a new cnn/orc poll has romney and santorum, look at that, neck and neck, dead heat at 32% apiece. mean? does it mean anything? let's just talk about it anyway, shall we, with cnn political editor paul steinhauser live in mt. st. joseph, ohio, smiling because he's in a polling station and finally being joined by real people there. also live in washington is democratic strategist penny lee and republican strategist matt is with us again today. paul, i'm going to start with you only because you're the numbers guy and every day we've been coming to you with a new poll, whether it's a cnn poll or another network or other news organization. little by little mitt romney going up into almost every contest in my recent memory, has been chipping away at his deficit margin. i don't know what's at stake or what's at work or what's at play, but how has he been doing this right up to the very day when he seems to close them almost entirely? >> well, here in ohio i think tv has something to do with it. both mitt romney and the super pac supporting him, restore on future, ohio, spending a lot more

i do think though, first of all, i think if you look at the arc of the polling, although the cnn/orc ll showed a tie today, if you look at kind of the tracking amongst all the polling this is really pretty significant romney movement from last tuesday or wednesday till today. so i'm not convinced it's going to be this nail-biter that we're trying to sell. >> gloria? >> well, i don't know that it's going to be a nate-biter but i think what we could say by tomorrow night is that we're seeing the beginning of the end. of the process. i don't think there's a lot of incentive for people to drop out. so long as they've got these super pacs who are willing to find them. by the way who ever thought that the true beneficiary of super pacs would be barack obama. but he is. and i don't think, you know -- i don't think you're going to see somebody rush to drop out, but i would argue that even if newt gingrich does win georgia, if mitt romney wins over half the delegates tomorrow night, and you've already seen a bunch of prominent conservatives starting to endorse him, that you're going to see tha

this according to cnn poll. 43% would like some provisions overturned. 30% want to get rid of the whole bill. will, health care costs are a serious problem for millions of americans we know. if it's not the president's plan, then who is offering a solution? >> not very many people. i would say this is a legitimate criticism of republicans. they are good at criticizing the existing plan presented by the president and i think deserves a hefty amount of criticism but they haven't been good at providing an alternative solution. there's only two ways to ever exert price controls, cost controls over health care. you either allow the market through free market mechanisms that lower prices for every other product in society to work its magic in the health care industry or you empower the government to have a large enough influence over health care to put price controls over it. where we sit right now is in the middle, a place that has done neither. we've seen health care costs spiral up for years and years and will continue to. >> candy making the case for conservatives who oppose mitt romney o

at 7:00 eastern, the polls close. cnnults. >>> we're following lots of developments in the last hour of the "cnn newsroom." let's check in first with paul steinhauser. >> carol, i'm at a polling station just outside of cincinnati. ten states today, 419 delegates at stake. such a crucial day in the battle of the gop nomination. the whole story coming up in a few minutes. >>> i'm dan lothian at the white house. president obama will be holding a news conference this afternoon. he will be asked a number of questions about foreign policy, domestic issues, but also will be announcing a new housing plan to help those in the military and veterans. i'll have more details at the top of the hour. >>> i'm elise labbott in washington. israel prime minister heads to capitol hill after talks with president obama and tough speech about iran's nuclear program, coming up in the next hour. >> thanks. >>> also in the next hour one of newt gingrich's key supporters will join us. georgia governor nathan deal. and asked if today could make or m

. >>> in the democracy 2012 news a cnn poll shows president obama holding a double digit lead over mitt romney and rick santorum. if the general election were held today, instead of november, 54% of voters would back the president only 43% said they would back the current front-runner mitt romney. the president head 55-42 laze over santorum. >>> today governor omally will vote in the primary election taking advantage of the early voting and cast a ballot as a public safety facility in baltimore. primary day in maryland is next tuesday. april 3rd but early voting began on may 24th and goes through today. this is to give everyone a chance to cast that ballot. >>> presidential candidate ron paul spoke to a crowd at the university of maryland college park. 1500 supporters were there chanting president paul before he started his speech. >>> when it comes to be religious, mississippi is the number one state. a poll finds the magnolia state is the most religious in the united states. nearly 6 in 10 feel from mississippi consider themselves to be very religious. utah was the large number of mor

