minnesota' minnesota's% increase in 2007 was almost 5 times greater thoon the rest of the country. the 2012 state business tax index, ranked minnesota -- the top five were wyoming, nevada and there. minnesota's unemployment rates were -- our growth in afternoon hourly earnings equaled the best and beat the rest. the per capita income was 1eb8d high highest we're doing something right, in fact we are doing a lot right. there are people who want to work but cannot find a job. let's take your breast ideas and [ applause ] i have already sent you three junior jobs initiatives, our proposed bonding bill would prepare and upstate class rooms, it would improve our state parks, it would help vitalize downtown. eric anderson of mankato. brady from rochester. mayor dave fleis. they're up in the balcony, let's recognize the five outstanding mayors. my father and my uncles taught me the importance of continuously improving the downtowns of our major cities. they're the economic hearts of entire regions. the heart weakens, the rest of the body suffers. one-third of all minneapolis property taxe

in minnesota.e're starting to get the votes in colorado. 1% in right here. 50%, again, i want to go back in time to 2008, romney won colorado with 50% of the vote. whaument you're sieeing here isa scenario the romney campaign will try to explain away, what we're seeing is what happened to john mccain four years ago. he clinched the nomination with his win in the state of florida, early, in february, and then if you look at the map, huckabee won a bunch of states, romney won a bunch of states. romney, the dark red, mccain, the lighter red. and john mccain lost 15 states after essentially wrapping up the nomination in florida. that will be the explanation from camp romney. but wolf, without a doubt, as you look at this, this goes in tonight, it will be a major boost for santorum. i would be interested to see what our panelists think. you'll have santorum going after romney and a santorum/gingrich campaign for the evangelical support and for money. as we move on, it gets more expensive. not a lot of m

eastern minnesota caucuses begin. that's also when polls close in minnesota primary. not a binding voted but it is an important test for one of the top swing states in the fall election. at 9 p.m. eastern time tonight, caucuses begin in colorado. another important general election battleground. as results come in, john king will be at the magic wall with all the results. aar . >> the first thing we're looking for is can front-runner mitt romney hold down the state he must win, colorado. this is an absolute must win for governor romney. how will underdogs do? senator santorum is recounting on creating magic from iowa, both in minnesota and missouri as well to send a signal this is not a romney/gingrich race. huge night for rick santorum. will ron paul make a show tonight? no entrance or exit polls but we've done something uniquely at cnn. we've gone back to the five states that voted so far and put the results all together. on far, for example, 57% of those who voed in the five states so far say, no, they're not evangelical christians. we'll not only look at these race

of minnesota reached a cut by almost 15%. the two new heads of these invaluable institutions are here tonight. dr. eric kaehler, 16th president of the university of minnesota, president kaehler? [ applause ] dr. steven rosenstone is the fourth chancellor of the minnesota state colleges and universities. [ applause ] don't sit down because they're joined tonight by the new director of the office of higher education. [ applause ]them, together with legislators and other higher education leaders, have the enormous responsibility to retool minnesota's colleges and universities and give those students the crucial advantages needed to succeed in this highly competitive global economy. we're told by the year 2018 70% of the jobs will require a post-secondary degree. that's just the beginning, however, not the end. post-secondary students need more than degrees, they need the world's best educations so they can thrive in that world. and minnesota will not thrive unless they do. chancellor rosenstone and president kaehler need our sup

the gentlelady from minnesota is recognized. ms. mccollum: i claim as much time as i may consume. the bill before the house today, s. 1134 is a controversial bill that represents wasteful government spending, bad transportation policy and bad environmental policy. a new bridge across the protected st. croix river between my state of minnesota and wisconsin needs to be built. the aging stillwater lift bridge needs to be replaced and everyone agrees on that. but i support a more affordable and more appropriately scaled replacement bridge. this bill is controversial because it does much more than authorize a replacement bridge. this bill mandates construction of an exotic and massive bridge some 219 feet above the st. croix river at a cost of $700 million for only 18,000 cars per day. this $700 -- the $700 million -- mr. speaker, the house is not in order. the speaker pro tempore: the house will be in order. ms. mccollum: this $700 million bridge will connect all-park heights, minnesota, population 4,700 and wholesome, wisconsin, popul

