for today. you have my sufficient anger. david schuster is coming back for "countdown." that's next. ♪ >> now on "countdown." >> these pancakes are something else, i tell you. these pancakes are as large as my win in puerto rico last night. >> romney wins big in puerto rico and heads to illinois. it's time for gingrich and santorum to step aside. >> we have believe the the convention will nominate a conservative. >> we all know who he means. what a fraud. the jobs act heads to the senate but don't be fooled by the catchy acronym. it's just another ploy to deregulate wall street again

because it worked out so well the first time. >> the latest front on the war in women. a bill that could force women who under go an abortion. new york city councilmember congressman rodriguez on occupy and nypd's brutal response. >> good evening this, is monday march 19th. 233 days until the 2012 presidential election. i'm eliot spitzer sitting in for keith olbermann. mitt romney winning in puerto rico and looking for more in illinois' primary.

our fifth story in the "countdown." mitt romney pulling ahead in the g.o.p. presidential race hoping for more delegates and campaigning in springfield illinois. this is what he said. >> i need only one thing from you, no, two. number one i need some of these pancakes, and number two i need you to vote tomorrow. >> he added another 20 delegates to his count. romney pivoted from attacking attacking santorum to president obama and his policies for the economy. >> if we continue along this path our lives will be ruled by bureaucrats and boards and commissions and czars. that pathe roads freedom. >> romney tried tying santorum and the president together. >> i don't think we're going to replace an economic lightweight with another economic lightweight. >> on the stump in illinois rick santorum wouldn't buy it.

>> i heard governor romney call me an economic lightweight. because i wasn't a wall street financefinancier like he was. >> he compared his effort to ronald reagan while speaking in reagan's hometown in dixon, illinois. >> reagan ran that campaign in 1976, and people were saying why don't you get out of the race, you have no chance of winning. and he fought and he won 11 states in 1976. >> of course, reagan also lost his fight for the nomination that year to incumbent president gerald ford. for the lacety from the g.o.p. primary let's go to chicago and "countdown" correspondent david schuster. >> eliott, how are you. >> is illinois a swing state?

what is the state of the play. >> the state of play is that the romney campaign feels pretty confident about how things are going. one adviser thinks they're going win as long as turnout doesn't fall off a cliff and it might because of the negative ads coming from the romney campaign. saying that santorum is a lightweight, and that ad is running in every media market. he's hammering rick santorum saying that santorum could not deal with the economy. mitt romney is on the defensive from rick santorum. santorum is ratcheting up the attacks saying that romney is responsible for romney care, the blueprint for obama care. and again santorum is being out stumped 6-to-1 and 7-to-1. that clip of rick santorum down

in dixon illinois, which is ronald reagan's boyhood home, santorum is trying to establish an on need conservative credential. 's trying to say, look, i'm the conservative in this race. the establishment candidate is the big government take away your liberty type of a republican that is not who we need against president obama. and rick santorum, in order for him to do well tomorrow he has to do well south of interstate 80, the southern part of the state. and below chicago. mitt romney will roll it up in chicago and the suburbs. but again, it looks like just because of the amount of money that mitt romney has been spending that the numbers have been turning in his direction. >> the polls i saw today suggest first degree you look at this in terms of three groups, romney had a double digit lead with the urban and suburban voters and he's holding his own in the rural vote. is romney showing strength in the conservative republican party in the state of illinois. >> i would be careful in terms of the rural area because the

polling has been bad. and also rick santorum tends to overperform on election day in rural areas compared to the polling. i think it's fair to say that romney is trying to make a play for croft voters, and the conservative voters in illinois are a different breed and mitt romney's message again had been about the committee and rick santorum has been trying to distinguish himself and saying no, it's a condition of big government. and if you get mitt romney the nomination we're headed towards the same economic calamities according to santorum as we have under barack obama. it's a tough message for rick santorum. again, he's trying to say the economic stuff is just a symptom of big government taking away your-- >> you're right. this has been focused on the economy, not as much on social issues at least in illinois, and romney was harsh in his creek of santorum saying that he was an economic illiterate. let's take a look at that sound byte because i then want to ask a question about it.

