i agree with rick santorum. mitt romney can't beat obama and he'll never sit in the office of the united states presidency. >> rick: matt, you want to respond to that? >> yeah, i think if you're a political consultant, you would agree with me that numbers before the summer has even started mean very little in a race and if you don't think the gallup polling organization is a significant enough firm that showed romney was in the lead in the last itrace, i encourage to you look at it again. mitt romney, although behind in most polls, isitying in a position where if he can make his economic message, which is the number one issue and what this race will be about, he can win this thing. >> rick: ryan, let me jump in here. there were polls that were put out this week by the "new york times" and cbs news that showed that when it comes to the economy, americans tend to think that mitt romney is the one with better ideas, better solutions for the economic situation. but the number one thing that jumped out at me, ryan, w

and losing for rick. it is about pushing forward. pushing the message of freedom. and defeating barack obama. there are some bumps and bruises along the way. you win some states and lose some states. i don't think that's how rick santorum thinks. he has always been a fighter. he was down in the polls before and he kept fighting through pennsylvania even though he lost. i think he would have done the same thing here. that was not the issue. most polls had us ahead in pennsylvania. it is his home state. we were confident we could win that home state but there were some other things that had to happen to secure the nomination. it looked like it was becoming increasingly difficult for those to happen. so rick understood that and realized that the ultimate goal was to defeat barack obama. >> thank you. let me bring in brian will, david gregory and chuck todd. you heard rick santorum say this was an improbable race. in the end, he won 11 states. he said miracle after miracle. obviously balancing the issue of hi

rick: i'm rick folbaum, god you are with us.ent tone from earlier hearings on the house side run by republicans. as jenna just said california senator barbara boxer says the party is over at the gsa. now it's time to look forward to make sure it doesn't happen again. charlie hurt is a columnist for the washington times. seems like everybody wants to get in on the act when criticizing and showing outrage over the gsa. >> it really is funny to watch. it's bipartisan condemnation by both sides. this is right around the very weak when americans are having to write those tax checks or at least tally up how much of their hard-earned money they've seen slip away between their fingers with every pay check. to have all this come a the same week we have extraordinary hearings into this mindless waste and many an arrogance that is sort of -- it's kind of hard -- friends of mine who are in the private sector who get to go on lavish corporate trips, they are not as cocky about this stuff as these folks are. and it really is shocking. i thoug

rec rick i'm rick folbaum in for jon scott. lawmakers are set to rule on the proposed buffet rule on americans to pay a minimum of 30 percent in federal taxes. critics argue it would hurt small businesses and won't make a dent in the debt but president obama insists the rule issention ll to a healthy economy. >> we always have to think about whether every single person is getting a fair shot where they actually have opportunity. >> when we have debates now about our tax policy, when we have debates now about the buffet rule that we've been talking about, where we say if you make a million dollars a year or more, you shouldn't pay a lower tax rate than your secretary, that is not an argument about redistribution. that is an argument about growth. rick: let's go to chief washington correspondent jaime rosen who joins us with the very latest on this >> reporter: rick and jenna, good morning. a procedural vote on the buffet rule is expected by the senate this evening. bear in mind a number of similar proposals laimed at -- aimed th

rick: i'm rick folbaum in for jon scott. space shuttle discovery officially welcomed to its new home a year after its last mission t will go on display at. it will replays the enterprise which has been there. it came to washington tuesday from the kennedy space center. we watched it live on "happening now". you can see it piggybacking on top of a 747 over several d.c. landmarks before touching down in a picture-perfect landing. today's ceremony drew thousands of visitors want to get a look at. doug mckelway is live in northern virginia and doug is what is going on right now? that is doug mckelway. obviously not hearing us. doug, he is leaning in. having a little problem with his earpiece. we'll check back with doug in a moment. this is very exciting what is going on today. a very rare sight as we see the two retired shuttle aircraft, literally nose to nose as you've been saying. it is a sight really something that is very unusual and rare. jenna: it is the end of the road at least for now the space shuttle discovery that wil

