part of spending time with prime minister benjamin netanyahu today, we went into his study. i found he liked something i love, books. >> can i just say something i know you didn't want to talk about earlier. did you know people look at your shelf? i have mitt romney's book, barack obama's book all up there. yeah? i'm just looking. you know, this is a window into someone's mind. >> that's one of the reasons i love those interviews. it gives you a moment just to glimpse what the person is really like. thanks for watching. anderson cooper starts now. thanks very much. good evening, everyone. we begin tonight with breaking news with three words that spell death in the '90s and scared daylights out of people ever since. mad cow disease. for the first time in six years, authorities in the united states have a case of it on their hands. for the first time in six years

people want to know, is the food supply safe? elizabeth cohn is here tonight with the latest. you spoke to this company, baker commodities, they have a plant in hanford, california, where a cow that was randomly selected tested positive for mad cow disease. what have you learned? >> here's what i learned, anderson. the way it works at this plant is they only have dead animals there. every so often they do random testings. they have hundreds of carcasses. they choose let's say about 60, and one of them turns out to have mad cow disease. and so what if they hadn't randomly found that animal? well, that animal would have been rendered into something. it might have been soap or chemicals or something you and i would never eat. something that wouldn't harm us, but it might have been rendered into feed for livestock. >> how dangerous is that if it had been rendered into feed that livestock had eaten and then people ate the livestock? >> here's why it should not have

been a problem. there are rules. you're not supposed to take the brains of cows and turn them into animal feed. you're not supposed to take certain things like parts of the spinal cord. the reason is so people won't get bse. you're not supposed to take high risk parts of the body and turn them into feed. theoretically, it wouldn't have caused a problem. but there is that worry. >> what is bsc? >> it stands for the real name for this disease. we call it mad cow disease. >> you can only get it through the brains and the spinal column of the animal? >> that's what they think. that's why this animal that has the disease, it was a dairy cow. experts say if you drink the milk, it's not infectious. >> and because this was randomly selected, it begs the question how many other cows could there be that had it. i remember the pictures of the

cows in europe, the cows shaking. you saw first hand. you actually interviewed the first u.s. victim in 2006. >> yes. as hard as it is to watch these animals, it was harder to meet this woman. her name was charlene. she just laid there and moaned and moaned. it was so awful to see this, this young beautiful woman. she lived in the united kingdom until she was 13 years old and she was perfectly healthy. then she moved to the u.s. at 13 and at 23 she started showing signs of this disease. that means that disease had been lurking in her for at least ten years before she got sick. and anderson, that's one of the scariest things here is she didn't know she was sick. that's pretty typical for about ten years. some people are sick even longer or infected longer before they realize it. >> back then did they not have the rules about not having the brain and spinal column be in the food? >> right. because she was living in the uk

like in the '80s and early '90s before the rules were enacted. >> bottom line for someone watching tonight is what? i mean, i don't want to freak people out. >> right. exactly. that woman you just saw and the two other victims in this country of mad cow disease, they did not contract the disease here. i can't emphasize that enough. they did not contract the disease here. they ate meat in saudi arabia or uk. there hasn't been a single person who has eaten the meat from the u.s. supply and contracted the human mad cow disease. experts say this cow does not pose a threat to the food supply. it was never slaughtered and put into the food supply. and the milk, we are told was not infectious. >> thank you. more breaking news. five republican primarying tonight. mitt romney expected to win all of them. he's treating it that way.

