesota and missouri for just that reason. consecutives, evangelicals. he believes he'll get one, maybe two wins tonight. colorado a state governor romney carried four years ago. it is critical. this is our exit polling sent ever. no entrance or exit polls in

these states. but we'll bring you a compilation so far. we've gone through all the states that have voted. how are the tea partiers voting, how are the evangelicals voting so far. we'll move into the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth competition. we'll show you how the republican electorate is feeling so far. we also have the best campaign team. rick santorum will strike to make his case he's the better conservative alternative than newt gingrich. >> he's certainly counting on some kind of win. let's bring in gloria borger and david gergen to assess what's going on. rick santorum could have an upset tonight. that could set back mitt romney's air of inevitability. >> he really needs a win, wolf. he's trying to prove this race that he's the conservative alternative to mitt romney, not newt gingrich. so if he has a win or two wins, both of which are possible, then he gets the bragging rights.

and he can continue on and perhaps raise enough money and get enough juice to go on and compete in super tuesday and make the case about his conservatism. >> a lot of people thought only a few days ago that romney was going to coast in colorado -- three states made for him. >> i think a lot of us are wondering why are we going to atlanta to talk about this tonight. here we are. it's a night of real drama. there's real possibility especially if rick santorum were to win two out of the three but if santorum won one and ron paul wins the other, that could very much upset the dynamic of this just before super tuesday. it would be the last big major political event before super tuesday. and that would cast a lot of questions, raise a lot of doubts about super tuesday. >> here's the other thing about missouri. we talk about no delegates, beauty contest and all the rest. true. but it is the first time you have rick santorum and mitt romney together without newt gingrich on the ballot. so without newt gingrich on that

ballot, this is a test of rick santorum. can he beat mitt romney and be the conservative alternative to mitt romney? so that's a race that's worth looking at for the future. >> let's not forget ron paul. he's got a devoted group of supporters. next saturday night the main caucuses, i think he'll do well in maine. and remember at the end of the month, arizona and michigan before super tuesday. so there's going to be some more moments here. the question to you is this. newt gingrich. if he didn't do anything between now and super tuesday what does that do for him? >> well, he's got to debate which could help him in phoenix with the cnn debate. but he's also going to be going into the south. and what could emerge -- >> on super tuesday. >> on super tuesday and what could emerge from this is a regional pattern in which mitt romney is really strong in the northeast and in florida. and in the west. that newt gingrich is really strong in the south. and that rick santorum is really strong in the midwest. that is a fractured party.

that's a nomination that's up for grabs if that were to develop. >> and it guarantees that this process keeps on going and going and going. >> it does. and what's interesting today is that the romney campaign put out a prebuttal to what's going to occur tonight. jim acosta was talking about it. they talked about newt gingrich's southern strategy. let me quote. they called it "a flight of fancy and not grounded in reality." because they say, look, he may do well in some of those southern contests. but don't forget, it's proportional. so he's not likely to win even if he gets -- unless he gets 50 or 60% of the vote he's not likely to win/winner take all. so the romney people say we're the only ones with the organization and the money to march on. >> but just a few days ago after nevada we said the cloak of invincibility is back on romney. he loses a couple tonight we're in a new ball game. >> let me go to the white house. jessica yellin is joining us

right now in washington. jessica, you look at these three states that are voting tonight, especially colorado. this is a state that if president obama's going to be re-elected he desperately needs. >> he's counting on winning it, wolf. they argue that they can win the white house again without it. but you know he picked it up last time around. it's nine electoral votes. one of their maps says that they need to pick up 19 battle ground electoral votes. if they can just get, for example, colorado plus minnesota or colorado plus another state like north carolina and iowa, that could be the springboard that gets them to the white house. it's going to be a hard win for the president because he's lost some of the support there that he gained at the last four years ago. but we're going to see a lot of the -- i'm going to be spending a lot of time in colorado covering the president. let's put it that way in the next year, wolf. >> you know they'll be watching what happens tonight not only at the white house throughout washington but also in chicago at the obama re-election campaign. john, back to you. >> and wolf, also watching is

ron paul. he's counting on doing quite well tonight. but what if he doesn't? i'll ask him about the possible threat to his campaign and his message. and will newt gingrich be able to win even just one more state? the best political team's take on that question is ahead. this new at&t 4g lte is fast.

