-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good evening. you're watching a special edition of ac 360. delegates at stake in florida. >> the biggest in a crucial state. this november winner take all in the general election. and winner take all from mitt romney tonight. tonight mitt romney is florida's choice. a win that helps him look like the front runner again. >> a competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us.

and we will win. >> it's a new setback for newt gingrich and his roller coaster campaign. >> we are going to contest every place and we will win. >> four candidates with four contests behind them. but the fight for the nomination is just beginning. the votes are in. florida has spoken. and now the campaign goes west. the campaign does head west. the story is what happened in the east in florida. if you're just joining us, welcome to the special primary coverage live until midnight. after wild swings in the polls, withering attack ads, millions spent by the superpac. earlier speaker gingrich conceded the night but not the race. governor romney claimed victory

and looked ahead to the fall. a lot to talk about in the hour ahead and our guests. let's start by bringing a quick look at what the candidates said tonight. >> thank you so much. [ chanting mitt ] thank you to the people in this room and to the people all over florida. thank you tonight for this great victory. >> i think florida did something very important. it is now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader newt gingrich and the massachusetts moderate. >> a few monthing ago there were -- how many candidates were there? there were nine? we're down to four. but tonight i saw a statistic we're in third place when it comes to delegates. that's what really counts. >> there's one message i think we got from the campaign in florida. is that republicans can do better. the american public does not want to see two or three

candidates get into a mud wrestling match where everybody walks away dirty and not in a position to be able to represent our party proudly. >> together we will build an america where hope is a new job with a paycheck. not a faded word on an old bumper sticker. my leadership will end the obama era and begin a new era of american prosperity. >> the greatest danger when we accept the notion that the government is supposed to take care of us from cradle to grave is ultimately done at the expense of personal liberty. >> we believe it is cheating our grandchildren to not insist on fundamental basic change in washington even if the establishment doesn't like it. >> where the wonderful thing is happening is in the grassroots. people are beginning to realize the problem is too much government. we need more personal liberty. >> so designing and putting

together a people's campaign, not a republican campaign, not an establishment campaign, not a wall street funded campaign. a people's campaign and saying to every american of every background and every ethnic group and every community, we have a better future for you and your family. >> if you want to make this election about restoring american greatness, then i hope you'll join us. if you believe the disappointments -- if you believe the disappointments of the last few years are a detour and not our destiny, then i'm asking for your vote. >> if you want a strong principle conservative who's not going to be an issue in the campaign. that's going to make president obama an issue in this campaign. >> we believe in teaching us to make us bigger and better than ourselves. this election let's fight for the america we love. >> i'm not going to compete with obama in singing because i'm not

running for entertainer in chief. i'm running for president. and i would say to him now, mr. president, you cannot sing your way past the disaster of your presidency. >> well, if enthusiasm wins election, we'd win hands down. >> those were the candidates earlier tonight. governor romney's wife ann also speaking out. carrie asked her if she's concerned about the negative tone it's taking. >> it's always unfortunate that politics have a negative side to it. but i'm going to be talking about the positive side of what i think mitt can bring to the table. i've seen him in all different situations in my lifetime. i think right now the voters care about economy and about jobs. and i think they want to turn to someone and i think florida's really going to exhibit this. because florida is really hurting. it has been a heart breaking

trip for us to be here. i've got to tell you. i love this state. my parents lived here for a long time. it breaks my heart to see how many people are under water in their homes and are out of work. but i think people are hoping that mitt, once he gets to the right job, can actually do something about turning this economy around. and i've seen him do it. i've seen him do turnarounds time and time again. i've seen when things get in trouble, he's a turnaround guy. he fixes things. i think it's time for somebody who has experience and who knows what they're doing to get in there and turn this country around. >> last question. we've seen your husband described as a liberal, a moderate, a democrat from massachusetts. you describe him. >> it's been funny to me. i mean, what's next? a communist? it's been humorous. i know where his values are on a personal level he's a