he's scheduled to all but launch his campaign in a speech. newt gingrich may have something to say within the hour. will he be dropping out. >> we're going to follow that. but first let's go to the magic wall with john king. >> is there buyers remorse with these candidates? are republicans happy or unhappen we with their choice? one i would watch is pennsylvania. this was senator santorum's home state. a lot of conservatives in the middle of the state. do they turn out to vote against romney tonight? in sign of a protest. that's one place. speaker gingrich says he will reassess based on delaware. is there a protest vote in a more moderate state like delaware? watch pennsylvania and watch delaware tonight to see if there

is buyers remorse. here's another thing to watch. you mentioned as we look forward here, this is where governor romney starts the night. he needs to get to 1144 to clinch. he will get closing in on 900. still short of 1144 but this is why. look at the gaps. gingrich way behind him. ron paul way behind him. this gap even though romney can't mathematically clinch until late may, this is the night that has him convinced. >> what does tonight tell us about the general election, if anything? >> it tells us we are on to an electoral battle ground and the map will be different. this is the 2008 map. obama states blue. mccain states red. pennsylvania, swing in a battle ground. ohio will be. indiana will be. some say michigan will be. florida, virginia, north carolina without a doubt. iowa without a doubt.

colorado without a doubt. maybe arizona. and nevada. look at this. if you assume president obama starts around 206, i'll give him nevada. even with high unemployment because of the latino problems the republicans have. i say prove it when the republicans say they can win pennsylvania. michigan as well. you start with the president around 240. this is the map for mitt romney. he has to win florida, he has to win ohio. most believe indiana will go back into the republican fold. so where was the president today? the president was in north carolina today. tomorrow he will be in colorado and iowa. where is mitt romney tonight? he is in the state of new hampshire. watch the candidates. where they go over the next several weeks tells you where they think the battle states that will decide this come late october and november. >> thanks very much. i want to bring in ari fleischer occur, cornell belcher. it's all about the pivot.

we've already been seeing that from romney this week, this pivot? >> we have. we've been seeing it a couple of weeks. he's been talking about women voters. he's been talking about younger voters. he's been talking to hispanic voters. you know, this is somebody who understands that he's got problems with these interest groups. so -- or with these constituencies i should say. so he does have to make this pivot. but on the other hand, he's also got those conservative republicans that he's got to rally around him. and that's why he's going to be meeting with rick santorum there eyeing the date of may 4th. we don't expect an endorsement at that point, but they're going to have a real heart to heart conversation about how conservatives can get engaged in his campaign and become more enthusiastic about him. so he's got to sort of work it both ways. >> ari, romney got a lot of flack a couple weeks ago for his etch a sketch comment.

a general election message is different than the primary season message. how do you think they're handling this pivot so far? >> yeah. i'm so glad to hear he put it that way. i thought it was unfair the way they media piled on the romney aide who said that. and the press thought he was talking about changing positions which isn't the case. you go from being a primary candidate to a general election candidate and the universe around you changes. your campaign structure changes. and the way the press focuses on you changes as well. what's happening with aremitt romney right now is they're rallying. partly because republicans fall in line. partly because republicans want to defeat obama. and the rest is up to romney. can he narrow the gender gap? and most importantly and i think you'll see this in his speech tonight, really focus on the economy and make that the singular issue of this race this fall. if he does that, he has all the

ingredients necessary to really make this a close race that he could win. >> cornell, let's talk about the drts. it seems like half the time they're calling mitt romney is flip-flop. the other time they're calling him an extreme conservative. could he be a guy that have no beliefs and a conservative at the same time? >> i believe he's a guy with no hard core beliefs. but he has to answer for his policy positions. he has taken a set of policies and sort of embraced the policy positions that absolutely put him at odds. we talk about hispanic voters. he has embraced -- he's been against the dream act which is vast majority of hispanic voters want. he's embraced arizona law which most hispanics you think of racial profiling. and when it comes to women's issues, he's embraced taking power away from women and put in the hands of their employers. so his problem really isn't about flip-flopping.

