t no -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com and we can make the first projection of the night. newt gingrich the former speaker of the house wins georgia. this was expected and all of the polls showing he had a substantial lead, but we can now formally project that newt gingrich will win georgia. 76 delegates at stake. we cannot yet make a formal projection with two other states closing right now. virginia and vermont. although, mitt romney is significantly ahead according to the exit polls in both of the states. we want to get more information in both of the states before we make a formal projection, but right now, we can't make that. mitt romney though significant ahead in both virginia and vermont. standby, and we will be able to make a projection at some point.

i want to go to mitt romney's headquarters in -- newt gingrich's headquarters in georgia, and some of them have not realized we have made a call. they are dancing there, and they will be fully excited when they know what is going on. let's share the exit poll information on the three states that have closed right now and put them up on the wall over he here. the georgia exit poll number, and here it will explain why we were able to make the projection that newt gingrich is the winner in his home state of georgia. take a look at this. according to the exit poll, e he got 45%, and nearly half of the republicans who voted in the primary in georgia. 26% for mitt romney, and 20% for rick santorum. only 8% for ron paul. a significant win, a significant win, we project, for newt gingrich. he needed the home state, and he gets the home state of georgia. take a look at vermont right now, and we have the exit poll numbers in vermont. take a look at this, and the

significant lead for mitt romney in vermont next door to the home state of massachusetts. 38%, and look at who is second, according to the exit place, 27% for ron paul, and 23% for rick santorum and only 8% for newt gingrich. newt gingrich didn't do so well in vermont, but did well in georgia. over the john king and take a look at some of the early information we are getting. georgia a big win and he needed this win to keep on going, and i will assume he will keep on going carrying the home state, newt gingrich. >> and he very much needed to win, and will he only win there tonight or just in his home state. and let's look at who was voting, and how they were voting. voting by ideology in georgia, and we asked, are you conservative or very conservative or moderate or liberal. so 4 in 10 describe themselves as very conservative and they go for 38% for speaker gingrich and there is the victory. so newt gingrich wins the most conservative voters in his

state, and what about those who are somewhat conservative, and gingrich winning at a more narrow margin against mitt romney. but when you win the somewhat conservative, you will win the state. and look at the state of georgia and across the board in the states the number one issue is the economy and the budget deficit tends to run second among the conservative republican voters and the e k economy, and look at that 17-point gap between speaker gingrich and governor romney. we will watch it play out. and looking at vermont, very different here. 7 in 10 of those voting and more than 60% of those voting are evangelicals and over 70% in tennessee. and only 26%, one quarter of evangelicals in the state of overmont. one thing that we want to look at in vermont do, you describe yourself as very conservative, moderate conservative or mad rat

or liberal, and 29% somewhat coervative, and 18% very conservative and 54% moderate or liberal. we want to get some more votes or data when we go beyond that. >> and we will see that soon in vermont and remember in virginia two of the four candidates were on the ballot, and santorum and gingrich did not get enough signatures to be on the ballot, so we will see if romney is ahead in the exit polls in both of the statings, but we will see when we can make a formal projection. anderson? >> has mitt romney been able to make inroads for the moderate conservatives or just divided among the very conservatives? >> well, he wouldn't be in the race if he had not made inroads. it is pocket by pocket, but no way to do as well as he is doing going into the super tuesday unless he were making inroads. he is not winning them, but

making inroads. >> paul, you argue that he has done that by moving to the right. >> terrible price for the general election and two of the most important groups are women and latinos. look at the women. he is crushing santorum on television with negative ads and bashing him on contraception, and believe it. he said that rick santorum once voted for contraception for poor women, and it is an accurate ad, and he drove rick perry out of the race by attacking him on immigrati immigration, so to the right of rick santorum for contraception, and to the right of rick perry on immigration, you are too far right. >> poor paul. well, too far to the right? >> you don't believe that romney has moved to the right? >> please, he has the bends. >> and he is on the right. he doesn't have to move to the right. but if romney were as far right as paul says, he wouldn't have