he also won in minnesota, won big -- let's take the next board for minnesota. there you see 45%-27%. for ron paul and then in missouri, another big win for rick santorum, in that primary, non-binding primary there, but a huge spread of 20 points. let's check in in minnesota with mike tobin one last time. final thoughts, mike? thanks for sticking around. >> reporter: my pleasure, bret. final thoughts are that things played out the wait analysts predicted they would. the beating heart of the republican party or the activist who would show up at the caucuses. that is what we are hearing from the caucusgoers, exactly what happened. a lot of motivated, evangelicals and conserve twhoifs showed up. they showed what they perceived to be the most conservative choice on the landscape and the guy they thought could beat barack obama. that played out here in minnesota, to be rick santorum. he worked the ground out here. he made a lot of appearances and he really appealed to that evangelical vote. i am standing here at ron paul headquarters, who was a strong number 2. ron p

he's not polling very well here in minnesota. not polling very well in missouri, and looks like mitt romney will do well in colorado if you believe the polls. up by 10 in colorado, rick santorum by 13 in missouri and rick santorum by public policy polling here in minnesota by 9 points. how do you figure this all out? because mitt romney for weeks on end, he has had former governor tim pawlenty at his side stumping for him every chance he gets and all over the talking heads. it was pawlenty who guided the state as minnesota's nice governor for eight years. and he can't swing the pendulum for mitt romney? i think it speaks volumes how confused the conservative electorate is in the state. how will it fare up against president obama? i'm joined by keith ellison, good to have you with us tonight, appreciate your time. always interesting to see what happens in minnesota, because the pendulum can shift. what do you make of rick santorum and his polling right now? it seems to mie the same people that did it for him down in iowa are showi

he also won in minnesota, won big -- let's take the next board for minnesota. there you see 45%-27%. for ron paul and then in missouri, another big win for rick santorum, in that primary, non-binding primary there, but a huge spread of 20 points. let's check in in minnesota with mike tobin one last time. final thoughts, mike? thanks for sticking around. >> reporter: my pleasure, bret. final thoughts are that things played out the wait analysts predicted they would. the beating heart of the republican party or the activist who would show up at the caucuses. that is what we are hearing from the caucusgoers, exactly what happened. a lot of motivated, evangelicals and conserve twhoifs showed up. they showed what they perceived to be the most conservative choice on the landscape and the guy they thought could beat barack obama. that played out here in minnesota, to be rick santorum. he worked the ground out here. he made a lot of appearances and he really appealed to that evangelical vote. i am standing here at ron paul headquarters, who was a strong number 2. ron p

why would you campaign in minnesota for tonight? i gets it symbolic but it could be very painful. >> it's a great system. each of the candidates have an opportunity to recruit anyone they want to to come out. then it's up to them to recruit go of the numbers that are there they have to continue their slate to go to the next level. it's four levels. it's very involved but if you are highly motivated and grassroots like you, they will stick with you. this is interesting. if you look at minnesota, santorum is at 43. 55 in missouri, 50 in colorado. he is having a great night. it really reflects what is voters' minds. in the last week. this reflective of president obama and big mistake he has made on obamacare with the contraception and mandate that go the catholic church and other organizations have to make these purchases of healthcare decisions based on reproductive rights. if that is case. i think you'll see a lot of people react against president obama's policy. >> greta: you think this is largely determined in the last few days, th

minnesota endorsing early from the former governor of minnesota tim pawlenty.ooks like a big loss in minnesota. >> you can say he was lowering expectations all week. and nicky hailey had no reason to. >> our special coverage rolls on after a quick break. my name is robin. i'm a wife, i'm a mom... and chantix worked for me. it's a medication i could take and still smoke, while it built up in my system. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantiis proven to help people quit smoking. it reduthe urge to smoke. some people had changes in behavior, thinking orood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these, stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reactioto it. if you develop these, stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. if you have