his policy positions that he has embraced and supports. that puts him at odds with a lot of the constituency around the country. >> ari, do you think that's his problem? >> not at all. a survey showed 32% of the country thought mitt romney was too conservative. about 40% of the country thinks barack obama is too liberal. most voters thought they were close to being about right. that's a democratic talking point where they want to paint mitt romney as a crazy conservative. it's good to be a conservative in america. we are is central rights country. >> anderson, i think what i'm saying mitt romney do is really take a turn to the economy and to portray himself as the person who's the most competent to manage this economy. and what i was just reading in the excerpts of the speech he's going to give tonight sounds a lot like ronald reagan to me

when reagan asked the famous question are you better off today than you were four years ago? and mitt romney seems to now be starting to ask that refrain. are you better off today than you were when barack obama took office. and i think we're going to hear a lot of that during the campaign. >> cornell, he's also opening up with an appeal to women. >> it's not democratic talking points. he supports the ryan budget. he's against the dream act. that's not a democratic talking point. that's his positions. he's going to answer for those positions. and to the question if you're better off today than four years ago. look, we've had straight months of job growth. we've now created more jobs in the last two years than we created in the previous eight. and look where they're being created. manufacturing jobs. this country's absolutely better off today than it was when barack obama took office. better off today because of the

policies he's put in place that has turned this country around. >> ari, i know you disagree, but we got to go for time. but we're going to talk more to you guys as the evening develops. more on primary night coverage throughout the night on cnn. a possible statement from newt gingrich. we'll also be live at the top of the 10:00 hour. follow me on twitter now @anderson cooper. let me know what you think about tonight. up next, remember clean cut john edwards? today the trial and the testimony that's pretty shocking stuff. some pretty surprising things being said on the stand today. what john edwards allegedly said about his mistress and the chances her child was in fact his. ♪ [ piano chords ]

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in crime and punishment, day two of john edwards' criminal trial. accusation after accusation from former edwards aide. now the prosecution star witness, andrew young. mr. young started testifying about a phone call in 2007 from rielle hunter. quote, she was crying, she was distraught and needed to speak with mr. edwards immediately. i said somebody better be pregnant or dying. she said nobody's dying. quoting him as saying quote,

she's a crazy slut and there's a one in three chance it was his child. now, around the same time, the public saw obviously a different john edwards supporting his wife elizabeth as she announced breast cancer. elizabeth edwards knew of her husband's cheating during this news conference. that july edwards was still denying the affair and the alleged coverup. >> has you or anyone affiliated with your presidential campaign provided any financial help to rielle hunter or andrew young. >> i have no idea what you're asking about. i've responded to consistently to these tabloid allegations by saying i don't respond to these lies. i stand by that. >> it's fascinating to watch him now, realize he knew he wasn't telling the truth. in a month later with bob

woodruff, he admitted he cheated on his wife but he still flat out denied this. listen. >> i need to ask about probably the most controversial allegation which a report has been published that the baby of miss hunter is your baby. true? >> not true. that is absolutely not true. >> have you taken a paternity test? >> i have not. i would welcome to participate in paternity test. i know this is not possible this child is mine because of the timing of events. >> well, it was possible. until 2010 he admitted he was the baby's father. but in an interview, hunter said that edwards knew all along. >> you were pregnant carrying this man's child. you knew it was his child because you weren't seeing anyone else? >> wasn't seeing anyone else.

>> you knew it was his child -- >> we both knew it was his child. >> he knew it was his child? >> yes, he did. >> having an affair is not illegal. prosecutors say he broke federal law by accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars during his second presidential run, money he used to cover up his affair with hunter. today in court, andrew young described how the payments worked. one of the wealthy benefactors wrote checks to her interior designer who signed the checks over to young's wife who deposited them into her account in a maiden name. that money was dolled out to hunter from that account. it's complicated. the jury is going to have to decide if it was illegal. edwards said he knew nothing about any payments made to hunter. i spoke earlier in joe johns who was in the courtroom and analyst jeffrey toobin. >> startling testimony today. you have andrew young saying