these problems, but it would be all wrapped up. when you look at the survey numbers and the american voters who is more extreme, barack obama extremely liberal or mitt romney extremely conservative, and barack obama is 50-something extremely liberal and mitt romney is 30-something extremely conservative, so what paul is talking about has not happened. as far as the war on women, i checked the data and turns out that half of the republican voters are women. who knew? >> oh, well. it is a war that we are concerned about is thes a sought on the women's reproductive health. >> and i totally and completely ban any effort to oppose abortion, contraception, excuse me. >> well, they have had a bad month when it comes to women for the republican party. they took what should have been a victory for them when barack obama made a decision that the catholic church did not like and turned it into a complete defeat

for themselves by turning it into contraception. >> well, gloria making a point in the last couple of months, but i would say that barack obama for the last three years has done incredible damage to himself for americans. >> women are americans by the way. >> and we are talking about the whole country, and barack obama's primary was the first two years in office, and that primary, barack obama governed so far to the left and pushed to the left the american people overwhelmingly rejected barack obama and the republicans in the senate. >> and in the last straw poll, the president's approval rating was 50 and mitt romney's 28, and the lowest of a recent front-runner, and romney is getting killed on the social issue, and he knows it. i guarantee you tonight, he does not stand up screaming and yelling about the contraception. >> well, there is a difference of romney and the republican party. gloria is right that the party has been dragged to a place where the party, itself, is hurting with the women, but

romney is different than that, because he is a establishment republican and not conservative, and the party has been hurt with the women, but the case that the republicans make in the fall is economic with women and not social issues, and two-thirds of small businesses in this country are started by who? women. they can't do that now, because barack obama's taxes and spending and the regulatory climate that is choking women-owned businesses in the country. so there is a lot of story that will come back. >> and right now, though, the "wall street journal" poll put barack obama against mitt romney with women, and barack obama won by 18 points. >> i also just saw a poll of among the latino voters where barack obama was, i mean, his, i don't remember what the actual number was -- >> 70 to 14% he is leading with the hispanic voters. and president obama and not president obama -- >> well, it is not disrespect. >> well, it is, because it is

president barack obama and i called him president george w. bush and we should show respect at times, but the first thing he did when he became president was to sign the lilly led bbetter a to ensure employment for women, and he put two bills before the supreme court, and business owners know that president obama has been voting for 16 small business tax credits and women will support a candidate who support the economic few chushgs and i believe that candidate is president barack obama. >> and i want to bring in jessica yellin and from the white house perspective, it seems that president obama was quick to reach out to the woman who testified and the women on the hill who rush limbaugh had attacked, and was that about politics? >> well -- look it is hard not to see it through the political lenses in this environment, and you know the democrats will say, how could the president resist this opportunity, anderson, because the republicans as

gloria have made the point, have handed them this issue. they had a religion issue to begin with when the president first came out with the contraception mandate and then they turned it into this ongoing women's health issue when the republicans went for this blount amendment. but the bottom line is that you have to look at a it through the lenses of the suburban swing vote, and suburban women voters will be a key swing vote. both sides are going after the demographic and no surprise that both sides are working this issue as best they can, and the white house especially, because it is a women's vote they want to get come november. >> and ari, have they changed it to a women's issue as opposed to religion issue? >> well, it is an issue about the power of the government to dictate to somebody this the private sector to provide this product and provide it for free. and the government should not do that whether it is a women's issue or men's issue and

especially if it infringes on someone's religion. and the president promised that it would not exceed 8%, but it did, and the deficit would be cut in half, but it has increased and the president has increased the deficits and these are the big issues of the day, and this is what the he conmy and the election should be about. >> i want to answer the question. yes, the democrats have turned it into a women's issue, because that is the president's strategy, and ari is right, the president does not want this oelection to be a referendum on the economic policy. so they want to shrink the middle until there is no middle so polarize it among every axis and pit men against women and rich against poor and pit everybody against everybody, and that is the strategy here, and shrink it. >> and these are politics for

every decades. and these faultlines and tell a woman with endometriosis that in the birth control plan or the insurance plan she cannot have access to the full range of reproductive services. and tell a woman -- >> of course she can, but we won't make the catholics to pay for it. >> we are not -- >> you are wrong. >> 28 states allow exemption, and this is not about sex, but women's health. >> and mitt romney has decided that it is about his he has decided or the super pac, or which, because it is to attack rick santorum on contraception, and mitt romney wants to zero out what is title ten which is a little over $300 million to provide contraception to poor women and over 5 million americans get their contraception for title ten and been around for ten years and president bush sr. is the congressman who wrote that law. it is a legitimate issue.