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the texas congressman ron paul has always said his campaign would fare better in the caucuses states. we spoke just a bit earlier. the congressman was in minnesota. >> ron paul is with us now. sir, the three contests tonight, colorado, missouri and minnesota, does ron paul think he has a chance to win in any of those three states? >> well, we're going win some delegates. whether we come in first or one, two or three i don't know exactly that. but we feel positive about moving along and picking up more delegates. but we'll have to wait and see how many. >> if we wake up wednesday morning, though, eight contests will have been held in the republican race for president by then. if ron paul is 0 for 8 meaning no wins, what would that say about your prospect of actually winning the nomination?

you certainly have an impact on the race an getting delegates. but 0 of 8 are you a viable candidate to win the nomination? >> it pnds on what happens for the next 42 states. there will be a lot more primary toss go. but obviously you do have to start picking up. we have some others. we're optimistic we're going to keep picking up delegates. that's what the other delegates are doing. nobody else is about to at this point jump ahead of romney. but we think we're going to keep doing. this and we have a very good chance on what's happening up in maine. >> as you go across the country, wouldn't things you say at every stump speech if you're president of the united states you'll get much more serious about the deficit. you say you will cut $1 trillion in the debt in the first year. ben bernanke asks this question, at a time of a fragile recovery

how how quickly can you cut. >> we need to at least avoid doing no harm. i would say do no harm is an important piece of advice i would argue. so there is a balancing act. >> what he's trying to say there is, don't cut too much too soon. do you agree or disagree? >> well, i would question the credibility of the chairman. i mean, go back and look at what he said in '06 as he was moving in to becoming chairman. he says don't sweat it, people. the markets are great. there's no housing issues. no bubbles. and he's not been very good in predicting and warning us. he was around when the nasdaq bubble was about to burst. he didn't warn greenspan at the time. so i would say that be careful in using him as your expert witness. >> let me ask you what a president paul would do. if you were president at this moment in a couple of world hot

spots. number one syria. the united nations security council did not pass a resolution putting more pressure on president assad. the president of the united states has said he believes assad should step down. you've seen videos i'm sure of the killing and bloodshed. what would president paul do about that right now? >> well, that problem has been going on for many, many years if not centuries. bad governments. look at what they did to communists. killed hundreds of millions of people. so it's a tragedy that happens in africa all the time. but i'm not representing those countries as a congressman and as a president. i represent the united states. and i don't think it's a wise thing to get involved in the civil war that's going on in syria. that would cost money, it would cost lives, and it may well spread. and already because we are agitating, we're already very much involved trying to get the u.n. to do this and that. and the russians now don't like it. the chinese don't like it.

so what should be a domestic civil war is now turning into an international crisis. and the russians and the chinese are reacting to us by pushing this. i think it's none of our business. i think it's tragedy. but i can point out many tragedies, many folds greater than, this but it's not in american interests. now, as president if there were a crisis like this and was building and somebody's making the case it's a matter of national security i'd go to the congress. i wouldn't go to the united nations or nato. i'd go to congress and say, do you think this deserves a war? if it does you declare the war then we go to war, fight and win it. but to assume that we have an automatic obligation to be over there i think ace very dangerous thing to assume. >> and what would you do about the current situation unfolding in egypt in they say 19 americans working for pro democracy groups assisting the citizens of egypt trying to build political parties and the like, egypt wants to put them on trial and prosecute them for meddling in its affairs.

