experience, that was in the irs three minutes. >> sean: good panel tonight. let your heart not be >> hey, good morning, everyone. it's wednesday, february 1st already. i'm gretchen carlson. thanks for getting up bright and early with us today. sun shining on mitt romney in florida dealing a knockout blow with newt gingrich and moving on to a fight with president obama. >> mr. president, you were elected to lead. you chose to follow. and now it's time for you to get out of the way. >> and the crowd continued to clap. meanwhile, newt gingrich getting right back up and scoring his own knockout against president obama. >> mr. president, you cannot sing your way past a disaster of your presidency. >> and speaking of knockout blows, check this out --

>> does the president have to worry about the boxing part? >> sometimes when he sees me punching, he kind of -- >> landing some laughs last night on leno. "fox & friends" starts right now. >> how is al roker? >> i'm not really sure. >> nursing a black eye. welcome, everyone. we're up bright and early because it's primary season and last night was florida. it wasn't as exciting a finish as some of the others. >> it was done before it started! >> kind of. >> exciting for mitt romney. >> very much so. he probably got a really good night's sleep and now he's on his way to the west coast to see how he does in those primaries and caucuses so he takes all of the delegates from florida.

there are 50 of them and they all go to him. he walked away with almost every category that came to vote, senior citizens and important to me hispanics because remember in this primary in florida it was newt gingrich who said that mitt romney was the anti-immigrant candidate so that's fascinating to me that most of the hispanics, more of the hispanics went to mitt romney than newt gingrich. >> you're just kissing up to geraldo. >> no, i'm not. i'm just looking at the facts. >> i thought something else was significant, if you took rick santorum or that's the total right now, mitt romney won by 46% of the vote. the most votes ever gotten by any candidate in american history in a republican primary held in florida, newt gingrich a distant 32%. you wouldn't know by his speech and rick santorum, a respectable 13% especially when you consider he had the family emergency that took him out of florida and then ron paul never really competed. if you took rick santorum and you took newt gingrich and the so-called conservative vote and put them together, they still

did not equal mitt romney's total and mitt romney did get the majority of conservative votes. >> that's right. mitt romney wound up with 46 points and then newt and rick combined wind up with 45. first of all, it comes down to delegates and how did they do? mitt romney leads with 87. newt's got 26. rick santorum has 14. and ron paul has 11. meanwhile, last night, mitt romney was very nice in talking about his rivals. >> by the way, the best thing about last night's speech from mitt romney is the introduction. ann romney is so comfortable on stage. >> absolutely. she introed her husband, her better half and he took aim not at his rivals but on the guy who currently has the keys to air force one. >> listen. >> three years ago this week, a newly elected president obama faced the american people and said look, if i can't turn this economy around in three years, i'll be looking at a one term

proposition and we're here to collect. 35 months of unemployment above 8% and under this president, more americans have lost their jobs and more home foreclosures have occurred than under the administration of any other president in history. the president actually said these words -- he said let's remember now how we got here. don't worry, mr. president, we remember exactly how we got here. you won the election! leadership is about taking responsibility. not making excuses. in another era of american crisis, thomas payne is reported to have said lead, follow or get out of the way. well, mr. president, you were elected to lead. you chose to follow. and now it's time for you to get out of the way. >> it's interesting because the candidates seem to have two different strategies. in the heat of the moment, they attack each other. when there's a decisive victory, they go back to attacking president obama. we'll see if that continues now as we move forward into the next

primaries. why? because newt gingrich is saying he's not getting out of this race. he's taking it all the way to the convention in tampa. that's in august, by the way, so how will that affect the negatives that these candidates continue to get? i think one of the most interesting facts that have come out of these polls is that mitt romney is losing some of the independents now because of the continued attacks going on within the republican party. will that become an issue moving forward? >> a big part of that was newt gingrich's anti-capitalist attacks on bain capital. meanwhile, newt gingrich continues to vow to race -- he says he's going to go on and on and on as gretch said for the next seven, eight, nine months. >> what did you think of the speech? i thought it was very good last night. he didn't write it down. >> newt gave an acceptance speech even though he lost. >> he thinks he's going to do very well in super tuesday when 20% of the delegates. if you look back in history -- >> newt gingrich is about to have a very bad february. >> he is. there's only one debate and

