white house correspondent and political director. chris cillizza. we saw the president laying it out. this is clearly the general election match-up. how did romney really respond to the president today? >> well, you know, andrea not terribly suppliesi isurprisingl that the president was distorting what paul ryan and mitt romney -- what paul ryan proposed and what romney now supports. this is in i think president obama laid out the democratic case. mitt romney laid out the republican case somewhat today. this is the fundamental access on which this election will shift. the vote in november will essentially be which party do you think has the more responsible, the more doable plan to make our economic future more stable. president obama is casting republicans as nonserious. republicans are casting barack obama as overly political.

as someone who distorts what they're trying to say. this is -- you cos every day for the next seven months, chuck you and i could talk about this because i have a feeling that's what the candidates are going to be talking about. >> of course, chuck, we're talking about ronald reagan. romney talking about ronald reagan, obama talking about ronald reagan. let's just watch. >> ronald reagan who as i recall is not accused of being a tax and spend socialist, he could not get through a republican primary today. >> i actually think ronald reagan would win handily in a primary and frankly in all the primaries as i look to what the president said, there were so many things i found to be distortions and inaccuracies, it's hard 0 give a full list. >> are these the main themes, chuck, we're going to be seeing? >> well, i think what you saw is we have the two also sort of

strategies coming out here. yes, we have this vision sort of two-party vision that i think is going on. i'm starting to wonder out loud if we're going to almost have like a parliamentarily style offering from the two parties and you know, winner takes all type of thing. i think there's some gee graphic and map issues when it comes to senate and house races. ultimately, there seems to be two very stark camps. the other thing i notice is what the president did yesterday -- tie mitt romney to the republican party. mitt romney today is trying to say barack obama is the issue. everything is about obama, obama, boeobam obama. the president wants a referendum on one party. >> of course, easier for the president to try to tie mitt romney to the republican party and specifically to the paul ryan budget to their budget policies because romney was campaigning in wisconsin all week and had paul ryan at his

side. many people feel it was kind of a tryout for a team that could be the team. what about that and the election results last night, chuck, first to you? is anything surprising in what we saw in the exit polls? >> well, the most surprising thing is santorum's numbers were a bit inflated. the margin was smaller than a lot of people expected. and that's largely because there was a greater share of democrats who ended up voting for strum now as you look in the exit polls. had the normal republican primary turnout happened in wisconsin, romney would have won by double digits. that's one thing to keep in mind. i want to go to this ryan question. mitt romney has got a few challenges, he's got to get a running mate that's going to excite the base. and it's not just the grassroots base. i'm talking about the intellectual conservative base of the party from talk radio to the weekly standard to the "wall street journal" editorial page. he's got to have somebody that doesn't have direct ties to the bush administration. and it would be helpful if he

has somebody that helps in a swang state. paul ryan, yes, romney still has a gender gap problem, a hispanic problem and maybe he tries that route. but if you want to play the longer game here, ryan checks a lot of those other boxes prits well. he's younger, you can make a fresh face argument. a lot of those things. i think ryan is on the short list all the way to the end and probably gets vetted. >> you know, andrea, first of all, chuck has convinced me. i was not always on board with that. chuck has convinced me of the rightness of that position. i would say look, to chuck's point about obama trying to make this about the republican party more broadly, i actually think there is an argument to be made that what mitt romney knowing that, knowing that that's where barack obama is going to go, what romney should do is fully embrace not just the ryan plan but paul ryan himself and say look, this is an alternative vision that we believe addresses the serious debt and spending problems in this country. here's what is barack obama has done.

