>> they're delicis. >> and going to say thanks for watching, see you tomorrow. by the way, stick around for coverage, election coverage, arizona, michigan primary tonight. >> did you get one? ♪ >> voters in michigan and arizona set the stage for a crucial period in the presidential campaign. from america's election headquarters in new york, this is special report. ♪ >> good evening, i'm bret baier and we're coming to you live from fox news headquarters tonight in new york where we will monitor the republican presidential contest in michigan and arizona. as we told you before, what happens today and on super tuesday, next week, will go a long way toward determining who will be at the top of the g.o.p. ticket in november. my colleague tells me what

we're learning from the exit polls. >> hi there, good evening, bret. the people in michigan and arizona are still voting. here is what we're seeing so far, in the michigan primaries as long as you're a registered voter you can vote and we're seeing quite a few independents and democrats, more than we saw in 2008. and rick santorum has been trying very hard to appeal to this group as a cross over vote for him and here is how that is shaping up. democrats are making up 10% of the michigan vote for today, and half of those, 51% are-- 50% are going tore rick santorum in the exit polls this evening. a look at the independent vote in michigan for you now, nearly a third of today's voters are independents, they split their vote, 34% going for romney, 31% for santorum, 24% of them for ron paul and 7% of independent votes seem to be going towards newt gingrich tonight. we asked voters about the auto bailouts, hugely sensitive in

the state of michigan. all four candidates said they were opposed to the auto bailouts. that's not going to hurt them today because half of the voters that we're seeing, 51% also disapproved of the auto bailouts for the companies in michigan, so that isn't hurting these folks in this election this evening. let's swing over to arizona and get a little bit of a handle for you on how the exit polls are looking in arizona. considered all along a very good state for mitt romney and we're clearly seeing that, so far in the exit poll numbers and he struggles with some groups in arizona and they're important to the republican base of course, for example, santorum has the edge in arizona as well among those who say that they are strongly conservative. and this has been a sort of hiccup group for mitt romney and wearing out in arizona. how about the issue of immigration? obviously a big story in the state of arizona, we're seeing a change in views, 34% of voters say that illegal immigrants should be deported and that's down from 44%, who said that back in 2008. not the surprisingly, those

who support that are going for mitt romney, he has the strictest position on immigration of all of these candidates, and he's doing well with those voters. let's look at the arizona electorate, favorable toward mitt romney this evening. michigan is going to be a little tougher for him. that one is going to be the longer story of the this evening, we're going over the exit polls and picking up trends in michigan as well and get more for you as the night progresses. >> bret: martha, thank you very much. michigan is all about not losing for native son, mitt romney. rick santorum is pulling out the stops to claim a monumental upset. chief political correspondent carl cameron is in novi tonight. >> two runners, two states and nomination delegates. it's hard to call how the 39 nominating delegates will split. and in arizona where the winner takes all 29 delegates, romney is heavily favored. if we do well in arizona we'll pick all of them.

horror though, we want to make sure the 14 districts we get as many as possible and get the delegates i need. >> michigan awards based on 14 congressional districts and santorum made it a nail-biter, launching last minute robo calls, democrats who may vote in the open primary. >> on tuesday, democrats are going to send a loud message to massachusetts mitt romney by voting for rick santorum for president, this call is supported by hard working democratic men and women and paid for by rick santorum for president. >> and i just think it's outrageous and disgusting, a terrible dirty trick at the last hour, by the way, late in the afternoon on the day before the election, maybe hoping no one would notice. they start sending out calls to democrats, union members telling them to go into the republican primary and vote against mitt romney. >> he accuses santorum who made a stop in ohio today of quote, kidnapping michigan's g.o.p. primary with democratic help. >> did you ask him whether 53%

of the people answer who voted, who were not republicans, was that kidnapping the process? >> and didn't seem to complain about it then. that's what bullies do, you hit them back. >> romney is expected to win at least five of michigan's 14 congressional districts tonight for at least ten of michigan's 30 nominating delegates. losing the popular vote to santorum in michigan would be devastating for romney. >> i'm running against a guy in this state who is an economic light weight. he doesn't understand how the economy works, never having had a real job in the private sector, he doesn't know what it takes to create real jobs in the private sector and i do. >> romney officials expressed concern all day they see evidence of democrats voting enough it could have an impact. how close is it? senior officials in both the romney and santorum campaigns admit they're not sure how this could go and possible while one candidate would win the popular vote, another

could win the majority of the delegates through the congressional districts. it's that close. and for rick santorum, to be that close in mitt romney's home turf, that's a triumph regardless of the actual outcome tonight, bret. >> bret: be an interesting evening. carl, thank you. stick with us all evening for primary coverage. we'll begin at 9 p.m. eastern with america's election headquarters special. join megan kelly and me with analysis from chris wallace, joe tripe, chris wallace and charles krauthammer, updates from coming up. and fitting the definition of a war criminal, amateur video reportedly shows more shelling in the city of homs today. activists say 250 people have died there. in the province in two days and the u.s. political chief say a well over 7500 have died over jo all and nearly 100