>> santorum's real weakness is the economy. he has never run a business or a state. his plan, economic illiteracy inexcusable. the worse of any g.o.p. candidate. rick santorum, another economic lightweight. >> you know, the thing i don't quite understand is that romney is calling santorum an economic lightweight. yet if you look at the policies that the two are articulating they're not that far apart. what diverges? where is the divergence of the gap between the two on the economic policy right now? >> i suppose the only thing you can say is the corporate tabs rate, there is some signatures there, but that doesn't matter for main street americans. you made an interesting point. the former governor of illinois bob edgar, this is the first race where he has decided not to endorse anybody. that caught a lot of people by surprise. he said one of the things that has him so concerned is that the race is so negative that not

only are republicans very unenthusiastic about mitt romney and rick santorum but they're nervous what this means in the fall. because it's been such a brutal race. you're seeing more negative ads than you've seen in 30 years. they're nervous about what that portends for the fall and depressing republican enthusiasm about a race where republicans here feel they should be competitive with president obama in november. >> and illinois is a swing state. it's gone back in forth in terms of its senators and governors and there are a lot of republican congressmen right now worried they'll get caught up in this air of negativity and if the pen vote is lower than predicted, democrats could pick up some house seats. is that part of the concern running through the republican party? >> i think that's fair. you look at illinois' 10th congressional district. there is a hell of a battle

between main street democrat and interrogatoritives and they're going under the republican in a seat that democrats feel they can pick up. so again to the extent that republicans are sort of angry or frustrated with the overall tone, and enthusiasm will go down for republicans across the ticket, you have lots of republicans who will show up in the fall and you open up those possibilities that democrats are excited about who they have running, and it could mean the difference between republicans and democrats picking up the house. >> the house is in play and we'll have to wait a few more months to see. many thanks, from chicago. for more where the g.o.p. race may be headed, i'm with speaking with ken vogel. rick santorum in puerto rico, was he taking a few days off and maybe this was an or when he should have been up in illinois.

>> he got photographed sunday, which is a regrettable experience for anyone who saw the photograph as well as for senator santorum, but that's just one of many strategic blunders none the at least that he went down there to spend time anywhere. and stating that english would have to be the language of the state. >> i saw that and i thought, i must be reading some april fool's edition of the newspaper. you go to puerto rico and inassault all the voters saying we won't even think about statehood for you until you learn english. what sort of twisted political largic had him bring that proposal to puerto rico, i don't get it? >> it's consistent with his hawkish line of emigration and immigration-related issues. that was not the appropriate forum to be making that case.

nonetheless, neither of them are going to win huge amounts of hispanic vote but it was actually very significant for mitt romney to have such a big win in puerto rico that's because where the conservative proponents he's not as viable of a general election campaign as his candidates have made him out to be because he won't be able to compete for hispanic votes, and the puerto rico was huge for him. it was a huge loss for rick santorum just because he made it into something where folks were watching because he went down to campaign, which has to be called a strategic blunder. >> there is the fun and games of parsing the substance of this, and the hard numbers, the math, thethe arithmetic. and santorum is saying, hey, guys, we're heading towards a brokered convention, romney saying i got more delegates than all the rest of you combined. is this slipping away from

santorum every day in illinois if romney has a win? >> you could make that argument. this primary case that rick santorum and his supporters have made is that he has the momentum and increasingly conservatives are gravitating towards him. well, if he's able to eke out a win in illinois certainly he could continue to make that argument. but these increasing strategic missteps and the increasing evidence and lack of organization that he has in any states like illinois is really hurting him and taking a toll. in illinois he failed to get the signatures necessary to get on the ballot. he had to scramble to get delegates who were up for election. without a win in illinois we'll go into louisiana and there are a few other primaries, but then there is this long gap and if