here's what we would do, clearly embracing that putting paul ryan on the ticket does that kind of thing. so i'm with chuck here. i wasn't always i should say. i'm with chuck here. i do think you're looking at probably a short list of paul ryan no matter how it plays out. >> i think it's really smart, chuck. this is the long ball because this is embracing the most controversial but the most aggressive of the budget cutting. and getting firing up the tea party base. >> well, it is. paul ryan, he temper mentally isn't going to overshadow mitt romney. i'm not trying to say that as a knock to paul ryan but there's some other people you hear talked about. marco rubio could overshadow mitt romney. you don't want your running mate to do that either. here and maybe he helps in a swing state. i don't know if he could tip the scales in wisconsin at the end of the day for romney. but he might. and it certainly would get the tea party crowd and the bill

kristol paul gigot wing of the party fired up, as well. >> chuck, i'm glad you're in dry clothes. this was about an hour ago what happened exactly where you're standing. let's show the pictures. one of those poor construction workers hit a water main on the north lawn. i don't know what they're building, whether it's a bunker or anti-missile defenses or just a bowling alley. >> they're doing a lot. >> it's been a secret project. >> yeah, they don't talk about it. it looks like office space to me. mostly office space. probably some other things going on here they won't let us -- when you look at the extensiveness, there is definitely office space to be had, as well. >> the tunnels are somewhere. >> when i look at that, all i think is chuck and i's kids would love running underneath that thing at some point. >> but not for appearing on television and immediately afterwards. thank you very much, chuck todd and thank you chris cillizza.

newt gingrich has not won a republican primary contest in nearly a month. lately his wife callista has been doing more campaign events than he has. on tuesday, after a last place wisconsin finish he released a statement saying "i am committed of carrying the banner of bold conservative colors all the way to tampa," signifying he may be focusing on dominating the platform debate. has the strategy shifted? is this a campaign being put on hold till tampa and you're going to fight for the ideological principles but clearly not for the nomination? >> andrea first, it's a privilege to be with you today. no, the strategy is still that obviously we're not going to get to the 1144 delegates. the strategy has changed to the effect of this is a fluid race and that if one of our candidates do not get to 1144 and after the first vote at the

convention it becomes a jump ball. but then secondarily, yes, i think newt gingrich acts as the free safety for the conservative part of the party to make sure that if something happens with romney or santorum where they implode or have another etch a sketch moment or something like that, that newt will be there to make sure that obama can't cross into the end zone again. >> what makes you think that newt gingrich would be acceptable to the dels? because he has failed to win these -- he's not proved that he can win the primaries and not been able to compete outside of his home state and is so far behind mitt romney and santorum in delegates. >> well, first of all, in terms of if you go to a jump ball at a convention, then all the money in the world and all the slick ads in the world and attack ads in the world become very insignificant because it becomes

a delegate-oriented decision. you remember the first half or the first quarter of this contest, most of these knob ads were focused right at speaker gingrich. i think that what we're finding is even though the numbers are what you say, speaker gingrich is still influencing the national debate in terms of focusing you know before the president sort started addressing romney, he was addressing us and the speaker's $2.50 gas plan. so as long as he is part of the national base, as long as he's making sure that the party remains true to its conservative principles, i think that he remains a viable voice in this contest. and will go to the convention and see what happens. >> mr. milsap, with all due respect, let's take a look at the delegate count as of today according to the nbc news delegate count. romney 573, santorum 212, newt gingrich 137, ron paul 34.

now, how do you influence the debate when you have 137 delegates and you're so far behind? does he risk really blowing his legacy and the respect that he has gained in many circles for you know the intellectual firepower, whatever you want to say about newt gingrich in the past, he has a lot of supporters. does that now become more difficult to preserve if he sticks it out? can you stay too long at the party? >> well, first of all, call me patrick. mr. milsap is my father. second of all, the great thing about newt gingrich is he makes decisions on what he feels is best for the country and not on what he thinks his legacy is going to be. we have 178,000 donors to his campaign he feels he owes a duty to. he has millions of people that voted for him and he has people that want to see him as a part of this conversation and by me being here this morning as his representative, he is still part of the conversation.

the people calling for him to quit i think defies the american spirit of not quitting. it's the same attitude that gave us bailouts and the wholy un-american concept of too big to fail. the great thing about newt gingrich and what he is showing the country as we speak today is that in his view, there's no american that's too small to serve. and i think that is something that shows real leadership and really can affect ultimately where had party is headed in terms of the platform and in terms of beating obama. >> thank you very much. patrick, good talking to you. >> thank you. >> the all male membership policy at augusta tag national is under fire. could the new ceo of ibm be the first woman to wear a famous green jacket all members wear? plus roger simon on the president channeling billy crystal. blast of cold feels nice. why don't you use bengay zero degrees? it's the one you store in the freezer. same medicated pain reliever used by physical therapists.

