and here with us in the studio, we begin with nbc's peter alexander in tampa. pete erk good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. if he has a strong showing here tonight, romney's success may be due in large part to negative advertising. his campaign and supporters have spent more than $15 million. the romney campaign has aired just a single positive ad, and that was featuring romney's son in spanish. heavily favored tonight, romney made hisvoters in tampa, trying to shore up support in a state he lost four years ago. >> anne and christine, this is mitt romney calling. i'm sorry to have missed you, but it's actually me calling. >> on the campaign trail monday night -- ♪ oh beautiful for spacious skies for amber waves of grain ♪ >> reporter: romney led the crowd in singing "america the beautiful." ♪ america, america >> reporter: but despite strong poll numbers, romney has yet to show that he can convince the party's conservative base that he's the best choice. romney says his surge here is the campaign's decision to aim a barrage of negative ads agai

nbc's peter alexander on the trail tonight. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. most campaign watchers view the state of michigan is a must-win state for mitt romney. he was counting on today's speech in front of a large audience to help solidify that effort. in what may have been his signature michigan moment at ford field, home of the detroit lions, mitt romney unveiled his economic plan, promising to reduce tax rates across the board by 20%. >> by making bold cuts in spending and common sense reforms, we are going to make our government simpler, smaller and smarter. >> reporter: romney boldly claimed he is the one candidate who can beat president obama. >> i think i have the best chance, i have the only chance. maybe i'm overstating it a bit. >> reporter: romney's speech drew as much attention for the venue as it did for his vision. in a campaign that carefully crafts imagery, the scene was striking, a 65,000-seat stadium providing a nearly empty back drop. romney joked about the size of the stadium.

nbc's peter alexander joining us from the campaign trail in las vegas. good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. mitt romney is counting on a convincing victory, and he won four years ago with the majority, 51% of the vote. gop does not predict a winner until all the doors are closed at the caucus sites. that should happen about 7:00 specific time. romney advisers telling me a short time ago that the significance of this is it's back-to-back significant wins for their candidate, it demonstrates strength among conservatives, a lot of tea partyers in this state. the top issue by far in this state is the economy with the highest unemployment in the nation nearly 13%. also the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, nearly four times the national average. a significant number to keep an eye on tonight will be how well ron paul does. he's been hoping to gather delegates here in this state, vowing he will stay in this race, lester, through the summer. >> peter alexander on the trail in vegas tonight. peter, thanks. david gregory is moderator of "

peter alexander is on the trail for us tonight in novi, michigan. good evening. >> reporter: ryan, good evening. at one time or another there have been seven different republican front-runners and mitt romney has had the most substantial organization and the most money but he's been unable to unite the party wind him. once all the votes are counted it could reconfigure this entire race. even as michigan voters were casting their ballots today, mitt romney and rick santorum continued to exchange barbs. >> i'm running against a guy in this state who's an economic lightweight. he doesn't understand how the economy works. >> he's a lightweight on conservative accomplishments. >> reporter: facing questions about his difficulties motivating conservative voters, even in the state where he grew up, romney today pushed back. >> you know, it's very easy to excite the base with incendiary comments. i'm not willing to light my hair on fire to try to get support. i am who i am. >> reporter: seeking to upend romney's bid for the nomination, santorum, who's conced

nbc's peter alexander is in grand rapids tonight. >> reporter: a self-described son of detroit, mitt romney is son of michigan's legendary governors george romney, the sign of an auto executive who proudly claims cars are in his bones. >> detroit auto show with my dad. that was a big deal. i want to make michigan stronger and better. michigan has been my home and this is personal. >> reporter: for adults of a certain age across this state, romney is a household name dating back a half century. it's one reason romney lost his 2008 presidential bid at the henry ford museum in dearborn, a primary he later won. >> we are celebrating in michigan. >> reporter: romney went years without touting his michigan roots, running for office in massachusetts, first to be senator before later becoming governor. among some diners in grand rapids, the senior romney's political career is a dim memory. >> i'm 46, so, yeah. i was probably in diapers. >> reporter: as for his son? >> he stands for business as usual, honestly, to me. that's what comes to mind first. >> the romney name is familiar, but mitt r