we've talked about the negatives for him. to keep any kind of excitement alive if you're looking for that, you can look back in history and see this has happened before. it was ronald reagan down and out to gerald ford and came back after super tuesday. does he have a point? i'm going to leave it up to the viewers. let us know what you think about that. should he drop out now or continue? >> here's newt gingrich. he never really talks about mitt romney. he does mention a massachusetts moderate, but that's about it, though. here's his winning speech last nature. >> florida did something very important coming on top of south carolina. it's now clear that this will be a two-person race between the conservative leader, newt gingrich, and the massachusetts moderate. when the voters of florida really made that clear. >> uh-huh. >> massachusetts moderate is pretty much the only reference.

he was talking about president obama the rest of the time and they ever said anything that negative from there on in and said he vowed to fight through and as you mentioned, when is super tuesday? march 6th. that's a long month. we'll see if that will bring newt life. >> the big thing will be money, whether or not he can continue. can newt gingrich and rick santorum for that matter, can they continue without having the kind of war chest? it came out that mitt romney has $20 million to work with. so can they compete with that? it always comes back to organization and money. what else did we learn from florida? here's some of the takeways from that. unfortunately because i don't agree with this, the negative ads apparently worked. i'd love to see. maybe it's just, you know, an ideal world that i want to see. i'd love to see a campaign without negative ads but apparently they work and look it, they were the highest ever in florida. 92% of the ads were negative. >> and cost $15 million. >> you're like a lot of people. a lot of people say i hate the

negative ads but they work. >> that's unfortunate, i guess. >> given the fact that they do work and given the fact that when barack obama runs against one of these two guys, you think it's going to be absolutely nuts. >> i think we should take them out for every candidate. >> freedom of speech. >> how about make ads sarcastic? i think we should hold them to solid sarcasm. meanwhile, mitt romney proved one thing, he can win republicans. if you take the second and third place finishers and combine them, santorum and gingrich, it does not equal what he got. he also got 41% of conservative votes but amongst the very conservative, he still lost that. >> the very conservative according to brit hume is who mitt romney needs to really cultivate. here's a little bit of brit from last night. >> has some work to do. the more conservative elements of the republican electorate doesn't trust him still. that's a persistent problem. we see it in the exit polling tonight. he has to worry about that going forward. he needs to bring those people

behind him. remember this, 40% of the people in this country self-identify as conservatives. fewer than 30% identify themselves as republicans. >> that's the thesis of this entire election cycle. the thesis of this entire election cycle is the split within the republican party and the conservative base and will they align with candidate mitt romney? that to me is the essence on the republican side, what's going on. >> rick santorum had picked up states and he came in third. he wasn't expecting anything different and he did not have the money and his momentum has been something almost new over the last month so he didn't win but his approach is interesting because we've been talking on this couch about how newt gingrich wants rick santorum out. santorum seems to have changed this around. he's got a different idea. listen. >> somebody can be a conservative nominee and you know what? in florida, newt gingrich had his opportunity and came out with a big win and a lot of money and he said i'm going to be the conservative alternative.

i'm going to be the anti-mitt. and it didn't work! he became the issue. we can't allow our nominee to be the issue in the campaign. >> so newt really wants rick santorum to drop out but rick santorum said last night, number one, i'm not dropping out. number two, newt. you had your chance after a blowout in south carolina and you blowed it in florida. >> you know neither one of them have any chance if they're both in because they're both solid candidates. >> i know. you know. see what happens. >> no one drops out. i like this race. >> i do, too. it's exciting. there's a lot going on and besides, it's vetting the ultimate candidate for the general against barack obama. >> we love vets. >> we do. one of the people that -- >> all right. i'm going to give you some headlines now. attorney general eric holder back in the fast & furious hot seat tomorrow and facing possible contempt of congress charges? republican darrell issa, the head of the house oversight and government reform committee said he's tired for holder to comply