>> it is totally wrong. >> no, it is not. and this is the position about the title ten. and we have to have a honest discussion about the facts here. >> it is. and 24% of the funding that goes to america's largest abortion provider comes from title ten, and that is what the president p -- what the republicans want to zero out. >> david gergen. >> well, donna is right about this, because these issues have helped the democrats and helped obama, but it is also important not to universalize or make sweeping assertions, because it is striking to me today that "boston globe" reported that scott brown who has opened up a nine or ten-point lead against elizabeth warren and one of the reasons that scott brown as a republican is making headway over elizabeth warren is over this contraception issue in massachusetts. >> what do you make of that? >> i think that we should make it very careful about broad

assertions of how they cut, because they cut differently in different places, and overall obama has been nimble in using this rush issue. it is a campaign issue and one that comes up in a campaign, u and he has been fast on the trigger. >> and he wants to abolish title ten, and that is where scott brown has been more centrist. go but it is an issue of the role of government and how iter sta -- it started and if the republicans had continued down the road saying it is a role of government in the life and what is ensured, health care, health care mandates and the rest, they might be getting somewhere. and i want to bring in joe johns over at newt gingrich headquarters and you have been listening to this conversation, and where does newt gingrich play into this? >> well, i have to tell you that the most important thing that you have to say is not only is this a strategy to win the state and not only a strategy to win delegates, but the gingrich people more than once have told me that they think at the end of the day, rick santorum is going

to collapse. that conservative voters out there won't stay with him because of the votes in the united states senate, and support for arlen specter and big labor and part of the strategy. so bottom line, georgia, they expected to win big and would like to see 50% or higher. then they go on the states like alabama, and they go on the states like mississippi and texas and hope for the best. back to you. >> jim acosta is over at the santorum head quart es and rick santorum is calling for newt gingrich to get out, jim. >> basically that is right, anderson. the santorum campaign is saying the opposite of what joe was talking about a moment ago. and joe braybender, a senior strategist came out to brief the supporters and saying if newt gingrich got out of the race, we could go one-on-one with mitt romney and beat him in a lot of the contests and if newt gingrich were not in michigan, they could have won michigan and

when they took out mitt romney one-on-one, they won like in the state of missouri. they feel they can win in different parts of the country. colorado out west, and minnesota, and iowa in the midwest, and they feel like because oft record, they should stay in and newt gingrich should drop out, but not surprisingly, but that is the spin from the santorum campaign tonight. one other thing is that the campaign aide said they had organizational difficulties, but starting to rectify them, because he said that they are the macgyver campaign and by the end of night, they don't want to be the mcgrover campaign. >> well, mack gooifr was cancelled. and of course, the polls close at the bottom of the hour in the most watched race in the race, and we will bring you that ahead. [ man ] predicting the future is hard.

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only 9:43 until the polls close in ohio. that is a key political battleground, but we have news to report right now. cnn projects a win, a win, and take a look at this, mitt romney we project is the winner of the virginia primary. mitt romney the former massachusetts governor scores another victory tonight. mitt romney the winner the virginia primary, and he was running only ron paul managed to get on the ballot in virginia and santorum and gingrich did not have enough strength to get

the signatures necessary, but he did manage to win virginia, and that is a win for virginia for mitt romney. a win as we said earlier for newt gingrich in the home state of georgia. looking at the actual votes coming in. 3% of the vote in virginia coming in, and small number and up to 4%, and romney with 10,826 and ron paul with 8,114 and 43%, and only mitt romney and ron paul on the ballot in virginia. in alabama the polls closed a half hour ago, and we have not been able to make a projection yet in vermont, but only 70 votes tallied and 38% for mitt romney and 27% for rick santorum, and 24% for ron paul and 9%s for newt gingrich, but that is only one percent. in georgia, we projected a win for newt gingrich, but 1% of the vote is in, and you can see 39%