what would a president paul do about that? >> i think we should do everything conceivable diplomatically to get our people out. but obviously we have to look at this in context of how this came about. we propped up mubarek for 40 years, and tense of billions of dollars. i think close to $50 billion, which meant that it was an artificial situation. so now the revolt and the blowback comes from this that there's a revolt against our puppet dictator. and who's taken over? people who don't like us and who hate israel. and this is backfiring on us. our intervention, propping up of mubarek is coming back to haunt us. as far as the people he's holding we should do everything conceivable diplomatically to get him out there. >> three states voting tonight. we'll check the results and see you this weekend in maine. take care, sir? thank you. ron paul there. we're waiting now to hear from newt gingrich at an event in ohio. it's not voting today but it's a state critical to his stop

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you're watching a special edition of "john king usa." three contests tonight, caucuses in minnesota and colorado and a primary in missouri. this could be a good night for the underdogs, rick santorum and ron paul. more politics in a moment. first wolf blitzer is here with the latest on the crisis in

syria. >> it's a situation that's horrible right now, john. we're watching a blood bath in parts of syria today. people in the streets even children. 35 reportedly were killed. more crackdowns by the president bashar al assad. i spoke to susan rice. >> you're being seen around the world including in damascus right now. i want you to look into the camera as you are. and assume you're speaking directly to president bashar al assad in syria. what would you say to him? >> for a brighter future, your days are numbered and it is time and past time for you to transfer power responsibly and peacefully. the longer you hang on, the more damage you do yourself, your

family, your interests and indeed your country. >> let's go to cnn's arwa damon. arwa, powerful message from the u.s. government. but can the people in syria actually hear these kinds of very strong words from the top u.s. officials? >> reporter: well, the issue, wolf, is not whether or not they're hearing it but what sort of impact it would actually have. unfortunately this is not the first time we have been hearing harsh rhetoric by various u.s. officials. the u.s. has for quite some time now been calling for president assad to step aside and that has proved to be entirely fruitless. people inside syria want to see the u.s. take even harsher action. they are tired of rhetoric. they are tired of people trying to push forward diplomacy and debate. they say that the time for talk is finished. when it comes specifically to america, activists want to see

the u.s. even go so far as to provide medical and even perhaps military support to the opposition. because they say the window for dialogue is closed. the window for peaceful resolution, well, that closed a long, long time ago, unfortunately, wolf. >> the u.n. says more than 7,000 people, mostly peaceful protesters, are dead, tens of thousands injured or arrested or simply disappeared or have become refugees right now. here's the question. without a dramatic improvement and assistance from the outside world, how much longer can they continue? >> reporter: well, we keep asking activists, residents of various areas. the opposition has the same same question. they say they will continue until the death because they quite simply do not have another choice. but if we see the status quo continue, you can be pretty much assured that eventually at the end of the day the assad regime could possibly end up wiping out

every single voice of dissent. that being said, at the same time we are seeing the free syrian army growing in strength, growing in the areas that it is beginning to control. so the other option would be a very, very long and bloody slow movement towards a civil war. but at the end of the day, unless there is very harsh action the situation for syrians is going to be incredibly dire, not to mention the repercussions that are going to be felt throughout the entire region. the unfortunate conclusion, though, at this stage in the uprising given everything that has transpired is that there is going to be no peaceful resolution to syria. >> gere okay updating our viewers in the united states, arwa, and around the world every hour. this is a dramatic story. a lot at stake right now. a . we get back to our election coverage and the two candidates we're watching very closely tonight, rick santorum and ron

paul. dana bash is in missouri. dana, you could say this is the most important night of the campaign. >> reporter: that's right. the santorum campaign wouldn't deny that. in politics the goal is to set expectations low. it's pretty hard for the santorum campaign it do that because they understand how critical tonight is. they say they don't know how well going to do. they don't pay for polling internally. no reliable public polls. but they're referring to the way mitt romney has set his sights on santorum. santorum advisers tell me their web site traffic is very high. anecdotally they believe that is a good sign for them. they've got big crowds at senator santorum's events. they believe that tonight is the night where they can set the perception that they can be a viable alternative to mitt romney and not newt gingrich. listen to what senator santorum