>> not so good according to the latest cnn poll. president obama has a double- digit lead over mitt romney. president obama would get 54% of the vote and mitt romney, 43%, only slightly better than rick santorum. >> a police officer is suspended this morning. this involves an internal investigation. the sergeants handling of money prompted the investigation it is questing the handling of cases. he works in drug enforcement. internal affairs investigators are conferring with city prosecutors. the sergeant was suspended last week. the aclu is expanding its investigation into john leopold. whether members of the police department conducted illegal background checks on leopold's political opponents. teare said he could not comment without jeopardizing an ongoing investigation. >> 59 degrees on tv hill. looking to save some money on groceries? >> a new video sheds some light on the trayvon martin investigation. >> the so-called pink slime getting some unlikely supporters. >> it will be a dry day today but we have some rain in the forecas

cnn exit polls might give you a better view of what height happen tonight. in mississippi, the expectation among overall is that romney would win based upon cnn exit poll little at 33%, second would be santorum and third would be gingrich in alabama overall, santorum would win the exit poll, according to the exit polls, romney second, and gingrich third. so, now for the view on the ground, is michael shure, the political correspondent for the young turks, he's epic politics man and that spent the last week talking to alabama volares. he joins us from montgomery. michael, welcome inside the war room. >> governor, it's nice to finally be on your air. it's really a pleasure. >> glad to of you on. what the heck are you doing in alabama, anyway? >> i'm down here for a variety of reasons. i'm doing a story on volar i.d., following a civil rights tour, voting rights tour, and the primary is here in alabama while i'm here. i went out to talk to volares quite a bit today and wasn't really able to come to terribly any conclusions. what i was able to tell is that people

newt gingrich lays off a third of his staff, replaces his campaign manager, a new cnn poll says 60% ofut what of the next steps for the candidate. >>> bishop t.d. jakes will join us for the full two hours, heads up the 30,000 member church the potter's house in dallas, texas. his new book "let it go" talking about the power of forgiveness, we'll get his thoughts on the kill of trayvon martin and how to forgive in the toughest of circumstances. >>> and i get to chat with nba all-star carmelo anthony, the face of a new got milk but it's got chocolate milk campaign. we'll talk jeremy lin, talk the nicks a knicks and why he doesn't think can he get president obama on the phone. all of that at the top of the hour. see you then. this is $100,000. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. [ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to o

which is why, i suppose, that a lot of the polls show americans overwhelmingly in favor of televising these arguments before the nation's highest court. a new cnnrc poll shows 61% of those surveyed shows the supreme court ought to allow tv cameras into the hearings. only 35% said no. in december, congress held hearings on the so-called cameras in the courtroom act. supporters say tv coverage of the high court's hearings could provide more transparency. opponents say allowing cameras would detect for the institution. to quote rick santorum, bull stuff, and the people have every right to witness what goes on there. anyway, here's the question. you can figure this out. should the supreme court arguments over health care be televised in go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. post a comment on my blog or go to the post on "the situation room's" facebook page. wolf? >> they're making a little progress because they now allow audio to come out. i suppose in the next 10 or 20 years they might let television cameras in there, jack. >> i heard they no longer ride horses to court, either. they actually get in the cars and use that mode of transportation. they're gett

least 12 american cities all of them in support of the slain teenager and his family also a new cnn poll 73% of americans believe the man who shot george zimmerman should be arrested. he has not been. because he is claiming self-defense saying he was attacked by the 17-year-old fox tv station in orlando recently says he witnessed the con problem station,. >> the guy on the bottom ohio believe had a red sweater was on was yelling help help. i told him to stop and i was calling 911. when i got upstairs and looked down, the person that was on top beating the other guy was the one laying in the grass. and i believe he was dead at that point. >> bill: the factor was not been able to confirm that zimmerman was wearing a red sweater but his lawyer is pounding the same theme. >> george zimmerman suffered a broken nose, an injury, a gash to the back of his head. grass stains on the back of his shirt. he claims that trayvon martin struck him and he went down and he was acting in self-defense. >> bill: well, according to the sanford police department report george zimmerman did have a bloody nose a

