>> lisa sylvester, thanks very much for that. i'll be back in two hours to moderate the republican presidential debate here in jacksonville, florida. until then, thanks very much for watching. i'm wolf blitzer in the situation room. the news continues next on cnn. good evening, everyone. from the university of northern florida our cnn final showdown before tuesday's important florida gop presidential primary. warming up, newt gingrich calls the mitt romney campaign dishonest and hypocritical, a sure sign he knows the former massachusetts governor has opened a small lead here. plus debate advice from the former florida governor jeb bush. you won't want to miss his advice to speaker gingrich. we learned today, surprise hillary clinton is not watching the republican debates. but the secretary of state did share some thoughts on her political future.

you can seat energy and the excitement here on the university of north florida campus just two hours now until our republican presidential debate here. the last showdown between the four candidates before florida votes on tuesday. polls show a close race between newt gingrich and mitt romney. the house speaker's team knows this could be the final chance to swing the florida momentum. there are some differences on tax policy and immigration policy and we expect fireworks there tonight. but more than anything else, the gop race has turned more and more testy on questions of trust, leadership, and characte character. >> i am angry. but i think i'm angry and i think every american should be angry. how can somebody run a campaign this dishonest and think he's going to have any credibility running for president? >> cnn's jim acosta is tracking the predebate rhetoric. jim, on that tone from speaker gingrich aimed at governor romney a lot tougher than the

more passive approach he took in monday's debate. explain why. >> reporter: that's right, john. it has gotten personal. you only have to look at what mitt romney's campaign has been saying about newt gingrich all day long. they've been putting out e-mails calling newt gingrich dr. newt and mr. hyde with the hashtag unhinged, using the word unhinged in talking about newt gingrich. there's an ad out from the romney campaign that sounds a lot like those superpac ads that the pro romney superpac put out weeks ago that. ad includes your interview with nancy pelosi talking about how she might have something on newt gingrich should he become the republican nominee. and i asked r.c. hammond, a spokesman for the newt gingrich campaign earlier today, what's with this very personal tone? why are you going after mitt romney and calling him dishonest? basically it goes back to this issue of the freddie mac contracts. and the fact that newt gingrich has really been on his heels all this week from the romney campaign, mitt romney has essentially called newt gingrich a lobbyist for freddie mac. and i got this from r.c.

hammond. he said "how does a guy who owns goldman stock, a company directly responsible for foreclosures in florida, has freddie mac lobbyists as top advisers in his campaign, think he can fool the american people?" john, the gloves are off. and you know, the only thing that might be missing at tonight's debate might be that steel cage. that's the only thing that's keeping these guys from tearing each other apart. >> a steel cage. jim acosta tracking the predebate rhetoric. sometimes the candidates carry it over, sometimes they don't. we'll watch, jim. thanks so much. for his part governor romney was more gentle today but clearly had speaker gingrich in mind here. >> if you think that you really need someone who's been part of the culture of washington for the last 35 years to go there again and continue in washington, why, there are other people you can choose. >> our chief political correspondent the anchor of state-of-the-union with candy crowley is here with us. let's star with governor romney. your first point about what he

need to do, tighter, sharper answers. >> he just has not been on his game the last couple of debates. and unfortunately, newt gingrich unfortunately for mitt romney, newt gingrich has been on his game. especially he's uncomfortable with his wealth. a lot of people have pointed this out. when someone brings up your tax returns and how much you paid in taxes, you need to have an answer as to, you know, that you can use the next day that shows up on tv the next day. he hasn't been able to do that despite the fact he couldn't have been surprised those kinds of questions came up. he needs to have those answers. >> point two you say romney needs to disqualify newt. what do you mean? >> well, somehow -- and we've seen it start. we saw it with bob dole, a romney supporter, seen it start in some conservative outlets and some conservative columnists all says, whoa, he's crazy. he can't be trusted. we don't know. he's per mercurial. somehow mitt romney has to find