civilians are killed every day. israel reportedly is saying they will not give u.s. advance warning if the country attacks iran's nuclear program. chief white house correspondent ed henry reports it could be the latest snag in the relations between the israel and u.s. >> israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's high stakes visit to washington may already be getting off on the wrong foot after a report suggesting that israeli officials have privately warned president obama's inner circle, they'll not give awe heads up. >> do you want them to tell you whether or not they're going to attack iran? >> i'll save the leader to leader and defense minister to defense minister conversations for the-- those participants. >> a stream of top u.s. officials have been to israel trying to calm the situation. but israel seems ready to act alone. >> when we say that all options are on the table, we really mean it. >> a top republican warned,

given the tension with israel they may be pulled into a military conflict. >> if israel takes this action because israel sees the united states is not being hopeful enough in wiping out iran's nuclear program, the united nations will help. >> raising the stakes for the president's speech sunday at the american-israeli public affairs committee annual conference one day before he meets face-to-face with netanyahu. israel has been pushing the president to layout for of a warning to iran and aides suggest nothing new. >> there's time and space to pursue diplomacy, to pressure the iranian regime, to sanction it further, to get it to change its behavior. >> critics charge sanctions may cripple iran's economy, but not stop the progress towards acquiring nuclear weapons. >> and we're at the two possibilities and have been for some time. a, iran gets nuclear weapons or b, somebody uses military

force. >> defense secretary leon panetta warns if painful budget cuts are implementeds the u.s. may the not be ready for war. >> do you feel we have the ability of necessarily militarily to deal with the threat that iran faces. >> yes. >> and if we implement it skw sequestration that ability would be reduced. >> it would hurt us. >> and iran says it's for peaceful purposes, that billed ago nuclear bomb would be a great sin. not many people buying that, bret. >> bret: ed henry on the lawn. thank you. and more said about sequestration, across the board budget cuts and ken conrad said more savings are needed. >> we've made no plans for a sequester because it's a -- it's a nutty formula and it's goofy to begin with. and it's not something, frankly, that anybody who's responsible ought to put into

effect. >> bret: there is also stiff opposition mounting to planned cuts in military health care benefits. the christian pastor sentenced to death in iran last week is apparently still alive. sources close to attorneys for youssef, tell fox news he was confirmed alive as of early sunday. iran's government is now saying, he's being held for rape and other crimes and. and a big jump in consumer confidence the dow finished above 13,000 for the first time since may of 2008 today. the s&p 500 was up 5, nasdaq gained 21. gasoline went up another 2 cents a gallon overnight and the national average is now 3.72 for a gallon and that's 15 cents higher than a wook ago. crude oil fell 2dz$2 a barrel t finish at $106 1/2.

>> over the higher gasoline prices. >> it's just about damn time and we adopt a national energy policy and do something the american people want us to do. enough of this. >> it gets back to a republican controlled body that says we need no regulations, we don't need to see them, we ought to let the marketplace work. show me an example where the marketplace works with respect to oil distribution. >> congress, really, some members in congress are politicizing the issue of gas prices. >> we will talk about spending and wasting your hard earned tax dollars, according to one government office, later in the grapevine. and live reports from michigan and arizona, sites of today's big primary voting.

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>> more on today's big primaries now. first to western michigan, a conservative republican strong hold. correspondent mike tobin is in grand rapids talk to go people about what they are seeing and

hearing. >> the staggering negative attack machine is back. >> michigan voters have been subjected to more than 6 million dollars of tv and radio ads, many of them negative. >> i just tune them out now. i go and get my coffee, i don't listen to the details because it's just overwhelming. >> the voters are aware that candidates generally choose to be positive and let the super pacs run the attack ads. >> more than 20 years in washington changed santorum, and responsible for the message. >> when you show the candidate what a good guy he is, it's the other groups affiliated that are throwing those other attack ads, if you want to call them out there. it's not really the candidate. >> now, i grew up in michigan. >> mitt romney scored points with his hometown campaign, but was attacked by republican opponents and the unions for opposing the auto bailout. >> in a state ranked 10th worst for employment, michigan

cares about jobs. although the numbers came down during the obama administration, they say because people have moved. >> there are some that believe in michigan and people no longer looking for jobs and no longer on the roles. >> and voters say they're choosing a candidate they think can beat president obama and address the big domestic problem. >> the economy, the future, the debt, mostly the debt. >> yeah. >> and burdensome debt that our grandkids are going to have to live with if we don't do something about it. >> it's not just the republicans. the obama campaign is running advertisements to the tune of a quarter million dollars, stressing the president's support of the auto bailout, and the fact that they're spending money here now shows you that democrats believe that michigan will be of key importance still in november. bret? >> mike tobin live in grand rapids, mike, thank you. now, out west in arizona, senior national correspondent john roberts tell us today's contest means something extra to many people.