said earlier today. >> governor romney's been able to bully his way through this primary, outspending opponents on average about 5 to 1 and been able to win by outspending. but he's not inspiring. he's not painting a vision. >> reporter: now john, this whole idea of how important it is tonight, look, they say that everybody's been asking the santorum campaign, and the senator himself, what's the path to victory. they say that february, the month of february is about perception and momentum, and they are hoping that that starts for them tonight. >> they need at least one. we'll see if they can do more than that. dana bash, the santorum campaign in missouri tonight. over to congressman paul headquarters is in missouri tonight. shannon i spoke earlier to the congressman today. i tried to get him to say after a disappointment in nevada does he need a win tonight. he wouldn't go that far. take us inside the poll strategy. >> reporter: the paul strategy, i heard that interview you had

with him, john, is delegates. he mentioned that to you is to rack them up and try to blaze a path to the nomination. that is real isistic for dr. paul? a lot of people say no. what's the next step? possibly having delg gates -- here's something new. in this auditorium later on tonight we expect a lot of people, perhaps even hundreds, maybe even 1,000 as i've been following him. he's having large crowds. how will they turn those crowds into votes? as you mentioned, he might be 0 for 8 going into after this caucus. the campaign tells me that part of their strategy going forward is to have dr. paul actually show up at some of the caucus sites to try and convince voters right there on-site to caucus for him. that's why he's going to a caucus site tonight. it was awn planned visit, something they put on the

schedule at the last minute, john. >> up close and personal campaigning. shannon travis, i suspect you'll head over to that caucus as well. congressman paul says it's about delegates. eventually you need a win. wolf that's one of the big challenges here. no doubt congressman paul is having a big impact on this race. but santorum has won, gingrich has won, rick santorum has won a few. >> you need 1044 delegates. we have a lot of questions about what happens tonight and in the presidential race. who better to answer these questions the best political team on television. here's the first question. will the gop race go all the way to the convention in tampa at the end of august? only one of our panelists says yes. let's find out who that panelist will be. let me introduce all of of our analysts here once again. roland martin is here, donna brazil el, ari fleischer, eric

erickson, gloria and david are here as well. will the gop race, roland martin, go all the way to the convention? >> yes. i recall signature here just three days ago. all i heard from the folks in the room was, mitt romney is in the driver's seat. everybody else is fallen back. oh, my goodness, the race is almost over. and i said things can change very quickly. so what's happening? here we talk about santorum possibly winning tonight, how that could change his campaign. we do not know what's going to happen. the voters have the final say so. this thing is going to keep going. there'll be more surprises and we'll be sitting here saying man how did that happen. will the race go all the way to the convention, donna? >> first of all i would love it to go all the way to the convention, wolf. there's nothing better that i enjoy doing than hanging out with ari and eric, of course. but on the other hand i do believe as a strategist that mitt romney, while he may lose a couple contests between now,

super tuesday as well as between super tuesday and when new york and pennsylvania, there's no question that he'll probably have enough delegates to wrap up sometime by the middle of april. >> what do you think, ari? >> there's only one scenario that gets you a convention that is meaningful. contested in august. that's if newt gingrich were to end up the frontrunner going into it. because then you'd see everybody in washington doing their best to block newt gingrich becoming the nominee. outside of that, no. and this is typical. races do go through february. they do go into march. there is absolutely nothing different about this year and the length of the race so far this year from any previous year. >> i want it to because i'm just not excited about any of the candidates all the would love to find new guy at the convention. it's not going to happen happen. mitt romney is going to be the nominee. i think that's what's going to happen. i do think rick santorum and newt gingrich bang him up enough when he gets to the convention he's going to make some compromises particularly his vice president choice. >> will it go all the way to tampa? >> i don't know. i think it's unlikely it will go