edwards calling hunter a crazy slut and also lying to his wife about the affair. he comes off incredibly unsympathetically to say the least. that's not what he's charged with. he's not charged with being a jerk. >> you see, that's what makes this trial so perplexing. which is so much of it is about what a lousy guy john edwards is. and so much of it is about how lousy a guy andrew young is. but how much that relates to the charges against him is not clear. whether the jury can sort out being a bad guy and being a criminal is an open question. maybe all this bad stuff will convince the jury, we just don't like this guy and we're going to convict him. >> a lot of it boils down to what was in john edwards' head. was he intending for these wealthy donors to be giving him campaign money he was then funneling to hunter. or was he gets donors to just

cover her expenses. >> and were they doing that because he was a friend of theirs in trouble with his wife or were they doing it because he was the presidential candidate? >> joe, you were in the courtroom as young testified about edwards' alleged behavior during this affair. the elaborate process of funneling money to her. what was edwards' reaction to young's testimony listening to the things he was saying? >> i got to tell you. the time i spent in that courtroom, i sat right behind him. i really haven't seen much reaction from john edwards at all. he is a trained trial lawyer and he acts like one sitting there even though he's the client. he doesn't show any emotion unless he does it for effect. so he's been pretty stone cold silent except for an occasional smile at an appropriate time. and that's just what you'd expect from a guy who spent so much time at the defense table. >> joe, i mean, young testified

that edwards basically went shopping for a wealthy donor to support rielle hunter and asked bunny melon because she was the one who offered to pay for the $400 hair cuts. >> right. that's the way it started. the $400 hair cuts became a big dust up in the news media. and bunny melon essentially reached out and said i'll pay for the $400 hair cuts. you don't need to worry about that anymore. andrew young and john edwards looked at this and thought well, maybe she's the person we ought to go to. and interestingly enough in the courtroom, the testimony was that bunny melon essentially was not told the purpose for which this was going to be used. she told young it would be a non-campaign function, but nonetheless he suggested it was a campaign function in order to keep john edwards as a viable

candidate. >> if i could add one bizarre thing from today. edwards is at once this savvy player and you think delusional. at one point he says to young according to young's testimony, well, you know, i can't know about this because i'm going to be sworn in as attorney general. he still thinks he's going to be attorney general during all this stuff? >> that is in the book "game change" as well about how he thought he might still have a role and might be able to be up for the attorney general spot. young is also testifying that repeatedly a number of times he was concerned about the legality of this and actually asked edwards about it and edwards assured him that he'd looked into it and this was legal. >> which it's not clear how that cuts. because it's not clear whether edwards will acknowledge that he ever did look into it. at one point and certainly in public statements edwards said it never even occurred to me

that this might be illegal. but at the same time edwards is quoted by young saying i've looked into it and it's legal. it's just one of the many contractions between edwards' versions of the stories and young's. and we'll start to see which one the jury will believe. >> jeff toobin, joe johns, thanks. let me know what you think on twitter. if you think john edwards is guilty of these federal violations. a lot more happening tonight. the u.n. admitting the killing stops when u.n. observers goes in and starts up again when they live. i'll speak to senator john mccain next. also waiting for word tonight from newt gingrich. the buzz could be reassessing his campaign even calling it quits. he's expected to speak any minute. we'll bring it to you, whatever he says, live. [ male announcer ] when this hotel added aflac

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not to sacramento. it benefits every kid in every school, with local control of the money. that's why the p-t-a supports it. my mom likes it, too. keeping them honest now. a new reason why night after night we keep bringing you images of the killing in syria. the reason is simple but sad. the fact is it's frankly pathetic. our nightly video shot -- that bashar al assad agreed to and is breaking day after day. today a spokesperson for the few u.n. professionals now on the ground in syria, these observers. as much as admitted his men are not up to the job. he says there are credible reports and take note at that phrase.