conservative guy. i know how he's governed. i know how he will govern which will be a conservative place which is to rein in spending and cut back on government access. i think it's politics. >> governor romney's wife ann romney earlier tonight. candie crowley who's been covering all night long joins us from a very empty romney headquarters at this hour. the campaign already -- has governor romney already left for nevada? we're told gingrich is leaving tonight. >> no. he's actually going to minnesota. and, you know, as you know these come quickly. there are also three states i think that are up next tuesday. so in minnesota he'll hook up with tim pawlenty who dropped out of the race and has endorsed romney. you will see him in nevada and in colorado i think which is also next tuesday. >> it was interesting to hear ann romney talk about her

husband as a turnaround guy. is that a theme they'll continue to try to hit moving forward? the notion he's turned around companies, he can turn around the country? >> that was always their theme. the romney campaign went into this venture saying this is the perfect time for business credentia credentials. we've seen the type of business credentials he has be questioned as capitalism et cetera. but none this, they have always felt that in hard economic times that mitt romney can sell himself as someone who has turned around companies and therefore can turn around the country. understands what businesses go through, what's hampering them from hiring people, et cetera. so that's all along been is the way they saw this campaign shaping up. obviously there have been distractions along the way. but that's the message that they have long wanted to have out there. >> appreciate the reporting tonight. wolf? >> let's go over to newt

gingrich headquarters right now. are they having any explanation why there was no congratulatory call from newt gingrich to mitt romney? even no congratulations in his speech tonight. what are they saying? [ no audio ] hold on, jim. i'm not hearing you. we got to fix your audio. unfortunately something has gone wrong. count to five. >> jim, one, two. >> okay we got you. so explain why no congratulations. >> you know, i had a chance to talk to r.c. hammond for the gingrich campaign. he said listen this is not a sign of how personal this race has become. it's a sign that this race will go on. i had a chance to go up to speaker gingrich a few times after the speech tonight. i have to tell you, i pressed the question to him on multiple

occasions this evening shaking the hands of various supporters in this room. he simply did not answer the question, wolf. as these candidates are heading out west and are flying all over the country to head to nevada over the next couple days, the voters may be grabbing their airsickness bags. this is how personal this has become. gingrich has talk about how negative the romney campaign has wanled this in florida. unfortunately for them the numbers just weren't on their side. if you take the number of voters who were in support of newt gingrich tonight, add them to the number of people who voted for santorum tonight. they may still not have beat romney in florida. there's one other big challenge for gingrich. the fact he was crushed by mitt romney with women voters. that is something they just have not addressed out on the campaign trail. they have not put calista gingrich forward.

the gingrich campaign has studiously decided not to do that to this point. it'll be questionable if they continue to do that going forward with the fact so many women voters have turned their backs on gingrich here. >> he's continuing at least for now. he says 46 states to go. anderson, no indication that the set back in florida is going to cause him to rethink that strategy. >> that's right. jason is the young brash lawmaker that might have been by gingrich's side in the early '90s. in 2012 he's more of a thorn in his side. he's been shadowing speaker gingrich on the trail. congress man chafis joins us now. big win for your team tonight for governor romney tonight. why do you think your governor -- why do you think governor romney was able to make up some of the deficit he had among tea party supporters?

>> i'm as tea party as it gets. i was ranked the second most conservative member in the house. i'm not conceding to newt gingrich. to the contrary. i think the tea party activists want somebody who comes from outside washington. clearly that mitt romney. they're concerned about jobs and the economy. the only person in the race at this point that has the experience to make that happen is mitt romney. because he understands government doesn't create jobs. people and enters do. i think mitt romney relates to those people better than anybody else. >> the rhetoric on both sides has been pretty brutal. no signs of that dimming in the days and weeks ahead. you've taken part in some of that. is there a point, though, that it starts to hurt your candidate. that it starts to hurt all the republican candidates in the republican mission? >> well, look. you've got to go through a number of matches where you're sparring which each other. makes you stronger going into the general election. not only the candidate himself but the organizations, the

