rick tyler, bay buchanan, ralph reed, thank you.oaster continues. >>> kate baldwin is back with the latest news you need to know right now. >> good evening again, everyone. a jury says virginia tech was negligent for waiting to warn students about the gunman in the 2007 campus massacre. a total of 33 people died that day. and after the first victims were shot, the school waited more than two hours to send out a campus white alert. >>> the washington monument may be two millimeters shorter than it was last summer. surveyors say it might have sunk after last august's earth wake. we are talking about a dip the size of two dimes stacked on top of each other. seems insignificant on a 555-foot oblisk, but it's been closed as they look for quake damage. >>> a 6-year-old is headed to the national spelling bee. lorrie ann madison is the youngest student ever to qual y qualify. >> v-a-q-u-e-r-o. >> a spanish translation of cowboy to earn a spot in the national contest. the annual scripps spelling bee kicks off in may right here in washington.

ralph reed. [applause] >> thank you. thank you very much. thank you so much for having me.g fun? [cheers and applause] i heard you had a primary coming up. is that right? but, we have one more presidential candidate who will be speaking. my good friend, former senator rick santorum. we're glad to have him. [applause] it is great to be back in wisconsin. when i came here in may of 2010, i was flying in from overseas. i was pretty jet lag. -- jet-lagged. they said, we why you to come to the state convention for the republican party. i believe that your state chairman was a guy you may know. he is doing a fabulous job. he called me up and he said do you believe in free speech? i said, yes, i do. he said, will you come to milwaukee and give a free speech? [laughter] so, i did. and after i spoke at the prayer breakfast and we prayed for our state and for this nation, we have an organizational meeting to begin building faith and freedom in wisconsin. we had an audacious plan. our plan was simple. in 2008 and as far as i'm concerned, the most out of the mainstream individual to ev

speculation mitt romney's mormon religion may alienate some evangelical christians, gop insider ralph reed says common values are more important to the voting bloc than theological differences. >> the irony is that there is no stronger commonnallity really on values and public policy than there is among mormons and evangelicals. >> reed also says social conservatives like redemption stories, and may be more forgiving of gingrich's past marital problems. >> the story of the gospel for evangelicals is not i'm perfect and you're a sinner. it's we all come up short. we all make mistakes. and that's why we need a forgiving god. >> tea party activist says romney's business acuemen is a plus, but his support of romneycare may be a nonstarter for many in her group. >> at the end of the day, they don't want a mandate whether it's from the federal government or the state government. >> for her, the ideal president would stand for fiscal austerity. she recalls gingrich's budget stand-off during the clinton administration. >> when washington was saying, you know, you're going to shut the government do

prior to the primary, i had spoken to ralph reed, a g.o.p. insider and self-described evangelical and he said that evangelicals are more forgiving than people give them credit. after all, it's the center of christianity. they don't clop to be perfect, but they like stories of redemption and the former house speaker has been contrite and ahead his case that he is a changed man. what georgians do know about mr. gingrich who was a college professor in suburban atlanta for sometime, is his intellect. he is known as one of the great intellectuals in georgia politics. so this is what -- this is how the former speaker is trying to position himself. he is challenging the president to debates, if he becomes the g.o.p. nominee. listen to this. >> we run a very frugal campaign we couldn't afford one. but i have already promised if the president will agree to seven 3-hour debates in the lincoln/douglas tradition, he can use a teleprompter if he wants to. >> reporter: and according to exit polls, more than a third of georgia voters said that newt gingrich

eric erickson is with us, amy kramer and ralph reed.ork on this issue over the years. sometimes people are taught this from their childhood and believe it. i'm not ascribing ill will to them. how much of an issue, if you look at the exit polls, there's a nagging question. >> i don't think it's a significant issue. the last time we saw a poll question that asked is this an issue for you in terms of your voting behavior was prior to the south carolina primary. 70% to 77% of south carolina voters said it didn't matter at all or made them more like ly t vote for them. if you look at how he's run the come pain, i'm mr. fix-it. i'm the turn around artist. this is about the economy. when you look at the exit polls, it breaks out that way. he's talking about that. voters that care about the economy, the number one issue breaking his way. the other group that votes with him is the pragmatic or strategic voter that says i want to beat obama. he's winning there, not surprisingly, rick santorum given his profile on the issues, his service in congre

prior to the primary, i had spoken to ralph reed, a g.o.p.nsider and self-described evangelical and he said that evangelicals are more forgiving than people give them credit. after all, it's the center of christianity. they don't clop to be perfect, but they like stories of redemption and the former house speaker has been contrite and ahead his case that he is a changed man. what georgians do know about mr. gingrich who was a college professor in suburban atlanta for sometime, is his intellect. he is known as one of the great intellectuals in georgia politics. so this is what -- this is how the former speaker is trying to position himself. he is challenging the president to debates, if he becomes the g.o.p. nominee. listen to this. >> we run a very frugal campaign we couldn't afford one. but i have already promised if the president will agree to seven 3-hour debates in the lincoln/douglas tradition, he can use a teleprompter if he wants to. >> reporter: and according to exit polls, more than a third of georgia voters said that newt gingrich's