for numerous subpoenas he's received for documents related to fast & furious. issa sent holder a letter giving him until february 9th to turn over the letters or he'll face contempt charges. check out the damage left behind after a boat exploded at a marina in washington state. it sank the boat and two people on the other boat sprang into action and helped rescue that man that officials say probably lived there. he suffered serious injuries, burns and a few fractures. no word of what caused the explosion. facebook expected to file paperwork this morning for a $5 billion ipo. the company has picked morgan stanley and four other book runners to handle this deal. it's expected to be the largest ipo ever to emerge from silicon valley. facebook founded by mark zuckerberg in a harvard dorm back in 2004. michelle obama on leno last

night. she really scored a punch. >> sometimes when he sees me punching, i -- i didn't mean to hit him that hard! >> wow! >> poor al. he's so sweet. i don't think he knew that was coming. >> he didn't know it was coming. >> very funny. i think she must be doing boxing in her workout regiment which is how they got to that part of the skit. >> didn't we -- >> a little billy blanks. >> didn't we have -- was it huckabee on the program and jimmy kimmel did something where it looked like you or huckabee kicked me in the head and knocked me off the stage. >> sounds like very 2008. but we'll see. we also had billy blanks on the show and he -- >> it's a big show! we got mitt romney on the show today! >> sounds like -->> we got al capone's niece. >> we've never had both of those on the same show before. >> i don't recall. it's a birthday one little girl will never, ever forget. >> dad!

how did you make it? >> more on this heartwarming father and daughter reunion straight ahead. >> the head of the national intelligence says iran is ready to attack on our soil? that's new. details of that coming up next.

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absolutely free with your enrollment. don't wait another minute. call the number on your screen now, promo code: alerts. lifelock service guarantee cannot be offered to residents of new york. >> 5:16 in the morning here in new york city and we've got some quick headlines for you. the united states jumping into action once again to save an iranian boat in the persian gulf. forces from the abraham lincoln responding after the iranian fisherman sent out a distress call. we answered it. this is the fourth time this year the united states has come to the aid of an iranian boat. you're welcome.

and former oregon senator suzanne bonamicci winning the special election to replace disgraced congressman david wu. remember him in the tiger's suit? he resigned last summer after this picture surfaced of him in a tiger costume. he was accused of bizarre behavior and forcing himself within a young woman as well. >> tough to push back against bizarre behavior when you're in a tiger outfit. i've always said that. that's why i don't wear it. brand new threats we haven't heard of before. the intelligence agency says iran is ready to attack on our soil, i guess we could say again. it came out during a threat assessment hearing on capitol hill. >> chief intelligence correspondent catherine herridge has details. >> steve, gretchen and brian, this hearing on world wide threats before the senate from al-qaida 2.0 to the possible transfer of guantanamo detainees to the taliban to one of the most serious issues facing the white house. >> iran dominated the hearing.

>> sanctions to this point have not made any kind of difference. does anybody dispute that? >> no, sir, the sanctions imposed so far has not caused them to change their behavior or their policy. >> in written testimony, the nation's top intelligence officials said iran's alleged plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador to the u.s. last fall shows "some iranian officials probably including the supreme leader have changed their calculus and now are more willing to conduct an attack in the united states." and iran may retaliate in other ways. >> the iranians have the capability, we assess, to temporarily close the straits. >> on the possible transfer of five guantanamo detainees as part of a confidence building measure to engage the afghan taliban in peace talks, lawmakers were told a 2009 review deemed the men too dangerous to leave the detainee

camp. >> did they concur these five detainees were too dangerous to transfer? >> i don't think anybody in the administration harbors any illusions about the potential here. >> critics of the administration say the white house is putting the cart before the horse. prisoner swaps are usually dealt with after the peace terms are settled and given that they want to be out by 2014, the taliban is no hurry to negotiate. they know the u.s. position may get weaker over time. on cyber security, criticism from a leading democrat. >> who is going to start paying attention to this? >> there's a white house coordinator for it that is orchestrating this across the board. >> we've made no progress and that is embarrassing in view of what you and your predecessors have said about the nature of the threat. >> i did not think today it's necessarily number one threat but it will be tomorrow. >> in the past, usama bin laden and the al-qaida leadership have dominated the hearings but no longer. >> we face a more diffused and decentralized threat from al-qaida's affiliates in yemen,