credible reports. that when observers like these guys in the blue body armor into places like homs, the killing stops. then when they leave, the killing starts up again. and the people who approach the monitors here to talk to them to try to explain to them the horrors that have been inflicted upon them, those people after the monitors leave are then harassed or even killed by syrian security forces. in addition, today the same spokesman said there are not enough monitors to monitor anything. you should have been "360" when we said that weeks ago. it's not like assad is concealing their attempt for the mission. we got this video taken sunday. in it you'll see people telling the observers to look on a nearby rooftop. look at the snipers, look at the snipers, they say. the camera pans up. you see what appears to be a

snipers nest and troops on the rooftop. remember that phrase. credible reports. why did that spokesperson only say credible reports? his own men saw the troops, saw they weren't supposed to be there. knew what troops had been doing for more than a year in syrian. yet the spokesperson could not say what was in front of his team oos face. that is why we show you these pictures night after night. they show what diplomats can't say and the assad regime can only lie about. these are tanks and troops on the streets of duma. the ones in the pickup trucks firing as they go. assad promised to pull them out. this is a peaceful protest. erupted. another broken promise. >> the city of homs, it is still under attack. another broken promise. the shelling there stopping just long enough for monitors to come and go then starting up again.

the opposition says at least 35 people were killed today. hundreds have been killed now since assad agreed to this so-called ceasefire. mass graves like this one over the weekend are said to be filling up. an opposition member today told us what the mission is really doing. it's buying assad more time to kill. he sees in his words, a deployment of security forces to the north of his city. this is annan's gift. john mccain agrees. he wants america to do more to stop the killing. i spoke to him earlier today. senator, at the holocaust memorial, the president said we need to do everything we can to stop the slaughter of innocent people by blood thirsty regimes. that all sounds good, but is it just rhetoric? are we doing that in syria? >> well, anderson, i think it's really kind of paradoxical that

the president said quote, remembrance without resolve is a hollow gesture. awareness without action changes nothing. but at the same time he only talked about financial and economic sanctions against a person who as we know is slaughtering its citizens. and the latest of course being killing people who talked to the u.n. monitors. it's really sad to see the rhetoric of this administration not only not matched but making almost a joke out of the fact we are literally doing nothing. >> you said before you believe the u.n. has been played in syria. as you pointed out, they have handful of monitors on the ground. but it seems like the assad regime is playing a game of cat and dog with these monitors. first of all, the monitors aren't going out on patrol on fridays when they take place.

and when they do, the regime stops attack. but as soon as they leave, they try to attack and kill people who met with u.n. monitors. are they doing anything in syria, the u.n.? >> not that i know of. they have now called for additional monitors. but how atrocious is it that the government allows these monitors in, people have the courage to come out and express their grievances and then they slaughter people. that is such a slap in the face, a repudiation of what this is supposed to be about. again, if it wasn't so serious, it would be a bad jo ke. >> i spoke to a syrian activist on this program. i want to play you some of what he said. >> 30? this is stupid. we need 30 observers for one neighborhood only. the international community should send 3,000 observers and,

believe me, the regime will fall the same day. the regime will be toppled the same day because we will be rushing to the street for demonstrations. don't tell me they couldn't send more than 30 observers. >> do you have any hope the u.n. mission can do anything in syria? >> i do not. and worse than that, anderson, it gives the people who might be helping more pause while the assurances are given by the u.n. that we ought to give this a chance. it would be fine to give it a chance if they weren't still killing people. after observers left, they even go into homes and schools and pull people out and kill them. so it's really worse than doing nothing because it is giving sort of an excuse for the international community not to step up.

