joining me now is the gop power couple, representative connie mack of california. they both support mitt romney. >> hello. >> good night for mitt romney, in almost every sense. looks like his campaign is back on track and in some style >> you're right. it's in a big style. i think this week was a great week for mitt romney. i think there's no doubt he performed well in the debates. tonight was a great night. >> connie mack, it's clearly been a bit of a swings and round-abouts campaign with swings and troughs and different people winning in different places. i suppose we saw in romney this week, we saw the lion in him beginning to roar. was this a sign of his character that you were familiar with? are you surprised that he's now beginning to beat his chest a bit? >> no, i'm not surprised at all. in fact, i think what we saw in the first debate here in florida was mitt romney saying america is worth fighting for, and he is going to put everything out there on the line to do it. and his message about jobs and the economy and the private sector know how to do it -- his

and he knows how to deliver that. >> well, connie mack and mary bono mack, thank you both for your time. my bark is worse than my bite i assure you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you very much. >>> tonight newt gingrich lost big in florida but he vowed to stay in the race. fighting for the gop nomination to the bitter end. through all 46 remaining states. a few minutes ago, i spoke to two huge gingrich supporters. his daughters jackie gingrich and kathy gingrich. it was a bit more cheerful last time i talked to you. you came off a thumping victory. it was a huge party erupting around you. it looks a little bit quieter there tonight. >> well, piers, it's a little quieter because our father has already left to go to nevada. so there's a reason it's not quite as exciting. we're here, we have the american flag behind us. we're here to talk about what's important to the american people. we appreciate your time tonight. >> look. let's cut to the quick, ladies. he took a hell of a shellacking as my colleagues have been saying earlier. i imagine knowing the man as i do now, he wouldn't react

connie mack, how are you? >> how are you doing tonight. >> sean: i like that line. its competitive line it got pretty contentious down there? >> i think mitt is right. if you look back at the beginning of this week, he went out on the first debate in florida, and he stood his ground. he talked to the people of the state of florida and said look it's time we create jobs in america. it's time we respect individuals and got government bureaucrats. he took his case very strongly to the people of the state of florida and they responded very well to that. >> sean: i would agree, but i would also argue that there was a lot of negative ads that were run down there. a lot of robo calls, upwards $17 million, term was used by newt gingrich carpet bombing by the romney campaign. i agree with you, debate performance he had two good debates down there but there is a lot of negativity. how does he unite the party at the end of the process. >> in a campaign that is very difficult because a lot of times you are talking about friends. this is kind of in the family. newt in a lot of t

my guest in a little bit is congressman connie mack. this is lynn nard skin nard, "god and guns."you up side the head. >> that's a very specific reference. >> i know. i know. that's a good song. i vote for that. all right. we want to remind everybody if you want music played that's not the music that i don't dislike, you can tweet me at @soledad underscore o'brien. it's my show. i get to pick a few things or starting point.cnn. we've got will cane, who's with us. let's have a conversation about what we've been talking about. interesting to hear from mitt romney a little chunk of what he said in our interview in the last hour. we talked about his victory, the strategy ahead as the whole race moves west. we also talked about who he's trying to represent. here's what he said about poor people. you just said i'm not concerned about the very poor because they have a safety net and i think there are lots of very poor americans who are struggling who would say that sounds odd. can you explain that? >> well, you had to finish the sentence, soledad. i said i'm not concerned about the very

connie mack. jeff miller, john mica. maria march -- andrew crenshaw. sandy adams.or john francis. our friends celebrating in tal that has si and across florida. brett foster and anna, all the people throughout the state and finally thank you all, thank you all so much. now.... [ cheers and applause ] >> now, let me introduce you to my husband, the father of my five sons, grandfather of my 16 grandchildren and the next president of the united states.... [ applause ] >>> thank you. thank you. thank you. thank you so much. thank you and the people of this room and people all over florida. thank you tonight for this great victory. [ cheers and applause ] >> there are fewer candidates tonight than when the race begin but three gentlemen are serious and able competitors and i want to congratulate them on a hard fought contest in this campaign. primary contests are not easy, they are not supposed to be. as the primary unfolds the opponents of the other party have been watching and they like to comp for the themselves that a competitive campaign will leave us divided and w