rick: i'm rick folbaum in for jon. mitt romney leaving the competition in the dust as he all but locks up the nomination in one. biggest primary days on the calendar. now he is focusing entirely on president obama, sharpening his attacks and making the troubled economy issue number one. >> all of the thousands of good and decent americans i've met who want nothing more than a better chance a fighting chance, to all of you, i have a simple message. hold on a little longer. a better america begins tonight. [cheers and applause] four years ago barack obamas today he would us in front ever greek columns with sweeping promises of hope and change. but after we came down-to-earth, after all the celebration and the parades, what do we have to show for 3 1/2 years of president obama? is it easier to make ends meet? >> no!. >> is it easier to sell your home or buy a new one? >> no!. >> it is still about the economy and we're not stupid. [cheers and applause] rick: michael barone is a senior political analyst at the "washington e

rick? >> rick: molly henneberg. thank you. >> arthel: it has been nearly a year since president obama gave the order that took out international terrorist osama bin laden. the decision widely seen as a pinnacle of the president's foreign policy and the subject of a new ad attacking mitt romney. one that is drawing some substantial criticism. peter doocy has more from washington. >> a year ago this week, president obama gave the go ahead for the raid that took out osama bin laden. but his campaign is suggesting that if a president romney had been given the same intel, he wouldn't have gone for the kill. they're making that point in a new ad with former president bill clinton. >> he took the harder and the more honorable path and the one that produced, in my opinion, the best result. >> after asking which path mitt romney would have taken, the ad highlights a 2007 reuters headline that says mitt romney criticized barak obama for vow to go strike al-qaeda targets inside pakistan if necessary and this isn't the first ti

one of them was a local waiter, rick's father.wanted an heir apparent he could mold in his own image, so he adopted baby rick, celebrating the new messiah in the cult's publications and documenting his childhood in intimate family snaps. >> he was almost like, i don't know, what would you compare that to? i suppose he was just very famous, you know. probably one of the most famous, sort of like next to, next to his dad, you know. it's like their family was like royalty. you know, he was like a prince. and, you know, soon to be king sort of person. >> but the mantle of leadership came with a price. berg would also use his son as an ideological play thing pushing sexual boundaries for a new generation of disciples. >> you know, we may not believe in god. i don't. at least certainly not the christian [ muted ] god. [ muted ]. he wants to stick it in everybody's [ bleep ]. but, i don't know. i'm starting to think life goes on and that [ muted ] scares me. that really does scare me more than anything, because -- because i -- i don't kn

go rick, go! go rick, go! go rick, go! >> he took that race the entire way to the convention and he fell short and in the fall republicans fell short because we nominated another moderate who couldn't galvanize our party and bring those votes to our side to bring the change we need in america. four years later they fought him again. we need another moderate. we have to defeat this democratic incumbent. this time the republican establishment lost. let's not make the mistake of 1976 again. let's bypass that era and move straight to 1980 and let's defeat a democratic incumbent. you can help me here in pennsylvania. thank you very much. god bless you. god bless you. >> former pennsylvania senator rick santorum speaking in his home state. i believe in his home district where he represented part of the district that represented when he was in the house of representivities. mr. santorum making the decision not to be in any of the states that were voting tonight. he's not in wisconsin or maryland. he was not on the ballot in washi

rick: here, here. >> reporter: rick knows what i'm talking about. with three women about this. all three of them made the decision to leave their careers to be full-time moms. michelle was in marketing at ibm. she left ibm in 2004. she has three kids, anna, ten months old is her youngest. michelle is a swing voter and reskwrebts hillary rosen's comments about stay at home moms. >> it's a lie to say one is better than another. the number of women who choose to stay at home sacrifice their atonomy because they going for a greater goal in their mind. >> reporter: i spoke with lisa, a harvard mba, 16 years ago she left her career to be a stay at home mom. she is back in the working world at a medical office. she is a swing voter. here is her perspective. >> i've heard all this -- all these messages from the democratic party that there was a war on women, you know, from the weapon party, so, you know, all of it wasn't making sense. so it didn't make sense for me one way and it doesn't make sense for me the other. >> reporter: for the record lisa does not