artillery, tanks, helicopters as you have shown many times on cnn are still in action. and the syrian people are dying for a cause. and to think that somehow that -- by the way, sanctions on luxury goods will have an effect and i'm not making that up. we have to act in a fashion of leadership of the united states of america with other countries and the first thing we need to do is get these people some weapons so they can defend themselves. >> the white house has created something now called the atrocities presentation board. the president signed a new order authorizing sanctions through internet monitoring, cell phone tracking. is that a positive step for you? >> sure. i think it's a real positive step. and i think in many areas of the world it could probably have some effect. but right now we're in a full fledge civil war, an unfair fight where russian arms are

flowing in and on the ground against people who are literally defenseless. you and i know that the price of a bullet is $4 a bullet on the black market. i have not heard that that price has gone down, have you? >> no. there's a lot of people, though, who may be sympathetic to the plight of syrians being killed by worry about arming opposition, igniting a civil war in that country and a war that spreads throughout the region. >> i heard that same argument about tunisia and libya as well and bosnia and kosovo. but also i think we should point out the longer it drags out, the more likely radical islamists come into the fight. really these people rose up peacefully. that's a direct repudiation of al qaeda who believes in acts of terror. so the fundamentals of this movement have nothing to do with radical islamist individuals.

it has everything to do with people's desire to get out from under a cruel regime. part of the arab spring i might add. >> senator mccain, appreciate your time. thank you. >> thank you. >> let us know what you think on twitter. what can the u.s. do or the international community do. we're following other stories tonight. isha's here with the bulletin. >> the secret service reports that two more members have resigned. that means that of the 12 members implicated in the prostitution scandal in colombia, a total of nine have left the agency. all a or being forced out. the justice department identifies him as kurt nicks. he's accused of internally destroying evidence. 11 workers were killed in the bp disaster. today army private bradley manning was granted a change in defense attorneys.

manning is accused of leaking hundreds of thousands of pages of military and statement department documents while serving in iraq. many of which ended up on wikileaks. and anderson, two state troopers in new jersey have been suspended without pay. reports they're accused of providing an unauthorizing high speed escort for a caravan of luxury sports cars being driven to atlantic city last month. speeds exceeded 100 miles per hour. other drivers on the highway complained to authorities. all i can say is really? >> yeah. why would they have done that? it's kind of odd. strange. >> your guess is as good as mine. >> thank you. up next, more primary night politics. we're expected to hear shortly from mitt romney. we're also waiting on word from newt gingrich. some are speculating he may be ready to quit the gop race. we'll see. details ahead. [ woman ] oh, my gosh -- it's so good! [ kristal ] we're just taking a sample

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breaking news this primary night. five states, cnn has already projected mitt romney victories in connecticut, delaware, and rhode island. he's expected to win them all. jim acosta is here and along with ari fleischer and gloria borger. jim, what is the scene where you are in. >> reporter: it's a loud scene. they've been playing music behind me. gives you a sense of the mood

here at romney headquarters. he's going to deliver a speech here tonight that is going to sound like a victory speech even though he has not gotten the number of delegates needed to clinch this nomination. he is basically there tonight. this is what he's going to be talking about. i have to tell you. this speech that romney will be delivering in just a few moments from now called "a better america begins tonight." there are some sharp elbows being thrown at the president tonight. at one point he will say during his speech according to excerpts from the campaign, because president obama has failed he will run a campaign of diversions, distractions, and distortions. so mitt romney is going to throw out some heavy artillery at the president tonight. it's basically what we've heard from mitt romney throughout this campaign. but tonight it's the pivot to the general election. maybe it means just a bit more. >> we'll obviously bring that to our viewers. gloria, we're also watching to see if newt gingrich is going to drop out tonight. do you think he will?

>> well, i'm not sure if he's actually going to say i am leaving the campaign this evening. but it's very clear and we see callista gingrich there it's clear the gingrich campaign understands there's nowhere to go for them right now. you know, i remember it wasn't that long ago, anderson, we were talking about if gingrich were to leave the race where would his support go. and at this point, i don't think he has any support to go anywhere. and so i think right now it's pretty much pro forma. and if he doesn't get out tonight, he will get out some point soon. he wanted to take a stand in the state of delaware. we've just declared that delaware has gone to romney. gingrich spent an awful lot of time in delaware trying to win that state. so i think he's at the end of the road. >> you see calistlista gingrich there speaking on behalf of her husband. see if governor romney is about