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>> what was the president really saying when he joked about mitt romney's vocabulary and how about romney's pointed rebuttal in his victory speech last night in milwaukee? take a listen. >> he even called it marvelous. which is a word you don't often hear when it comes to describing a budget. it's a word you don't often hear generally. >> it's enough to make you think that years of flying around in air force one surrounded by an adooring staff of true believers tell you that you're great and doing a great job, it's enough to make you think you might become a little out of touch. >> who is really out of touch? chief political columnist roger simon is never out of touch. you're either here or tweeting. i'm following you all the time. >> you're either here or overseas. >> or some place. roger, what is the dog whistle

from the president about romney and the word marvelous? >> dog whistle is the perfect term for it. because it summons up something that is beyond what he says. it summons up the image of billy crystal saying you look marvelous darling which you all remember, which we all remember. but he's painting romney i think as efete northeasterner even though he was born in michigan who is out of touch with the rough and tumble of daily life and out of touch with ordinary americans and talks about how his friends are marvelous nfl owners. >> and nascar team owners. >> yeah exactly. >> and romney's rebuttal, they're saying it's the president who is out of touch who is not getting your economic pain. he was flying around on air force one and surrounded by sycophants. >> it actually, this was romney's victory speech last night, of course. it was actually i think one of the best speeches romney has

ever given, not just because of the personal jabs at president obama, which were effective, but he really described his vision of america versus obama's vision of america. an america based on free enterprise, and low taxes which lets everyone lift themselves up versus the social safety net of barack obama which romney calls government-centered america. and than really is the division that we're going to see in the fall. >> we're really going to be as i think chuck todd said last night, waer going to be seeing a debate for the rest of the season over taxes and spending where where you're going to cut, how much you're going to tax, whose ox is being 0 gored. it's maybe not class warfare in the classic sense but it really is talking about the economic future. >> yes, and it's one thing more than that. romney used a phrase i've never heard him use before, perhaps he

has. but didn't get much coverage. he says, he said, success requires some risk. if you're a small businessperson, wants to be a big businessperson, you invest more. you risk your money. if you're a poor person, you want to move up to the middle class, you may pay for tuition. go to skoo, get skills. well, the democrats don't really have risk in their vocabulary. they have a system where if you get sick, you should have health insurance. if you lose your job, you get unemployment insurance. if you get old and we hope everyone does eventually, you have medicare and medicaid. they are not emphasizing the risk that individuals need to take to be successes. they're emphasizing a social safety net. >> and, of course, the democrats have already attacked mitt romney for the language and all the rest. this is the american bridge, their attack ad.

>> marvelous. >> whoops. ♪ >> you're marvelous. >> absolutely marvelous. >> so i think this is a theme that we're going to be seeing. roger, always great to see you. thank you very much. coming up next, an international peace plan that fails to stop the violence in syria. former california congresswoman, the president of the wilson center, jane harman joining me on the escalating crisis. plus the fight for equality at augusta national. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" only on msnbc. ♪ i'm michael bazinet, president of creative digital imaging of bangor, maine. we have customers all over the united states. we rely on the postal service for everything that we do. the eastern maine processing facility

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members' jackets. >> all issues have of membership are now and have been historically subject to the private deliberations of the members. that many statement remains accurate and remains my statement. >> sports columnist sally jenkins joins me. you write about ibm's ceo ginni rometty as the ibm ceo. he's earned her way into a win area's circle is genderless. she has a talent for corporate victory. you're writing basically she shouldn't be invited in because he's a woman but because she's the ceo of ibm. >> historically the ceo has been offered a membership. virginia rometty is the first women ceo in the history. is the interesting thing is the club is so private it's possible she's been offered a membership and we don't know it.