he also won in minnesota, won big -- let's take the next board for minnesota.here you see 45%-27%. for ron paul and then in missouri, another big win for rick santorum, in that primary, non-binding primary there, but a huge spread of 20 points. let's check in in minnesota with mike tobin one last time. final thoughts, mike? thanks for sticking around. >> reporter: my pleasure, bret. final thoughts are that things played out the wait analysts predicted they would. the beating heart of the republican party or the activist who would show up at the caucuses. that is what we are hearing from the caucusgoers, exactly what happened. a lot of motivated, evangelicals and conserve twhoifs showed up. they showed what they perceived to be the most conservative choice on the landscape and the guy they thought could beat barack obama. that played out here in minnesota, to be rick santorum. he worked the ground out here. he made a lot of appearances and he really appealed to that evangelical vote. i am standing here at ron paul headquarters, who was a strong number 2. ron pau

can we put the minnesota slate back up? look at the numbers. 24 point drop for mitt romney from 2008 to this year. which is 17% of the vote, mitt romney did not win a single county in the entire state of minnesota. this is a state he won the last time around. and it probably appropriate for me to mention at this point that mitt romney didn't even come in second in minnesota. mitt romney won it last time. but he came in third this time. rick santorum won, ron paul came in second. mitt romney couldn't beat ron paul in minnesota. if dell grates are awarded in a way that follows the results, rick santorum will get every single one of minnesota's 37 delegates. mitt romney will zero. rick santorum gets them all. mitt romney won this state in 2008. did the entire republican population of minnesota move out of state to be replaced by all new republicans in the last four years? what happened? was there some sort of mass exodus missed by the national media? there is no way this makes sense on its own. i need a minnesota republican to

colorado, minnesota, and missouri. voters in those states are not all alike and share very different concerns. let's start with the colorado caucuses. 36 delegates are up for grabs. joining us live from denver, curtis robert, the editorial page editor for "the denver post." good to see you. what are the three top issues for coloradans? >> well, i think like anywhere the economy is issue number one. energy and the environment would be the second issue. and then probably number three is a trade-off and it depends who you're talking to and where they align, but it would be, you know, education is probably right up there, illegal immigration for a lot of people is another one. >> okay, we know that all the candidates have been talking about the economy no matter where they go. are they appealing to folks in colorado? are they talking about education, energy, immigration, in the way coloradans want to hear it? >> well, we just last week for the first time had, you know, the first visits. and it was, you know, more of a nati

minnesota, missouri and colorado. it could be the biggest night of the campaign so far for rick santorum. the former pennsylvania senator is the projected winner, as we said in two of the three states tonight. there, you can see in minnesota caucuses, 55%, taking a look at other words there, you're looking at 42% of the vote total so far in their caucuses but take a look at this, mitt romney is second, 25%. that is in missouri. a big win in missouri for rick santorum. ron paul in third. newt gingrich is not on the ballot in missouri. there are no delegates attached to this so called beauty contest. a swik swing state. a big win for rick santorum. you go on to colorado. the caucuses finishing there, colorado caucuses now, a huge lead for rick santorum. but this is still early. it's really these are county by county results. this would take a while to see results in colorado. only 1% reporting. so it could be a long time before getting a final colorado results. mitt romney poised to do well there, but it's early. let's

>> the one republican not working the ground in minnesota in the final pre-caucus days is mitt romneya choice that could be seen as surrendering a symbolic win that might not have gone his way regardless of effort. >> physically impossible to be in all the states all the times when they have to make some decisions about how they allocate their time and money. >> the symbolism of a win in minnesota still mattered, it means momentum to keep the candidate on the air and it motivates donors. in st. paul, mike tobin, fox news. >> we'll have live coverage of the colorado and caucuses and missouri's nonbinding primary tuesday night starting with special report. we'll talk about a couple of super bowl ads that are taking fire today. and that's later on the p@?ñmó of >> one of the sub plots for the november election, whether catholics will continue to support president obama as they did in 2008. chief washington correspondent james rosen reports the ongoing controversy over the president's health care law and contraception mandate could be pivotal. >> there can be no doubt that religious lib