connie mack is joining her.gressman alan west is joining us. nice to have you all. let's get right into it. today is the big day for the candidates because they're going to get up here and speak. it was interesting to hear, who was saying it earlier on our panel, this is sort of the straw poll. the enthusiasm from the speech is the straw poll before the straw poll. do you agree with that? >> yeah, i do. it will be interesting to see since ron paul is not going to be hear speaking if that enthusiasm will be here. normally he wins these cpac straw polls. this is a great opportunity for each one of these candidates to make their case at this great gathering. i think it's the largest that we've had in quite some time. >> what's going on with the tea party, i think we have a graphic of this, tea party in iowa, win for santorum, 29%, new hampshire, romney, 41%. south carolina, gingrich, 45%. florida, romney, 41%, nevada as well, 47%. is the tea party all over the map and within the tea party there's no coalescing arou

boy will it wrangle. >> let's get to republican congressman connie mack of florida.. it's nice to see you. congratulations are in order i guess. there were two victories last night. do you feel like that gives momentum really or i feel like this go around momentum is like for ten seconds, we'll talk about it. on to super tuesday. >> there is no momentum. >> what do you think, connie? >> i would thank you for having me on. of course it's momentum. look, it was a big night yesterday no matter -- people might say three points, four points. he was losing in michigan by 15 points just a week ago. i think this is a big win and it's because people look at mitt romney and say, he understands the economy. he understands how jobs are created. he understands that people are hurting and that's the message that's resonating with voters. >> when you look at some of those statistics and the exit polling that ron brownstein was just talking about, i think i have a graphic of this, who really supported him by income, under 30 k was santorum, between 30 k and 100 k were also santorum

we'll have a bipartisan debate with representatives fredricka wilson and connie mack. >>> we're countings friday, an early read at 8:15 eastern with the adp employment report. the third hour of "squawk box" begins right now. >>> welcome back to "squawk box" here on cnbc, first in business worldwide, i'm joe kernen along with becky quick and andrew ross sorkin. u.s. equity futures are back up to 9 0, 91 points above fair value and that adds to a great january. at least on the open. and i guess there's some, it's once again, things that happen in europe, he guess some funding italy went well. >> this was china, too. >> but whatever it is, we've got different reasons every day for the slow, steady move that we've seen in the averages. >> i'm i'll take the march higher any day. in our headlines this morning, watch shares of amazon.com at the open. the company's fourth quarter revenue falling $1 billion short of expectations. we talked about it last hour. net income fell sharply in guidance for the current quarter was very disappointing. mitt romney of course winning florida's primary in a la

then ted kennedy got up and gave an impassioned etch spspee then when we listened to it, it then connie mack said, great. t we have a deal, and it is the gram/kennedy agreement, and we went to the gallery and had a joint conference and then we said, what was the agreement? and then we have to figure out that we have to put it in writing so we put in the conference room, and i guess kennedy was in the room, and i put slade gordon in there and there were a few others that were thoughtful members that they put on paper and went forward, but amp not sure to this day what we agreed to at that moment. do you remember that? >> i remember that we did it, but i don't know remember what it was that we did. >> but that is leadership, you know. there was a moment that everybody knew that we had a constitutional challenge and we had to do it, but we didn't know how to proceed, and if you had kennedy and gramm sounding like an agreement, and we went forward with it. i still get criticism to this day, people saying, you could have removed him office if you wanted to. but my favorite job in congress was not

>>guest: a bill that connie mack brought up and many have signed on to, and it will exercise our authorityonstitution, article one that section we congress can approve this and we can go forward and if the president want dozen make a campaign decision, go ahead but we will do what is right. >>neil: do you have the votes necessary in the house of representatives and senate to force the issue? >>guest: who knows about the senate? i don't know what the senate will do today, tomorrow, or next week that is why we need new members but i do believe so in the house. >>neil: i did want to ask you about what canadian prime minister happenner is -- harper is up to? do you thing he would do a deal with china and say i have no confidence in my friends to the south to get their act together? >>guest: i believe the canadian prime minister truly wants to make sure the economy is doing well and he would sign that agreement with china to utilize their oil exports. we have a leader that makes a different decision and we need those thousands of jobs that went abroad. we need to lower the energy costs and lowe