all the way to tampa. i think this is less about delegates than about psychology. at some point the party is going to basically settle on someone. and before the full delegate count, i think someone will have it before the tampa. but i do agree with ari on one point. i don't think this is typical in one sense, and that is the longer this has gone on, the more it is apparent that it's hurting mitt romney against barack obama in the fall. and that does not always -- >> hold your thought. let me get gloria. >> i want to see what happens in tampa. i mean, that's what's really interesting to me. for example, if newt gingrich amass as certain number of delegates, if ron paul amasses a certain number of delegates, what do they get in return? there's got to be some kind of deal going on. is it a prominent primetime speech by ron paul or by newt gingrich? will their delegates have some say in vice-presidential choice? will they have to play to those

delegates? i mean, that's what's going to be very important. and i agree with david. i do think this is different. because these candidates are meaner and nastier than even john mccain and mitt romney were to each other in 2008. >> does a long, drawnout process hurt more m hurt mitt romney? >> if it goes all the way to the convention chances are that will be hurtful. the only one able to take it is newt. that would be a civil war in the republican party. but mike huckabee didn't drop out until march 4 four years ago when john mccain won. bob dole didn't drop out until march 29th against george bush 41. george bush 41 didn't drop out until may against ronald reagan. >> it's what they're saying to each other. >> bush of course said of ronald reagan voodoo economics. when you're in the middle of it it never feels good.

all of a sudden it's over and people look back and say we are so energized. we now have a chance to beat barack obama. i think it's the big drive of this cycle. and there's a potential it could become messier for mitt romney but i don't see it yet. >> i don't think newt's going to be saying those things. >> history suggests that republicans like to clean up their nomination process very early. on average they take about 50 days. it's been what, 35 days. so i think in the last time, i mean, they don't do well in long, contested primaries. we do much better because democrats know how to fight and then we lick and heal our wounds. republicans sort of keep their wounds open and therefore it's very difficult for them to get independents and other voters in the poll. >> i think there's a difference to ari's point. you have this interesting dynamic of bringing to the gallup poll where reagan, all those people were the frontrunners but the second choice was acceptable for the people who were voting for second choice the first choice was acceptable.

in this case you have this interesting dynamic where the first choice isn't acceptable to still a majority of the party. and while he probably will be the nominee, that's the problem for him. the bush people, they liked reagan. >> donna, you said democrats like to fight and lick their wound. not always if you remember, you may not be old enough to remember jimmy carter and ted kennedy. they fought. they didn't exactly kiss and hug when they made up. that hurt jimmy cart. >> that was before i turned 21. >> you probably don't remember that race back then. stand by. newt gingrich is promising a fight to the bitter end. we're taking a closer look at the battle for delegates from here all the way to the convention at tampa. we're going to find out why also minnesota has been different than any place else. stay with us. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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minnesota, missouri and colorado voting tonight. newt gingrich doesn't expect to win any of those states. already he has skipped ahead to a big super tuesday battle. he's speaking live in columbus, ohio, moments ago talking about a big judicial decision today in california. >> you couldn't have a catholic university, a catholic hospital, a catholic institution that would not have secular rules imposed on them by the obama administration. now, this becomes ultimately a question of what kind of country are we? ironically, people came to america to escape religious

persecution from governments that sought to tell them whether or not they could worship god. and now you have an administration seeking to tell us what it means and what we're allowed to do and what we're not allowed to do. and that's why this is a very, very important election. but it's also an important election in terms of how do you create jobs. you know, the unemployment numbers went down last month. and you'd think that was good. until you learn that the number one reason the unemployment number went down is that 1 million 200,000 people dropped out of the workforce. literally aren't looking for work. so under the obama model, if all of us quit looking for work we would have zero unemployment. [ applause ] >> you know, i mean, you can't make this stuff up. the prime minister of canada apparently is about to go to