rick santorum doesn't manage to put together some convincing wins, the drama beat will grow louder for him to get out of the race and allow republicans to--they'll have a lot of wounds to lick heading to the general with mitt romney as the nominee or even if rick santorum is the mommy. nominee, there has been a lot of blood let in this race. >> some how they have led nine lives and mitt romney just can't close the deal. this thing has been continuing perhaps the only people happy about it or the folks on tv talking about it, but it has been going on much, much longer. the primary is coming up in the next couple of weeks, and they are certainly not good ones for rick santorum. you've got wisconsin which i believe are more democrat graphically like illinois and the states where mitt romney has been doing quite well. >> yeah, and they want to just get a win. they want to get a win in

louisiana. they would love to get a close finish in illinois, and then looking further down the road in pennsylvania, rick santorum's home state. they think if he can demonstrate a win there, that would sort of put the lie to romney's argument that he's able to win these big states because of financial superiority. we certainly see that playing out in the states that we have up coming where it's a chance in illinois, especially where it's a chance for mitt romney to really show that he he has the organization that rick santorum lacks. but if rick santorum is not successful in putting something on the board before this long gap, i think it will be hard for him to continue to mike the case that he has a viable chance of coming away with the nomination. >> and the two biggest states--new york, texas is there, as well, but you have texas and california, and those are more likely to go for mitt romney and 1144 really isn't the number.

s you get closer and closer there will be pressure for people to jump on board the train leaving the station. he's likely to get it at the end of the day, real quick as the time runs short. >> that appears to be the case. you mentioned that we on tv are the ones who enjoy it. democrats and president obama are loving it as well. >> that is true. i'm sure president obama goes home every night and watches the cable shows and says, keep going guys. ken vogel, thank you for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> paul ryan becomes president obama's best political friend after destroying political momentum last year, ryan is doing it all over again coming up next.

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>> second time is a charm, right? i doubt it, but we'll find out the g.o.p. a carbon copy of last year's bucket proposal. the latest outrage on the war on women. the state measure that would public identify those women seeking abortions. and occupy wall street's reawakening the protesters are back. unfortunately so are the reports of violence and arrest. political lineup. >>it's our job to bring you stories that other people aren't bringing you. >>unlimited, unfettered. >>check out "the young turks" with cenk uygur. a winning issue. >>step into "the war room" with jennifer granholm. >>never ending enertainment. >>the young turks at seven countdown with keith olbermann at eight and the war room at nine. current tv's prime-time lineup weeknights starting at seven-six centra?ñ what's up? >>hi! >>how ya doing? >>good. >>what you got there? >>a u.v. light lunch box.

>>wow! how does it work? >>you put the fruit in, you turn it on, you wait for ten seconds, you take it out. it's a healthy apple to eat. >>that's big. if you sell as manny of those as we sold records, one day i'm going to be going to your house. >>got a cool idea of your own? enter it now at wouldntitbecoolif.com. four finalist will have the chance to pitch their idea to will.i.am. one winner may see their invention idea brought to life. >> congress has not passed a budget since april 2009. nearly three years ago. one again paul ryan is prepared to release another budget proposal, this time complete with the social network style trailer. >> this coming debt crisis is the most predictable crisis we've ever had in this country. and look what's happened. this is why we're acting.

this is why we're leading. this is why we're proposing and passing on the house budget to fix this problem. so we can save our country for ourselves and for our children's future. >> it is kind of like the lead into a horror movie. why most think it would be passing the budget would be a good thing, it did not turn out that way for the republicans last year. they pended the momentum they had going into election season. tea party candidates pro angered the ryan plan left us another decade of enormous deficits. and even caused a headache for those not in office why newt gringrich describeed even's plan as a right-wing engineering. first, let me ask you this what is different about this bill