for newt gingrich, and 31% for rick santorum, and 24% for mitt romney, and 5% for ron paul, and very, very early, but based on the exit poll information we got, we projected a decisive win for newt gingrich in georgia. take a look at the map right now, and we will show you what we have seen so far, and changes unfolding. the yell low, and we are waiting for vermont where we have not been able to make a projection, because we don't have enough information. but we have projected georgia going for newt gingrich, and virginia going for mitt romney, and you see what is going on, and the white states are ten states who have elections or primaries or caucuses today, and we will see what is going on in a few minutes. ohio, the polls will be closing there, and we will see what we can do at 7:30 p.m. eastern in a few minutes from now, and so we have a win for newt gingrich in his home state, and important and big win for mitt romney in virginia. it underscore has he got on the ballot and ron paul did get on

the ballot, but rick santorum and newt gingrich did not. >> and we will see that organization and money and resources do matter. if rick santorum wins tennessee, we will see what happens, but he won't get all of the delegates, because of the filings deadlines as did newt gingrich. and the greatest gift is right here in the state of virginia and one of the questions for mitt romney is if he can win in the south. and virginia for romney tonight, because there are two candidates on the ballot. looking at the earlier results coming in, emphasize 5% of the vote in virginia and look at the lopsided and early start lining up with the exit poll as well, a and when you see romney red and most significantly in the major population centers like roanoke and richmond and the populated washington suburbs filling in romney red, and he will put virginia in the column and pick up a good batch of the delegates there. pulling out the match, speaker gingrich winning his home state of georgia and the question is by how much?

when we fill it in, we will look at congressional district to see where the delegates go for the state of alabama. vermont is filled in for romney, but it is based on early results, but we have not called the state of vermont yet. a tiny smaterring of of the results here. as we look at the results of ohio the come in, i want to show you something about the state of ohio. here is a big question, who is in touch with the tough economy and the struggling economy and in touch with the blue collar voters? and the analysts? and who understands the problems, and 32% said santorum, and 18%, gingrich, and paul, 19%, and romney 23%. so a split there in who the ohio republicans think are best in touch with them. and who is the best important candidate quality, and in ohio, more than 1 in 10 said can defeat president obama in november. and big for governor romney among those who say it is the most important.

but for electability, good for romney, and then you will see santorum very, very strong, and we will be there in ohio counting the votes quite some time. >> well, they close the polls in ohio in about five minutes from now and we can go to the exit polls and make a projection and looks like it will be very, very close. we will be going to ohio right after this. look! the phillips' lady!

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we are only about a minute away, one minute away from the bottom of the hour, and we are going to be able to get some

results from arguably the most important super tuesday contest. polling places across ohio the key battleground state closes at the bottom of the hour at 7:30 p.m. eastern, about a minute from now. 63 delegates at stake in ohio, and it is the second largest prize of the night. it is a key battleground state, and remember, that no republican, no republican has ever won the white house in november without first winning ohio. whoever wins ohio will walk away with something very, very important. a proven victory in a state with a history of deciding presidential elections, ohio. the candidates have been competing fiercely in ohio and all of the polls showing it is very very close in ohio, and the stakes clearly enormous right now. we have been watching ohio throughout the day, and we have correspondents throughout the state. in just a few seconds the polls will close in ohio, and let's see what we can do, whether or not we will be able to make a projection or not, but guess

what? ohio, ohio, ohio. the key battleground state. and as expected we cannot make a projection in ohio right now. it is close. the exit poll results though are in. let's share with you what the voters were telling us after they emerged from the polling booths in ohio these are the results from the cnn exit poll. 40% for mitt romney. 36% for rick santorum. 12% for newt gingrich, and 11% for ron paul, and you see a four-point spread. these are early numbers in the exit poll and they could change, but right now, these are the exit poll questions, and we are being transparent with you, with a slight advantage for mitt romney over "situation room" in the key battleground state of ohio. let's go to candy crowley who is covering the romney campaign in boston right now. and candy, this is is a moment

that i am sure that mitt romney would love to say, i won ohio. >> absolutely. that would be the major headline and here are the three reasons they believe they will do well there tonight. and they are hoping for a victory and here are the signs pointing to that. one is momentum going into this, and he was the guy on the glide path, and rick santorum had been up and mitt romney off of his michigan and arizona wins was moving ahead. that is number one. number two, they have also said, listen, we are the ones who have the folks who can get out the votes. we have the ground game. so they believe very much that that's on their side. and number three, and they believe it will help mitt romney as we get further on down the line. they do expect this to go on, and that is usually when we ask that question, who do you think has the best chance to beat president obama, mitt romney's name comes up in the exit polls and sometimes in the entrance