. >> so let me -- we referred to the cnn poll released today celinda, that says that 61% of republicanse race and 60% say that gingrich could give it up. how do you get candidates to pay attention? the candidates who are the subject of those polls to pay attention and actually drop out? >> part of it in the case of ron paul he doesn't believe in polls. and believes that most of his followers are polled. and in the days by of newt gingrich we have rarely dealt with a candidate with this kind of ego. >> and donnie in the last 30 seconds we have how do you have that conversation with the candidate? drop out, boss? >> it's sort of like coming home from a high school party and telling your parents you got arrested for drinking. >> you don't want to be the one having that conversation. >> no. in seriousness, the politicians are as varied as people are varied. so if you have a trusting relationship with the candidate, you can have that relationship with the candidate, if the candidate doesn't trust his or her own team it's hard. >> thank you for joining us inside "the war room." up next i know

a cnn poll has mr. romney up 14 percent in illinois. i have heard about that and another poll an automated paul with double digit lead spirit one thing to keep in mind is that the polling done in previous states has under counted the support of rick santorum and over counted the support of mitt romney. we note turn it is going to be like tomorrow. predictions of a blood are premature. who will hurt from the low turnout? it depends where it comes from. here in the chicago area among republicans that is not good for mitt romney. downstate that is not good for rick santorum. santorum needs a big turnout downstate and a low turnout in the chicago area among suburban republicans to have a shot at illinois. can you explain the idea of the beauty contest the popular vote could be won but delegates lost. you have winner take all states and proportional states. where the number of popular votes and they get a percentage of delegates. illinois is unique. we have what is called the presidential preference. the top of the ballot. you are asked we wa

the latest cnn poll shows romney two percentage points ahead in mississippi, which is within the marginf error. in alabama gingrich is three points ahead, also within the sampling error. rick santorum is ten points behind gingrich in alabama and 12 points behind romney in mississippi. romney got some help on the campaign trail from comedian jeff foxworthy. appearing in richland, mississippi, foxworthy invoked the name of his popular game show assuring voters that romney is smarter than a 5th grader. gingrich told the gulf coast energy summit in biloxi that president obama's energy policy is "kuckoo land." and rick santorum focussed on alabama, checking out dreamland barbeque in tuscaloosa. it's been a while since illinois had a voice in helping pick a republican presidential candidate.. but the state is a valuable prize for this year crop of candidates. and they're all headed our way. newt gingrich will hit several campaign events in the northwest suburbs on wednesday and thursday. ron paul will be in champaign- urbana on wednesday. rick santorum has rallies scheduled in niles and elgin

if you look at a cnn poll, 50% said that they oppose it and it reflecting the fact that greater intensityrvative side. the key question is going to be whether that dynamic changes if in fact the court strikes down the law. does that affect tremendous creative energy on the left in order to have people say, look, if a republican supreme court strikes this down, we better re-elect president obama. >> hampton, are their politics involved here? i was reading some of the language between some of the justices and justice scalia said, look, if we're forcing people to buy health care, what else are we forcing them to do, does it stop? it seems to me that all of the questions is unconstitutional. tell me whether or not this is straight talk or whether it's political? >> well, interestingly enough, a key part and how the passed the law in the first place. the justices on both sides said back to the whole idea of the mandate and there is everything else in the law, that a lot of the 2700-plus pages in the law was simply politics under the guys of getting enough votes to pass the health care bill. it

>> a brand new cnn poll in ohio. get ready.ll release what's going on in the ohio presidential republican race for tomorrow. and georgia, as well, it's do-or-die, as he himself acknowledges, newt gingrich. two new polls, ohio and georgia, these are the biggest contests coming up tomorrow. super tuesday, we like to call it. >> all over it. >> you'll be working. >> i'll be working. >> i'll be working right along with you. >>> still to come for us, quite the story, a high school kid makes a game-winning shots and moments later he collapses on the court and dies. now an investigation reveals a serious threat for many youk kids. parents, do not miss this next! i've had surgery and yes, i have occasional constipation. that's why i take doctor recommended colace® capsules. i have hemorrhoids and yes, i have constipation. that's why i take colace®. [ male announcer ] for occasional constipation associated with certain medical conditions, there's colace® capsules. colace® softens the stool and helps eliminate the need to strain. stimula