rush also got some support from the christian coalition founder and scam artist ralph reed. he took it upon himself on twitter to say rush, apology accepted. let's move on and talk about the issues. we're with you. so nice of you to do that, ralph. here is a big important fact for you. this was not your apology to accept. sandra fluke was victimized by rush limbaugh for three straight days and she did not accept the apology. isn't that important? many of rush's advertisers are also not accepting the apology. as of right now, limbaugh has lost 45 sponsors. republicans are trying everything they can to avoid criticizing the true leader of the republican party. some of them are even developing wild conspiracy they are res. >> this whole situation is about president obama's entitlement society and war on freedom of religion in the united states of america, his foot soldier, sandra fluke, a contraception activist, is at the center of the storm. >> president obama on the ropes with the economy, and specifically with women voters, gets mrs. luke a controversy and the puppets play al

speculation mitt romney's mormon religion may alienate some evangelical christians, gop insider ralph reeds common values are more important to the voting bloc than theological differences. >> the irony is that there is no stronger commonnallity really on values and public policy than there is among mormons and evangelicals. >> reed also says social conservatives like redemption stories, and may be more forgiving of gingrich's past marital problems. >> the story of the gospel for evangelicals is not i'm perfect and you're a sinner. it's we all come up short. we all make mistakes. and that's why we need a forgiving god. >> tea party activist says romney's business acuemen is a plus, but his support of romneycare may be a nonstarter for many in her group. >> at the end of the day, they don't want a mandate whether it's from the federal government or the state government. >> for her, the ideal president would stand for fiscal austerity. she recalls gingrich's budget stand-off during the clinton administration. >> when washington was saying, you know, you're going to shut the government down,

speculation mitt romney's mormon religion may alienate some evangelical christians, gop insider ralph reeds common values are more important to the voting bloc than theological differences. >> the irony is that there is no stronger commonnallity really on values and public policy than there is among mormons and evangelicals. >> reed also says social conservatives like redemption stories, and may be more forgiving of gingrich's past marital problems. >> the story of the gospel for evangelicals is not i'm perfect and you're a sinner. it's we all come up short. we all make mistakes. and that's why we need a forgiving god. >> tea party activist says romney's business acuemen is a plus, but his support of romneycare may be a nonstarter for many in her group. >> at the end of the day, they don't want a mandate whether it's from the federal government or the state government. >> for her, the ideal president would stand for fiscal austerity. she recalls gingrich's budget stand-off during the clinton administration. >> when washington was saying, you know, you're going to shut the government down,

i want to bring in donna brazil as well as paul begalla, and ralph reed. also here in new york gloria borger and david gergen. say electability is the number one issue, they all go for mitt romney. you haven't been a fan of mitt romney. but that's a pretty telling argument and a hard thing for rick santorum supporters to fight against. >> very much. he's been fighting it around the nation. my caution has been if you look at the exits in 2004, a lot went for john kerry because they thought he was the most electable. rick santorum hasn't sold himself to republican independents who lean republican. he hasn't done a very good job. david gergen was right when he said he's had a bad week and can't control on social issue. i know that most voters looking at the exits consistently even in the south they're concerned about the economy and jobs. >> paul, did it make sense rick santorum spent so much time in puerto rico? >> candidly, no. it's easy to say let's not try there. puerto rico is catholic. senator santorum is a catholic. but he got creamed there. he got a n

so i think people are overreacting to the battle, and it's something -- i know, the other one, ralph reedx months ago before this whole thing started, six months prior and said the best thing that's going to happen, it's going to last until june. i want to see a good battle to go through june so they can keep the dialogue. the worst thing, i think, can happen is john mccain got done early and he had nothing to say for six months. >> i don't think that mitt romney right now likes the fact that this has gone on to a long battle because -- >> he would have liked to have -- >> come on! i mean, i think it's probably 50/50 on whether or not republicans or democrats think this has been a good idea. >> i'll tell you what, i think the debates have helped sharpen mitt romney, however, i think they have made him a better candidate and better able to face the president of the united states come the fall debates between the two of them. >> the three hour rehearsal we do before our show makes us sharper. >> sure does. >> yeah, what rehearsal? that's called sleeping. in the meantime, president obama say

. >> i didn't know someone had rolled the stone away from the tomb of ralph reed. >> he probably stillct the law. by the way the care act are the only ones have people walking around with walkie-talkies. >> stephanie: we have the facts on our side. spike dolomite ward is there diagnosed with cancer in 2011. she paid $1500 on the individual market for insurance before losing her coverage. now enrolled in california's preexisting condition insurance pool as of december. made possible by the healthcare law paying $306 per month for stage three breast cancer treatment. she said i'm here paying it forward, here to defend the president and his law because it is literally saving my life. it is stories like those right? >> unfortunately she's not free. >> stephanie: she's not what? >> she's not free. she has no liberties. she's under the tyrant. >> stephanie: charlie, what is your sense of what's happening there? chris was saying he's a little nervous. >> i don't think anything that has to do with what i'm standing in the middle of has anything to do with what's going on in sight. it is a good