staff, the fund raising. all becomes important. you're having to run a hard campaign now to get stronger in the fall. if you think it's tough now, just wait until the fall. this is nothing compared to what it's going to be like. >> do you believe speaker gingrich will stay in the race all the way through the convention? >> as a candidate everybody's going to say that. but there's going to come a point, i think, when you see victory after victory there becomes a point where enough is enough. and look. even past his point, mitt romney was in the race. and finally bowed out. did so in a graceful way. every candidate is going to say they're in it to win it and to the end. i don't blame speaker gingrich for that. >> when do you think your candidate can claim victory? when do you think the others will drop out? >> well, hopefully sooner rather than later. i think now the campaign really transitions into a national campaign. you can't park a candidate in a state for a week. you've got to be able to move

nimbly. governor romney will be in minnesota and nevada. then to colorado. when you have super tuesday you better have the resources, organization, and the right candidate with the right message. when you add that up, it's clearly mitt romney. the sooner we get on to focusing entirely on barack obama, the better. i certainly wouldn't want to trade positions with anybody else. >> appreciate your time tonight. up next, the key factor for so many republicans today. which candidate can beat barack obama? we'll be right back. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions...

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it is supposed to be the central question in every primary campaign can our nominee beat the nominee in november? made electability a big part of their sales pitch. focusing sharply on the general election. listen. >> three years ago this week, a newly elected president obama faced the american people and said if i can't turn this economy around in three years i'm looking at a one term proposition. and we're here to collect. >> did the hard numbers suggest he's also the likely in november? once again john king has some of the numbers at the wall. what are you seeing?

>> let's start with this. let's remember about 46 states to go as the gingrich campaign said today. if he can pull this out, let's go to the map. this is the 2008 map. obama winning a lot. let's take tonight's state florida. north carolina, virginia will be a tossup. new hampshire will be a swing state. ohio will be a swing state. michigan could be in play this time. iowa will be a swing state. colorado will be a swing state. the democrats think they have a hope there. i took those states away. if you're a democrat, you'll say no we'll get those back. but let's just start with this scenario. anderson, let's assign them. for the sake of argument say the president keeps virginia. growing democratic population there. republicans will say no way.

it's a hypothetical. let's say despite high unemployment the auto bailout helps the president, he keeps michigan. let's come over here. colorado i'm giving it to the republicans for the sake of argument here. i'm going to keep the republicans winning arizona. the president's going to make a big push there. and let's keep new mexico in the democratic room. look where we are now. for the sake of argument let's just say romney is the nominee and wins new hampshire. now he's closing in. let's say governor romney can win out here. and let's keep this in the democratic column. look where we are. who voted tonight? florida. there's an easy way to have florida decide. if it went republican, they week over. if it went democrat, that would be a win. people at home are watching and saying no, no. put more states in play.

potentially wisconsin in play. but just in those places i put on the swing, if you allocate them, this is what we do know. with 8% plus unemployment, we're going the have a much more competitive map than in '08. a state as small as iowa ar as ohio could be up seen after dark in november. >> earlier in this race we heard candidates saying don't settle for someone who doesn't share your conservative values. tonight we saw the number one priority among voters in florida was who can beat barack obama. >> it was the same in south carolina. south carolina is the more conservative. tonight in florida the biggest state so far, diverse state so far they said mitt romney was the most electable. republicans are hungry. the reason the romney campaign will say it's important in florida tonight. florida republicans know they're a big battle ground. the challenge is can you carry it consistently on? but look.

we're learning. the map will be much tighter. >> the diverse state so far in this republican race. wolf? >> thanks very much. no doubt a lot of democrats have been watching very closely what's going on in florida. debbie wasserman shultz is share of the democratic national committee. she's joining us from tampa right now. mitt romney wins. a shellacking in the state of florida. that's got to get you and other democrats nervous. florida a big battle ground in november if he gets the nomination. >> no. it doesn't get me nervous. what gets me concerned is that republican romney has spent this entire primary buying the elections. he ran 13,000 ads versus newt gingrich's 2,000. really drowned him in ads. with 65% at least of republican voters a the voted tonight

identifying with the tea party, that's a pretty extreme right wing field of an electorate. and that's not an electorate that's reflective of the general election in florida who are moderate, who are middle class and working families. and who mitt romney and the rest of the field are out of step with. so we're going to continue to organize and use their primary process as an organizing tool. we've got 11 offices open in florida around the state. we made hundreds of thousands of phone calls. we're going to continue to fight hard with president obama to get this economy turned around. >> you ought to be concerned though, congresswoman, that he did so well in miami-dade and broward and palm beach counties. the largest population centers in the state. those are counties that the president of the united states will desperately need if he's going to have a shot in florida. >> well, president obama, i'm quite confident, is going to win overwhelmingly in south florida. like most presidential candidates do on the democratic side.