polls, because they believe it is more critical as we move closer and closer to finding a nominee. those are the three things that bode well for tonight, although they are extremely cautious here. you heard mitt romney earlier after he voted here in massachusetts saying, gee, i don't know how we will do tonight. nobody predicted they would flat out win, but they do believe they have those things on their side, wolf. >> it would be a huge night for mitt romney if he goes on the win in ohio. we cannot make a projection, but the exit polls show a slight edge for him over rick santorum. and now we go to stubenville, where they are lowering expectations, the santorum campaign, aren't they, jim? >> well, they are. they are being cautious here as well, wolf. i want to underscore what candy was saying, because the santorum campaign is not predicting one way or another, but they are lowering expectations saying if they come in second with the popular vote, that is saying a

victory for them, because they have been outspent 12 to 1. they also feel they are walking away with less delegates than they could have considering the paperwork snafu. and here in stubenville, ohio, this is where we are inside of a district where they won't be able to win delegates, because of the paperwork snafu, and they are conceding the point that yes, they have had some organizational problems in the state, but they say they are the campaign that is built to take on mitt romney going down the road to heading towards the convention, and they were saying tonight, and sounding defiant, wolf, that mitt romney cannot get 1,144 to clinch the nomination and he can say all he wants that he can't clinch it, but he can't either, and they are prepared to take the fight to the convention if need be. >> and so they are waiting for a win, and so is ron paul, and we go the dana bash who is in the

cincinnati area, hamilton county, board of elections, and this is a central part of ohio where john boehner is from, and set the scene for us there, dana where the polls have just closed. >> that is right, southwest ohio is crucial, and this particular county, hamilton county is one to watch, because it is not only a swing county, but a swing county in a swing state, and one of the most important counties to watch in the general election, but also for the republican primary. we want the show you and the viewers what we will show you later as they get the ball lots coming in in about 45 minutes, but this is a room where they are going to be counting the ballots, and they are going to be feeding some of it will be electronic, if you can look in here, there is a card reader, where they will get information in there and zip it in and go to the computer, and later, wolf, we will take you back to the director of the board of elections, and we are going to try to get the realtime vote

results, as they are getting it here, wolf. >> dana, that is interesting, because it is going to be a close race, and it will be anxious to get the information there. let's dig deeper with john king over there who has been reviewing the exit poll information. >> it is fascinating. with know it is a tight race and we look through and ask what are you looking for? and we showed you earlier that the ohioans say they want the biggest quality to beat obama, and they say that mitt romney has the edge over rick santorum, and shouldn't he be winning the state? well, that is the edge and the advantage at the moment, but they went away on me, wolf, and i want to reset that. and senator santorum is the most conservative? and he wins over who has the most morale character, so what are you looking for in ohio? well, dana mentioned in hamilton county, and it is a critical area, and strong establishment town that governor romney needs to do well around cincinnati. i would argue he needs to do

well here, because the city of columbus needs to lean democrat democratic, but romney tends the do well with the upscale suburban voters. but if you go to the outside of suburbs around cleveland, a lot of the areas are important for mitt romney. and i will use yellow for rick santorum. and remember, down here, in this area bordering pennsylvania, critical and toledo as well and why he has been targeting the blue collar voters in this economy and he is better candidate for them. i want to do a history lesson and go back in time saying why is he doing this? well, i want to go back to the democratic primary in 2008, and you see hillary clinton winning here, and blue collars youngstown, and akron and toledo and barack obama in suburban columbus, and columbus, and cleveland and african-american population as well, but

president obama out in the suburbs. so tonight in terms of the turnout, you have the same dynamic, and more upscale suburban voters were critical for barack obama, and they are critical for mitt romney, and the blue collar voters were huge for hillary clinton and they are huge tonight for senator santorum, wolf. >> okay. john, a lot of information to digest, and certainly so far, newt gingrich wins georgia and mitt romney winning virginia. but guess what? we have more information to report to you right now. a second win for mitt romney on the super tuesday. take a look at this. we project mitt romney will win the state of vermont in new england. and he is from massachusetts. it is expected. we make this projection based on the exit poll information that we have received as well as some of the actual numbers coming in. mitt romney is the winner in vermont. his second win of the night. he also won, we project in virginia. newt gingrich wins in georgia. we will take a look at the map