china. now, why is he apparently about to go to china? because he's looking for a reliable partner to build a pipeline to get oil out of central canada and to get it to the ocean. and he's found that barack obama is an unreliable partner. and can you imagine an american president so short-sighted that he would drive canada into a partnership with china? yet that's what obama is doing. and that's why the keystone pipeline decision was such a terribly destructive decision. here was an opportunity to create 30 to 50,000 new construction jobs and to have 50 years of processing canadian oil in houston, texas and galveston, texas and have the ports ship the oil. so there was work for americans for the next half century. and it increased our energy security by giving us a pipeline to bring canadian oil into the united states. and instead, to take care of

some environmental extremists in san francisco, the president turned the whole thing down. apparently the environmentalists thought that they could stop it from coming through the u.s. they would stop it. in fact, the canadian prime minister said almost immediately, we'll just work out a deal with the chinese, build it across the rockies and go straight to vancouver. but the united states can't stop us from exporting our oil. now, this is the sort of destructive, short-sighted behavior obama does regularly. and it's an enormous problem. i think this is the heart of the campaign. [ applause ] >> former house speaker newt gingrich speaking in columbus, ohio dedicating most to criticism of president obama. we'll see if he brings up any republican rival. anderson cooper, if speaker

gingrich is not in colorado, missouri or minnesota, can he come back in ohio and beyond? >> also it's interesting to watch him speak his wife calista is by his side. there's a difference between calista gingrich how she manages her role and ann romney. we see ann romney introducing her husband on the campaign trail. >> ann romney is like a surrogate. she's there to not only help to paint a portrait of who mitt romney is, turn around, i haven't heard her talk about the cooking schools yet but that will come. but calis t a, you just looked at her. she just stands there very proper. look, if you want to get to a majority of delegates in any contest, republican or democratic, you really need to go after the women's vote. since jarkz women have voted overwhelmingly against newt gingrich. he has a women problem. it's very difficult for him to

get women to trust him. dealing with some of the internal issues that many of us maybe we don't talk about it. i'll talk about it. there's a problem with trust. women don't trust newt gingrich. >> there is part of the issue here, talking about trust for the women, it's going to be hard to stand her out to say trust with women when they're looking at you saying i can't forget the affairs. >> this is a problem that newt gingrich has not figured out how to overcome. ann romney, i think it is an intentional strategy from the romney campaign to continue to very subtly nuance, highlight this issue. they've been married for a very long time. ing in newt gingrich is on his third wife having left the second for the third. what is her role? the role in the campaign is engage apparently but she does not speak. unless they can humanize calista gingrich to female voters and have her meld with women voters she's going to have a problem.

>> why is she standing by his side while he speaks basically everywhere? >> they feel she puts some people off because she was having an affair with him for a number of years while he was still married to his wife. why have her stand next to his side? >> i think this is part of a process that they have never completed on connecting her as the wife. and having outoutreach to female voters which hasn't gone anywhere with the campaign. that's the only explanation i can give for why they would do this. >> it's hard if she's not there with their history. i don't see your wife all of a sudden i'm thinking stuff. >> the candidate wants her there. i mean, that's sort of the bottom line with these kinds of things. if the candidate says i want my wife standing at my side everywhere i go, then that's where she's going to be. and i think the problem for newt gingrich is that wives if they're not the candidates themselves, can sometimes serve the purpose of softening the rough edges of a candidate like

newt gingrich who is really a very much a tough candidate. >> do you see her softening? >> >> no, she does not. and that's the problem. because they don't let her have a speaking role. and they don't let her have a speaking role because they don't want to remind voters of the past but when you analyze newt gingrich's campaign, you have to focus on one fundamental truth. it is unconventional campaign. it's all about him singularly. he's the strategist, the martyr mind. he's running so far in front of his coverage and 20 yards down the field. typically things done in the campaign, that's just not newt world. newt is newt. that's about it. >> donna is right that newt does not do well with women. he has a women's problem. i don't think the evidence is in about the marriage. newt is also very bombastic. just his tone, the way he conducts himself will drive women away. and i don't think we know.