the club basically has decided that private sit trumps everything. they're willing to take the hit on social issue here in order to protect their privacy. many, many, many of the members are ceos. that is traditionally one of the ways to earn your way into the club is to be the ceo of a fortune 500 company. it wouldn't surprise me at all if they invite her to become a member because if you look at what defines an the membership of augusta ta, they tend to be corporate sharks. >> there's a whole social networking piece to this. i know from personal experience in the way past that often, you know, top officials are invited for a weekend there by members, by cabinet secretaries who are members. but that everyone you know, the wives go but you can't go if you're an unmarried couple. so that was one of the fixed rules. i mean, there is a real tradition there. >> well, they're very hyde bound. it's an old southern all-male

club. and they're willing to sort of live again, they're willing to live with the implications that go along with that, determined not to be sort of socially tra deuced into inviting a female member purely because he's a woman. they basically have decided to be an aknack crownism. that's not necessarily such a bad thing. i tend to defend their right to privacy. >> defend their right to privacy. i guess they don't get any tax write-offs as a private club. one has to presume that. i should check into that. i don't know that because that would create the kind of issues that have been litigated in other states. there are clubs here in maryland that are all-male clubs and no longer get tax benefits because they will not permit women. >> the other side of it is they host one of the foest famous golf tournaments in the world, the masters sponsored by a number of corporations that need to ask themselves, is it

appropriate for us to sponsor a tournament at a club that doesn't have a fee pail member. >> there are protests every year. you know, the masters is storied. i'm a fan. i watch it. i confess. it's the great course. it's the beautiful course, the an aza za zalias. i don't know whether v rometty would want to be a member. to be a part of the club if you're one of the rare women in those corporate settings, this is where a lot of business gets done, a lot of social networking. >> you know, it's unclear how much business actually gets done at augusta national. you hear rumors that it's frowned on to discuss business there, but then you hear other rumors that quite a lot is done there. there's also a rumor that many, many years ago, a woman was invited to become a member and declined. again, it's a bit of a mystery. you know, one thing that i think is interesting also is that you

know, the club gets portrayed as this old boy's club but hootie johnson, the former chairman and billy payne the current chairman of the club are actually have great records as progressives in the south. hootie johnson who took a lot of heat ten years ago over the all-male policy was responsible for helping to integrate public schools in south carolina, campaigned to have the confederate flag removed from the state capitol. was a board member of the urban league. he was nobody's good old boy. and so you know, the club is very fascinating that way. again, the members there seem willing to take the public hit for remaining, you know, in this very private club. >> thank you so much, sally jenkins. we should point out the other thing that billy payne said to knowing laughter from the press corps, the sports writers is they did have some damage from the tornadic activity and that by the end of day today, it will all be cleaned up.

which is another aspect of the masters. they certainly keep ta course picture perfect. thank you very much. it's always great to see you. >> and the trail of debris, speaking of those storms after those tornadoes ripping through texas. still ahead, secrets from inside the bin laden compound. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports." [ male announcer ] there's a crushing national debt hanging over us. hindering economic growth. it's time for some common sense -- people in congress who'll come together and put partisan politics aside. not with radical schemes that gamble with america's future.

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ripped through northern texas on tuesday. amazing video of the violent storms showing tornadoes that were powerful enough to send tractor-trailers flying through the air. thankfully, no fatalities or serious injuries have been reported but survivors had harrowing tales to tell. >> just imagine what you would think. you know your whole family's in your house and you hear an explosion and then you can't get ahold of them. >> i was praying. god, please watch over us. that's all i could do. >> joining me now is the weather channel's eric fisher. eric, this is extraordinary.

i guess there wasn't as much damage as there could have been if these twisters had stayed on the ground as much as they might have, but just watching it was horrifying. >>. >> and truly was. we were watching this on live television during the afternoon. one of the saving graces a lot of people were still at work not in their homes when the tornadoes came through. this morning it was more than disbelief, still a bit of shell shock in the neighborhood. that nex phase after tornadoes strike a neighborhood is community action. a lot of folks have been shoveling up debris, trying to get it out of the way. for some of these homes hopefully getting the people back in. as we head throughout the course of the day, others will be a complete loss. farther down the street, they're boarding up the windows on this house. this is house saw a lot of damage sustained but the boards are important. the next time it rains through here, you can talk about significant water daniel and you're going to be dealing with