our latest poll shows president obama coming in with double digit leads over mitt romney and rick santorum in matchups. the cnn/orc poll has obama as the pick of 54% of registered voters across the united states compared to 43% for romney. obama tops santorum by a very similar 55-42%. our chief political analyst gloria borger is here and the president's numbers seem to be improving. what's behind this? >> it seems to me, wolf, when you look at these double-digit leads that clearly the republican primaries have been better for president obama than they were for the republican candidates when it comes to the general election. when you dig deeper, that the president's approval rating is 50% and that was the first time since last may after saurm was killed, but most of all, wolf, when you look at our polls, the people seem to think the economy is taking a right direction. take a look at this. we asked american, republicans and democrats, economic conditions are good. when you look back at january 2009, when barack obama was inaugurated, only 13% thought so. bottomed out in september 2011. now up to 31%. now that's

just take a look at this one cnn poll from ohio, which everyone knows is a crucial state.. not even statistical. literal. between santorum and romney. historically, super tuesday is when the nomination the clinched. bush, clinton, mccain all e mernled after the big day, but tomorrow, nobody will walk away with the actual nomination. not as many states as last time and this whole proportional allocation thing, that's a real problem. some of those guys probably regret it now, unfortunately for the gop, they have caused this to drag out. this has been going on and destroying the party's image. four in ten americans say the process has left them with a less favorable impression of the republican party. okay, so great to have you with us. i appreciate it. let's talk first of all about what everybody needs to do tomorrow to win this thing. mitt romney is the guy people are looking at to see if he can do it. he's got to win a majority of delegates. >> yeah, i think the bar's pretty high, but he's won five states in a row. the big moe seems to be behind mitt romney. the key is to

but in the cnn poll that came out very revently where the majority of voters say they still blame george the son for the economy and for wrecking the economy, i think that this endorsement by the father is going to just underscore and remind voters that it actually was the son who put in the policies that wrecked the economy and that interestingly enough are the same policies that romney will support and will implement. >> all right. >> the rubio endorsement was, i think, clearly a good one for romney, but his endorsement was so lukewarm, he basically said, well, i'm going to endorse him because he's going to win and, frankly, we wanted others to run but they didn't, so i kind of had no choice but to endorse him. >> let me show you new polling. 69% of the republicans said mitt romney had the best chance to beat president obama. but take a look at this one. 61% said romney is a strong leerksd stronger leader than rick santorum. but now check out this one. santorum wins when it comes to being honest and trustworthy. lenny, what do you think these polls say about the mindset of the voter to

we have a brand new cnn poll coming out at the top of the hour.nk we'll be interested to see how the president does with romney and rick santorum and how's the president's job approval. does the american public think the country is moving in the wrong direction especially on the issue of the economy. lots of good stuff coming up. we'll also be speaking to a passenger who was aboard that jetblue flight from new york to las vegas that had to make the emergency landing in texas. we've been covering it now for 24 hours. his eyewitness account is coming up here in "the situation room" and obviously a lot more on the supreme court, jeff toobin, kate bolduan. in short, brooke, we always have a lot of news. no doubt about that. >> bring it, blitzer. >> thank you. >> now this. >> at least 26 syrians killed today as the government's army continues to shell its own people even though we reported on this yesterday, syria has agreed to a cease-fire. one activist says that snipers in the city of homs are still targeting anything that moves. that's a direct quot

now, according to a newly-released cnn poll, when asked if george zimmerman should be arrested for the shooting, 73% said he should. 11% said she should not, 16% have no opinion. joining me to talk about the media coverage of the tragedy and how it shapes public opinion, guys, welcome back. we now have one eyewitness that we know of for sure that is saying, you know, that hang on second, trayvon was actually hitting zimmerman. none of us were there. this is all coming out in dribs and drabs. is the media irresponsible in their coverage? >> the media has been irresponsible in this for a couple of reasons, sean. one, the police are never going to release all the information. they shouldn't. that compromises prosecutions. instead of having witnesses properly interviewed, they created a media firestorm. then you get the usual race hustlers that come out of this, sharpton, jackson, come out and play the narrative. zimmerman is a half hispanic man, but they play the black-white narrative so the media picks up on that, and they get to the media that matters to all the groups. they're using tr