the republicans really need to be concerned tonight because if there was so much fervor on their side, there would have been a bigger turnout in their primary in 2012 than in 2008. it was actually a lower turnout. so that's reflective of the fact they're not very enthusiastic about their field. i think that's going to cause them problems down the road. florida is the biggest battle ground state. it is going to be key to whichever candidate wins the general election which i think will be barack obama. >> is he the strongest republican candidate from your perspective? is he the one you fear the most as a democrat? >> you know, fear is certainly not the term i would use. it doesn't much matter which one of the republican candidates is their nominee because they're all extreme. they've all embraced the tea party. the general election voters are not supportive of the priorities of the tea party. general election voters like

independents and moderates support a candidate like barack obama who's been fighting to create jobs and get the economy turned around. fighting to make sure everybody has an opportunity to be successful. unlike mitt romney who thinks we should continue the tax rate which he benefits from. where people who make far less than him pay a higher tax rate. at the end of the day, we want to make sure that everyone in america has a chance to live the american dream. and the dramatic contrast between any of the republicans and barack obama is going to be quite stark when it comes to election day in november. that's why mitt romney has been cratering with moderates and independents in the general election polling that's been done. because his overwhelmingly negative campaign continues to turn voters off. >> if he gets the nomination, there will be three presidential debates as you know in the fall. the president of the united states versus the republican nominee. let's assume it's mitt romney

for argument's sake. and he says he would repeal the president's health care law on day one. what would the president, do you think say to mitt romney? >> well i know in florida the president would say to mitt romney that that would reopen the doughnut hole in prescription drug coverage for senior citizens. it would return to the days where insurance companies could drop you or deny you coverage for a preexisting condition. 45% of americans live in this country with a preexisting condition. i'm a breast cancer survivor. i can tell you the millions of breast cancer survivors that live in this country would be incredibly resentful of the notion that mitt romney would take that comfort and that security away that the affordable care act brings them. the two and a half million young adults who can remain on their parents' insurance now would lose that coverage. and the 12 million more that will gain that coverage by 2014 would lose that coverage as

well. so that position to repeal the affordable care act is unacceptable. it would return power to the insurance companies over our health care decisions. and i don't think that's something the american people are going to support. that's what barack obama would tell mitt romney in any head to head debate. >> debbie wasserman shultz. thanks very much. coming up, john king looks at which won the latino vote and how diverse that is. that as primary night coverage continues. we're the wassman family from skagway, alaska.

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we're back with special 360 coverage. the big winner romney. let's see how he won. one big key the latino vote. john king is crunching the data. >> a wide electorate. a small african-american number. among latino votes you look here. governor romney winning huge. 54% to 29% for gingrich. 54% a clear joift of the latino vote going to governor mitt romney. on the issues, i want to show you the economy was number one mong all voters pep illegal immigration perhaps in the latino community more than others, a minor issue in the state of florida.

let's go to the magic wall. we'll show you how this breaks down. let's pull up the demographics here. the darker the area the higher percentage of latino votes. let's use red to see it better. the miami area. up here across the i-4 corridor up here. down here is where you get the high percentage of the cuban vote. governor romney winning a majority again amongst the cuban vote here. florida is not just cuban-american votes. you have a large puerto rican vote. the romney campaign will view this as a down payment of winning the latino vote. we'll move to nevada. another huge constituency there. we're beginning to get our first

taste of how the republicans fare amongst the electorate that will be pivotal come november. >> and we're back. when you think about the latino vote in florida, it's important to realize you cannot paint with a broad brush. that it is a very diverse population in that state. >> it is. but this is a republican primary. it was a closed primary. so this was supposed to happen. this was expected. it doesn't mean we're going to see this repeated in other states. >> for cubans, immigration is not a huge issue. and so i think you know, you see that reflected. what we saw from mitt romney, though, is he softened his position on immigration from what we heard in iowa. he allowed that he would accept part of the dream act, for example, for the military.