from last year? is there a fundamental shift or are they giving us the same 'ol plan. >> the general template will be more or less the same. massive tax cuts tilted to the rich, cuts to social programs for low- and middle-income people. it's mostly the same thing with some tactical shifts. >> it will allude the american public that doesn't follow and those who don't follow the numbers like you do. what is the politics behind what paul ryan is doing? because it just about killed the republican party last year, so why are they doing it again? >> right, to understand why conservatives and republicans are taking such a big risk again you have to understand the mindset is that they view this era as an once in a lifetime opportunity to hack away at the social programs and the social

safety nets that they never lined. they never liked social security and they never liked welfare. they view this looming debt as a golden opportunity to hack away at those. the gamble they take even if they raise the issues and it doesn't help us politically for now, if we do end up winning the white house, it will give us a huge mandate to make drastic changes, drastic cuts in medicare and really cut government in a huge way. that's the mindset, but it's really unclear if that will work. >> and you you listen to what you just said, he's saying, damned the torpedoes, full speed ahead. i don't care what the politics are, we believe we have to hack away at these programs and then we have to propose them. the history is not on his side even recent history president

bush, and clearly the public has sent the message we would see taxes on the rich, ask them toe pay this their share as opposed to see cuts to social security and medicare. is ryan going to be able to corral the republicans in the house to sign on to a suicide pact again? >> you have your finger on the pulse of what the general public thinks. but they don't agree with president obama's vision, and they want to make these drastic cuts and the gamble of that, ryan, and house conservatives are taking they can move in this direction, energize their base and come out with a big mandate. but the white house and the democrats are salivating because they think it will be an amazing opportunity for them to draw contrast with the republicans on a number of issues, medicare and taxes where the republicans are

on their side. >> a very prominent and popular democrat senator in a way highways signed on with paul ryan to the healthcare proposal, the medicare proposal, does that change the politics at the moment to change the at more atmosphere, and how this could be given to the public. >> not really. when they released their privatization version, which is a gentleer version of the ryan plan. to date wyden is the only democrat to have signed on to converting medicare into a support program. so at this point there is no indication that teaming up with widen will help. >> i think that's exactly right. if senator wyden expected an

public back up, it would have happened. wiyden is out there standing on its own. thank you for your time tonight. >> thanks for having me on governor. >> my pleasure. publicly identifying women who are having abortions, that could be a brightoning reality in the state of tennessee. that's ahead on "countdown."

>> coming up, as congress moves towards the job act maybe they can consider a name change. how about return fraud to wall street act. first the sanity break. it was on this day in 19 "a" 1955 actor bruce willis was born in west germany. he would star first in television and then later as a major movie star. but most importantly, he proved bald guys can look cool. that's why we love him.

time marchs on. >> we begin as we always do with a two-year-old girl singing adele. if it doesn't put a smile on your face, nothing ever will. [singing] >> grammy bound. i'm not saying that it's better than the original, but maybe just as good. and in forestry news, a man chopping down a tree directly next to his house, and of course someone is filming it. gee, i wonder what could go wrong. he not only upset the people inside the house, but the lorax probably isn't too happy about it either. finely we end as we always do with a tortoise trying to eat a tomato. it seems that his depth

perception isn't quite up to par. he's having trouble enjoying his snack. interestingly senator mitch mcconnell has the same difficulty eating produce. time marchs on. occupy wall street returns in force. we have that ahead, and banking regulations who needs them. why the jobs act must be killed. coming up next. stay tuned for the answer.

>> so far this year there have been a half of million jobs created dropping the unemployment to 8.3%. while most agree we're moving in the right direction there is

still work to be done. this is why in our third story when congress proposes a bill that is it, quote, a jobs act it would seem to be a good idea. but while the name indicates that jobs would be created instead this bill is a way to trip away bank regulations. the jump start or business start ups passed the house 390-23. maybe they didn't read it. but some are concerned about the negative effect the bill would have on investigators. mary shapiro sends a message expressing her concerns over over the banking regulations that the bill would strip away. i quote, too often investors are the target of fraudulent schemes disguised as investment, and appropriate pro directions septemberers will lose confidence in our markets and capital formation will be ultimately be made more difficult and expensive.