peter alexander, thanks. >>> now to a big back drop issue, the price of gas right now. for commuters and businesses that rely on going by road, prices are hitting new records for this time of year, 10% above last year's prices nationwide, 15% above in the state of california. kristen dahlgren has more on some drivers who are paying a huge price. >> reporter: 1:00 a.m. in orange county, california. an early morning fill-up that jimmy the milkman has been doing more than 30 years. these days, every day brings shock. with a truck full of milk to deliver, he has no choice. >> i don't have a horse and carriage. >> reporter: jimmy can't pass his cost along. customers would go elsewhere. he endures the increase is has laid off two workers. >> things were going real good up to about three, four weeks ago. then all heck has broken loose here. >> reporter: the last four weeks, the national average is up almost 30 cents. now at $3.70, it increased 13 cents in the last week alone. at the oscars last night, as all those limos lined up, chauffeurs were adding up the cost, 1,100 inclu

our report from the trail tonight from nbc's peter alexander. >> what a welcome, thank you! >> reporter: energized by his resounding florida victory, he rallied supporters in minnesota, where votes will be cast tuesday. >> we elected president obama to lead. he chose to follow and now it's time for him to get out of the way. >> reporter: it was this comment in an interview on cnn that started a firestorm of criticism. >> i'm not concerned about the very poor. we have a safety net there. if it needs 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. >> reporter: the first part of that statement suggesting indifference to the plight of the poor started immediate reaction. first from the obama campaign, then conservative stalwarts like "the national review," "the weekly standard" and blogs like red state. the comment became a distraction for romney, a wealthy former finance executive. >> no, no, no. you've got to take the whole sentence, all right? >> reporter: newt gingrich wasted no time jumping

nbc's peter alexander on the trail tonight in las vegas. peter, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. there was no better evidence this campaign moved to the wild west than donald trump taking the stage today. he said he's had several meetings in recent months with mitt romney and said he was ultimately swayed by romney's strong performance in recent debates. ever the showman, donald trump stepped into the spotlight today alongside mitt romney. >> it's my honor, real honor and privilege to endorse mitt romney. >> reporter: in an event that lasted barely five minutes, romney himself seemed to acknowledge the sheer spectacle of it all. >> there are some things you can't imagine happening in your life. this is one of them. >> reporter: the hype vintage vegas came with plenty of confusion. several media outlets initially reported trump would back newt gingrich who later was dismissive. >> the donald is a force of his own. >> reporter: for romney, the endorsement of a billionaire businessman with this as his signature line -- >>

nbc's peter alexander reports tonight from the trail in michigan. >> reporter: mitt romney wasted no time today, trying to capitalize on his rival rick santorum's performance in last night's debate. >> i don't know that i've ever seen a politician explain in so many ways why it was he voted against his principles. >> reporter: like santorum's admission that he made a mistake backing president bush's education overhaul. >> it was against the principles i believed in, but when you're part of the team sometimes you take one for the team for the leader, and i made a mistake. you know, politics is a team sport, folks. >> reporter: in phoenix today romney took a swing at that comment, too. >> he talked about this as taking one for the team. i wonder which team he was taking it for? >> reporter: riding a wave of momentum. >> i'm here to talk about a positive solution to the problems that confront this country. >> reporter: santorum who insists he's the true conservative in the race mocked romney's assertion that he balanced budgets as massachusetts governor. >> michael dukakis balanced the

bring it on. >> reporter: this is peter alexander on the campaign trail in detroit. facing next week's crucial primary here in michigan, mitt romney tried to refocus the campaign on the main argument, that he's the best candidate to fix the american economy. >> how can we have a president -- this is what i don't get -- how can we have a president whose tax policy is to raise taxes? >> still in what's become a neck and neck republican race, rick santorum is threatening to derail romney's path to the nomination. >> if he loses, it changes the entire psychology of the race. suddenly the talk will not be the inevitability of mitt romney as a presidential nominee, but there will be huge doubts. >> reporter: romney's senior advisers dismiss santorum for creating, in their words, a controversy a day. and in arizona, romney has dispatched his wife across michigan who today acknowledged her husband's debates are stressful, even on her. >> i decided it would be much better if i could just do the debating from this point forward. we've heard enough from mitt. it's just enough.