a way to take that message and have it come from him without alienating newt gingrich's supporters. it's a really tricky business. but he's got to -- he's got himself to carry that disqualifying message. >> also tricky your final romney point, don't let the speaker get under your skin. >> part of the problem here for mitt romney is, he's not an angry guy. he just is not. and when you fake anger, it's worse than if you have actual anger. so he need to not let newt get to him. and at the same time, push back passionately. >> push back passionately for mitt romney. now to speaker gingrich, number one point you say don't take the bait. what bait? >> here we all know that newt gingrich can debate. we all know that he is very good with the comeback. he can be slicing, he can be dicing. what he need to do now, i think what he was trying to do in that earlier debate with nbc, he was trying to be presidential. people need to be able to look

at the candidate and think, oh, yeah, i can imagine that. so he can't take the bait when they're trying to get to him. >> you say he needs to be populist and stress his conditioned anti-elitist. why? >> because that's where his strength is. we see it on the campaign trail. we see it in the response of the crowds. that's his strength and he needs to continue. notice that the bite that you played earlier he doesn't say i, he said we. they think we're dumb. he's just so inclusive to that particular audience. >> and don't overheat? >> stay newt without going nuclear. >> four candidates. for ron paul tonight, the most important thing is? >> show up. this is just -- look. this is a man who is going to have his crowd no matter what. these people will take him all the way through june. so he shows up, he talks the issue. he's fine. he's still got his -- >> you say keep on keeping on which means be consistent and

stick to the issues that his base. >> which he absolutely has in every debate as you can testify. all 17 of them. he has had the same issues. he's kept the same base. his fundraising is fine. he can go the distance if he wants to. >> senator santorum sometimes is the odd man out. paul has his own little niche in the party. you say he needs a break through. >> he totally needs to break through. at some point people have to look at rick santorum the way he looks at himself, which is the newt without the baggage. so he needs a breakthrough moment somehow. >> you say your last point at him is to get into the debate. get into the debate in a big way, right? so he seems to be part of the big conversation. >> he can't be to use an old term the potted plant. he's got to somehow get in that debate between newt and mitt. it's difficult but he's got to be in there. >> candy crowley, thanks for your help. less than two hours away from our big debate here at the university of north florida. big debate, last debate before the florida republican primary. it will be hosted by cnn and

national hispanic network. it will be moderated by our own wolf blitzer live on the campus of north florida campus right here at 8:00 p.m. eastern on cnn. rick santorum is trashes newt gingrich's idea of building a big u.s. space station on the moon base by 2020. the former speaker detail add number of am ambitious goals. while santorum's description today, not so kind. >> the idea that anybody is going out and talking about brand-new, very expensive schemes to spend more money at a time when we do not have our fiscal house in order in my opinion is playing crass politics and not being realistic with the people of this country as to the nature and depth of the problem. >> now, the former florida republican governor jeb bush publicly neutral in this presidential race. we spoke a bit earlier about the close race here, and governor bush's debate expectations.

>> let's start with the two candidates at the top. for yourself and for the conservatives you talk to across the state, what is the number one challengeless say for speaker gingrich tonight? >> i think it's to not go over the top in his attacks, to maintain the great connectivity he has with voters, talking about the future. i think there's a point past which republicans and independent voters get turned off by this fierce primary spilling over into personal attacks. i just would hope that both governor romney and speaker gingrich would stay away from that. >> is there a different challenge for governor almost any or is it the same? >> well, i think his challenge is also to show his heart. here's a guy who's been incredibly successful. everything he's touched in his life has turned out pretty darn good. and he seems uncomfortable showing who he is. he's got a great record, and he should be proud of it. and he's been a successful man

in every way. and i think people can relate to that if he expresses it in the right way. it's tough to do in a debate where there's a lot of fur flying. but that's i think his challenge going forward is to connect with people directly in a human way. >> still ahead, the arizona governor jan brewer joins us live to discuss her tarmac confrontation with president obama. did governor brewer cross the line? plus more from jeb bush including a stern warning to republicans about alienating latino voters. >> i don't think a party can aspire to be the majority party if it's the old white guy party.