i think the -- calista is not exactly a silent person. she speaks at a lot of events. eye been to events where she's spoken. >> i've been to one too where she's read children's books. >> and i've been to one where she read films. they go everywhere together. they're not more than three feet apart any time you ever see them. mitt romney, i think that's actually a more important story here. they're doing what i think has been a very smart strategy of putting her out more. she does so much to bring warmth to his events. and he has had -- he doesn't have women problem. he has a warmth problem, an empathy problem. she gives testament to, if you're married to a woman like this and she's so warm and wonderful, maybe there's warmth in you. i think it's been helpful. >> absolutely. >> and 2000, gingrich had a problem with women, suburban women did not like him, did not like the policies.

and governor bush came with compassionate conservatives and they said, we like that better than gingrich. they lost the house as a result of not liking how he treated minorities, the poor, suburban women said, we didn't like it. his issue with women go back -- >> they didn't lose the house until 2006. they kept the house in 2000. >> but your point is still well made about newt and the issue. >> right. especially among independent women. independent women are more tal rant. and i think some of his language, the tone, even tonight when he's talking about the president's so-called war on religion. no. most women see it as a war on women's health. they don't see it as a war on religion. he has a problem with independent women, especially some primaries where independent women can caucus with either party. he also has a problem in capturing married women. >> i'm sorry, go ahead. >> the flipside, when you look at romney, romney's cooler presentation, less bombastic style is more attractive to independents, women, groups that aren't rock solid republicans.

his problem is the rock solid republicans. the interesting thing, if he wins the primary, does this give him an opportunity in general election that other republicans would not have? that's the big general election question. >> we'll see when governor romney speaks tonight, if ann romney introduces him as she has other nights. that's one thing to be watching for. >> an important point. we'll also look ahead to the fall election and what it takes to win. this is the 2008 map. tonight's contest will give us clues about the fight for 2012 electoral votes and will the tea party help or hurt eventual republican nominee? [ male announcer ] what if we told you that cadillac borrowed technology from ferrari

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welcome back. three states voting tonight. you can see from the clock, caucuses start in minnesota in over an hour. polls close in missouri about that time. colorado in the west votes later than that. they're having important caucuses tonight, republicans for president. we watch these states, minnesota, missouri, kol ko kol, battleground in november. we can also look ahead to the fall campaign a bit. this map's probably familiar. this is when president obama, then senator obama beat senator mccain in the nationwide vote. the blue is electoral map. it was aye bl blowout, presiden obama winning quite handedly. we said, look at this map and decide which states will be in play this time. we know the map won't be as favorable as in 2008. if you see the states in yellow,

maybe they look gold at home, those are toss-up states. the blue are reliably democratic states. what are the key battle grounds? if you look through this tonight, colorado votes tonight. that's on this list. minnesota's on this list. that's tonight. missouri is on this list, and i'll add my choice. missouri is a state president obama lost last time. his team is not really counting on it. if things change, they would compete. for the sake of argument i'm going to give missouri for the conversation to republicans and i'm going to bring our chief white house correspondent jessica yellen into the conversation. i have the map right here. help me. if you're reflecting, reporting from team obama looking at this map, how do they get to 270? >> i think they'd give themselves minnesota pretty easily, john. and i think that blue, there you go, and i think -- >> that's wisconsin. see, i don't know my own map. i think they give themselves

wisconsin, too. >> i think they'll concede they'll have to work for wisconsin. they're going to have to fight for colorado. colorado, as you know, has a third of the vote there is independent voters, a third democratic and a third republican. so, their real swing vote is fight for independents. nevada will be a big fight. they think they can win iowa. so, i think you can give them iowa. >> i don't know if i'd give them iowa. i'm going to give them michigan. i'm going to give them michigan and pennsylvania because of history. >> you're giving them pennsylvania. >> i'm going to give it to them just for fun. i'm going to give republicans indiana. obama, 228/180 as this plays out. this is interesting. this is a hypothetical. colorado, in particular, voting tonight, will be a key, without a doubt, a big fall battleground state. we know that. jess, let me ask you this, arizona, john mccain won that last time, the nominee. democrats, the obama team, thk