this was after the minnesota results.t we all think the results were from minnesota and colorado. but according to the ron paul campaign, after those states closed, they think they might win in minnesota. in colorado and in nevada, "we will have good numbers among the actual delegates awarded far exceeding our straw poll numbers" campaign says "in minnesota where we finished a solid second it's true ron paul beat mitt romney, romney came in third in minnesota, the campaign says in minnesota where we have finished a solid second, we have a strong majority of the state convention delegates. the ron paul campaign is well organized to win the bulk of delegates there. the ron paul campaign is saying even though they came in second, they could win. again, we may well win in minnesota and do far better in colorado than yesterday's polls indicate. i want to explain what i think is going on here. i sort of need a prop. i don't have a prop. let's say these are the people at the caucus, the people at the caucus love rick santorum, w

minnesota, colorado and missouri. we get result of the main caucuses that have been ongoing. at the end of the month, hiatus there. at the end of the month primary in arizona and michigan. where the delegat haul is. the big zest super tuesday. ten states on march 6. that is where a lot of delicatdelegates will be divvie. we say they're nonbinding because they are caucuses and a primary that don't tie to delegates tonight. the process continues. in the case of missouri, straw poll. beauty contest. the caucus process starts march 17. this is all in the weeds but tonight you won't get delegates. it's a process that starts with the vote tonight. back with the panel. we could spend five more minutes discussing the way the delegates are chosen in the three contests but the candidates will say it's about momentum. >> it's about momentum. look, the reality is that especially though it's come -- even though it's complicated process to award delegates they are likely to look like what happens today. so with that, it's important

the congressman was in minnesota. >> ron paul is with us now.ir, the three contests tonight, colorado, missouri and minnesota, does ron paul think he has a chance to win in any of those three states? >> well, we're going win some delegates. whether we come in first or one, two or three i don't know exactly that. but we feel positive about moving along and picking up more delegates. but we'll have to wait and see how many. >> if we wake up wednesday morning, though, eight contests will have been held in the republican race for president by then. if ron paul is 0 for 8 meaning no wins, what would that say about your prospect of actually winning the nomination? you certainly have an impact on the race an getting delegates. but 0 of 8 are you a viable candidate to win the nomination? >> it pnds on what happens for the next 42 states. there will be a lot more primary toss go. but obviously you do have to start picking up. we have some others. we're optimistic we're going to keep picking up delegates. that's what the other delegates are doing. nobody

>> the one republican not working the ground in minnesota in the final pre-caucus days is mitt romneya choice that could be seen as surrendering a symbolic win that might not have gone his way regardless of effort. >> physically impossible to be in all the states all the times when they have to make some decisions about how they allocate their time and money. >> the symbolism of a win in minnesota still mattered, it means momentum to keep the candidate on the air and it motivates donors. in st. paul, mike tobin, fox news. >> we'll have live coverage of the colorado and caucuses and missouri's nonbinding primary tuesday night starting with special report. we'll talk about a couple of super bowl ads that are taking fire today. and that's later on the grapevine and later. the president's catholic problem. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. like a ramen noodle- every-night budget. she thought allstate car insurance was out of her reach. until she heard about the value plan. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate. the two trains and a bus ri

in the republican caucuses p in minnesota only 13% in. rick santorum right now in first place, ron paul in second, mitt romney in third, newt gingrich in fourth. and in the republican caucuses in the state of colorado, only 1% in. no use extrapolating by for what it's worth right now, rick santorum in first. nbc's coverage of the republican presidential primaries and caucuses continueso'donnell. we'll be back with an update at midnight. have a great night. >>> right now the results are counted in the republican presidential contests in colorado, minnesota and missouri. while new issues are forcing they're way into the presidential campaign, there's the president's new position on super-pacs and the new birth control coverage and health care plans and the constitutionality of marital equality in california. >> can rick santorum catch some mittmentum tonight? >> he doesn't have an organization. he doesn't have money, and he doesn't really have charisma. >> without the money he can't go much further. >> fepts to secure a win, he has to buy i