somalia as well as the threat from lone actors in the united states. >> the chair of the senate intelligence committee warned that the al-qaida affiliate in north africa is in a good position to take advantage of the instability created after the arab spring. steve, gretchen and brian, back to you. >> thank you very much. for the report from d.c. >> coming up, may we soon see the pictures of bin laden dead? it's being debated right now. we'll have the latest for you. >> we debated it for you. mitt romney runs away with the florida primary. not before getting down in the mud. is anyone the real winner here? we're going to report and you decide from somebody who knows the reading well.

>> mitt romney is a clear winner in yesterday's florida primary. it was over in like 90 seconds. after weeks of negative campaigning, they are wondering is anybody coming up on top of the big picture? the florida primary listed as one of the most negative campaigns ever. 1 out of 11,000 tv ads that aired in the last week were negative. 92% of them were negative overall. so how do floridians feel about the mudslinging in retrospect in a tampa bay radio talk show host and host of the show "the watchdog on wall street" he's got a rich business background. chris, welcome. >> good morning. >> you got this primary season fresh off a huge win from newt gingrich. how in your mind did mitt romney come out and take this thing?

>> well, i think it had more to do quite frankly with the debates rather than the money spent here in the state of florida because mitt romney had the money in south carolina and he lost. so you saw two divergent things there. he took it to newt gingrich in the debates and yes, he spent money here and they keep talking about all the carpet bombing but the reality is a lot of the people out there, i think it eventually becomes static to them, all that negative advertising after a while. it's almost like the peanuts. nobody wants to listen to it anymore. >> right. you think we're in the most negative campaign, we listen to a lot of the stump speeches and they seem to be heaping hate on each other. >> yeah, there's no doubt about it. it's like who is nastier. it seems to involve to my father can beat up your father. yesterday, there were some robocalls running in the state of florida talking about mitt romney denying kosher meals to holocaust victims. nobody knew what was going to happen next. it was getting a little bit out

of control. people turned the whole thing out and they decided based on the debates rather than the negative advertising. >> especially what about your area in particular, tampa, the so-called i-4 corridor, that seems to go to mitt romney as well? >> yeah, very, very important area. he spent a lot of time down here as well. you take a look. i mean, you got the younger people as well. they tend to go to ron paul in this direction but overall, i think it was very important for mitt romney to win this state and i think he did real well. >> negatives overall, we understand, are arising. let's compare to all the can't dates he wants to beat. in 2009 president obama's approval rating in florida is 59.5%. now it's down 13 percent. why is that? >> well, it's taken a long time for the economy to recover down here. we were, i hate to use the phrase, ground zero, one of the ground zeros for the whole real estate fiasco. the economy is turning around down here little by little. i think rick scott, our governor

has done an absolutely fantastic job in going about attracting businesses to the state but it has taken a while. you know, you take a look at certain pockets in and around the country. a lot of the things that were promised, remember that old peggy joseph line there, if i vote for him, he's going to support me, it was a very famous thing from one of his campaigns. i don't think the people are getting that support and, you know, people in florida, they'll change their minds very, very quickly in regard to somebody. >> and overall, chris, just your opinion, do you believe the republicans helped or hurt themselves in florida against president obama? >> oh, i think they helped. i don't think any of this negative stuff matters. it's kind of like the giants, they lost to the redskins, what, about a month, month and a half ago but they're in the super bowl today. one the super bowl kicks off and that's the general election, none of this negative stuff is going to matter. >> kind of negative for you to bring up the giants in their last loss. i happened to be at that game and i thought this was a really low blow considering the bucs haven't made the playoffs. >> i'm a giants fan! i'm with you.

