>> electability a key issue, john zarrella on the scene for news florida. go back to john. >> as you know mitt romney and newt gingrich in florida, rick santorum and ron paul are not waiting around in florida for the results tonight. our correspondents are waiting with them in nevada. top of the hour where most polling places close and the first votes will start to come in. [♪...] >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock, the only identity theft protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. lifelock: relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. on my , i've learned that when you ask someone in texas if they want "big" savings on car insurance, it's a bit like asking if they want a big hat... ...'scuse me... ...or a big steak... ...or big hair... i think we have our answer. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car ins

john zarrella, you're talking to voters. what are they telling you? >> very good turnout here today, brooke. they expect maybe countwiywide, about 40% voters. a lot of them are telling me, we want the guy who will beat barack obama. but then when you get past that, we're hearing both sides, some people saying newt gingrich, others saying mitt romney. so it's going to be interesting to see how that shakes out here, and this is the largest republican precinct, precinct 701, in hillsborough county. about 3800 registered republicans here. brooke? >> we know that the republican party, it's penalizing florida for having its primary today, january 31st. tell me a little bit more about that as i hear you laugh, john zarrella. >> you know, four years ago, the state moved up the presidential primaries to january 31st, or the last tuesday in january, and the republican party and the democratic party both got pretty angry about that, from march to january. here it is. from where you are in tampa, the republican convention is going to be in august. but florida del

i know that john zarrella was talking about the cuban community most likely. the latino community as a whole is not a monolith. cuban-americans do not necessarily vote the same as other latinos in the state, do they? >> that is exactly right. that's the issue that the republicans are going to have the biggest challenge with in terms of the biggest election in terms of florida. john talked a little bit about this in his piece. the influence of the hardcore cuban american vote is diminishing, and, in fact, just a few short years ago it was at 60%. if you look at the breakdown of the hispanic vote in florida, the cuban-american vote is only at 38%. the puerto rican vote is at 30% and the central and south american vote have risen to 21%. if you combine the puerto rican and south and central, they're much more leaning democratic and leaning democratic. they want to talk about jobs. they want to talk about the economy. they want to talk about education. so i agree with the piece in terms of it is very important for republican candidates to continue to court that ha

john zarrella, jump in on this.ere doing as well. he was plummeting in the polls but doing good there. >> the florida poll, 54% of those people said, you know, it's not etched in stone that we're actually going to vote for who we said we're going to vote. we can have our minds changed depends on who is still standing when they get to florida. gingrich, though, aside from romney, has the best organization in this state of florida. in fact, former attorney general bill mccollum, is his state chairman. hugely influential guy in the state of florida. on the other hand, romney has pam bondy who came out and supported him over the weekend. hugely popular. current a.g. here in fred graham. another thing, i know you guys were talking about florida being the big kahuna prize. well, you know, if you remember, it used to be an even bigger kahuna when it had 100 delegates that they sent to the convention. but when they moved their primary up four years ago, the republican party slapped florida on the wrist, okay, we're cutting

john zarrella is live from florida with us this morning. so, john, here's the question. polls seem to indicate that newt gingrich is sliding off a cliff and then you hear the tea partiers come in, no, no, no, even rick santorum is at play. now it's over but the talking. what are we expecting today? >> reporter: you know, those latest polls, in fact, there were four of them at the last minute saying 43-29 romney over gk, and that romney leads in basically every group from evangelicals to conservatives and we are in lithia, florida, heavily republican area of hillsboro county, suburb of tampa. there are 3200 registered republicans here. interestingly enough, mccain took this precinct or hillsboro county four years ago and beating romney, 37-30%. but right now romney looks like he's certainly going to play very, very well here in hillsboro county. 200,000 early voters already here in the can't. supervisors say that's a good sign. ashleigh's right. weather is not going to be an issue here in florida. it is going to be absolutely gorgeous weather throughout most if not all of

i wish john zarrella was here to make you feel better. >> and john zarrella is down there for a uniquen tradition, and john, how is the scene down there? >> anderson, and kathy, it is amped up here, and sushi arrived on the stage a few moments ago and there she is up in the shoe. now, she is wearing a period dress this year that of course she made herself, because in 2012 is the 100th anniversary of henry flagler's rail road to connect the mainland with key west being completed so sushi is wearing the dress, and you should see the crowd with 50,000 people here. hey, where are you from? >> new brunswick, canada. >> is this a little bizarre? >> different. exactly. >> yes, little different. >> a little different here, but it is great. >> where are you from? >> canada. >> you having a good time? >> i am. it is great. >> are you having a good time? >> great time. >> where are you from? >> florida. >> okay. good. florida. so what have you got? a big mountain of people and probably more than they have ever had before, all up and duwn duvall street, and down at the wharf, there is a three-mast

john zarrella is looking at one woman who is monitoring all of those campaign funds. >> reporter: nancys, straightforward, no nonsense. >> we do not hide these committees. >> this building is 610 in tampa florida. at any given time, nancy watkins, certified public accountant and gop consultant is handling the 100 political entities. >> i just need to sign the outside and we love usa pack. bottom line, her job is to make sure that none of them run afoul. >> my job will be to make sure you play within the foul lines. >> reporter: of the state and federal laws. >> every dollar that will go in and out for your activity will go through this office so i make sure thaw remain in compliance. >> reporter: connie mack, a quarter century ago, she hasn't stopped since. she's got the mom men toes to prove it. a photo with president ronald reagan. >> look how i stand away. can you see the reveranc that i hold that man? . >> reporter: oh, yeah. and, of course, the hanging paper weight. >> november 2nd, 2000. >> reporter: watkins is certainly self-assured while undergoing cancer treatment 18 months ago

