from washington, "the mclaughlin group," the american original. for over two decades, the sharpest minds, issue one, romney's route! >> thank you! to the people in this room and to the people all over florida, thank you tonight for this great victory! [cheering] >> the big winner this week was mitt romney. romney on tuesday won the florida republican primary. he routed his nearest

competitor, newt gingrich, by 15 appoint over a 275,000-vote margin. but gingrich also sees himself as the florida winner. the primary playout is now a two-person race. gingrich bathrooming on getting supporters of rick santorum if he drops out, as well as supporters of rick perry and herman cain, who already quit and both endorse newt. speaker gingrich says notwithstanding this florida win for romney, he is in for the long haul. >> we are going to contest every place and we're going to win and we will be in tampa as the nominee in august. [cheering] >> question, where is this soft spot in romney's route? >> if you look at the whole north of florida from the panhandle almost to the sea, which is south, georgia basically and south alabama, that's tea party conservative,

evangel cat. mitt romney does not center at enthusiasm of the heart and soul of the republican party. they're not in love with him. that's one problem he's got. he's go to center to rally those folks. the second is newt a good catholic is not following the catholic admonition not to let the sun set upon your anger. they have to go out to the crossroads at midnight and drive a stake through that guy's heart. >> eleanor? >> romney is something like $15 million in florida, burying gingrich. and it was very negative race. he didn't have an inspirational close to that campaign, you're right, the turnout is down. republicans are really disspiritted. and romney spent the rest of this week stepping all over his victory with his comment he doesn't really care about poor people and then appearing with donald trump, who sort of the epitomy of the rich. when romney's biggest problem is he seems like an out of

touch rich guy. so he -- whatever he gained out of florida he managed to take away in terms of any support among independents or even among the republican base, which didn't like what he said because he seems to support the safety net. >> let me pick that up right there. okay. the donald and the mitt. >> it's my honor, real honor and privilege, to endorse mitt romney. >> there are some things that you just can't imin your life. this is one of them. >> question, what is a political worth of donald trump's endorsement of mitt romney? >> very little. that's the most tepid acceptance of an endorsement you've ever heard! he didn't stop with that. >> talking about romney? >> even that sentence -- will be one reason do this john finish he would have turned this aside which i think would have been the classy thing to do, he would have had this guy as a fierce critic for the next three months. he could command media attention, playing with the

idea of running as an independent some they decided look, we'll take the 24-hour hit of standing on the embarrassment on a stage with this guy, in order to avoid that pain in the future. >> you remember when oprah endorsed obama in 2008? >> we do. >> do you think that the oprah endorsement of obama is greater an impact than big -- >> big difference, john! i mean, oprah has a following that's like -- some people joke about -- >> following in a present nice this is the difference. oprah's is an evangelical following. she's like a spiritual leader to many fans. trump leads the contingent that believes obama was born in kenya and has a phony hawaiian birth certificate. those folks i don't think will follow his endorsement over to mitt romney. in the base and will be hard -- [everyone talking at once] to the picture. >> i think i would disagree to

an extent because he is a celebrity figure. he is popular, he's got a following among people who don't follow politics. and if they say trump likes him, i -- i think it's a marginal. >> trump is a big businessman, internationally known. >> we know that, yeah. >> that's had he brings to romney, in addition to what romney has to offer him. >> trump casino out there -- >> yeah! >> if you're romney and your biggest problem is seem to be an out of touch rich guy appearing with trump who is also an out of touch rich guy doesn't help. and apparently, trump was bargaining with both the dink rich camp and romney camp over his endorsement, and basically put it to romney, take it or leave it. it's got to be today. and if romney can't confront donald trump -- what do that say -- >> i think trump is -- >> romney campaigned to put a big trump -- >> but the fact that mitt

romney çwent ahead and said, yes, tells you that their campaign is -- and it does bring something -- >> you bet. >> i think it brings something. >> the nation of panama and central america p trump has put up a brand-new building there that's incredible. >> he's big in panama. >> he owns it! >> where you get this -- kind of -- when i'm telling him on the air because the two-lane highway, and if it gets jammed up you can't get to where this place is. [everyone talking at once] >> politically incorrect! >> i'm not concerned about the very poor. we have a safety net there. if it's need repair, i'll fix it. i'm not concerned about the very rich. they're doing just fine. i'm concerned about the very heart of america, the 90, 95% of learns who right now are struggling and are continue to take that message across the nation. >> did the democrats distort romney's words about the very

poor? >> is this hard bowel politics or foul ball politics. >> they distorted it. you know what he meant. still a monumentally stupid statement. it wasn't just a political gaff, it was immorally obtuse. no conservative believes that the safety net is a good thing for poor people, and you can just let them languish and everything will be fine. we're all about uplifting the very poor out of that situation and if mitt romney doesn't realize that, he has to read some charles murray very soon. >> always the level of poverty in the united states. >> 15%. >> 15%. how is poor characterized in the united states? >> about 22, 23,000. but that excludes food stamps, free education, medicaid, all these other benefits. >> what do you mean 22, 23,000? >> 23,000 for a family of four. >> that constitutes prove ty? >> yes. but -- [everyone talking at once] >> if you're use that -- he thinks in these brach its, because he's a businessman.