our latest cnn poll shows romney is neck and neck with rick santorum who needs a big day of his own. let's go straight to jim acosta. he's on the scene for us in ohio. what's the latest there, jim? >> reporter: wolf, ohio mike the marquee state in the super tuesday states up for grabs, but you wouldn't know it. none of the candidates were out in the state looking for votes, but rick santorum will be in steubenville, ohio later tonight with the hope that mitt romney's past will finally catch up with him. >> i'm sorry my super tuesday travel schedule prevents me from being with you in person. >> and the -- mitt romney appeared via satellite before a conference staysed bied pro-israeli lobby aipac, slamming the president's record. >> hope is not a foreign policy. >> reporter: not to be outdowned rick went in person. >> if they do notary down the facilities, we will tear them down ourselves. >> reporter: while the candidates were off the trail, the ads did some trash talking for them. >> mitt romney -- >> reporter: and no surprise, in the air war over the super tuesday battleground of ha

. >>> a new cnn poll tonight shows 73% of americans believe george zimmerman should be arrested.d salma moyer witnessed the aftermath of the shooting. good to see both of you. appreciate you taking the time. i know you have talked about how you're sure there's no way this could have been self defense when you witnessed what happened between trayvon and george zimmerman. what makes you so sure that's the only way to see it? >> i guess basically from what we heard and what we saw when we were in the kitchen making coffee. selma was closer to the window. the window was open, the blinds were pulled, and we heard a whining. not like a crying boohoo but like a whining, someone in distress. and then the gunshot. when we looked out the window, we didn't -- we couldn't see anything, it was a little dark. we ran out the sliding glass door and within seconds we were out there. zimmerman -- she was out first. zimmerman was standing over the body with -- basically straddling the body with his hands on trayvon's back. and it didn't seem to me that he was trying to help him in any way. it didn'

new cnn poll numbers that should have president obama and his 2012 campaign team smiling.chnology not moving forwardy is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] introducing the lexus enform app suite -- available now on the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer. [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. with more choices and fewer calories, see life in the best light. [music] transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it's meant to be seen. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. >>> officially, still four active candidates for the republican

with the news out from a new cnn poll that says 92% of republican voters feel that mitt romney is somewhat likely, very likely, or almost certain to attain the republican nomination, 92%, and no other candidate is getting anywhere close to that number. with ron paul himself and the ron paul campaign all but conceing to "the new york times" today that they don't know why the fervor on the campaign trail for ron paul has not translated into any practical progress toward the nomination for dr. paul, with rick santorum's last great hope appearing to be the wisconsin primary on tuesday and with news that he is still being outspent there five to one by mr. romney, that's better than the ten to one it had been, but still, it's very bad. with the not particularly gusty winds of the republican presidential race all seemingly, now, at least, blowing in the direction of a mitt romney nomination, two things happened today. two things happened on mitt romney's personal campaign trail today that typify what his challenges are going to be. two things. first, there is the mitt romney as human being proble

least 12 american cities all of them in support of the slain teenager and his family also a new cnn poll 73% of americans believe the man who shot george zimmerman should be arrested. he has not been. because he is claiming self-defense saying he was attacked by the 17-year-old fox tv station in orlando recently says he witnessed the con problem station,. >> the guy on the bottom ohio believe had a red sweater was on was yelling help help. i told him to stop and i was calling 911. when i got upstairs and looked down, the person that was on top beating the other guy was the one laying in the grass. and i believe he was dead at that point. >> bill: the factor was not been able to confirm that zimmerman was wearing a red sweater but his lawyer is pounding the same theme. >> george zimmerman suffered a broken nose, an injury, a gash to the back of his head. grass stains on the back of his shirt. he claims that trayvon martin struck him and he went down and he was acting in self-defense. >> bill: well, according to the sanford police department report george zimmerman did have a bloody nose a