>>> i'm john zarrella in lithia, florida. this just south of tampa.- ron paul, newt gingrich, mitt romney. the romney signs interestingly enough were just added late this afternoon. there were none here early this morning. over here is the newt gingrich booth. you can see there's a rick santorum sign, so folks there as well. i was going to ask you, concerned about what the polls have been showing? >> absolutely not. we're hanging strong. it's big money again grassroots. we are keeping the faith. look what happened. we believe newt can win. >> they're convinced. we'll have to see whether the folks here are right or whether the polls are right. john zarrella, cnn, lithia, florida. >> cnn is covering the florida presidential primary from all angles, you do not want to miss a minute as we follow the balloting. stwu with us starting because another big story right now we're watching, where is jessica buchanan? she's the u.s. aid worker rescued last week. she boarded a flight yesterday in italy. cnn's brian todd is joining us from buchanan's college campus

. >>> i'm john zarrella in lithia, florida. how is voter turnout today? you at the top of the hour. >>> all right. guys, thanks so much. >>> coming up next hour, former florida governor charlie crist, also a former republican. we're going to talk about dirty campaigning, the ground game in florida, and i'll ask him who he's voting for, at the top of the hour. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪ >>> all right. it's got to be the dump of the year. >> it is. if you asked me 24 hours earlier, i would have said something different. lebron james on sunday dunked like a guy for an alley-oop, and then 24 hours later we're talking about something completely different. even lebron is impressed. blake griffin is a monster. he dinked over a card last year, but the clippers taking on the oklahoma city thunder, gives the staples center crowd

john zarrella, cnn, tampa. >>> checking stories across the country now. >> one, two, three!vived four bombings in world war ii. tours will begin in april. >>> and in arkansas, a woman is being sued over a million dollar lotto ticket that she pulled from a trash can. the store owner says that the winnings are hers because there was a do not take sign on the trash can that day. >>> and which american city is the most literate? washington, two years in a row. seattle number two. third place, minneapolis. the study by the central connecticut state university looked at several factors including education levels and the number of bookstores and libraries. >>> well, it was a surprising confession from pat sajak. a.j. hammer is joining us live from new york. i guess he liked to tip that flask a little too often? >> reporter: well, at least a salt-rimmed glass, kyra. pat sajak just appeared on the espn show, and he was asked if he was ever hosted "wheel of fortune" a little drunk. this may come as a shock, but he said yes, they used to have a lot of down time in between the shows, so

. >> reporter: i'm john zarrella in miami.y call this the sunshine state and i'll tell you which republican candidate the sun is shining. >> thanks. >>> supreme court showdown in washington as the broadcasters take on the fcc. what's being challenged and how it could impact what you see on television. what's going on? we ordered a gift online and we really need to do something with it... i'm just not sure what... what is it? oh just return it. returning gifts is easier than ever with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits, it ships anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. plus i can pick it up for free. perfect because we have to get that outta this house. c'mon, it's not that... gahh, oh yeah that's gotta go... priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $4.95. only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship and return. no, i wouldn't use that single miles credit card. hey, aren't you... shhh. i'm researching a role. today's special... the capital one venture card. you earn double miles

i want to bring in our go-to guy on everything space, john zarrella.heavy hitters in the realm of space. >> yeah, they are, pretty influential. to pick up on what you and wolf were discussing, a localit of t folks inside the space program have been saying to me at least if you believe in what newt gingrich said or not about colonizing the moon, he got the conversation about space exploration going, and it really has become sort of a pivotal issue, at least being talked about here in florida. this open letter we received just a little bit ago from the romney campaign. it is a letter written in support of mitt romney. it is signed by, and i'll give you a few of the names. gene cernin, bob cripin, who was the pilot of the first space shuttle program and was director of the space program for a while, griffin and several other heavy hitters both in the commercial space industry and the private space industry. the letter says this in part, and it is a real shot at the administration as well. quote, we have watched with dismay as president obama dismantled th

john zarrella, thank you. so john provided the what here. types of pythons and the anaconda band. now the why. the u.s. wildlife service says snakes hurt wildlife. jack hanna on the phone. jack hanna, you have a python at the zoo named after you, and the last time you and i were chatting, it was a story about the pythons in ohio. i assume this has the jack hanna stamp of approval? >> i lived in florida for a while. there's no doubt there is a tremendous problem and florida should have a ban. however, there are breeders who are reputable, who have the proper breeding, who could be responsible from keeping a lot of these pythons from becoming extinct. we have to have reputable breeders. remember something. this is me talking. this is not like the thing that happened in zanesville, ohio. for instance, you're not going to find a python in the state of montana. i take a python about two feet long to an accredited zoo. so we know what we're doing when it comes to the python. that has to affect us. we have to apply for a permit, that takes about fo

david mattingly and john zarrella will join us. mitt romney calls it his own background. dan lothian, massachusetts may not be the lock up just yet for romney. >> as you, you pointed out, the polling showing that romney having a commanding lead here for much of this campaign cycle. he's been polling just over 40%. in the most recent tracking poll, 37 .. he's really the candidate to beat. we saw yesterday, when i was out on the trial with some candidates, they were really punching back hard at romney realizing that's the way perhaps they can get some traction here in the state. it's about fighting for that second-place slot. the candidates for months now, have been trying to woo voters and make their sales pitch. this is the day where voters get to make that mark. we're at this polling station here, where people have been coming since 6:00 this morning to make their voices heard. >> pretty cool there. not a lot of drama about who's expected to finish first in new hampshire. the drama is over who comes in second and third. i want to talk a little bit about that joe, let's t