if you use that as a bracketed, rather than an undefined poor, which we all agree we take care of the poor, we have to do that, it's mull and it's civic. >> let's not compare -- [not understandable] >> $900 billion on mean tested safety net programs that have been increasing in recent years. partly because of recession, but there are also projected to continue to increase aft notically and what we need to with all these programs, work requirements, try to get -- >> it's not conservatives -- >> let him finish. >> the best way to combat poverty is to get people working. >> it's not conservative doctrine to say we'll take care of the poor, because they feel that's a culture of dependency. so what romney did is stepped over the conservative belief, this was a twofer. he alienated independents because of his lack of concern, and he alienated conservatives -- >> no -- [everyone talking at

once] >> off on the democrats. >> better question that can be asked. >> here's the problem. >> the yes is in -- is there an equality in in united states and is that to be encouraged? or should -- [everyone talking at once] >> there is an equality there. will always be an inequality. but now a political issue because inequality is so great. one thing left out is the pugh center did a poll which found that the most republicans, grass roots republicans, do believe -- should help the poor and the abstract at least. >> inequality is a result of freedom. romney's problem is that's the authentic after got of bain capitalism. >> come on, i love to fire -- >> let me in! , michelle gets physical. >> all right. [cheering] all right. you ready? >> yes. >> all right.

are you guys -- count. three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20. [cheering] woo! >> that was amazing! [cheering] >> 25 times. they weren't touching the floor! pretty impressive for -- >> is the pushup regimen here that we saw unrelated to politics? seriously. do you think -- >> i want [everyone talking at once] >> people feel more inclined to vote for obama because they see his wife out there? >> her popularity is very high

partly because she's so human and relates well to people. and her anti-obese ty campaign which rush him was and others have heckled her on. she's serious. >> do you invite clarence so show us what he's got! [everyone talking at once] >> i can do 10! >> anybody realizes including the people on this set. do you weighing? >> i think she's a -- she's become a real asset. she's very much -- with the people. very much in a sense. in a way that mitt romney has really not been. >> she was going to run the picture behind the scene but she said that's not the way it's working out. going in the direction he wants to go in a bet -- >> they came only on the angela davis type. >> right, right! >> but covering new yorker. >> right! utah [everyone talking at once] >> pallet's comment that

inequality is the result of freedom the result of freedom a lot of tax benefits, pat. >> i didn't say i love her. i said i think she's an effective politician helping her husband. when we come back, afghanistan!

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currently spending $2 billion a week. commander in chief obama says that the u.s. involvement in afghanistan would shift, fighting the taliban directly, no. advising and training the afghanistan military and security forces to the taliban directly, yes. this week defense secretary leon panetta nailed down the drawdown. the u.s. combat mission will end as early as mid-2013. roughly 18 months away. the u.s. announcement comes on the heels of french president nick lahr sarkozy saying tout a french troops from afghanistan, the fourth largest con tinge only of trooby 2013, a year ahead of the u.s. >> for france the pursuit of the transition and the gradual transfer of combat responsibilities will allow us to plan the return of totality

of our forces by the end of the year 2013. >> france a is calling on all 28 countries of nato to remove their forces by the end of 2013, all 125,000 members of the nato forces. >> the road of our troops will gradually change from to support. in that there's nothing new. >> question, will sarkozy's decision to pull french troops out of afghanistan help him get reelected? >> it clearly is designed to, and he's running a poor second now to the socialist candidate. but i think this and what panetta is saying suggests that what we're looking for is we're going to walk, not run to the exit, and i think what we're going to wind up with i hate to say is coming, is a decent interval between the time we leave and the time this thing reverts to the taliban, with a lot of consequences, americans are not going to like.