against rick santorum even more. if i were to advise romney in pennsylvania, and also wisconsin as part of this too, wisconsin a swing state. he wants to spend not to crush rick santorum, but he wants to spend to push his own favorables up and drive his own unfavorables down. that's what he needs to do to defeat barack obama in a blue leaning, purple state like pennsylvania and wisconsin. >> do we have an idea where romney is going to be the next few weeks leading up to april 24th in pennsylvania. >> reporter: he's going to raise some money, but pennsylvania will be the first stop and many stops in between because, again, that's the big state here. one of the things i think they are counting on now is they really do believe they can rightfully claim the momentum. we saw through the whole first part of this primary season, if mitt romney wins new hampshire and immediately loses south carolina, newt gingrich wins south carolina and immediately loses florida. mitt romney wins florida and immediately loses in that sweep

rick, back to you. rick: steve, thanks.an update on army staff sergeant travis mills who lost all four of his limbs last week in afghanistan. we've been following this story all week long as travis has returned to the united states. sergeant mills was on his third tour of duty in afghanistan when he was injured by this ied explosion. he's already had emergency surgery in germany, he's back in the united states at walter reed army medical center in washington, and joining us now on the phone from washington is a family friend, david pratt who's now running, by the way, travismills.org. and we were able to speak to kelsey, travis' wife, on monday. the family's getting a briefing right now on how he's doing, what can you tell us about his condition right now? >> well, travis is in good spirits. they did some surgery again this morning to go back in and clean up the wounds, and they were hoping to be able to close at least a couple of them, maybe one of the legs and one of the arms so it could begin to start closing on its own

go rick, go. go rick, go. go rick, go. >> he took that race the entire way to the convention. he fell short. and in the fall, republicans fell short because we nominated another moderate who couldn't galvanize our party and bring those votes to our side to get the kind of change that we need in america. and then four years later they fought him again. we need another moderate. we have to defeat this democratic incumbent. and this time the republican establishment lost. let's not make the mistake of 1976 again. let's bypass that era and move straight to 1980 andincumbent, and you can help me here in pennsylvania. thank you very much. god bless you. god bless you. thank you. thank you. >> rick santorum talking in pennsylvania just moments ago. the fat lady certainly hasn't sung yet in this race. when we come back, more from team santorum. great shot. how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? by building on the cisco intelligent network they're able to serve up live video, and instant replays, creating fans from berlin to beijing. what can we help you build? nice s

a lot to talk about with rick santorum. you're seeing this al hunt's interview to air this weekend on bloomberg with reince priebus. if you are trying to tamp down the gender war why compare to the an insect? >> i'm not exactly certain why he picked that insect for that matter but it might not have been the best analogy. the truth is there is not a gender problem at the republican party. women, conservatives and liberals for that matter, they are multi-issue candidates, they are concerned about jobs, concerned about the economy, so you know, republicans are embracing men, women and all folks. the main thing is women are just like men. they want jobs, they want the economy to turn around, they want to be able to provide for their families just like the men do. >> we know that, you and i know that, but the exit polls certainly reflects a different reality that there is an 18-point gender gap now between republicans and democrats, at least in the usa gallop poll this week. that shows the conversation over the last six weeks ab

her answer to him is basically rick santorum is pro life. rick santorum is pro life. rick santorum is pro life. i can't hear you. watch. >> i have to ask you about something you said about holland and euthanasia. i don't know if you read about that on the blogs. he said that people wear bracelets that say do not euthanize me and people are involuntarily euthanized. do you remember that. >> a lot of this is what he is saying that is in his heart. that is life until natural death. the issues that are important to the people of america and that come out to vote forim and that is strong pro life from conception to natural death. >> not asking what is in his heart or what he believes. your candidate said all of these things about a country country called the netherlands, which is a real place full of real people called dutch people. he said things that are not true. will he correct these things? he's pro life. the dutch reporter goes back and asks the spokesperson again and her answer is again rick santorum is pro life, did i mention he is pro life. watch. >> the governmen