let's look at what happens in minnesota. minnesota 2% of the precincts reporting, look at the santorum number 49%. just 2%, there's a long way to go, but look at ron paul, significantly ahead of mitt romney. no wonder he was downplaying the results today. and gingrich again coming in last. we'll see what happens but here's what the prediction from minnesota looked like as they were going into tonight. the prediction was that santorum would win 33% romney 24% gingrich 22% and ron paul 20. kind of interesting. and in this one this state in 2008 the republican caucus, romney won it over mccain. so what does this mean? how does he spin this coming out if in fact he comes in as low as you see here? harmeet, how does he react? >> well, it shows he has some work to do among conservative voters obviously. again, minnesota is a state with a high number and percentage of evangelical and christian voters and so romney's got to be concerned by the fact that he's got the support of the governor of the state. >> he should be concerned tha

minnesota, what did that do?e a quick break. we'll take a close look at how many delegates each has up to this point. john king will break it down for us. our coverage continues in just moments. stay tuned. when it comes to home insurance, surprises can be a little scary. and a little costly. that's why the best agents present their clients with a lot of options. because when it comes to what's covered and what's not, nobody likes surprises. [ click ] [ chuckles ] we totally thought -- [ all scream ] obscure space junk falling from the sky? we cover that. moving on. aah, aah, aah, aah. [ male announcer ] we are insurance. ♪ we are farmers ♪ bum, ba-da-bum, bum, bum, bum ♪ >>> all right. a dramatic development happening in colorado. everyone thought virtually everyone thought that mitt romney had it all sewn up in colorado. that's where he was tonight, delivering his speech. still, very, very close. 53% of the precinct have reported. mitt romney is ahead of rick santorum, but not by much. newt gingrich a distaptd

in minnesota, missouri, colorado.nonbinding means and have reports tonight from denver and minnesota. one of the president's top advisors says a requirement for contraceptive coverage in the healthcare reform law was not intended to attack religious freedom but catholic and others are upset about it. james rosensthat latest on the controversy. "special report" from washington starts at 6:00 eastern. a big election night again. now back to new york and "the five." ♪ ♪ >> greg: welcome back to "the five." supreme court justice ruth bader ginsberg talked about a new charter for egypt and he is said this. >> i would not look to u.s. constitution if i was drafting a constitution in 2012. i might look at the constitution of south africa. a deliberate attempt to have fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had independent judiciary and it is a great piece of work that was done. >> greg: we should look to south africa? my liver is in better shape than south africa. this is from a woman who is a

that's minnesota politics. >> you're lucky in minnesota, with one of the lowest unemployment rates intry, in december it was at 5.9%. nevada was double that. so is there a danger that romney's economic message that played so well in nevada to give him that big win may not play as well in minnesota? >> you know what, i think the difference may be -- i don't think that's the issue. i mean, again, minnesota, if you go back in history, we had a sitting republican governor, arnie carlson, who lost the endorsement for re-election at a convention, activist, went in another direction. won overwhelmingly when it went to the primary. we had gary bauer, when george w. bush was seeking the nomination in 1999, gary bauer won the state convention. you know, activists here can -- they like to have their voice heard. the sad thing about minnesota, is a this as a minnesotan, we haven't gone republican in a presidential contest since 1972, so there's not a lot of focus on minnesota, not a lot of national energy here. so sometimes things at the local level, grassroots politics, may have a disparate impa

ron paul is holding a town hall in minnesota. he is behind in minnesota and nevada.mney, the man likely to take nevada is campaigning in colorado as is rick santorum it is officials that say the blast happened in a military housing unit. and they were evacuated and no word on what caused the explosion. >> dozens of police converged on the occupy dc protestors this morning. they were there to impose a no camping ban. demonstrators were camped out there since. >>> and in an interview this week. the first family is planning a quite super bowl sunday and in past years they invited celebritis and wounded warriors to watch the games. they are the top stories right now. >> not just the first family. but a lot of us watching for the big game on sunday. thank you very much . another friday night document dump. white house making news and obama administration releasing a stack of internal documents and e-mails relating to the bankrupt solyndra corcheration. >> good afternoon to you. white house critecs say it is a classic night document dump. 300 pages hand over to the house c