and show you what is going on right now. you see it. wins for mitt romney in vermont and virginia, and you see the win for newt gingrich in georgia. we are waiting for ohio. the polls in ohio have closed, but we have not been able to make a projection. we have other states closing at the top of the the hour at 8:00 massachusetts closing, and oklahoma closes, and tennessee closes. that is right at the top of the hour. we will see if we can make any projections in those three states, but it is a significant development and a win is a win. mitt romney has two wins tonight so far tonight. so it is a significant development. it was fully expected, but anderson cooper, i expect that the mitt romney is excited to win those states. >> well, a win is a win. and for you guys, what is important, ohio? >> ohio and delegate count though, because you can't separate the two. if you are inside of a presidential campaign at this point, you are looking more at the total delegates than what states did you win, because that is what it comes down to, and as we started to talk about attrition, and if you are mitt

romney that is how you grind the opponents out of the race by picking up so many delegates that even in a state that you narrowly lost that it is impossible for anybody else to get there. >> and ohio has been a bellwether state for candidates? >> yes, and it is like romney that he has to make for the likability case. like he has won florida and michigan and arizona, and these are all important states in the general election against barack obama where he is demonstrating strength, and demonstrating that if you can bring the conservatives along with the established republicans, you can put together a campaign and ari is right about the delegate count, because the romney people are right there watching massachusetts and santorum falls below 15%, he gets zero delegates even though it is proposh gnat and the same in georgia, and zero delegates there even if it is proportional. and we have to watch the line. >> and ohio matters the most for the reasons that alex and ari state. that is why it is so instructive

that the chart that erin burnett showed about the spending of team romney and team santorum is a multiple factor of four to five to one and maybe more. santorum just unable so far to marshall the resources that he knew that was the most important state for him certainly, and he didn't, and was not able to compete on the dollars. that is what it is. >> they have been both targeting the blue collar workers and has romney made inroads in that, because he is not making a relatable argument, but the argument that he knows the economy. >> maybe. maybe. >> and in michigan his own state. >> and i am told that ron paul may be speaking. >> he is speaking right now at a caucus in fargo, north dakota, but i want to check in with jim spellman, the reporter on the scene for us. and jill, set the scene for us, and then i want to hear from ron paul. >> sure, wolf. there is a couplet a least 2,000 people here to gather to listen to ron paul, and as they have been voting i have seen by far

more voters here in the district location than any other candidate by far. let's take a listen, wolf. >> well, the polls in north dakota close at 10:00 p.m. eastern. >> that is right, wolf. >> next year we will celebrate the federal reserve by repealing the federal reserve act. but, a lot has happened in the last four years, and these problems have been going on for a long time and it would nice to blame one person or one ed administration, but it is going on for a long time, and so many young people here, and you are realizing that you are getting a bad rap for what you are inheriting and the deal, the better deal can be found in less government and only sending peel to washington who has actually read the constitution and willing to obawill

t willing to obey the constitution and willing to take their oath of office seriously. [ applause ] which would be, which would do so many wonderful things for us. for instance, if you are tired of the wars, and i hope that you are sick and tired of the wars we are involved in, and what if we had the return to the constitution that the founders made sure in the document of the constitution that the wars would only occur not by the executive branch, but only by the people through their representatives in congress, and that is the way that all wars should be declared and if they are declared, they should be declared, won, and come home. that is the way it is supposed to be. but since, since world war ii, we have gone the war without a declaration, and for that reason we have essentially not won one of those wars. it has added a lot of tragedy.