to be introduced there on the left there. we'll obviously bring those comments to you live. ari, do you -- i mean, it's only a matter of time before gingrich drops out. do you think he would do it tonight or do you think he might wait? >> first of all, it doesn't matter. newt has been out of this for months. i think newt, if you go back to iowa when newt delivered that attack concession speech to know where he's getting out much too late. he has not made a good case for his name after this primary is over. and that's a shame because newt's done a lot for the republican party. but graciousness is part of politics. you just have to know when your time has come to walk off the stage. he's stretching it out to no avail. i think he's only hurting himself in doing that. i think if i was him on a political level, don't do it tonight. do it when you have the window all to yourself. you do it two days, three days later. >> let's listen in to newt gingrich.

>> thank you. well, let me thank all of you for coming out tonight. particularly i want to thank john and amy who made this all possible. thank you to the two of you for organizing this on such short notice. i think all of us are here tonight because we agree with calista's statement this is the most important election of our lifetime. i think if you had a doubt about that, it should have been dispelled by president obama's performance today at chapel hill. where he once again failed to take responsibility for anything three and a half years after becoming president. so he was talking to students who are going to have a hard time finding a job because he has created the worst economic recovery since the great depression. he was talking to students who have a hard time going to the

interview because he has presided over the highest gasoline prices of any president in american history. he was talking to students who are going to spend the rest of their lifetime paying taxes to pay interest on the debt that he has run up. and the closest thing he could come to a solution was to promise to continue subsidizing student loans by borrowing other money so that in effect he's going to have the chinese loan the united states the money so the students in the short run don't pay the full price of the student loan so the rest of their lives they can pay taxes as workers on the subsidized money. this is exactly what someone's saying to you. i'm going to let you have a credit card and by the way you're not going to pay interest on it except that i'm going to take the interest out of your pocket every month. you know, and i was struck today trying to think through how to describe -- >> all right. we're going to continue to

monitor what newt gingrich is saying. we're continuing to wait for mitt romney to be speaking. we anticipate that to happen very shortly. gloria borger, in terms now of the pivot to the general election, what do you see happening now in just -- i mean, immediately this week, what kind of a difference are we going to be seeing? >> you even saw the pivot with newt gingrich just talking about president obama. it's very clear to me from reading the excerpts of mitt romney's speech and listening to him on the stump that he believes this election is going to be about or what he wants it to be about is president obama's economic record. he keeps asking the question in these excerpts that come back to ronald reagan. are you better off today than you were four years ago. and his answer to that is of course you're not because unemployment is still high in this country. people aren't buying houses. and he's going to recite is

litany of problems we face. and when he talks to interest groups he's worried about, he says okay. women are most of the unemployed who have lost their jobs in this country. talks to hispanics, they're 20% of the unemployed population in this country. every time he speaks to a group he wants to appeal to, he's going to talk about it in terms of his economic message. >> and now we see ann romney and governor romney on the stage. likely that ann romney will introduce governor romney. that's what she has been doing of late. obviously women a key constituency they are trying to reach out to. ann romney has been playing an increasingly visible role in the campaign in the last few weeks and months really on the campaign trail. let's listen in. >> it's so good to be here.

oh. new hampshire, it's good to be here. it was just a little over a year ago that mitt and i sat down in our living room and talked about this campaign. i'll admit i was hesitant. four years ago we'd been through a tough primary and i told him i would never do this again. i was pretty emphatic. and i was pretty certain. but mitt reminded me that i said that after every pregnancy. you know, i have five sons, so that didn't work out so well. but i knew our country was in real trouble. and i knew we needed real leadership to turn things around. so i asked mitt one simple question. can you fix it? he said yes, and that's all i needed to know. i said -- i said if you can fix