nbc's peter alexander joining us from the campaign trail in las vegas. good evening. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. mitt romney is counting on a convincing victory, and he won four years ago with the majority, 51% of the vote. he spent his day out of state in colorado ahead of tuesday's primary there. in colorado springs, specifically. he'll be back here in las vegas tonight for a caucus night celebration with his supporters. also this week mitt romney parted ways with his debate coach who the advisers had become concerned was getting too much credit for his strong debate performances in recent weeks. the economy in the state of nevada is the top story. nearly 13% unemployment rate and the foreclosure rate is nearly four times the national average. newt gingrich will be hosting his party at the me venetian, the party owned by sheldoned aalson who's put money into the pro gingrich super pac. and ron paul has vowed in the race through the summer and is hoping to use this as one of the many caucus states where he collects delegates. >> peter alex

we have two reports tonight, before we hear from peter alexander on the campaign trail in michigan. we begin with nbc's andrea mitchell in washington on this change in the tone about the conversation about religion today. andrea, good evening. >> reporter: good evening, brian. rick santorum has been firing up the republican base by accusing president obama of having, quote, a phony theology. he says he's not questioning the president's christian faith, but he has reignited a hot debate over religion and politics. rick santorum says he's not talking about religion but about president obama's environmental policy. >> the government gives him the drugs -- >> but then santorum brought up the president's controversial former pastor, the reverend jeremiah wright on fox news last night. >> he went to reverend wright's zurj for 20 years. you can question what kind of theology the reverend has. he says he's a christian, he goes to a christian church now. >> reporter: the comments are red meat for some conservatives. >> it's about some phony ideal, some phony theology. oh, not a theology base

nbc's petr peter alexander reports from michigan. >> reporter: mitt rom no wasted no time today trying to capitalize on sabtor up's debate. >> i don't think i've ever seen a politician -- >> reporter: he made a mistake by backing president bush's overhaul. >> it was against the principles i believed in, but, when you're part of the team, sometimes you take one for the team for the leader and i made a mistake. politics is a team sport, folks. >> reporter: romney took a swing at that comment, too. >> he talked about this as taking one for the team. i wonder which team he was taking it for? >> reporter: riding a wave of momentum. >> i'm here to talk about a positive solution to the problems that confront this country. >> reporter: santorum who insists he's the true conservative in the race mocked romney's assertion that he balanced budgets as the governor. >> michael dukakis balanced the budget does that make him qualified to be president of the united states? i don't think so. >> reporter: romney fired back. >> while i was fighting to save the olympics, you were fighting to save the brid

that's where we're going to find our peter alexander standing by for us. so, peter, mitt romney and rick santorum are two different sides of this public coin and it's mitt romney who has the most to lose when we focus on michigan and arizona. explain the candidates' mindsets right now. >> reporter: you make a very good point. i had conversations earlier this morning with seniors in the romney campaign. they make it very clear that despite rick santorum having all this momentum they feel strongly they'll do well in this state. it's been said -- this has been said by many political advisers to be the most significant of mitt romney's career. he's going to come here in about 15 minutes. you can see the sign behind us as they try to deliver their message very clearly today. it reads "cut the spending." while rick santorum has been creating a controversy a day since this weekend with words like phony, ideology, phony ideology and theology and questioning the very existence of public schools in this country, they say they are on message, focused on jobs, on the e

. >> i want to give a shoutout to peter alexander's sister. sara and i did this thing called spin for sight, and peter alexander's sister has this debilitating disease called usher syndrome type 3. you lose your vision and your hearing simultaneously. anyway, we had a bunch of people -- >> look at you. >> sara -- there we go. >> anyway, it was a spin class full. it was people were soaking wet. we raised a lot of money for his sister's cause. >> isn't that jay behind you? >> jay knows how to play. >> just came back from palm beach early to do that for peter. >> a lot of fun. should we do favorite things? >> you know what, we were out in california a couple weeks ago, and she had some meetings, i did, too, and of course we always see cody when we go out there. we went for the first time to an adorable place for breakfast. and it is this place called jack and joe's. >> okay. >> and you go in, and a lot of people waiting to get in. it's just charming. and you can see tons of kids from colleges are there and stuff. just a beautiful vibe. i met the