a total loss. i've just been blown away by how quickly people have gotten out on the streets. there's people from the neighborhood all over the place. piles of debris they have put on the street for trash pickup getting ready to get things back to the way they used to be or at least get on the right path. as volunteers come out, we've had people cooking food for everybody. everyone is trying to get on the mend. the reason they can get into this so quickly, the fact that there were no fatalities in north texas. a miracle with how many tornadoes we saw. >> eric, thanks so much for your help in showing us this, but it is mamazing. and -- >> i met with a. >> syrian rebels say that the government assault is not letting up despite next week's dead hine for a cease-fire. at the same time, russia is warning other nations that arming the rebels will just prolong the fight package.former california congresswoman jane harman is president of the

woodrow wilson center and joins me now. let's talk about this because kofi annan, according to the people in istanbul, the leaders there, is potentially being played for time. now there's a new deadline of april 10th. we're seeing according to some reports a new assault by the government regime today. >> dozens of people were killed today. a cease-fire even if it's achieved april 10th is not a plan. we need a plan to get the bashar family out of syria and hopefully some kind of structure for unity government that comes afterwards incolliding the alowhite secretary. one would think he would want to save his children and i've been suggesting this for a while that russia could play the lead role and stop supplying arms to syria and putin who i think would want to reset his -- the world's view of him after his election recently, could step up and put

the pressure on the bashar family to leave the country perhaps offering them asylum in russia be. >> but so far what we've seen from russia is continual stream of false statements defending what the regime is doing and ignoring the reality on the grounds. and there's no sign that russia is going to intervene. there are some warnings from people in the region be careful what you ask for. right now libya is a mess. there are real problems in egypt. i mean, you know the region so well. what happens without this regime? >> because there's real concern they're not saying so publicly but there's real concern in the state department that the syrian opposition is not even as together as the libyan opposition. >> i agree. there may be al qaeda elements in syria. there's a better model than libya. that model is spelled yemen, y-e-n-of m-e-n where salah was almost indicted for war crimes was granted immunity.

he came to the u.s. for medical treatment and now been given asylum outside the country. there is a form of unity government there. there are still skirmishes in the country but the united states is pursuing our interest in blocking elements of al qaeda there from staging attacks against us. >> there's no sign that this is going to in any way change short of military intervention and the syrian government is not about to step down. the defections are not coming despite saudi payments. >> i would agree but the russians are actively arming the country and so are the iranians. just think about the impact on iran. >> they deny, or course. >>, of course. the impact on iran if they're denied their backdoor into lebanon, major terror groups and attacks on israel. but i think this is a singular opportunity for vladimir putin who wants to restore his state's

person cred after a very bad chap per. i think russia is on the wrong side of this. it's a suggestion from one who watches this area closely that that could be the missing ingredient to turn this, and if it doesn't turn, just a cease-fire, i think, will not lead to a good outcome, keeping bashar there after 8,000 or 9,000 civilians are dead and given his history is the wrong strategy for syria. >> jane harman, thank you very much. and other stories making headlines right now on "andrea mitchell reports," the south korea yab native accuses of gunning down seven people at a small christian college makes his first court appearance this afternoon. one goh is being held on three counts of murder and seven counts of attempted murder. dozens of student dem upon administrators were pepper sprayed at san tan mon can

college after trying to force their way into a trustees meeting. look at those pictures. they were trying to protest against rising tuition costs. at least two students were hospitalized after that incident. and one trustee is now calling for an investigation. and a japanese fishing boat that became unmoored during last year areas earthquake appears to be drifting towards alaska. coast guard is monitoring the ship as it nears sitka, alaska, more than 3,000 miles from where it began. it's not clear what is on board or whether it is carrying fuel. a pakistani court has sentenced osama bin laden's three wives and two daughters to 45 days in prison for violating immigration laws. this includes his youngest wife amal who fought back getting shot in the process when u.s. forces raided bin laden's compound last may. only 30 years old, she has given pakistani officials a detailed account of bin laden's life on