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we're live at the university of north florida in jacksonville. look at the enthusiastic crowd of students behind me. about 1 hour 46 minutes away from our big republican debate right here on this campus. one man who will be watching this showdown is the former republican jeb bush. you heard a bit of his expectations moments ago. governor bush speaks fluent spanish. he warns his party it must solve its problem with latino voters or risk national isolation for

years to come. more of my conversation with the governor. >> you wrote a very important essay in the "washington post." i want to read a bit from it. you sound a warning alarm for your party. you write this "for the republican party the stakes could not be greater. just eight years after the party's successful effort to woo hispanic voters in 2004, this community, the fastest-growing group in the united states according to census data has drifted away. although democrats hold the edge, republicans have an opportunity." as you listen to the rhetoric from whether it's speaker gingrich, governor romney or the other candidates in this campaign, is it the right outreach, is it the right touch? or as many people would say is it again off putting to latinos? >> i think there needs to be more done, both in the primary and the general election. i mean, look, in 2000 and 2008, jn mccain and george w. bush both got the same percentage of white voters. one won in a landslide in 2000, the other lost by seven.

that's the changing democrat graphic nature of our state and of our country. so if you want to win in the swing states you need to attract swing voters. and if you want to win in the country you have to do that. so i think there needs to be a concerted 24/7 effort, not just to do it when you come down to miami, there ought to be an effort in north carolina, efforts in new mexico, nevada, the swing -- the growing populations in all of the swing states are hispanic voters. and the tone of the campaign talking about border security, which is a significant issue. if you just focus on that alone and not talk about economic opportunity, overregulation of small businesses, education reform to give people opportunities, a tip of the hat of the patriotic and aspirational nature of all the hispanic communities to connect personally, if you don't do any of that you're not saying welcome to our club, welcome to our team. and we do that at our peril, i think. >> you say you do that at your peril. what's the future as a national

party for republicans? your brother got 41% of the latino vote in 2004. john mccain slipped to 31%. if that trend continues, sir, 5, 10, 15 years from now will the republicans even be able to compete nationally if they don't repair this breach? >> well, i mean, this is an oversimplification. but i don't think a party could aspire tonight majority party if it's the old white guy party. so clearly, there are new constituencies emerging in our country. they're making a difference in our communities, a positive difference. the tone of the message, the message itself needs to be focused on where the changing demographics of our country are. and so absolutely, if we do nothing to try to reach out to voters that believe in our values but feel turned off by the rhetoric, that is the dumbest thing in the world to do. and my guess is that there's a growing awareness of this. i sense the candidates as they've campaigned in florida have begun to understand that a little better. >> governor, saturday night as

the results were coming in in south carolina and it was clear that governor romney was getting a thumping from speaker gingrich, i was reaching out to a number of sources asking what would happen when they came to florida. some sources in the romney campaign and some other sources not in the romney campaign but who are involved in the republican party and know you, they were suggesting that you were perhaps ready to endorse. and then came word directly from you, no, that was not going to happen. i'm told since that there were active conversations back and forth between you and the campaign. but what i was told earlier today was you pulled back because because you were concerned that some of governor romney's language on the immigration issue was too off putting to those latino voters we were just talking about. is that fair? >> no. i sent governor romney an e-mail. i talked to him on thursday and send sent him an e-mail on friday saying my decision was to stay out of the race. i think we have well-qualified candidates. we haven't talked and rick santorum or ron paul. but certainly we have well-qualified candidates. i just think that they can earn