>> voters were flying their primary colors today. 29 delegates at stake in winner take all arizona, a contest many voters see as the most important in a long time. >> our country is in such trouble. it's a bigger deal, i think, the next four years, the next eight years are really going to determine a lot for our country and i'm frickin' nervous about it. >> and unemployment remains above the national average and foreclosures count about it. >> and trei goodman is an undecided voters and annoyed that the candidates are more interested in attacking each other than the issues that he really cares about. >> it would be good if people had jobs and maybe that's what we should focus on. >> you haven't seen any of the republican candidates out there with a jobs plan you really believe in? >> not really. >> mitt romney is the clear favorite here, doing well in recent arizona polls. well enough that arizona's governor felt safe to endorse him. >> and ni know a lot of people

are conflicted and want to take a little from each candidate and put them together. unfortunately you can't do that. >> other officials aren't convinced. sheriff joe arpaio supported mitt romney in 2008 and then through in with joe perry and since he dropped out arpaio stayed on the side line. >> i don't get on the band wagon. where were all of these people in arizona four years ago, i was the only guy pushing mitt romney, i don't know what's changed in four years, still the same guy saying the same things. >> some voters we talked to were luke warm on the candidates and no one who grabs them, they said. others have given up on the whole process. randy williams owns the original red dirt t-shirt company and employs 40 people. a staunch conservative, he hasn't voted since george bush, sr. raised taxes. >> it's actually my opinion that democrats are more honest, they tell you exactly what they're going to do, they're going to take all your money. republicans say they're not going to take all your money,

but they take just as much. >> many people waited until today to make their choice, a whole lot of others cast their votes by early ballot. some 300,000 of them and while that number represents more than 50% of all the people who voted four years ago, it's fewer than what county officials in arizona expected. bret. >> bret: john roberts live in phoenix tonight. john, thank you. still ahead. we'll show you what newt gingrich is up to today. first, the latest on the controversy over president obama's contraception mandate. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8. with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain. one non-narcotic pill a day, every day,

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>> two more students have died from monday's shooting at a suburban cleveland high school. that makes three killed and two wounded. lawyer identifies the suspect

as tj lane who attended an a nearby school for troubled students. president obama told critics of his auto industry bailout are rewriting history. >> i believed in you, i placed my bet on the american worker. and i'll make that bet any day of the week. and now, three years later, three years later, that bet is paying off. >> bret: the president assertions union members profited from the rescue efforts are quote, a load of you know what. republicans responded this is an inside deal for his cronies who got millions of bailout money and are backing the president's reelection campaign. and the president is still taking heat for--

and now they're pushing back. >> attorney general eric holder vowed in house testimony that the federal government's legion of lawyers will follow suit. >> to the extent that that action is challenged in court, i would expect that the justice department would defend, when it is in place, a compromise. >> the compromise holder cited was announced by president obama on february 10th. it requires employers to provide female contraception in their health plans with a cost assigned to insurers, if an employer, such as a catholic afailation institution, objects. and secretary of state hillary clinton weighed in. >> i know that it is a very controversial issue, but numerous studies have shown that the incidents of abortion decreases when women have access to couldn't essential. >> some lawmakers consulted an eight page memo from the congressional research service dated february 24th, it cites three federal laws under which

catholic institutions that fail to comply with the rule may be fined as much as $100 per day per employee, and face an excise tax of the same amount and frequency. >> the dioces of columbus has many more than just 100 employees, if they refused the mandate, refused to violate their first amendment, and refused to violate their religious beliefs and refused to pay the fine, what consequences, as an employer, will bishop campbell face? >> i have no idea. the hypothetical, i mean, i can-- if you want to submit that in writing, i'll get you an answer in writing, but i don't have-- >> thank you. >> cardinal timothy dolan of new york, joined a protest petition signed by 300 influential religious figures while the catholic advocate action committee a video urging to pressure congress to repeal the mandate. >> catholic bishops, and leaders of other religious groups were not consulted and

yet the head of-- was. and the respect for rights act. >> that measure pending in the senate is expected to receive a vote on thursday, meantime, congress ann steve israel of new york, told his supporters had raised $650,000 online within days of a congressional hearing on this topic held earlier this month, bret. >> bret: james, thank you. attorney general eric holder called questioning today over the tracking gun problem nope as fast and furious, appropriate, neutral and different from previous hearings on capitol hill and ardent in defending his on actions over what he called a fundamentally flawed mission. >> once this was brought to my attention, i stopped it. i stopped it. >> okay. >> in spite of what other attorneys general might have done with briefings that they got. when this attorney general heard about these practices, i said to the men and women of

the united states department of justice, to the field, to people at main justice, this ain't going to be the way we conduct business. stop it. >> bret: this just in, we're getting word about republican senator from maine. olympia snow, will not run for reelection. after amount of consideration and reflection i'll not running for reelection. >> again, senator olympia snowe not return for reelection. and perks for accused terrorists. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption.

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