the run following nine-. our pakistan bureau chief joins me here. it's so great to have you here. you have the most fascinating account. you spoke with her brother. and it's all on the web so we should point people there. but what happened to them on all these years, and the fact that they were able to move so freely and so frequently inside pakistan, doesn't that raise questions about whether the isi, pakistan's intelligence service, had some inside knowledge of where they were? >> it's true. we're getting some fascinating details about what the last decade has been like for amal, this youngest wife, believed to be his favorite wife and also for their five children that he fathered along the way. the life on the run they spent for the last decade. we obtained leaked interrogation report, a summary of statements that she has been giving to her

pakistani investigators. she basically says over the last ten years, since 2000, the family basically scattered for many years. she was moved to karachi shuttled from house to house sich or seven different residences. she went to pash war to link up with her husband, from there on to the wath valley, and another small town and finally to the compound where he was discovered and killed. we're filling in the details where and when he moved. we don't know how. >> but that certainly suggests that there was a network. you don't move from karachi to peshawar without having the facility of people supporting you. and it tells you that they were hiding in plain sight not only in that compound but also in various other locations in pakistan. >> that's true. the prevailing wisdom for the last decade was that perhaps bin laden was moving from cave to cave in the tribal areas and the border between pakistan and

afghanistan. if this account is to be true, that means that he was really moving well within the settled areas, even the urban areas of pakistan. u.s. officials have said they don't believe any pakistani officials military or government or otherwise played a role in moving bin laden. pakistani officials have said they have no reason to believe maybe there could be rogue or retired elements who helped him along the way. >> when the s.e.a.l. team broke into that bedroom, she was there and got shot in the leg. is she the only one of the wives who is cooperating? >> what we've heard so far from one intelligence official was that the elder two wives believed to be of saudi origin have not been cooperative. one official described one's attitude towards them as very difficult, in fact. amal seems to be the one who has been cooperate package we've seen so far just this one leaked report which her brother told me after reading the recent reports that he says there's more there. he asked the pakistani officials to release the full report so

that more details can be known. >> what's going to happen to her? 45 days in jail, that is the sentence. then we have a picture of the brother. will she then be exiled to yemen potentially? that is one of the ancestral homes of bin laden himself. >> it is. that is where she is from. her passport is a yemeni pass port. her five children have been issued passports. because she wasn't legally arrested till march 3rd although in custody for almost a year, she has twos more weeks on the sentence. officials say at the ends of those two weeks she and her five children will be repatriated to yemen. >> fascinating. amna, great to have you here. all the work you do for us in islamabad and throughout the region. the pentagon is expected to announce today the reinstatement of charges against khalid shaikh mohammed and five of the nine-accused conspirators whose charges were dropped during the whole controversy over the military commissions but that is

going to be reinstated today. so things keep developing on that front. >> they do. >> thanks, amna. why is newt gingrich still running for president? karen tim multi joins me next. this is "andrea mitchell reports." and i thought "i can't do this, it's just too hard." then there was a moment. when i decided to find a way to keep going. go for olympic gold and go to college too. [ male announcer ] every day we help students earn their bachelor's or master's degree for tomorrow's careers. this is your moment. let nothing stand in your way. devry university, proud to support the education of our u.s. olympic team. you get a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her.

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and a choice. take advil now and maybe up to four in a day. or choose aleve and two pills for a day free of pain. way to go, coach. ♪ we'll have the latest on the general election squareoff. and it's been more than a month since trayvon martin was killed. it appears we've reached the point where the case has not only divided blacks and whites but also democrats and republicans. what a new poll is telling us about america. and she says it's her ticket and she's not sharing. new comments from the mcdonald's worker who says she hit the jackpot and she didn't include her co-workers.