>> like everyone in florida they've transplanted from new york. thanks so much. >> you got it! >> good luck on your show today. >> have a great day. >> you, too. coming up next, what you did not see last night. very cool from behind the scenes at the primary! then, it's a birthday she'll never forget. >> more of this awesome father-daughter reunion ahead. 5-hour energy? when i'm on overtime. when i'm in over my head. when i have to be sharp...

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declared the winner in florida as well and there you got the margin, 46-32. >> mitt romney looked like he was casting a spell or doing a magic trick saying nothing up my slooe. i have no idea. you should have people write their own captions for the behind-the-scenes shots. >> the headline on drudge right now is landslide for romney in florida. for details once again, phil keating is delighted that the primaries in florida, this is his last morning up really, really early. >> it's been a pleasure every morning. yes, mitt romney rolling to a 14-point commanding comeback after his upset in south carolina beating newt gingrich by a good 14 percentage points. and santorum only pulling in 13% while watching the results from las vegas where the caucus begins on saturday. romney triumphant as he greeted a crowd of several hundred people and his speech certainly was partly to address all of his

florida republican support but it was also, you could see it, somewhat of a rough draft for a speech that he expects to give back at the national convention as nominee to face off against president obama. that speech really for the entire american electorate. >> as this primary unfolds our opponents in the other party have been watching and they like to comfort themselves with the thought that a competitive campaign will leave us divided and weak. but i've got news for them. a competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us. and we will win. >> this race was called only minutes after the polls closed up at the panhandle of florida which is on central time. so 8:30 p.m., romney pretty much gave his speech and then it wasn't until after 9:00 p.m. that newt gingrich came out. it was not a concession speech.

it was absolutely treated like a victory speech for newt gingrich. he promised there are 46 states to go and he is in this to win this. he promises his supporters he's going to win the nomination as the most conservative candidate in this race in august. take a look at these fox news exit polling numbers. interesting data, romney, married women he got 51%. among seniors 51%. amongst self-identified republicans, 48%. gingrich had 30%, santorum 11% and paul 6%. this question -- who better understands the problems of the average american? here the spread is much closer. romney is still number one at 34% followed by gingrich at 27%, santorum, 19% and paul 12. florida obviously very important. it was the first really humongous state in the nation to

hold a caucus or primary. in this state, unlike new hampshire and iowa, south carolina, the candidates couldn't meet everybody door to door. florida is too large. great ethnicity and much more reflective of the nation. this truly was a national reflection for the candidates. mitt romney rolls to victory. >> thanks so much for the early start. we'll check back with you later on this morning. in the meantime, both the candidates decided to turn their attacks to obama again and his health care law. specifically over a part of the law that has come to the forefront in the last couple of weeks. and that has to do with the catholic church. and being forced to administer contraceptives and other things that may be against the tenets of their faith. >> absolutely against them. >> mitt romney and newt gingrich had this to say about it. >> president obama orders religious organizations to violate their conscience.

i will defend religious liberty and overturn regulations that trample on our first freedoms. >> finally, many of you may have noticed that the obama administration has declared war on the catholic church and other religious institutions. i want you to know that on the very first day, i will sign an executive order repealing every anti-religious act of the obama administration as of that moment. >> so it's a big deal, too, because i understand in church they -- for the first time, the catholic church is actually reading a letter condemning this move and behind it and some of the people aggravated by it and taking action about it is archbishop dolan. listen. >> never before has the federal government forced individuals and organizations to go out into the marketplace and buy a product that violates their conscience. this shouldn't happen in a land where free exercise of religion

ranks first in the bill of righ rights. how about letting our leaders know we want liberty restored and the mandate rescinded. we can't afford to strike out on this one. >> he's absolutely right. i mean, for the -- for the administration to force catholic universities to administer contraceptives and the morning after pill and sterilization and all that other stuff, it flies in the face of what the catholic church stands for. interestingly enough, yesterday, jay carney said that he felt the administration had struck the appropriate balance. meanwhile, very liberal columnists in "the washington post," e.j. dionne said the president had "utterly botched the issue through his progressive catholic allies under the bus with this ruling." >> the interesting thing is they can't be segregated out of it because there are people that can be exempt from this particular thing but because