just in the past ten years, these wars that we are fighting in the middle east over 8500 americans have died and 44,000 have come back with serious injuries and amputations and all kinds of problems and hundreds of thousands looking for help because of post-traumatic stress syndrome, and at the same time economically, it is damaging. it has added $4 trillion to the national debt. that is what you are inheriting and this is the reason that it is so important if you are talking about the peace and the prosperity, that you is to change the constitution and have a lot less war and make a more sincere effort to promote the cause of peace. [ applause ] this is going on for a long time and both edadministrations have been doing this, and this is the reason that the message of liberty actually brings people together, because individuals see that the parties are not

doing a very good job. you elect one party to cut the spending, and they raise the debt and spending as well and the other party goes in and nothing changes. so if you look at the candidates today, there is very little difference except for one. [ applause ] the rest of the candidates support the status quo, and the foreign policy has not changed and the monetary policy has not change and no challenge to the federal reserve system, and most of all, there is no, no desire to protect personal libber the i and personal privacy and protect us from the intrusiveness of the federal government to protect your right to use the internet. these are the kinds of things that are so important to so many people, and unfortunately, that is not offered. i believe it is the offering up of a program that emphasizes personal liberty, and the

constitution and the sound and sensible foreign and monetary policy is the reason that we are getting such a great reception here in north dakota. ron paul making the case to caucusgoers in fargo, north dakota. there is a large caucus, there and he is going through the major points of why he believes he should be the next president of the united states. we will continue to monitor ron paul's address. later in the evening we will hear from other candidates as well. let's take a look at close look at ohio right now with the polls closed in ohio a few moments ago. we have 1% of the vote in, in ohio and so far, very, very early, and mitt romney with a lead, and these are official votes. 39% to 37% for rick santorum, but look at how small the numbers are so far. 1,837 for prrm mitt romney and 1,767 for rick santorum. and he is only ahead by 70 votes right now, and so we will see what happens, but only less than 1% of the vote is in, and 16% for newt gingrich, and 7% for ron paul.

we are taking a closer look at ohio. ohio is a key battleground and politically, it is a major bonanza for whoever wins ohio tonight. we saw the exit polls, john king, and the exit polls earlier suggesting a slight advantage for mitt romney in ohio and not long ago that the polls in ohio showed that santorum is ahead, but mitt romney has been spending, and the super pac, and his own campaign and ton of money spent in ohio trying to do to santorum what they successfully did to gingrich in iowa. >> and remember on this night when rick santorum won in missouri, and won in minnesota, and won out in colorado, where was newt gingrich? ohio, because that was critical. so what happened? he fell back and won his home state tonight. so he has south carolina and georgia as victories for newt gingrich. and can he get another one tonight? we listened to congressman ron paul, and what is mising from the map? well, tonight, nearly half of the states will have voted.

and ron paul does not have inwithes, but delegates. you cannot win the nomination without a win. what is happening so far? we mentioned ohio and it is colored romney red, but when you zoom into the state, we have 1% of the vote in, and governor romney is leading, but it is a small lead, 39 to 37% with a little bit of the votes in, and remember that i talked about how key the cleveland suburbs are, and lake county and very important to mitt romney, and that is where he is leading at the moment, but a small number of votes in and small percentage of the votes in, and 3% vote lead there for mitt romney, and these blue collar votes to rick santorum, and that is a key battle for him. and mitt romney has won ten states and if you look at the map, 11 is filled in romney red, because he is leading. and governor romney has ten states at the moment coming into the night, and he would like to add ohio and he believes he can add idaho and a chance in north

dakota and the question is can he get tennessee? there is no question that we will look at governor romney winning more states. where will oklahoma go? gingrich ahead a month ago and santorum ahead late in the polls, and we fully expect massachusetts to become a romney state. >> and looking at georgia is the biggest delegate prize of the night, and georgia we project will go to newt gingrich, and how is it filling in, because we have 3% of the overall vote in. >> you see gingrich and santorum and typical in the states of a purple fill-in, and a tiny, tiny count, and alex mentioned that you have the 20% threshold and the proportionality kicks in and we can sew you later in it maerts when the states fill in, and mitt romney winning one tiny county over here by a handful of votes right there. as you watch it fill in, newt gingrich will win the state without a doubt, and then the count is how high is the vote count, and where is the vote count, because the delegates are

ap po apportioned on the districts. and this is the biggest basket of votes tonight. >> and this is what we project now for the viewers the order we project is that golden state wins and romney second and santorum third and ron paul fourth. i guess it will depend on the percentages as far as the delegate distribution is concerned. >> how high is the percentage of the vote and do you have viability, and you have to get over that threshold and do you win by districts as you apportion it out. we have 3% of the vote by go and you have the start thinking about who you will get for delegates, and we have to break it down with a lot of vote counting in georgia and a lot of the vote counting in ohio and beyond. >> three more states, john, getting ready to close at the top of the hour, and will we make a projection in massachusetts, oklahoma and tennessee? standby, you are watching the election coverage from the cnn election center. come back with us. [ male announcer ] what if we told you that cadillac