connie mack, jeff miller, john micah, lincoln, mario -- [inaudible] andrew, tom roonny, sandy adams, senator john thrasher, speaker allen benz, will weatherford, and ted neil. our friends. celebrating in tallahassee, miami, jacksonville, and across florida, molly, brent, and anna, our great grass roots team throughout the state, and timely, thank you, all, thank you, all, so much. now -- [cheers and applause] now, let me introduce to you my husband, the father of my five sons, the grandfather of my 16 grandchildren, and the next president of the united states. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, guys. [cheers and applause] wow. thank you. thank you. [chanting] >> thank you so much. thank you to the people in this room and for the people all over florida, thank you tonight for this great victory. [cheers and applause] there are fewer candidates tonight than when the race began, but three gentleman are serious and able competitors, still in the race, and i want to congratulate them on another hard fought contest in the campaign. primary contests are not easy, and they are not supposed

lugar's not so sweet home and connie mack's brawling back. bring back the pack now.ar. he could not answer the question of a u.s. senator running, of what home address was on his indiana driver's license. seemed to me like unrecoverable. >> yeah. i mean, look, senators always have this problem. rick santorum did in 2004. it's always an issue when members of congress come to washington, d.c. they have a home here, but really don't have a home back in the state. my understanding is that he used his senate address, his brother lives on the farm. it's very, very messy and politically, very nieve. >> tom daschle, when he uttered the phrase, i'm a d.c. resident. you spent a lot of time in iowa. >> i register showed paul and romney leading the president. i talked to some folks privately. there's something going on here that despite the president recovering in every other battleground state, he didn't here. is is it because republicans were attacking him in the state. >> republicans spend six months attacking the president in iowa. the second, ron paul is beating the preside

next, congressman connie mack from florida. he happens to be a candidate for u.s. senate.. >> it is wonderful to be back with you. last year i had a chance to talk about why "obamacare" is wrong for america, and today after hearing senator santorum, i can hear from all of you that that argument is still as important as it has ever been, that piece of legislation is less popular with americans than it has ever been before. today we will talk about another important issue, and that is washington's runaway spending. what is a fundamental step in getting it under control, which is a constitutional amendment to balance the budget. we are now entering year four of the obama economy. washington's debt is $15.30 trillion, 42% higher than when president obama took office. before there was a president obama, the good old days, we had never had an annual budget deficit of more than $459 billion. over the four years of his term, which will never see a deficit of less than $1 trillion. that is why for the safety and security and prosperity of this country, this has to be his only term.

that is florida congressman connie mack, one of the rising stars in the republican party. he is addressing the conservative political action conference going on right now in washington. take sort of a figurative walk to the other end of pennsylvania avenue. there is the white house. we're watching for that announcement about an hour from now. president obama expected to backtrack a little bit on this contraception issue that has so angered the catholic church and so many, frankly, range rank-and-file americans. on remote 291 we're watching a big storm hitting the south. rain over new orleans and places like that. it is expected to head north. we'll see snow in the northeast this weekend. we'll keep you updated from the fox weather center. jenna? jenna: thanks, jon. a "time" magazine article grabbing our attention. it is called the four ways the u.s. could end up in war with iran before the election. we have the washington correspondent for "time" magazine and author of that article. nice to have you with us. we'll work through the four points one by one. the first point, i

thank you. >> next up, congressman connie mack from florida. >> thank you. thank you very much.. how is everyone at cpac doing today? you know what is exciting about cpac? there is a roomful of people who believe in the constitution. there is a roomful of people who believe that the answer to the future of america lies within its citizens, not another government bureaucracy. we have got a room full of people believe the way to the future is by cutting spending, balancing our budget, sending up with our allies. i have been spending time lately listening to some of the pundits on television, and they talk about how divided republicans are and how is this dangerous, is there any momentum. i keep trying to tell them, and they will listen to you, republicans are energized, and the reason is we have had that with big government -- had it with big ideas and liberal ideas coming out of this white house. [applause] we want a government that respects you, the individual. we want a government that relies upon and understands it is the risk takers in this country that make america strong. p