and he talked about self-deportation. and he -- so we heard a little bit from a different romney on immigration issues where gingrich was much softer on immigration. and he didn't do as well. >> even though he has softened, that's true, mitt romney has. but nonetheless, in a general election against president obama he's going to be the clear underdog with hispanic voters. and the question is can he add a few here and there. and i don't know if you have rubio on your ticket whether that's enough to move over to the republican column. that can win the election. >> it is such a big shift. under george w. bush, republicans were trying to reach out to latino voters in a way they hadn't before. some of the advances they had made had clearly been reversed. >> clearly. >> it's not -- for example, cubans don't need immigration reform. puerto ricans are americans by

birth. but the tone of the immigration debate moves people. you say it's very diverse. you don't have one hispanic community. there are many communities, but people feel offended by the tone, attacked in the community, and it brings people out to call us on one issue which is immigration. if the tone doesn't change, hispanics are going to go, polls sha president obama has over 60% of the hispanic vote. >> and george w. bush, the republican has to get somewhere up in there in the national elections, especially as the population grows. and that's why marco rubio became such an interesting player. he didn't endorse, why jeb bush stayed out of the endorsement game in florida. which i think makes him a stronger. >> he did say that anybody -- the person who wins in florida will become the nominee. >> he also scolded newt gingrich. remember, there was a radio ad talking about the language of the ghetto.

he said that's a terrible ad and gingrich took it down. >> rubio has a tougher position on immigration than most. members of congress in the foreign services economy, she backed romney and said we don't agree with him on immigration but we think that we can get him to change. that's part of the tone. >> alex, you listen to this, how do you see immigration playing out in the states ahead? >> well, it certainly is going to be much more important in the general election than here and in western states where you do have a very different hispanic population. you know, the cuban voters here, it's still a close primary, and it's primarily dominated in florida by cuban voters. and they come here, they work for gingrich. a lot of them love gingrich, but they saw him as marginalizing himself. romney a business guy, he's going to move the economy. as we get to the western states, then it's a very different story. these are different kind of

hispanic voter that is still sending money back home, for example, to maybe a country in latin america, to mexico. a hispanic voter who has family or knows someone or works with someone who may not be a legal citizen. so all of a sudden, the tone, i think, does make all of the difference in the world. the republican nominee, you know, it needs to explain that this is still a country with strong hands and borders but a big heart to welcome people. >> florida's not representative of the latino representative overall in the country. 60% of the voters, mexican. and while it's important to have a spanish surname, it doesn't necessarily help you win the latino vote. we saw even with suzanna martinez in mexico, most of her votes came from white conservative voters and not necessarily latino voters. it matters to have a strong position on immigration. on education, on jobs in the

economy, and i think republicans will come up short. one thing we didn't mention is overall turnout among republicans in florida was down. 15% drop over 2008. >> have to take a quick break. we'll get ari and paul's perspective. check out cnnpolitics.com for more. next, the role of negative campaigning. people say they hate the attacks. we hear it over and over. experience shows they do listen to them. they do seem to work. they seemed to work this time. we'll show you how it played out today at the polls. nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit. nature valley trail mix bars. 100% natural. 100% delicious.

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hey, welcome back to our "360" coverage of the florida primary. here's a staggering number. 92%, according to the campaign media analysis group. negative ads accounted for 92% of all ads in the campaign. that's just the ads. the counterattacks are almost constant. take a look. >> i know the speaker is not real happy, speaker gingrich. he's been flailing around a bit. these debates have gone well. gingrich wasn't happy with the debates, though. >> mr. speaker, your trouble in florida isn't because the audience is too quiet or too loud. >> gingrich is not revealing himself to be the kind of person that i think he would want to be seen. >> to the moon he says, all right. >> we look for qualities in the president, but we don't look for whining and excuses.