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right now, we'rewatching a close fight between mitt romney and rick santorum for the critical battleground of ohio. >> and polls are about to close in four more states in super

tuesday's marathon. >> ten states and hundreds of delegates are on the line at the same time. >> this time, we have to get the choice right. >> will this night bring any clarity to the most unpredictable race in clarity. >> we just need to stay on the island and not get votedo. >> polls about to close in massachusetts, tennessee and oklahoma. it's america's choice and it's super tuesday. mitt romney is counting on a win in his home state of massachusetts. >> i need republicans to get out and vote. >> but in this south and west, he may be vulnerable to rick santorum's one-two punch. >> we feel good about tennessee and oklahoma. >> the romney-santorum showdown is intense as this night wears down. >> a choice between tweedle dumb and tweedle dee. >> i will not embarrass you in the white house. >> will any candidate emerge as the big super tuesday winner or

loser? republicans are choosing and the world is watching and nothing in this election compares to what's happening right now. welcome back to our viewers in the united states and around the world, the most watched super tuesday contest in ohio, still as of this moment up in the air. now, we're standing by for the first results from three more states, oklahoma, tennessee, and massachusetts. polls close there right at the top of the hour in a few minutes. a total of 133 delegates are at stake in those three states. cnn's exclusive ballot and caucus cameras are in place across the country to take you inside the voting and bring you the results before anyone else. our anchors and correspondents are out in full force for our super tuesday coverage including candy crowley and jim acosta.

let's go to candy first at mitt romney headquarters in massachusetts. candy. >> reporter: wolf, massachusetts, obviously, a second home, at least, we went to one of mitt romney's home states in michigan, they're expecting a big win here in massachusetts when the polls close. it will be enough the democrats, the democratic party in massachusetts was in fact using it as a get out the vote for president obama, trying to get more vote others to come in the democratic primary than come in the republican primary. no real contest here as to the result for romney, but they're just looking at those overall numbers. wol wolf. >> thanks. let's go to rick santorum headquarters in ohio. jim. >> reporter: rick was once up by double digits in this state and his campaign is starting to lower expectations just a touch and saying a second place finish in ohio would be just fine but not hang their heads in ohio,

sounding defiant. >> anderson cooper is keeping a score for all of us. >> exciting night throughout the night. check our super tuesday scoreboard. cnn projected two wins for mitt romney, virginia and vermont, no real surprises there, one win for newt gingrich in georgia, again, not a huge surprise. no wins yet for last or ron paul. that could change at the top of the hour. as more results come in, we will keep you uchpdated with our virtual convention. and we predict the next poll closings, we check in with erin. >> we talk about ohio. take a look at the state of ohio, this has been a comeback kid state. you look at unemployment, that's the best. there are only two parts worse than the national average. columbus at 7%, significantly better. you look at ohio, some of the best to worse for the ohio

economy. the unemployment rate at 10.6% at the peak. it is now only 7.9%, one of the best improved and a big part of the story. >> john king, as we count down to the next poll closings, also keeping close watch on the battle for ohio. john. >> let's look at what we're waiting for the next hour. two very important states. the state of tennessee. one thing we're looking for, senator santorum needs to win the state of tennessee tonight. yes, 71% are you a white evangelical born again christian and hthat has been a source of strength. with 10 states voting across the country, different states have different electorates, evangelicals in times square, 72% in oklahoma say they're born again evangelical, 72% in tennessee and oklahoma and watch if they go for senator santorum. battleground ohio. interesting question.

your opinion of the tea party. nearly 6 in 10 say they supported the tea party as they voted in ohio. how did they break down with the candidates? she doesn't want to work at the moment. i want to show you the results in ohio. a little while ago, colored red for romney and slight edge for senator santorum, an emphasis on slight. and the cleveland suburbs criminal to romney and cincinnati, akron, blue collar areas, absolutely critical to senator santorum as he hopes, show he hopes to keep romney from getting a victory. >> so far, romney is on the scoreboard, gingrich on the core board and ron paul still waiting for his first win in a primary or caucus. getting ready to close in three states, we're watching it very closel