senator connie mack. i give up. and the members of congress who endorsed mitt, jeff miller and others. our friends celebrating in tallahassee, miami, jacksonville, across florida. our great grassroots team throughout the state, and finally, thank you all so much. now, let me introduce to you my husband, the father of my five sons and the grandfather of my 16 grandchildren, and the next president of the united states. [cheers and applause] >> thank you, guys. thank you. thank you. thank you so much. thank you to the people in this room and to the people all over florida, thank you tonight for this great victory. there are fewer candidates tonight than when the race began, but three gentleman are serious and able competitors. primary contest are not easy and they are not supposed to be. they like to comfort themself with the thought that a competitive campaign will leave us weak. i have news for them. a competitive primary does not divide us, it prepares us, and we will win. it compared to a primary does not divide us

senator connie mack. i give up. and the members of congress who endorsed mitt jeff miller and others. our friends celebrating in tallahassee, miami jacksonville, across florida. our great grassroots team throughout the state, and finally, thank you all so much. now, let me introduce to you my husband, the father of my five sons and the grandfather of my 16 grandchildren, and the next president of the united states. [cheers and applause] >> thank you guys. thank you.

the members that endorse mitt, connie mack. jeff miller. maria -- mario diaz vallart. elonia rose.aw. tom rooney, sandy adams, senator john thrasher. senator flores. speaker allen bentz. speaker designate will weath weatherford and ted neil. our friends celebrating in tallahassee, miami, jacksonville and across florida, molly d donlon, brett dostner and anna carbonell. our great grassroots team across the state. finally, thank you all so much. now -- [ applause ] now, let me introduce to you my husband, the father of my five sons, the grandfather of my 16 grandchildren and the next president of the united states. [ applause ] >> thanks, you guys! thank you. thank you. thank you so much. >> mitt mitt mitt mitt. >> thank you to the people in this room and to the people all over florida, thank you tonight for this great victory. there are -- there are few fewer -- there are fewer candidates tonight than when the race began, but three gentlemen are serious and able competitors and they're still in the race and i want to congratulate them on another hard fought contest in this campaign.

the members that endorse mitt, connie mack. jeff miller. maria -- mario diaz vallart. elonia rose.aw. tom rooney, sandy adams, senator john thrasher. senator flores. speaker allen bentz. speaker designate will weath weatherford and ted neil. our friends celebrating in tallahassee, miami, jacksonville and across florida, molly d donlon, brett dostner and anna carbonell. our great grassroots team across the state. finally, thank you all so much. now -- [ applause ] now, let me introduce to you my husband, the father of my five sons, the grandfather of my 16 grandchildren and the next president of the united states. [ applause ] >> thanks, you guys! thank you. thank you. thank you so much. >> mitt mitt mitt mitt. >> thank you to the people in this room and to the people all over florida, thank you tonight for this great victory. there are -- there are few fewer -- there are fewer candidates tonight than when the race began, but three gentlemen are serious and able competitors and they're still in the race and i want to congratulate them on another hard fought contest in this campaign.

colleague, connie mac, could become a grandfather but what is shocking is that our youthful and beautiful california colleague mary bono mac has become a grandmother. -- mary bono machas -- mack has become a grandmother. to mary's daughter was born sonny william mabee. what is interesting to note is while this 8 pound, four ounce baby boy was born on february 16, february 16 was the date of his grandfather's birthday, and february 16 was the date of sonny bono's father, so sonny william rabee's great grandfather and grandfather share the exact same date, february 16, of birth that he has. so congratulations go to the parents, shiana and mark and all our colleagues and friends in the bono mac family and -- bono mack family and we look forward to having the chance to meet sonny william sometime soon. i yield back. the speaker pro tempore: for what purpose does the gentleman from florida rise? >> unanimous consent to address the house for one minute and revise and extend my remarks. the speaker pro tempore: the gentleman is recognized for one minute. >> thank you, mr. speaker. let me speak to transportation and what we're doing in congress on the republican side. mr. mica: the o