this and it will make them better contenders in the fall. after all, the at end of the day this is not about winning a republican primary. >> all right. have you decided who you're going vote for? >> i've already voted. i voted absentee on one of the third or 40% of voters who have already made up their mind. thank god it's a secret ballot, john. >> you don't care to share that with us today i'm guessing. >> you've got that right. >> all right. governor, in this campaign you've heard all the candidates saying i'm the heir to ronald reagan. speaker gingrich says it, governor romney says it's not. senator santorum says it's me. is there anybody saying i want to be a president like george w. bush or george h.w. bush? >> they both carried florida. they carried it in the primaries and general election. they have a pretty good connection with the state of florida. and i think they were damn good presidents as well. but no, it doesn't bother me a

bit. i think what the challenge we face is to take reagan principles and apply them to the 21st century. if we are going to be the party that wins we have to be forward leaning that's focused on the future not reminiscing about the past. ronald reagan if he was a candidate today wouldn't be talking about the good old days. he'd be talking about timeless principles and how they apply to the world we're in today and going forward. and i think it's great to pay tribute to ronald reagan. he was one of the greatest presidents ever. ahead, a scary moment for australia's leader. plus what happened on that tarmac in arizona? governor jan brewer on her exchange with the president. for a limited time, passages malibu

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kate, talk to me. talk to me. someone just dropped my thing. >> hey there, john. i'll take it from here, john. welcome to live tv, everyone. some technical difficulties. let me get you caught up on some other news. president obama's opening up about this week's rescue of the u.s. and danish aid workers in somalia. in an interview with abc news, the president says because of his own daughters he really felt for the father of jessica

buchanan. she was kidnapped last october and freed by u.s. special forces tuesday night. here's what the president told abc's diane sawyer. >> i cannot imagine what he went through, given melia and sasha. and for him to be able to stay strong and then for our incredible men and women in uniform to do what they do, it makes you proud about this country. >> in other news, rescue crews in brazil spent today amid the rubble of collapsed 20, 10 and 4-story buildings in the historic heart of rio de janeiro. no one as sure what caused it. amazing. at least three people died, about 16 are missing. the buildings were mostly vacant and near a theater where president obama gave a speech last year. and a very scary moment in sydney, australia today as australian prime minister julia gillard and opposition leader tony abbott were rushed from a meeting and shoved into a waiting car after a violent

protest broke out. you're seeing some of the video there. according to police, the angry mob bashed windows and threw rocks. they were upset at comments abbott made about australia's indigenous people. and secretary of state hillary clinton probably won't be among those of you, all of us, watching tonight's presidential debate on cnn. during a question and answer session with state department employees today, secretary clinton talked about politics and about her future. listen here. >> it will be 20 years of being on the high wire of american politics and all of the challenges that come with that. it would be probably a good idea to just find out how tired i am. it's a little odd for me to be totally out of an election season, since as secretary of state i cannot participate. but you know, i didn't watch any of those debates [ laughter ] [ applause ]

>> john will be back right after the break. coming up, moments after she had a tense encounter with president obama, arizona governor jan brewer said this. >> i respect the office of the president. and i would never be disrespectful in that manner. >> did he walk away from you at the ♪ >> i believe it when we were in a conversation that i was in the middle of a sentence and he walked away. >> so 24 hours later, would she still handle it the same way? she'll join us live next. all energy development comes with some risk,

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arizona governor jan brewer joins us to talk about her tarmac confrontation with president obama. also egypt refuses to let a u.s. citizen leave. this particular citizen happens to be the son of this country's transportation secretary. plus a dramatic reminder about why you should get rid of the why you should get rid of the snow piling up on your roof. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com tonight we're at the university of north florida right here in jacksonville where the republican presidential candidates about 90 minutes now away from their final debate before tuesday' florida primary. it's also being called the reagan primary. our chief political analyst gloria borger is here. gloria, these republican candidates and these republican supporters behind us are trying to compare themselves to former