that's pretty good position for rick santorum to be in. and had he gotten any closer to that pennsylvania primary, john, and those polls started tipping in mitt romney's direction. remember, restore our future that super pac, was going to come in here, like everybody calls it the death star, the death star starting to position itself over pennsylvania. rick santorum did not want that kind of situation to unfold. he was guy saying has to win michigan. mitt romney has to win michigan. had he not won pennsylvania that could have been the end of his political career. >> john, i'm told real quick, budget was also a factor in this. pennsylvania has five media markets, some of them are very expensive. he reported almost $1 million in debt at the end of february. money was also a factor in this i'm today. >> jim, dana, thank you a long-time adviser to senator santorum is here. john, i want to focus on what's next. senator santorum speaks to governor romney. i'm told he said he wanted to help, he understands that reality. his public statement never

rick santorum not giving up at least not yet. former pennsylvania senator told cnn last night and we quote. >> we knew april would be a very tough month for us. but we also knew the month of may is rich in delegates and are strong states for us. >> but before santorum can get to may, he has to get through tonight. and then he faces five more primaries on april 24th including one in his home state of pennsylvania, which he admits he absolutely has to win. and that is no gimme. the latest quinnipiac poll has him leading by just six points. for more on tonight's republican primaries i'm joined by current correspondent david shuster. thanks so much for joining us. out in wisconsin at least we have been hearing that there is virtually no emotion behind this. are people turning out in wisconsin even to vote in this primary? >> if there's no emotion it's because they are so depressed over the negative ads. the romney campaign has spent nearly $3.5 million in advertisement. so they believe this is an important state. so there are a lot o

go ahead and respond to rick santorum. >> well, with all due respect to rick santorum, there couldn'tighter line between the vision that mitt romney has for the country which is getting the economy moving and having been an executive, not having a governmencentric view of the world and government's role in people's life like president obama does. it's wrong for rick santorum to say that. he's lashing out in the final stages of his campaign. this race for the nomination as a practical matter is over. it's not mathematically over. there's more processes amongst certain parts. but let's face it, mitt romney is going to be the nominee. he'll be a great nominee and a great president. he's been a executive leader in theor. he doesn't have the governmencentric view of the world like barack obama does. >> santorum as you heard him say he said it's halftime in the process right now. he says if he can win pennsylvania, may is going to be potentially a good month, texas, kentucky, arkansas, states where he can do well. you relish that thought this is going to continue well into may? >> well, no,

her answer is rick santorum is pro-life. rick santorum is pro-life. i can't hear you. >> i have to ask you about something he said about holland and euthanize ya. i don't know if you read about that on the blogs. he stated that people wear bracelets saying do not euthanize me and people are involuntarily euthanized. do you remember him saying that? >> a lot of these things are what's in his life. he's a strong pro-life person. that comes from life to natural death. those are the issues that are important to the people of middle america and that have come out to look for him. >> not asking about what h in his heart. your candidate said all of these things about ta country called the netherlands which is a full place full of real people called dutch people. he said things that are not true. will he correct these things? he's pro-life. her answer again is rick santorum is pro-life. he's pro-life. did i mention he's pro-life? >> the government says the embassy says the figures are not correct. he gave a wrong picture of the dutch euthanasia rules. >> rick