>> i don't know about that. they're talking about negotiations with taliban. you can't -- you can't have a war without end, with the alternative would be to leave troops there forever. and -- vietnam is now a thriving little capitalist enclave and they still practice communist and we get along fine with them. >> they lost a lot of dead. >> how well it turned out in vietnam. >> well, if the alternative to leave troops at this level at this -- if this is a fight romney wants with the president, i think the president is on strong ground. he has come mild with enough of a foreign policy record he can turn on romney and say -- >> if he didn't want to see the surge through, he never should have ordered it. if you're going to withdraw prematurely and give up hard shod gains -- best case scenario, end every 2013 everything is find of i kind of doubt it. and the problem is the reason afghan is always wins wars is because they always shift to the winning side by the end of them. if you broadcast to people on the ground we're out of there, no matter what, no matter what

the conditions are, you are giving the taliban a huge boost. and you can try to talk to them around the table all you want. if it's not going to make a difference they know they have the upper hand on the ground eventually. >> pakistan runs afghanistan, and our voice with pakistan right now. and we're not making the kind of progress that will help to stabilize the afghan situation. we're at the mercy of the tribal warlords. so we might as well pull out or pull back -- >> another -- >> carens, how did this stand -- [everyone talking at once] >> 15 years -- [everyone talking at once] >> we made gains in the southern part of the country. we haven't made gains in the east because we -- >> leaving behind a corrupt kabul regime. is is it strong enough to stay in power? >> i don't believe it can last in power, after the american troops are gone from afghanistan. i don't believe they can stand up to the taliban. look at the taliban has fought

us -- losing people, they fought us almost to a draw. you think the e american army? a secret report published by nato was leaked on wednesday noting, "though the taliban suffered severely in 2011, its strength, motivation, funding and tactical proficiency remain intact." the question now being raised by the press is, how does that nato assertion jive with president obama's assertion in his state of the union address 10 days ago? >>the taliban's momentum has been broken. >> question, so is the u.s. cutting and running from afghanistan good or bad? pat. >> frankly, i believe that we are going to have to get out of there, and i believe the end is going to be terrible. but i felt that ever since we -- we should have gone in initially knocked them over,

taken care of al-qaeda the boast we could, told them don't let this happen again and left. we put in 10 years now -- lot of blood and treasure, and i think it's all going to be -- >> it's responsible winding down of a war that's already gone on for 10 years. if the taliban is not some outside factor. they are afghans, and they -- sort out that government themselves. >> had is the impact of this on the re-election of barack obama? >> i think it will help him in the short run through 2012. but if he is re-elected, americans will be very unhappy. >> how much is a lever in this getting him reelected. >> i think obama is on the right side of getting out of iraq politically, and politically getting out of afghanistan for 2012. by 2016, it's another story. >> will he stay in afghanistan

through 2014? this was a lot better for him. would you agree? in terms of getting reelected? >> politics work because people are executed with the afghan war and he has the cushion of having killed bin laden which takes the edge off here's a weak president getting out from the fight. but is the wrong thing to do. he should have been willing to see it through to give the government a decent chance. they'll have a civil war. >> never stabilized more than kabul. but that's çwhat president karzai is in charge of and if that's what it comes down to, if kabul falls, then you've got a fallen government. but if kabul is defensible. but the fact is i can't imagine americans hollering to go going back into afghanistan once we're out. >> romney quit sizes this president on iraq and afghanistan. iraq doesn't look so hot but i don't hear romney talking about sending troops back in there. everybody wants out! everybody wants out! >> well, the human toll that was left in afghanistan, as far

as the united states concerned, is really -- it's really an eye- opener. how many bodies we've lost and how much money we spent. there it is right there in

predictions, pat? >> john, as you know, obama has told the catholic church that the -- they're to provide can't acceptives in hospitals and schools and all the rest with health care. and he is in a firestorm with the church and lot of catholics liberal and otherwise. he will back down. >> eleanor? >> well, 98% of catholic women

use birth control at some point in their life and reproductive life so i think the backlash to any backing down would be significant. >> it depends on the type of birth control. >> well, that's my -- it will be significant. >> birth control is also the rhythm method. >> that's allowed. but -- they're doing something else because i don't see the catholic families anymore like the kind pat came from. >> the iud's may be legitimate too because there's no adhesion of the fertilized egg on the uterine wall. go ahead. >> i'm going to change the topic and say the republican fitime. sarkozy in france is running for re-election. he will be defeated. that's in april. bye-bye!

i just had it with cable. it just got more frustrating and frustrating. a lot of times, the picture would break up. for the amount of money that i am paying, my cable company should take care of me. [ male announcer ] stop paying for second best. move up to verizon fios tv, internet and phone for our best price online -- just $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years. first time we saw tv on fios was amazing! i was just in a trance watching it. i'm discovering new channels every day. [ male announcer ] and here's a special bonus: sign up now and get $300 back with a two-year contract.

fios internet -- the speed, you can't compare. i'm able to take care of things much faster now. [ male announcer ] start saving now. move up to fios for our best price online -- $89.99 a month guaranteed for two years and get $300 back with a two-year contract. or ask us about the option of no annual contract. is change good? in this case, change is very good. [ male announcer ] visit verizon.com/greatprice. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's verizon.com/greatprice. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. fios. a network ahead.