catholic universities, take, for example, notre dame, they employ so many other people who aren't necessarily affiliated with their religious side and that's why they cannot be exempt from it. and yet, they still operate as a catholic university and so it still violates what's being described as their conscience. so that's the interesting part of how it becomes more of a global thing than just within the church. in the meantime, let's get to the rest of the stories making headlines at this hour and speaking of birth control, we have a massive recall to tell you about this morning. pfizer says about one million packets of its pills may not have enough contraceptive to prevent pregnancy. this involves low tablets as well as nogistril and estradial tablets. the affected packets have expiration dates ranging between july 31, 2013, and march 31, 2014. >> looks like a thermostat. now to a big development overnight, the usama bin laden death photos and videos may be

released to the public. the group judicial watch sued the justice department to access to the images. there's at least 52 pictures including bin laden shot in the head. the c.i.a. reportedly fears releasing the photos could trigger violence and revenge attacks on the united states. yeah, they don't want to get the al-qaida violent. >> never like to do that. >> meanwhile, an historic phone call from air force one just released by the national archives. president lyndon johnson moments after he was sworn in following the assassination of president john f. kennedy, you've seen that picture, here he is calling rose kennedy to console her on the death of her son, the president. >> wow. the recordings also include discussions about removing kennedy's casket from air force one. how they would do it. >> talk about a birthday, this little girl will never forget.

>> dad! how did you make it! >> sergeant adam paige surprised his daughter for her 6th birthday in school. he entered the room returning early from a deployment in afghanistan. what did little bailey think about her surprise? >> that's my only birthday present i wanted is you. >> ahh! sergeant paige has been in the army for seven years and was just redeployed to utah where his family lives. fantastic. >> that's a deployment he'll embrace. >> no kidding. >> meanwhile, are you awake right now? if not, wake the person next to you because if you had trouble sleeping, well, guess what insomniacs, the health risks keep piling on. an important warning straight ahead. >> and then the evangelical vote an important one. who scored big there last night in the sunshine state? we'll break down the numbers with tony perkins from the family research center. look, he's here live in the

studio. he'll be with us in two minutes.

>> quick headlines now beginning with a fox news alert. four british men have admitted their involvement in an al-qaida inspired plot to bomb the stock exchange in london. they are about to stem charges in the u.k. prosecutors say the men lost their list of targets which was located by police. a new study says you are six times more likely to have type 2 diabetes if you have trouble sleeping at night. the study says there's a link between melatonin and a gene called mt2. scientists found those with a defective version of the mt2

sleep gene that as an irregular release of insulin with increased risk of diabetes. i'll go into detail in the break. >> thank you very much. the evangelical vote is an important vote with numbers big enough to tip this important primary, where did florida's faithful stand? let's talk to tony perkins, the president of the family research center and brought us a king cake. >> all the way from new orleans. >> thank you very much. >> good to be with you. we have a graphic to show you as we start our conversation. the exit polling showed who had the most support among evangelical voters. newt gingrich 39%. mitt romney 36%. within the margin of error there, what does that say to you? >> what's interesting is romney has only improved by about five percentage points from last time. he still has yet to convince the

evangelical voters and social conservatives and the tea party voters that he's their candidate. he's getting much closer. florida is a big deal, important state but necessarily reflective of the other states that are coming down the line. >> what about your organization? who do you like? >> well, as an organization, we have not endorsed a candidate. i have not endorsed a candidate. will not be endorsing a candidate. >> you were part of that summit. >> i was a spokesman for that, when that group came out and 3/4 of them, almost 75% gave their support to rick santorum because of where he stands on the issues and that's really what our constituency looks at is where do these candidates stand on the issues? where do they stand on life, where do they stand on marriage and religious freedom and there's this tension in this election of who do we think can win this election as opposed to who do we like the most? and that's the tension you see. i think this will go down as the yo-yo primary, you know, where one's up. he's down. he's up, he's down.