i believe rick is the guy. i do. >> shannon: karen santorum says the media has painted her husband as someone he's not. in the next hour, more of one miff one-on-one interview with karen santorum. secretary of state hillary clinton says time is running out for finding a peaceful solution to iran's disputed nuclear program. fresh talks are set for april 13. we have the details here in washington. >> as the u.s. vows to forge ahead with tough new sanctions on iran's oil industry, secretary of state hillary clinton stepping up the rhetorical pressure. let's listen. >> it is up to iran's leaders to make the right choice. we will see whether they will intend to do so. what is certain, however, is that iran's window to seek and obtain a peaceful resolution will not remain open forever. >> secretary clinton speaking in saudi arabia before moving to istanbul, where she confirms there will be talks with the iranians later this month. she was briefed by the turkish president on his recent trip to tehran. the u.s. is plan

rick santorum thought he won the state. steve and richard wolf on the strong arming of the delegates, romney style. >>> an arrest is made in the connection to the wisconsin planned parenthood bombing. mitt romney thinks he knows,000 fix the republican problem with women. >> the way we're going to get women voters is talking about how we will get this economy going again. >>> devastating tornadoes slam through nox. >> this is something i've never seen before. >> entire neighborhoods in dallas-ft. worth are destroyed. >>> good to have you with us. thanks for watching. we'll have full election results as we get them. president obama was the big winner today. he laid out two starkly different visions for america. in a speech to the associated press, the president said we can choose the vision to definded by paul ryan's budget or choose the path provided by president obama and the democrats. >> i believe this is a make or break moment for the middle class. i can't remember a time when the choice between competing visions of our

for rick santorum. i've been telling my liberal friends, there's a lot of populism in the republican party. your guy spoke it. it isn't all 1%. it wouldn't be in general election if it was 1% party. 49 of that 50% republicans get in general elections like 2010 are not 1 percenters. why did he stay on that line and run on that line and knock romney's block off? why did he stick on my grandfather's big hands out of the coffin. i grew up, a joe bag of doughnuts, kind of guy, why didn't he stay there? why did he get into contraception and all this stupid stuff we fought about 50 years ago. >> you guys did. oh, come on, chris. >> so i hope we bring up contraception under this campaign? >> that's fine. that's one sentence out of a whole 45-minute speech. most of his speech was, look, my grandfather was a coal miner. >> how come everyone thinks santorum is a cultural, like pat buchanan. >> he is. >> i think santorum got off track in michigan. if he stuck with the theme you are talking about, rerentlessly, and

let us consider what rick santorum has wrought. did he make mitt romney a better candidate, or did he put him in a box, as "washington post" columnist e.j. dionne has suggested? >> i think rick santorum, who appealed to voters who like his ideology -- did not care if he was going to win or not, but like him talking about social issues. the candidate was one to talk about economic issues -- mitt romney. he forced mitt romney in a lile fthero th right and mitt romney wanted to go. now in the general, which is sort of begun already, mitt romney is having a harder time going back towards the middle and trying to pick up independent and moderate voters. that was santorum foster lasting contribution to the race -- santorum's lasting contribution to the race. >> college-educated males like him. who else, mark? >> conservatives like him, evgelicals, high iome voters. his profile is that of most republican nominees. about rick santorum, let it be said, he vindicated and validated what i think is the nominating process. he was david taking o

i understand the rick santorum camp is pretty hot about this process. isn't this ignoring the will of the people when they caucus? what do you make of this? >> this isn't a general election. it's a caucus process in the republican party. the romney campaign is ready for prime time. they followed the rules. they got the delegates. another example of rick santorum's campaign not being ready to play at this level and that's why his campaign is all but over as we come to tonight and mitt romney is on the edge of being the nominee. >> romney did have some of his attorneys to that campaign this weekend. they must have done some pretty fast talking. romney looks like he's going to be get it, we might as well go with him? what about that? >> it's very powerful. the idea of being the insurgent is that you can steal momentum and build on it. we have seen a number try to get it and fail on it and then hold out. plan b was to stop mitt romney from getting enough delegates to take the nominee at the convention. that plan b is now collapsing. they're not playing the