president reagan. what's that about? >> everybody wants to have the mantle of ronald reagan. and if ronald reagan were running in this primary i think he would win. but newt gingrich has been saying he's the real conservative in this race. he's the person most deserving of the reagan mantle. the "new york times" today counted all the times that newt gingrich mentioned ronald reagan in the debates. it was like 50 times. now, what mitt romney is saying, he has an ad up saying, you know what, reagan only mentioned you in his diary in one sentence. so you're not really the heir to the thrown". >> let's listen to that ad. restore our future the romney superpac has that ad. let's listen to a little bit of it. >> reagan criticized gingrich saying newt's ideas would cripple our defense program. reagan rejected newt's ideas on leadership and character gingrich is no ronald reagan. >> elliott abrams who also

served back in treagan administration said "at the height of the bitter struggle with the democratic leadership gingrich chose to attack reagan." you have some reagan people coming out and jumping into this fray. >> they're jumping in and they're surrogates for mitt romney at this point, whether they're they've endorsed him or not. saying it was a little more complicated than that. a lot more complicated than that. what elliott abrams is referring to is that newt gingrich took to the floor and said, you know what, we're not the reagan administration is not doing enough to support getting rid of the soviet empire. instead they're spending money on funding the contras in nicaragua. does that remind you of a certain time? >> it does. if ronald reagan were here we'd have some occupy protesters behind us. they're welcome on the campus. it's an open debate here. ronald reagan might say we're paying for this microphone. does it matter or is it trivial?

no, i'm ronald reagan. no, i'm ronald reagan. >> i think it matters because they want to say, mirror mirror on the wall who's the most conservative and the true conservative of them all. but what jeb bush said to you before i think is something that ronald reagan would agree with. and that is, you know what, you guys are arguing with each other this way and you're giving the democrats all kinds of ammunition. and it's not the way the party needs to present itself to the american public if you want to win an election. and i think that's what ronald reagan would say. >> i don't want to suggest any drinking games but maybe just a game. we'll count how many times ronald reagan gets mentioned in the debate tonight. our chief political analyst gloria borger. mitt romney's campaign acknowledged tonight it's look over discrepancies between the former massachusetts governor's tax returns and his federal disclosure forms. -- 23 funds in partnerships that were not explicitly listed in a financial disclosure form he filed last august. the newspaper says that list includes a now-closed swiss bank

account and other funds located overseas. a romney campaign official tells us the discrepancies are in their view trivial but they'll be corrected. egypt refused to let a u.s. citizen leave for home. sam la hood is son of u.s. transportation secretary lahood. he's associated with a group working to improve conditions in egypt and has become a target now of harassment by security forces. senior foreign affairs correspondent jim doherty joins us. let's listen to a snippet of a phone conversation. >> sam, do you feel safe where you are at this point? >> you know, i feel safe physically. obviously the fact that the investigative judge chose to prevent some of us from traveling is something that our lawyer tells us indicates that this investigation has taken on a more serious nature, and the next step from here would either

be arrest or go to trial. >> jill, spell out what we do think the most likely next step will be. >> reporter: boy, it's a complex situation and pretty unpredictable. trial he's mentioning or arrest. that would be very, very serious. one of the problems is, this goes back quite awhile. at least a month, even previous months, where the government has been cracking down on these non-governmental organizations, i.r.i. being one of them. and the united states has been vociferous in saying this should not happen when they raided the offices, the government promise today do something to return the property for these ngos and they never did. so what is going to happen? and john, just quickly on the budget, they get a very large amount of money from u.s. taxpayers. and there's anger on capitol hill. but if you push that, if you pull the plug on that i could really damage egypt at a very,

very sensitive time after the arab spring. >> fascinating report from jill lawrence at the state department. jill dougherty, i'm sorry. president obama is spending the night in detroit after making stops in nevada and colorado to promote his economic plans. most of the buzz today centers not on that but what happened last night during a stop in phoenix where he got into with what republican governor jan brewer described as a heated encounter. governor, i've been following the tweets today. the president got off the plane, you handed him a handwritten note. at one point there appeared to be some finger pointing. take us back to that moment. a lot of of people are saying he's the president of the united states. whether you disagree or not perhaps you should have shown him a bit more respect. >> well, first, thank you, john, for having me on. first let me say that i respect the office of the president. and when i went to meet him at the tarmac i went with a happy heart. i was pleased that he was coming to arizona to see the arizona comeback, to be part of it

firsthand. so when i arrived there and before i left the office i wrote a handwritten note to welcome him to arizona and to tell him about our comeback in regards to what we have done here. and i wanted to ask him for the opportunity to sit down and share with him that information. and then in the last sentence i reiterated my invitation for him to come down to the border and see what's going on and that i would buy him lunch. and he turned that conversation immediately to my book, "scorpions for breakfast" and was somewhat distraught, disappointed about the way that he was portrayed in that book. >> the president told this tonight to abc's diane sawyer. he says "it's all good publicity for a republican ifner an argument with me. the president says it wasn't really a big deal. were you trying to create a scene here? there are some people suggesting you wanted to have a scene with the president so you could sell more of your books. >> absolutely not.

that's absolutely ridiculous. i never brought the book up. he brought the book up. and he didn't even talk to me about what the book was really about. it was about illegal immigration and securing our border, which i've wanted to talk to him about on numerous occasions and have had that opportunity. but he didn't bring up securing the border. he's just concerned about his amnesty. so it was not about the book, absolutely not. and i would have thought that in a 2 1/2 months since the book has been out that he would have called me or contacted me if he was disappointed in the book. so it was not anything that is of a publicity stunt. just the truth. and i stand on what i wrote in the book, by the way, john. >> the white house takes issue. you say you stand by what you wrote in the book. the white house says your character relation in the book is very different. you and i had a conversation when you walked out of that oval office meeting with president. here's what you said then just moments after the meeting. >> i feel as i left today that i

am further ahead than i was before i met with him. because i had no answers. he has now told me that i would have information within two weeks that he would be sending staff out to arizona to give me the details. so with that i feel that it was a successful meeting. and i'm encouraged by that. >> a successful meeting. i'm encouraged by that, governor brewer. here's what you wrote in the book "we sat down and started with chitchat. after a few minutes the president's tone got serious and condescending. it wasn't long before i realized i was hearing the president's stump speech only i was supposed to listen without talking. it was as though president obama thought he would lecture me and i would learn at his knee. he was patronizing." which is it, governor? >> the bottom line is i was hopeful when i left the white house, leaving on what i believed a promise that he was going to be out to arizona with some answers and that he was going to work with us to secure the border. but as we soon found out, that didn't happen in that manner. he came out about i guess about

a month later. and there were no answers. he wants comprehensive immigration reform. i want my border secured. i tried to be cordial. i was cordial yesterday. and i will still reach out to the president. you know, i know that he loves his country. i know that i love this country. i want to do what i believe is right for the people of arizona and for all americans. and i will not back down on what i've stated in my book. >> governor jan brewer, appreciate your time tonight explaining that confrontation. we'll see you soon as the republican presidential camp makes its way out to your great state of arizona. the white house is coping with a new potentially embarrassing distraction from the president's state of the union address. a company that makes batteries for electric cars and accepted $118 million in u.s. government stimulus money a few years ago just filed for bankruptcy. but officials are going out of their way to point out differences they say between this case and another high profile bankruptcy the solar

panel manufacturer called solyndra. jess, what do they say is the big difference in distinction? >> reporter: the big difference first, john, there are two. the first is that the parent company for this organization, ene r-1, is filing for bankruptcy, but the group that actually got the department of energy grant is still in full operation. all its employees are hard at work. and it is functioning just fine, they say. here's what the department of energy statement is "while it's unfortunate that the parent company has entered a restructuring process, that's bankruptcy, the restructures is not expected to impact enerdel's operations and they do not expect to reduce employment at the site." the other distinction they point out is that this company got a grant, not a loan, and that full grant was matched by private dollars. also this company has a bipartisan support both the republican governor mitch daniels and the republican senator luger are big supporters

of the company and have visited there many times, john. >> and jess, do they worry at all that in the state-of-the-union address the president stood by those incentives for clean energy and green energy? do they worry at all that a headline like this even if they say can be explained away, the bipartisan support they were able to distract from the president's message this week? >> reporter: of course it's a problem. because we're talking about it now instead of talking about his energy message which is what he was here selling. but their overarching message on this one is they can't be worried that some failures should distract from the overall point which is that they want to invest in clean energy. but they do know this is going to come up on the campaign over and over. and they know they're just going to have to keep hitting back, john. >> jessica yellin with the president on the road. live for us tonight, jess, thank you. erin burnett is here on the campus with a preview of "outfront." >> you hear occupy, ron paul,

you hear it all. >> what have you got? >> so in florida obviously, 1.6 million vacant homes, 350,000 jobs have been lost in constructions here since the top. all kinds of problems in constructions. we've got the ceo of the second biggest home builder in the state. this state doesn't have an income tax. all based on property tax. they're trying to lay more people off in the state government. is there a way out of it? we're going to be talking about that with stewart miller. plus ari flasher, david gergen, gloria borger, the whole gang. >> and i'll be back as well. interesting to see hopefully a lot of housing conversation tonight. >> i hope so. >> critical in this state. move on to nevada big issue. the pentagon is getting specific now about how it plans to cut a half trillion dollars in spending. coming up we'll tell you what is not on the chopping block. and if you want to see the super bowl in person, i'd like to see it, there are still tickets but are going to cost you.

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we're back live at the university of north florida in jacksonville. as you can see some students behind us getting excited about the debate coming up in a little more than an hour. tonight's truth is short and simple. these debates are having a supersized impact on the presidential race. maybe a slight romney negligent florida. t -- romney in florida. i know some of you have debate

fatigue. and veterans of past campaigns, senator john mccain for example say there have been too many debates. but we can't hold these debates until the candidates agree to them. the voters clearly like them. tonight is the 19th nationally televised debate. so far they've had an audience of more than 88 million viewers. more than 2 million tuned in for our debate in south carolina and nbc's florida debate monday night. truth is we've learned a lot more about the candidates how they feel about taxes and issues and how they handle missteps and surprises. given the stakes tonight, i'm betting we're about to learn a little more. cnn contributors donna brazil, ari fleischer and -- let me start with you on the end. you've worked in a lot of campaigns. too many debates, not enough debates? about right? >> yeah, it's too many debates. >> no, it's not. [ laughter ] >> but on the other hand, it's kind of like music, the

crescendos. each debates get more important the fewer the candidates are. these are now the singular events that drive voter behavior. if you thought a guy with no money could win iowa, that debates were influencing voters more than ads it's pretty good for democracy. >> now you're down to four in a big state. how much debates in south carolina are very important, the debates in florida were very important. in big state like this, some tv ads, how factor in the debates. >> i think these debates tonight is huge. this is the biggest one yet of the campaign. as a matter of fact, may be the biggest one at the end. because tonight is romney versus gingrich. it's the last two men standing really for the nomination. and if mitt romney can tie tonight, the tie will probably go to him. because it looks like some of the negatives on gingrich, the problems with the ex-wife, are beginning to bite now this week. we're seeing some gender issues. but this is the biggest debate by far we've had. >> rick santorum and ron paul would say what about us.

the polling shows a two-man race. and psychology you've been in a lot of campaigns. if you're third or fourth when voters start to think this really matters and it's a two-man race it's harder for th in the fig, right? >> if the top two candidates for some reason cancel each other out, then one of the third or fourth place finishers can rebound the same way that newt gingrich has. two-thirds of voters in south carolina said the debates matter. this is a crucial moment for mitt romney. he has to slow gingrich's momentum. on the other hand, gingrich has to now show he's electable and has the temperment that matters. >> if newt gingrich looks like he's going to do well and keep going, the establishment republicans best friend the ron paul because they want ron paul and rick santorum to stay in, keep getting delegates so newt doesn't get 50%. >> you mentioned the

establishment, somebody like bob dole, a legend in the republican race. recombinants out today, backs romney. has this damning statement and newt gingrich. why do i have the impression among tea party voters, it doesn't hurt newt. >> when the entire gop establishment including the conservative wing is not for him, that does tell you something. it's not just the republican establishment, john. it's every republican on the ball ballot, on if a swing state, who's worried that newt gingrich's is goldwater and may take the party down. if he is goldwater, we go back to the first two years of the obama administration administration. >> alex mentioned he thinks sometimes it takes a week or so for things to have an impact. in south carolina after gingrich's second ex-wife came f forr ward, raised some personal character questions, it was no

gap at all. here in the poll, you see a gender gap. do you think it's tied back to that or just that romney has higher appeal with women voters? >> i think the issue of his second wife talking to the media and saying they had some difference, that hurt him with women. south carolina women may have been forgiving, but i think long-term, including in florida, women will not be forgiving. they will determine the outcome this fall. >> got more than a minute left. your biggest question going into the debate, the thing you're most looking for. >> newt just turned it up again. the alpha male says go republican. >> who takes the audience tonight? who reaches out and takes them and can mitt romney demonstrate strength and also, can newt gingrich demonstrate likability? you know, great old bob dole story. newt came up said senator, i don't understand why so many people take an instant dislike

to me. dole goes, oh, saves them time. >> no question that mitt romney will be on the hot seat regarding his finances. he put out his taxes and now, there are questions being raised as to whether this swiss bank account was on his financial disclosure. >> do you guys moe how to do the swoop? >> swoop! >> show them the swoop! the swoop! they're too busy getting ready for the debate. thanks. still ahead here, he's hosted wheel of fortune for more than 30 years, but he's revealing he hasn't always been sober for every show. that's his secret. plus, chaos as a snow covered roof collapsed in slovakia. [ hermann ] there's always something

that's going to have to be done by a certain date. you always have homework, okay? i don't have homework today. it's what's right here is what is most important to me.

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welcome back. kate bolduan's here with more news you need to know right now. >> good evening. defense secretary leon panetta got specific today about how the military will cut half a trillion dollars in spending over the next ten years. the army and marines will have fewer troops. the air force will reduce air lift fleet and tactical squadrons. the navy will retire old e ships and pay raises will be more limited after 2015. two areas not getting cuts special forces and unmanned drones. and in case you need inspiration

to clean the snow off your roof, we give you an ice rink in slovakia where they didn't. nobody was hurt, but some hockey players need to find a new place to practice. and if you want to be in the stadium for the patriots-giants super bowl game, the good news is yes, you can still find a ticket, but the average price is about $3,000. the site says the most anyone's paid so far is 17,0$17,048. the cheapest, 2,614. not too bad or really bad. i know you've been very k very busy prepping for tonight's big debate and getting ready, so i'm going to give you the moment you made today. when you -- pat sajak says on some of the old shows, he and

vanna white were a bit tipsy. >> the ar kos and we go and they served great margaritas. we would go across and have two or three or six and go and do the last shows and have a hard time recognizing the alphabet. >> i know he was joking, but two, three or six margaritas? >> i want to buy a vowel? excuse me? >> a vowel or a shot. >> we started this show, we were talking about it with the management. i said what about we take the mad men example and turn the set into don draper's office. it was a two-word answer. >> i'm guessing no because they couldn't handle how crazy and fun the show could be. look at the crowd you've got behind you. maybe they were taking --