he's now finding excuses everywhere he can. >> he was given the opportunity to lead our party. you're right, he failed. he ultimately had to resign in disgrace. he can't rewrite history. >> i don't believe the republican party is going to nominate a liberal. >> not some liberal from massachusetts. >> massachusetts liberal. >> massachusetts liberal. >> massachusetts liberal who is pro-abortion. pro gay rights. >> he has no understanding of the importance of conscience and the importance of liberty in this country. >> represents the establishment in wall street in new york. >> governor romney has never had one day of experience trying to get something done in washington. >> what a pathetic situation to be running for the president of the united states with nothing positive to say for yourself. >> there was this huge wave of dishonest romney ads. >> breathtakingly dishonest, the most blatantly dishonest answers i can remember in any

presidential race in my lifetime. >> you cannot be president of the united states if you cannot be honest and candid with the american people. >> we've heard a lot of harsh words. earlier, paul begala said the primary is about bile, bitterness, and bad blood. >> yeah. >> alex has predicted that the republicans would come together this fall. is all this rhetoric, is it hurting long-term? >> not yet. if it continues for too long, sure, it could. but right now, we do suffer, i think, we have the luxury of barack obama. >> calling romney a liar, can you take that away? >> he was punished for it in florida. that's what happened. look what republicans did. that's one reason i think newt gingrich became unelectable in florida. the jury is efficient at these things. the american people, democratic and republicans, look at when someone is attacking someone for their own gain instead of the country. they'll disqualify them.

that's what happened to newt in florida. >> negative attacks and ads from the stump work if they have a sufficient core of credibility that the public nods their heads and said you know what? that's what i thought and you're re-enforcing it. if you come up with something and say my opponent is against kosher food, people aren't going to believe it. doesn't have the credibility. you still have to put your faith in the hands of the voters, and florida particularly where the voters are elderly, pay more attention, read a lot, watch a lot. they are able to wade through these things. if it doesn't have credibility, it doesn't work. >> paul suggested that the republican brand is badly tarnished. the longer it goes on, the harder it will be for them to try to rebrand themselves in the fall. they're hurting moon -- among independents. i don't think the -- you know, the long race will help mitt romney regain some of his narrative about being a competent businessman who can turn things around. the key thing right now is for the republicans to try to close it down.

but it's tough because you have so many conservatives looking for an alternative to mitt romney. >> victory washing a lot of grime and mud away, guys. we have seen it over the years. >> it can with republicans, but independents are watching, too. they go to character and ideology. and both of those things, romney is taking on water. and voters are watching that, and we remember it's the way we are wired. a great republican, daughter of teddy rosevelt, once said this, if you don't have something nice to say about someone, come sit by me. that's how we're wired. we want to hear this. and this stuff about his business record, about his veracity, it's going to linger. >> if that's the case, barack obama is doomed because he's running, the most polarizing figure in american politics. he's running a hugely negative campaign. he ran a hugely negative campaign last time. he ran more negative ads -- he ran more negative ads -- >> how'd that work for him? he ran more negative than anybody else.

and he's the president of the united states. >> it's because of the political climate. the country is deeply divided. let me just tell you. it doesn't matter who's in the white house at this point. you're going to have half of the country opposing because they don't support your political party. >> republicans do have to start to worry about if this thing goes on too long, that it does have the potential to hurt the candidates. it's too early now and the candidates have the right to get into this. i'm prepared. i think you can go to march, maybe april, but at a point, this will hurt republicans. you vus just have to let them sort it out. >> beyond the politics, there is actual real substance. that we're beginning to see the outlines of a general election here. these republicans are campaigning on growth and jobs. that's what they were talking about on the stumps. the negative ads are trying to disqualify them on character and all that, but when you look at barack obama, he is talking about redistributing the pie, i have to take from you to have more for me.