it, then we need to do this. and we launched this campaign a few months later. i have been on the trail with mitt for a very long time now. nearly a year. we've been to 35 states. and after speeches like the one he'll give tonight, mitt goes down the line to shake hands and answer questions. and i usually go to the other side of the rope line where i get to talk with people. they tell me about the tough times they're going through. they share their worries and their fears. many of them are concerned about the deficit and the economy. almost all of them are worried about their job or their children's student loans. and then the most amazing thing happens. people tell me they're praying for us. and i've got to tell you, that is so touching to me. despite all of their worries and their concerns and their troubles, they are thinking of us. in moments like those, i realize that there is no limit to the

good and the goodness of the heart of america. and there is no question that we can get this country back on track. so tonight to all the people who went out in this primary and voted for us who got up every morning and volunteered for us, i want to thank you so much. i know you believe as mitt and i do that this election will be the most important vote of our lives. and because of you, a better america begins tonight. >> and now i'd like to introduce the man that i know can lead our party to victory and our nation back to prosperity. ladies and gentlemen, my husband, mitt romney.

>> thank you. thank you. thank you for that welcome and thank you pennsylvania, delaware, rhode island, connecticut, and new york. thank you. and tonight i can also say thank you, america, because after 43 primaries and caucuses, many long days, and more than a few long nights, i can say with confidence and gratitude that you have given me a great honor and solemn responsibility. and together we are going to win on november 6th.

we launched this campaign not far from here. beautiful day in june on a farm in new hampshire. it's been an extraordinary journey. you know, americans have always been eternal optimists. but over the last three and a half years, we've seen hopes and dreams diminished by false promises and weak leadership. everywhere i go, americans are tired of being tired. and many of those who are fortunate enough to have a job are working harder for less. for every single mom who feels heartbroken when she has to explain to her kids that she needs to take a second job and won't be home as often, her grandparents who can't afford the gas to visit the grandchildren anymore.

for the mom and dad who thought they'd never be on food stamps. for the small business owner desperately cutting back just to keep the doors open one more month. to all of the thousands of good and decent americans i've met who want nothing more than having a better chance, a fighting chance. to all of you, i have a simple message. hold on a little longer. a better america begins tonight. >> tonight is the start of a new campaign to unite every american who knows in their heart that we can do better.

the last few years have been the best that barack obama can do. but it's not the best america can do. tonight is the beginning of the end of the disappointments of the obama years. and it's the start of a new and better chapter that we will write together. this has already been a long campaign, but many americans are just now beginning to focus on the choice before the country. in the days ahead i'll look forward to spending time with many of you personally. i want to hear what's on your mind. hear about your concerns. and i want to learn about your families. i want to know what you think we can do to make this country better. and what you expect from your next president. and i'll probably tell you a little bit about myself. i'll start by talking about my wife ann, of course.

and i'll probably bore you with stories of my sons and my grand kids. i'll tell you how much i love the country. this extraordinary land where someone like my dad who grew up poor, never graduated from college, could pursue his dreams and work his way to running a great car company. only in america could a man like my dad become governor of a state where he once sold paint from the trunk of his car. i say to you -- when i see you, i think i'll tell you that you may have heard i was successful in business. yep. that rumor's true. but you might not have heard that i became successful by

helping start a business that grew from ten people to hundreds of people. you might not have heard that our business helped build other businesses like staples, and the sports authority, and a new learning center called horizons. and i'll tell you not every business made it. there were good days and bad days. but every day was a lesson. and after 25 years, i know how to lead us out of this obama economy and into a job-creating recovery. four years ago barack obama dazzled us in front of columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. but after we came down to earth, after all the celebration and the parades, what do we have to

show for three and a half years of president obama? is it easier to make ends meet? is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? have you saved what you needed for retirement? are you making more at your job? do you have a better chance to get a better job? are you paying less at the pump? you know, if the answer were yes to those questions, then president obama would be running for re-election based on his record and rightly so. but because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions and distractions and distortio distortions. that campaign may have worked at a different time, but not here and not now. it's still about the economy. and we're not stupid.