>> mitt romney is having a happy day. he has nearly half the delegates he'll need to secure the republican nomination. newt gingrich is by all accounts out of the running. is his campaign whistling past the graveyard? i spoke earlier to his chief of staff patrick milsap. he explained their rationale. >> obviously we're not going to get to the 1144 dels. the strategy has changed to the effect of this is a fluid race and that if one of our candidates do not get to 1144 and after the first vote at the detention it continue becomes a jump ball. >> the washington post's karen tumulty joins us now. thanks so much. what is the strats ji here? >> well, i think that -- i think there isn't much of a xachb left. newt gingrich is out of money. he's deeply in debt. he has scaled back his schedule. he has let go a lot of his staff. but i think there are a number of reasons that he's not quite

ready to call it quits just yet. one is that even as he's being -- he's being more acknowledging reality he is almost certainly not going to be the nominee, he wants to still have an impact on where the party is and also to sort of hold mitt romney's feet to the fire on a lot of the conservative positions that mitt romney took during the campaign. and i think, too, that is it's probably going to be somewhat easier for newt gingrich to figure out some strategy for dealing with this very large debt that he's run-up. if he waits a bit before he gets out of the race. >> now it boils down to the money, doesn't it, and also gender. we saw in the "usa today"/gallup poll today this week a growing gender gap that romney has to deal with. he's clearly being affected by the social issues debate. the debate over contraception the last month to six weeks.

this was a question today from one of the newspaper editors,ed leader of the newspaper editors organization to mitt romney about this. >> the "usa today" gallup poll of swing states released monday showed you leading president obama by 1 percentage point among men but trailing him by 1 points among women. why do you think you face this gender gap? >> well, i know that our party has traditionally faced a gender gap. i think the democratic party has done an effective job of trying to mischaracterize our views. i think that in the final analysis, i will win by having the support of men and women. >> so what does he do about this gender gap? they're trying to make the argument that it's an economic issue and is that going to cut it? >> you know, well, he absolutely has to narrow this gender gap because he -- mitt romney cannot win if the gap stays this big.

but he is correct i think in that women as with men are at the moment most concerned about the economy. and that about the economy, and that is why i think the republican party was so hurt by all of the controversy over contraception over the last month and a half or so because as much as anything it just looked like they were taking their eye off the ball. mitt romney once again went on to say that his wife is traveling around the country and talking to women and tells him they are still concerned about the economy, and i think at some point it is going to become unhelpful for mitt romney to keep suggesting that his wife has to be out there translating women for him. >> i think he is going to have to talk the talk himself. thank you very much, karen. what political story will make headlines in the next 24 hours? that's next. first, the wounded warriors proving that anything is possible during yesterday's game at the washington nationals ballpark. the softball team played against all stars like former redskins

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which political story will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? chris joipz us. we are talking about pennsylvania april 24th and both candidates going there, santorum and romney later today. >> you know, andrea, santorum obviously was there last night giving his -- it is not a victory speech but giving his talk after losing three straits. i think the next 24 hours, 48 hours, 72 hours, maybe the next 96 hours we'll spend time talking about whether rick santorum can hang on in this race until april 24th. i think the race is largely decided at this point. mitt romney will be the nominee.

i think santorum stay in the race if he does not go after romney personally and daily, if he runs i just want to get my conservative ideas out there and preserve for 2016. >> he has been doing that and making it personal. that's what's so surprising. he has been very rough. >> i was stunned by his speech. given the delegates reality here, where rick santorum knows it is a triple bank shot for him to wind up as the nominee. i was stunned by his speech, and he not just the halftime language and all of that but going after mitt romney as sort of insufficient, this is the guy that's going to be the nominee. if you're rick santorum, look out for your future. let's see if he does it. he has 20 days to figure it out. >> it is hard to take it back. theres that videotape. chris, thank you so much. we're also excited about the next 24 because that does it for this addition of ann ma mitchell reports and tomorrow we have

guests coming up, the planned parenthood president in the eye of the storm and katharine mcphee, the spokesperson for malaria no march, just back from africa will tell us what she found there and maybe sing. tamron hall has a look at what's next on news station. >> great to he so you. in our next hour rick santorum says it is only halftime. meanwhile, president obama and mitt romney, well, they have already kicked off the big game seemingly leaving santorum behind. we'll have the latest on the square off, and it has been more than a month since trayvon martin was killed and now loopholes reveal not only has this case divided blacks and whites, it also divided republicans and democrats. how did it come to this? we'll talk about it. the latest on the mega millions mess, new comments in the last hour from the woman in maryland, the mcdonald's worker, who says she has the winning ticket and she is not sharing it with co-workers who say she owes them part of the cash. coffee doesn't have vitamins... unless you want it to.

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