it's just constantly so i -- i think it's far from over. >> right. >> with two candidates not getting out, santorum and gingrich saying we're going the distance, it's unlike 2008 when romney lost to mccain by five points in florida and then dropped out and mccain's path to the nomination was clear. >> tony, if mitt romney is the guy, can your organization support him? >> well, again, our organization doesn't endorse candidates but i think that -- >> you can nudge. you can nudge your people in the direction. >> yeah, obviously. the overriding concern among evangelicals, conservatives in this country to replace barack obama. when you see what he's done on religious freedom, just -- i saw before i came on here the mention of the conscience protections. how organizations, religious organizations for the first time in the history of this country are being forced by the government to buy and pay for a service that violates their --

the tenets of their faith. that's a huge deal. i was in new mexico this past weekend speaking to baptist pastors who this issue of contraception has long been seen as a catholic issue. they're saying wait a minute, this is our issue, too, because we're now having our religious freedoms trampled upon by this administration. >> there's a lot to think about. tony perkins, thank you very much for joining us. thanks'king cake. >> that's for the king of morning talk. >> listen, by the way, our ratings just came out for the past month and we're up 20%. can't beat that. >> so great. >> thanks to the folks out there watching like you folks. who are up at 10 minutes before 6:00 a.m. eastern. meanwhile, straight ahead, donald trump still weighing the presidential bid so do the results in florida last night push him any closer to a decision? his advisor up next. plus it's a real game changer, your first look at the brand new movie about governor sarah palin.

>> 7 minutes before the top of the hour. the economy, of course, playing a key role in yesterday's florida primary. >> with 9.9% unemployment and a high foreclosure rate, it's no surprise this sunshine state voter said that that was their key issue and picked mitt romney when they went to the polls. >> with that information and more, coming from the fox news exit polls, here to react, political strategist and advisor to donald trump, roger stone. good morning to you, mr. stone. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm doing just fine. let's look at some of these other exit polls. the economy is the most

important factors, we just alluded to. the voters said they thought mitt romney could be in charge of that the best. 52%. newt gingrich 30% and so on. surprising or not? >> not really. i think this is a manifestation of the fact that mitt romney has had terrific message discipline talking about his private sector experience, his experience as a job creator. i really think mitt romney is beginning to connect on this issue. it will be the dominant issue in november. >> now, who best understands the problems of the average american? you wouldn't be -- you wouldn't think off the cuff that it would be a guy worth $250 million but it is. 34% say mitt romney best understands it and then gingrich at 27%. santorum at 19%. how significant? >> it's only a third of the voters saying that mitt romney best understands them. and their everyday concerns. i think clearly this is a disadvantage for any republican. it always traditionally has

been. on the other hand, again, romney's message discipline, talking about the need for jobs, talking about the need for people to balance their own budgets, talking about the need for opportunity is beginning to work. i think we saw that last night. >> you are an advisor to donald trump. >> i'm a friend of donald trump. he's not running for anything right now. but -- and i certainly don't speak for him. but he's been a friend for many years. >> let me just ask you this question, then. as a friend of donald trump, he is also worth a lot of money. would he face the same types of problems if there really are any problems with being wealthy and relating to the average american. would he face those same problems if he decides to get into the race as a third party candidate? >> yeah, i think not. first of all, i think he speaks the language of the working people. i think people admire his values and his work ethic and his deep commitment to capitalism. donald trump's a patriot. he loves this country.

he hates seeing what's happening to it. and i guess the only prediction i could make to you is he's not going to do anything that would inadvertently aid the re-election of barack obama. he's been, i think, one of the president's most effective critics. he's watching this race very carefully. he wants to be absolutely sure that the republican candidate can beat obama before he throws his support. so i think he is like the rest of us, he's watching very carefully. >> all right, roger stone, thanks for getting up and appreciate your analysis of last night's big primary victory for mitt romney. roger stone. >> happy to be here. >> ok. move over, tina fey this morning. we're getting out -- getting our first look at julianne moore as sarah palin. >> difference between the hockey mom and a pitbull. the stick. >> so will it be a fair portrayal? we have a first look at the new movie "game change" top of the hour. >> and the wikileaks founder

taking his extradition fight to the supreme court today. can he cry his way out of this one?