it's between rick santorum and texas governor rick perry. remember, rick perry dropped out. he decided to back newt gingrich. a spokesperson for rick perry said this is a courtesy meeting. rick santorum is placing a lot of emphasis on texas because of the fact it offers up 152 delegates. maybe he is trying to get that support from rick perry, but it doesn't look like this will happen just yet. >> all right. tory dunnan live for us. >>> the marine core has -- exorps has recommended that a sergeant be disciplined. spergt klein made a comment on his facebook page about the president obama. the president is the commander in chief and service members are banned from taking positions like his. >>> hello, everyone. i'm roosevelt leftwich. coming up at 6, we all know our appliances can take a role beating. so what do you do when they stop working? >>> when easter comes, so does the easter been ni. that means plenty of candy. we have some healthy options children will love, and it's not carrots. now a preview of what's ahead on world knolls at 6:30 -- news at 6:30. >> the courage gra

santorum even if rick santorum wins wisconsin.o the math is not looking good for rick santorum. and then one of his spokes people -- they just crack me up -- said rick may not pick up a single vote in d.c. because of the visceral of someone like rick santorum who wants to shake things up. >> or perhaps it's because he is not on the ballot. again, disorganization by rick santorum. so what is the total delegate count so far? mitt romney is at exactly the halfway point, 572. that's literally 50% of the amount of delegates that you need to wrap it up. and rick santorum is we behind. gingrich, and run, run paul at 51%. to give you a sense of how disastrous this is for rick santorum, he would have to win 74% of the delegates going forward including tonight. so obviously he can't do it in that way. he is going to have to go to at best a contested convention which of course other republicans are very worried about. >> the longer it goes the better it is for the party. people said go to the convention it will be dangerous. i think it would

rick santorum.ely spoken? >> reporter: i would guess they have. this is the santorum family streaming into the room as we have seen many times, the children lining up behind their father. megyn: there is senator santorum. we'll take a listen. rick santorum. [applause] >> thank you very much it, always an honor to be here in this beautiful town of gettysburg. such an historic town. i want to thank everybody for the outpouring of prayers the past weekend. we had a difficult weekend. -- good friday was a little bit of a passion play for us with our daughter bella who is the joy our lives, getting unfortunately very sick. we ended up in the hospital over the weekend. but i'm here to report to start out things that she is a fighter and she is doing exceptionally well and is back with us and the family and we are looking forward to spending a lot of great time with her. but it did cause us to think and as the role that we have as parents in her life and with the rest of our family, this was a time for pra

rick santorum is out. here's what he said, your candidate, in leaving the campaign, announcing it this afternoon. let's watch. >> ladies and gentlemen, we made the decision getting into this race that our kitchen table, that while this presidential race for us is over for me, and we will suspend our campaign, we are not done fighting. we are going to continue to fight for those voices, we're going to continue to fight for the americans who stood up and gave us that air under our wings that no political expert would have ever expected. >> no one would have expected it. we all. nobody believe. that's pretty far right, because i think it is. >> i think he was the second to last campaign that really mattered. why did he quit? i think that in order to secure the amount of delegates we needed to, and a few things had to happen. we had to do well in pennsylvania and push all those delegates and say. z and then in third was texas. it looked like it was going to happen last week, a big movement was afoot -- >> he d

only 12% thought that for rick santorum. wolf, this is an overwhelming bundle of numbers for mitt romney right now and why we can so easily say this is the way maryland voters went today in the republican primary. >> good numbers for mitt romney indeed. thanks very much, tom. we'll check back with you throughout the night. one quick note. by the end of the night on the democratic side it looks official. president obama will have enough delegates to ensure his renomination. he had no opposition, so that's not much of a surprise, obviously, as well. but let's bring in our panel. joining us, our political pan list gloria and donna. also ari fleischer. i want to get a quick initial thought from all of you. not a huge surprise that he wins in maryland, but you know what, maryland is on the border with pennsylvania, his home state was a crushing win for mitt romney today. >> that's right. and what rick santorum will say if he loses in wisconsin as well is that he's heading into pennsylvania. that's where he's going to be this even