>> as peter alexander tweeted out that picture, we saw that.and cars talking points. this just came in moments ago from the speech. >> this feels good, being back in michigan, the trees are the right height. the streets are just right. i like the fact that most of the cars that i see are detroit made automobiles. >> a couple of cadillacs, actually. there's this. and now to a new approach toward watergate, take a look back. this is john chancellor, anchoring nbc nightly news back in august of 1974, august 9th. >> at 11:35 this morning a letter was delivered and this is a replica of it. it said, i hear by resign thes of of the president of the united states, sincerely rich around nixon. >> that was the scandal that had been infront of the country for two years. the author and with me right now. it's great to meet you. what possessed you to take the facts that were you know so interesting for a whole generation of us and spin it to anovel? >> i think i just wanted to make what was this enormous thing intimate and somehow how it affected, i picked

peter alexander is traveling with the romney campaign. peter, what's the strategy now with this final week? >> reporter: chris, good morning to you. it's interesting to listen to hogan talk about the alabama/middle tennessee state game. mitt romney here again today for what is specifically as you know a messaging event. and the message is very clear on a big sign they put up about a half hour ago behind us. it reads "cut the spending." they want to make it very clear they're focused on improving the american economy, cutting spending and creating jobs. he's trying to draw a very stark contrast between santorum's campaign and romney's campaign, to use their language he's creating a controversial day when he talks about the existence or need for the public schools, also the comments about prenatal testing and the like. they say they're very focused their methods. they recognize what matters and despite all the metheds, they believe they will do very well here one week from today. chris? >> peter alexander, thank you so much. gentlemen, let m

peter alexander is at the romney headquarters. they must be happy that they are doing well even among the evangelicals. you hear about the rift between them and the mormons. >> reporter: yes. i was speaking with a romney campaigner and they said back to back convincing wins. this is not about the mormon vote in the state. it's about the conservative vote in the state and has a strong tea party opposition. they also made it very clear that this demonstrates success in the northeast in new hampshire and south in florida. they refer to three states as swing states. arguably new hampshire is not a swing state but says it sends warning shots to president obama's re-election team that they will compete in the states that president obama needs to win in a general election, chris. >> when do we expect to hear from governor romney tonight? >> reporter: we think we'll hear from him about 8:00 local time. 11:00 your time. this could be called at 7:00 our time. 10:00 your time as well. is he going to take the day off tomorrow in nevada. they

peter alexander is following the romney campaign from johnstown, colorado, and peter joining me to talkut this. it was all about knocking down newt gingrich before now. rick santorum is getting the treatment from mitt romney, correct? >> reporter: this was the one candidate who had avoided the romney attack machine. the romney machine had gone after rick perry, after newt gingrich consistently and now going after rick santorum as he appears to have some momentum heading into the three contests tonight. there was a barrage of e-mails sent to reporters like myself yesterday attacking santorum, one of them in a statement from the former minnesota governor tim pawlenty distributed in his own state saying santorum is a nice guy but he isn't ready to be president. as for the person who wants to be president who will be in this room, mitt romney, he's running late and for a campaign that is normally right on time that in itself is newsworthy. for the first time in the time we've been traveling with him, he spoke to the room by skype hoping to rally the troops here but it was all broken up, a b

nbc's peter alexander is traveling with the republican candidates. he's in las vegas. peter, good morning to you. >> matt, good morning to you. nevada bet big on mitt romney. he won the state for the second time in four years, thanks in some part to the large mormon population here. and in his victory speech last night romney said this is now a two-man race between him, not a newt gingrich, but barack obama. >> you know, this is not the first time you gave me your vote of confidence, and this i'm going to take it to the white house. >> reporter: in front of his most enthusiastic crowd yet, mitt romney tightened his grip on frontrunner status, largely ignoring the rest of the republican field and using his victory speech to blast president obama. >> this president began his presidency by apologizing for america. he should now be apologizing to america. >> reporter: in a state crippled bys housing crisis, as well as the nation's highest unemployment, nearly 13%, rom fly challenged the president on keeping his promise of lowering the unemployment rate to 8%. >> this week h