republicans are talking about growth. it's a populous negative campaign versus a campaign about growth in the economy. >> the american dream should work for everyone. it shouldn't just work for the well to do. it's not about taking away. it's about insuring that everyone has an equal shot at becoming successful. >> let's pause on the talking points on that one. more to come tonight. up next, we'll show you how the delegate count stands right now. what the map looks like down the road. we'll be right back. [♪...] >> announcer: with just a few details, an identity thief is able to change access to your bank accounts and make your money his money. [♪...] [whirring] you need lifelock, the only identity theft protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. [popping and spattering] it's the most comprehensive identity theft protection

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my money. my choice. my meineke. welcome back. we're live tonight with a special "ac 360" edition after a big mitt romney win in florida. 46% to 32%. winner take all. let's take a look at where the delegate count stands for governor romney as well after the rest of the field. john king is at the wall with that. >> you need 1,144 to clinch it. so the question is, where do we go from here? january is over, anderson. now we go forward. and nevada is next on the 4th. i'll do a hypothetical. romney is favored right now for the month of february. i'm going to run the map for you. minnesota, missouri, colorado, we go through there. the main caucuses, could be a ron paul surprise in maine. let's watch that. i'm going to give it to romney. arizona and michigan, the

two biggest prizes in february. at the end of the month. so we can get all the way through the month, if romney wins them all he would be at about 256. they're proportional. let's go through march. washington caucuses that one to ron paul. super tuesday, this is why gingrich says he's going to stay in. he believes when he gets to the south, he can be more competitive. some fill in romney, some fill in gingrich, especially in the south. again at home, if you're a santorum or paul supporter, this is hypothetical, just to show why gingrich things he can stay in. and keep going. if you get us all the way through, louisiana goes there. get to april 3rd. texas is a surprise here. if gingrich were to win that, you have romney shy of 700, gingrich at 445. again, the finish line is here. romney would be ahead, but not by so much that gingrich wouldn't stay in. that's why speaker gingrich says this battle will go on. let's see if romney runs the board in february, but as they

go on, couple final points from the exit poll data tonight. to the conversation you were having with the consultants. are you satisfied if romney wins the nomination? 31% of florida republicans voting today said no. that's proof he has some healing to do. he did win the state big, a shellacking. 31% said no. a bit of a problem there, but they like romney. so this works in his favor. 76% of those who voted say they have a faifrl favorable opinion of romney. for gingrich, in florida, 55% had a favorable view, but 4 in 10 republicans, have an unfavorable view of gingrich. you can blame the negative ads, but going forward, that could be a problem if his negatives among republicans are high. >> appreciate that. some quick final thoughts from all of you. wolf? >> i have been thinking about how important all of these debates have been. in south carolina, newt gingrich did well in the debates.

he won decisively in south carolina. in florida, mitt romney did well in the two debates in florida. he won decisively in florida. i have covered these elections for a long time. four years ago, i moderated five presidential debates including the last one between hillary clinton and barack obama. as important as all of the debates were then, in this particular contest these have been so much more important. and the exit poll numbers show so many people were influenced by those debates. >> no doubt about it. >> i think this was romney's first really clean win. this wasn't a tie in iowa. it wasn't in his backyard of new hampshire. it was in a big, diverse state that required a lot of organization, a lot of money. the thing to keep in mind, though, as you head forward is the difficult task that mitt romney has. which is he has to keep up the pressure on newt gingrich but he also has to take a turn to

barack obama. so he's got to do two things in one. >> this is the most important contest of the season so far. coming out of south carolina, mitt romney faced a mortal threat, and he turned that back and did so decisively. he did it in a state which is a battleground. the number of people who vote here in florida is roughly equal to twice as many people who live in iowa, new hampshire, and south carolina combined. this is a big state. the point about going forward, the national journal has pointed out something interesting tonight. on protracted nomination fights in the republican party, there were five in the 20th century, republicans lost four of the elections. one of the reasons they want to shut this down. >> it's been a fascinating night. our special coverage continues and piers morgan talks to newt gingrich's daughters about their dad and where his campaign coverage goes from here. ♪

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it is quite a race and it has been quite a night. that's it for us on "360." thanks for watching. thanks to our entire time tonight. primary coverage continues right now with piers morgan. now with piers morgan. i'll see you tomorrow. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com > a huge win tonight. see what itpand it givand g lep lead over newt gingrich santorusantorum, and roul