joining me is robert cutler, thank you for your time tonight. let me begin with this simple question. what is in this bill that is actually going to create jobs if any? >> well, nothing is in it that will create jobs. if you have a special-interest legislation that surprise away investor protections for any company of $1 billion or less that wants to share its shares to the public, it's clear narrow interest legislation sponsored by wall street. you got to come up with a way of selling the lemon. you come up with an acronym. jump start our business. and it spells jobs. most democrats who should know better voted for the thing, and president obama has signaled he would sign it. now you have a last-ditch effort in the senate led by senator

levin, reid and landro to try to derail it, but it's just a scandal that it has gotten as far as it has. >> i played a role back when i was a prosecutor they were saying go out and go and pump these stocks up because we're underwriting them even though you know it's not true. this bill repeals all the things we forced wall street to do. is anybody standing up and saying stop, this is just giving permission to commit fraud. >> as i say you have three influential democrat senators trying to slow the thing down. i'm appalled that president obama signaled that he would sign this. i hope the pressure that is increasing as people understand better just what is in this monstrosity will force obama to take a second look. mary shapiro of the fcc is not exactly a radical. she's the one who fended off a

whistle blower pointing out that bernie madoff was running a ponzi scheme, saying let's slow this thing down. harry reid has tied an extension of the import-expert bank to this bill, and eric canter, the house majority leader has a sweetheart thing and they may be able to slow it down. but it's just a disgrace that this thing has gotten as far as it's gotten. >> am i right in the belief that we tried this before. we went about a decade where the mantra from wall street and congress was deregulate. self regulation is the way to go. we can trust you, the words uttered by both those on wall street and congress about wall street, it led to the greatest

cataclsm for depression. >> it depends on who you mean we. you haven't, i haven't, you have contract for america in '96 gutted investor protections. in '99, the gutting of protections against derivative abuse in 2000. the only exception to this horrendous pattern was the act that tried to remedy a lot of abuses you caught wall street with, and now they're under the rubrick of the so-called jobs act, i think jobs by the way stands for "just offered b.s." >> that's what we should refer to it from now on. that's clever. we have greg smith resigning resigning fromresigningresign fromgoldman sachs.

wasn't that the most powerful piece of testimony about this bill? how can congress pass this bill in the face that have testimony from greg smith? >> well, i hope that senators reid and company will slow the thing down. i have to tell you when i read that op-ed piece, "the new york times" puts this on the front page and then three stories inside how shocked everybody was, where have these people been? it's not exactly a secret that goldman sachs bets against its own clients, yet everyone treated this as if it's new news. we've known this for 10, 15 years. >> the only critique that i've had of his op-ed is they have gotten worse. when we first charged the banks with committing fraud, the first defense was, everybody knows we're lying about this.

it was mind blowing to they that that was their first defense. it was something i had never seen as a prosecutor in all my years. >> the one thing we have going for us is there are disclosure laws if the investors have the wit to read the disclosures they can protect themselves and that's what this wretched piece of legislation would gut. shame on them if they vote on this. >> they should listen to you. thanks for your time tonight. >> thanks, governor. >> my pleasure, thank you sir. the rights continued effort to regulate the lives of women and in doing so obliterate any since of privacy for those who have had an abortion. that. >>jennifer granholm joins current tv. a former two term governor. >>people like somebody who's got a spine. >>determined to find solutions... >>we need government to ensure that people have freedom. >>driven to find the truth... >>what's really going on?

>>fearless, independent and above all, politically direct.

>> the the war on women reaches tennessee and would publicly identify women seeking abortions. and this withal occupy wall street, we have new scenes from new york. "countdown." >>welcome to the war room. >>jennifer granholm joins current tv. a former two-term governor. >>make your voice heard. >>detremined to find solutions. >>that partnership in order to invest in our country is critical. >>driven to find the truth. >>how did romney get his groove back? >>fearless, independent and above all, politically direct. v