peter alexander joins me from reno, nevada, where the republicans will caucus tomorrow. >> reporter: lester, good evening to you. perhaps no state in the country is paying closer attention to these job numbers these days than the state of nevada. they have the highest unemployment of anywhere from the country, nearly 13%. the highest foreclosure rate. nearly four times the national average. on the campaign trail today, mitt romney again attacked president obama for what he called his failed policies, saying he didn't cause the recession, but he made it worse. >> he used his mandate, being elected, he used that to put through a series of programs he and his base and his friends thought were important, but frankly, made it harder for our economy to recover. so we suffered. >> reporter: for his part, newt gingrich had sharp words for both the president and mitt romney, who he referred to today as obama light. romney is heavily favored here in the state of nevada ahead of tomorrow's caucuses. he won this state four years ago and leads in the polls here by 20 points. >> peter, thank you.

peter alexander is in detroit with the latest. hi, peter. >> reporter: good morning to you. it was another late night for the romney campaign. they got a clean sweep. they expected the sizable victory in arizona but it was the win here in his native state that was the one they were focused on. it helps them avoid embarrassment and at least for the moment quiets some lingering questions about whether romney can unite the republican party behind him. >> so a week ago, the pundits and pollsters were ready to count us out. >> reporter: for romney it was a win. >> we didn't win by a lot but we won by enough. that's all that counts. >> reporter: for rick santorum it wasn't a loss. >> a month ago they didn't know who we are, but they do now. >> reporter: lacking romney's money and organizational strength santorum boasted he made it competitive here. >> we came into the backyard of an opponent in a race people said to ignore, you have no chance here. the people of michigan looked into the hearts of the candidates and all i have to say is, i love you back. >> reporter: fending off sa

nbc's peter alexander is in salt lake city, utah, with details. peter, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. president obama's re-election team has largely focused attention on mitt romney. but increasingly it's turning an eye to rick santorum, the latest example, a sharp back and forth after santorum appeared to question the president's faith. facing a surge of scrutiny to go with his surging poll numbers, rick santorum is trying to define himself before his opponents can make their attacks stick. >> someone who can clearly go after president obama on issue after issue, draw clear bright contrasts, make him accountable. >> reporter: but first, santorum is trying to clarify this comment questioning the values behind president obama's energy policy. >> it's about some phony ideal, some phony theology. oh, not a theology based on the bible. a different theology. but no less a theology. >> reporter: the obama campaign blasted the remarks as well over the line. >> it's just time to get rid of this mindset in our politics that if we disagree we have

nbc's peter alexander is on the campaign trail in colorado. peter, good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you. mitt romney hopes to continue his march uninterrupted today while rick santorum hopes for his biggest break out day since the iowa caucuses. there are three contests today and a senior romney adviser telling me overnight, do not be surprised if santorum pulls off a minnesota victory today. >> you don't get a better welcome than a colorado welcome. i'll tell you that. [ cheers and applause ] >> reporter: in front of a packed high school gym outside denver mitt romney ignored republican rivals. instead hammered away at president obama for this exchange with matt on "today." >> do you deserve a second term? >> i deserve a second term. we're not done. >> he said he deserves a second term. do you believe that? [ this president has failed and he needs to go and we need a new president. >> reporter: with growing buzz surrounding rick santorum's presidential bid the romney campaign began going after the former pennsylvania senator w

nbc's peter alexander has the latest in michigan this morning. r, good morning to you. >> reporter: hey, matt, good morning to you. mitt romney and rick santorum traveling across the state again today. a combined six scheduled stops. one just wrapping up a short time ago for mitt romney here in rockford, michigan. the romney campaign saying they feel like they're on a really good track right now, that their poll numbers have improved, down a couple weeks ago, now slightly in the lead. but santorum keeps going after mitt romney, hoping voters will help him turn this race, in his words, on its ear. >> let's take the first step to a better future on tuesday. >> reporter: down to the wire -- >> you can change this race right here in michigan. >> reporter: -- rick santorum and mitt romney are mixing it up in michigan. with his poll numbers slipping, santorum is appealing to social conservatives, insisting that this john f. kennedy speech to protestant ministers. >> i believe in an america for the separation of church and state is absolute. >> reporter: