the other key difference between rick scott and newt gingrich is that rick scott drove the absentee effortw, you can vote early here in florida, you can vote absentee in florida. scott's put a lot of money into that, same way that romney did. gingrich organizationally just could not do that so on election day today, gingrich already starts out in the hole because of the early votes. >> it's amazing, it's my understanding rick scott sent direct mails to snowbirds in cincinnati. anyway, that's how much he was trying to win that back in that september primary. jeff zeleny, jonathan martin, our now regular super tuesday duo. thank you both. >> thanks, chuck. >> we'll be more. wall street is feeling optimistic. we'll tell you why. "the market rundown" is next. plus, the democratic strike. they're not waiting for the race to shake out in florida. they're in miami today. we'll get the story on their action and their plans to hold on to the critically important hispanic vote in that state. question, who was the only governor of florida to become president? the winner will get a follow-up super tue

we'll ask governor rick scott, next. >>> joining me here in washington, florida governor rick scott. i are out of place. nonetheless, thanks for joining us here in washington. i wanted to quick show our viewers the latest poll we have. h is a quinnipiac university poll in florida showing among the likely primary republican voters mitt romney 39%, newt gingrich 29% and down the line paul and santorum. looking at it from your perspective how is this going to shake out? >> it sure looks like governor romney's going to win. if i had my druthers what i'd want them to do, do what we're doing in florida. talk about jobs. i mean, our employments dropped from 12% to 9.9%. that's what people are worried about. we've generated 141,000 jobs last year in the private sector. we still have 900,000 people out of work. that's our biggest issue. i wish they talked about that more. >> you have been pretty vocal in saying that all these attacks on governor romney's business past are count productive and shouldn't happen. it sounded to me almost like an endorsement of governor romney. is that where you'r

romney has the ceo demean her rick scott had should work well in southwest florida. mitt overperformed in jacksonville in the 2008 race so did rick scott t is a very conservative market, much like the panhandle. some folks say jacksonville is the second largest city in georgia. i think that that's going to be a pretty good place for newt gingrich. >> and you know, that's what's interesting, steve, a place that romney, when he was running as the conservative alternative to mccain, could overperform in some places like jacksonville, but you also broke down something else for me that i love and will be stealing on tuesday night, which is you looked a sort of the six counties that have -- that have picked it exactly right in the last five major republican primaries, identify the most familiar ones to me. >> well, i think first of all, brad's take on florida is spot-on. and it is going to be fascinating as it place out, i think large loin the map what is interesting to me, the romney win strategy in a lot of sways following the mccain win strategy. i don't think romney wi

rick scott is the governor of florida, he was elected in 2010, rick scott is a zillionair. spent $73 million on his governor ship, out spent his opponent. his approval ratings have sunk through the floor. stories how weird appeared interesting it is that jeb bush hasn't endorsed anybody and marco rubio hasn't endorsed anybody. nobody wonders about rick scott not endorsing anybody, not a coveted endorsement. the guy has a ton of money. a ton of money can buy a lot in florida politics, personal money or campaign money. mitt romney and his supporters are outspending newt gingrich 5-to-1. despite mr. gingrich post south carolina surge, if the polls in florida hold through tomorrow, mr. gingrich looks like he will be bury tomorrow under an avalanche of romney bucks. part of the reason that mitt romney is so personally wealthy has to do with florida. in 1994, bain capital, which he was running at the time, bought a medical company that had roots in florida. in 1996 and 1997, bain helped the company take over two more medical companies. they also started, as they say, cutting cost

we'll ask governor rick scott, next. you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. >>> joining me here in washington, florida governor rick scott. you and i are out of place. nonetheless, thanks for joining us here in washington. i wanted to quick show our viewers the latest poll we have. this is a quinnipiac university poll in florida showing among the likely primary republican voters mitt romney, 38%, newt gingrich 29%

rick scott is the governor of florida, he was elected in 2010, rick scott is a stizillionair. spent $73 million o a lot in florida politics, personal money or campaign money. mitt romney and his support ers are outspending newt gingrich 5-to-1. despite mr. gingrich post south carolina surge, if the polls in florida hold through tomorrow, mr. gingrich looks like he will be bury tomorrow under an avalanche of romney bucks. part of the reason that mitt romney is so personally wealthy has to do with florida. in 1994, bain capital, which he was running at the time, bought a medical company that had roots in florida. in 1996 and 1997, bain helped the company take over two more medical companies. they also started, as they say, cutting costs. they closed a plant in puerto rico, eliminated between 300 and 400 jobs there. they also shut down operations in miami. that move eliminated 850 miami jobs. cut out $30 million in payroll t employees received as salary. taken out of the miami economy when bain shut the plant down. two years later, bain made sure bain got paid. they had the same

the thing you ought to study up on, the 2010 republican gubernatorial primary between rick scott and bill mccollum. that was tea party, outsider/insider. outsider won. both come into tonight's debate with baggage, minimize their own and exploit the other guys. after touching down in florida romney wasted to time tear nothing gingrich on freddie mac. >> what he has been doing for 15 years? he has been working as a lobbyist, as a lobbyist and selling influence around washington. he has been working for freddie mac, heard of those guys? he said he has just been a hist tore yachblt i would like him to release his records. what was his work product there? what was he doing at freddie mac because freddie mac figures in very prominently to the fact that people in florida have seen home values go down. >> this is romney's message of the day, they have already had a house-themed event this morning, just over an hour, surrogates will hold a conference call on "gingrich's work as an historian" for the mortgage giant. gingrich, again, denied those lobbying charges on "meet the press." >> wait a

it's telling that jeb bush is not making an endorsement -- >> or rick scott. >> right. >> do you think they think their endorsements would not mean anything? >> you mean like nikki haley? >> i am going to arm wrestle you. >> nikki haley hurt romney. >> we don't know that. he simple daily not have a presence in the state of south carolina until recently. my contention is a combination of the governor and the treasurer brought him to second. when they showed up the crowds were larger. >> i don't know, i think that it's telling that rick scott and jeb bush are sitting on the side lines and there's a sense, again i will say, that the republican establishment doesn't know how this thing will turn out and or they are just scared of newt gingrich, which seems to be the case with many folks in the media. we will talk about newt gingrich's uncomfortable relationship with the elite media later on in the block. but first, gossip. how gingrich turned an attack on his character to an assault on the media. ♪ ♪ you and me and the big old tree ♪ ♪ side by side, one, two, three ♪ ♪ count the birds in t

coming up at 11:30 a.m., rick scott will deliver his state of the state address and we will have live coverage here on c-span2. >> also today is primary day in new hampshire. voters are going to the polls in the first in the nation primary. c-span is having, will have live coverage as results come in tonight. also, reaction from the candidates. coverage begins tonight at 8 p.m. eastern on c-span. >> and a federal communications commission chair julius genachowski outlines proposed changes to the government's lifetime program aimed at reducing fraud and adding broadband internet. program currently provide subsidizes phone service to the poor using a portion of the universal service fund on telephone bills. this is about 25 minutes. >> good morning, everyone. my name is matt bennet. your host for this morning. we're delighted to have you all. when i was going up my grandmother used to write out phone numbers beginning with letters. her number was gp 66184, if you want to color. and i remember calling her from our house with rotary phones, if those phones were still on the wall in my par

governor rick scott. this whole tax thing could be turning on the guy who raised it in the first place, newt gingrich because a lot of the questions have little to do with mitt romney's better than 200 hedge return release but newt gingrich's, yes, newt gingrich's return. i will explain after this. [ male announcer ] at scottrade, you won't just find us online, you'll also find us in person, with dedicated support teams at over 500 branches nationwide. so when you call or visit, you can ask for a name you know. because personal service starts with a real person. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our support teams are nearby, ready to help. it's no wonder so many investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade. even if you think you can live with your old mattress... ask me how i've never slept better... why not talk to one of the 6 million people who've switched to the most highly recommended bed in america. it's not a sealy, a simmons, or a serta... ask me about my tempu

chris: look at rick scott of florida and scott walker -- you pointed out that they've got problems of their own. >> every time the romney campaign puts out its spokesman who tends to be former chiefs of staff it helps him. chris: bringing out susan moll naree and snusnu. -- >> a candidate comes up that seems to be teflon. whatever is bounced at them seems to bounce back off of them. teflon can disappear. chris: i know a lot of you were surprised that they're voting for newt. he's the only excitement. romney bores everybody to death and newt seems like excitement. >> he seems like excitement as long as he lets the audience deflate. newt is a familiar figure. i don't mean that in terms of politics. i just mean, he's a georgia boy. he's our neighbor. he talks the language we talk. and mitt romney is a little bit -- chris: elite? >> not only that. he's from up north. chris: john wrote a great piece. he said you can tell the crowd who they're rooting for. the newt people look like pitch fork people. >> he has passion and came from out of nowhere. romney's not electable. chris: tuesday nigh

but again, i go back to the rick scott model. i was here when he ran. all he did was what mitt romney is doing. he ran negative ads. as you know, he got sworn in with a 34% approval rating. mitt is playing for the short game. he's being a day trader. he's got to define himself in a positive way. or he's in trouble. >> looking at this as an independent journalist, is the white house thrilled about this? one thing they teach on the 13 keys and predicting elections. if there's an intermural fight in the parties. the other team always wins. >> they are absolutely thrilled. this is fantastic for them. i don't think it's good for the national conversation. i would like to see a really good republican candidate taking on the the president and the conversation being elevated. it looks like mitt romney will be torn down bit by bit. if newt gingrich gains headway, that would not be good for the country either. >> it's 100 degrees. newt gingrich shows up at the republican convention which is going to crown mitt romney. what's his role? >> the same role of pat buch

but again, i go back to the rick scott model. i was here when he ran against the governor of florida. all he did was what mitt romney is doing. he ran negative ads. and as you know, he got sworn in with a 34% approval rating. mitt is really -- he's playing for the short game. he's being a day trader. he's got to define himself in a positive way or he's in trouble. >> mika, as an independent journalist, is the white house thrilled by this because one thing they teach in all the 13 keys and all these guys who write stories about predicting elections if there's an intramural fight, a real mad dog crazy fight, the other team always wins. >> they are absolutely thrilled. this is fantastic for them. i don't think it's good for the national conversation. i'd like to see a really good republican candidate taking on the president and the conversation being elevated. but it looks like mitt romney is going to be torn down, bit by bit and if newt gingrich gains some headway that would not be good for the country either. and that's opinion. >

republican governor rick scott voted in tallahassee today but did not endorse a candidate. polls show mitt romney is the clear front-runner state he and his supporters spent 14 million dollars on tv ads attacking newt gingrich. romney pulled back last night, breaking into song instead. >> america, america, god shed his grace on thee! >> gingrich today dismissed suggestions that he could be hobbled by a big loss in florida. telling report there's the race wouldn't be decided until june or july. >>> comedian stephen coll period of time's presidential aspirations may not be -- colbert's presidential aspirations may not be serious but his pac has raised more than a million dollars even gavin newsom donate $500. colbert has been using his show to make a serious point about super fundraising organizations. >>> man the republican candidates want to replace president obama is calling for congress to act quickly on bipartisan tax legislation. the president says lawmakers need to immediately pass a bill that would extend tax breaks for smart businesses. mr. obama says the legislation

republican governor rick scott voted in tallahassee today but did not endorse a candidate. polls show mitt romney is the clear front-runner state he and his supporters spent 14 million dollars on tv ads attacking newt gingrich. romney pulled back last night, breaking into song instead. >> america, america, god shed his grace on thee! >> gingrich today dismissed suggestions that he could be hobbled by a big loss in florida. telling report there's the race wouldn't be decided until june or july. >>> comedian stephen coll period of time's presidential aspirations may not be -- colbert's presidential aspirations may not be serious but his pac has raised more than a million dollars even gavin newsom donate $500. colbert has been using his show to make a serious point about super fundraising organizations. >>> man the republican candidates want to replace president obama is calling for congress to act quickly on bipartisan tax legislation. the president says lawmakers need to immediately pass a bill that would extend tax breaks for smart businesses. mr. obama says the legislation

. >> rick scott is governor of that state. rick scott was the tea party guy. bill was the jeb bush guy. jeb went out on a limb to do everything he could to stop that guy. but we are an -- and mike keeps alluding to it, we've seen this movie before. it was 1992 and there was talk of the democrats of a brooklyn convention. bill clinton, oh my god, he's going to blow this. it's an easy tonight to beat the coming president. this is going to lead -- the longer this goes on, i think the ideas of a convention are sort of passed. the republicans would be afraid of it. but the idea of a third party guy popping up. >> let me get another quick break in here and we'll conclude this with some final thoughts. our trends and take aways. a look at what was said to make news and a look at this very important week coming up. the hot political stories coming up as well, what are trending this morning. >>> as we always do, we monitor the >>> during the program, this is what we were just talking about, some feedback. christy is the exact type of leader we need. it's a shame he doe

>>> plus my interview with florida's current governor rick scott. he's not endorsing anyone, at least not yet. he is speaking highly of one particular candidate. ♪[music plays] when you're responsible for this much of the team... you need a car you can count on. ♪[music plays] when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born he

the economy is improving in florida because of the policies of our governor, rick scott, who ran on a jobs platform. he has balanced the budget and has not increased taxes. number show recovery, but people are still searching nationwide. i do not think president obama will have an opportunity to run on the message that the economy is in good shape. i do not expect that to happen. if it does improve, based on some short-term stimulus, we know that government programs will not sustain an economy and will not provide opportunity for people to pursue their dreams and move beyond whatever station they were born in. >> you mentioned to the first term governor in florida, governor scott. a new poll came out this week showing his approval rating among the lowest in the country. it is under 30% and has been stuck there. do you believe he is an asset? do you believe he can help republicans or do think he is trying to avoid the national scene and stay out of the republican primary? >> he is not going to endorse a candidate. let me speak to his approval numbers. a recent poll shows his approval r

rick scott, live in tallahassee. we'll have a busy week.ll be in touch with you and rest of your office. thank you for your time, governor. >> have a great day. bye-bye. bill: to you as well. martha? martha: house speaker john boehner giving his preview of this week's state of the union address coming up tomorrow night and his view is not pretty. take a look. >> they have made it worse. if that is what the president will talk about tuesday night i think it is pathetic. i think the president should listen to his own jobs council. it is time to go into a new direction. martha: why is the speaker is fuming before the president has even spoken his first words, they're going to the super bowl. wow, wow, wow! tom brady and the patriots beat the baltimore ravens. the ravens missing a field goal in the final seconds of that game that helped new england clinch it. it was a late night on the west coast and it was overtime. giants and 49'ers. super bowl two weeks away. the giants beating san francisco on their home field that is rematch by the way of

the state's governor rick scott is opting out of making an endorsement. up between romney and gingrich will he stay neutral? governor rick scott joins us live now in washington. a treat to have you. thanks for coming in. >> nice to be here. >> shannon: why do you think it is important to stay neutral at this point? >> i went through a race and i was not the establishment candidate. everybody talks about why they should be elected. quit talking about the negatives and let's talk about jobs. i ran on a campaign and getting the state back to work. seven steps to jobs. come down from the first year unemployment has come down. 40,000 private sector jobs but still have 900,000 people out of work. it is the biggest issue and that is what they ought to be talking about. >> shannon: a lot made about social security and medicare and medicaid. a large latino population as well. do you think the common pack for for all of the voters is the economy? >> it is the economy. three things that people care about in florida. every family wants education for their children. a

national debt turned the tea party movement into a major force in the 2010 florida election propelling rick scott into the governor's office and marco rubio to the u.s. senate. but benedict says today there's frustration among the faithful over what happened after the 2010 election. the tea party helped get governor scott into office. >> oh, we definitely helped get him there. we worked our buns off. >> reporter: do you think he's listening to you now? >> no. >> reporter: why not? >> because he's in office. >> reporter: did you ever imagine you'd be a political activist? >> not in a million years. >> reporter: on the east coast of florida, 50-year-old alex berry is the tea party coordinator for boca raton. berry's deeply discouraged with both republican front-runners who he sees as not much different from president obama. >> i think the current administration is toxic to america as we know it in terms of it being a free market economy system. >> reporter: but you think gingrich or romney would be toxic, too? just a little less toxic? >> i think so. >> reporter: tea partyers seam to be split among

debt turned the tea party movement into a major force in the 2010 florida elections, propelling rick scottgovernor's office and marco rubio to the u.s. senate. but benedict says today there's frustration among the faithful over what happened after the 2010 election. tea party helped get governor scott into office. >> we definitely helped get him there. we worked our buns off. >> reporter: do you think he's listening to you now? >> no. >> reporter: why not? >> because he's in office. >> reporter: on the east coast of florida 50-year-old alex berry is the tea party coordinator for boca raton. berry's deeply discouraged with both republican front-runners who he sees as not much different from president obama. >> i think the current administration is toxic to america as we know it in terms of it being a free market economy system. >> but you think gingrich or romney would be toxic too, just a little less toxic. >> i think so. >> reporter: tea partiers seem to be split among the republican candidates. many are also dispirited by the absence of movement favorites like michele bachmann and herman

jon: joining us is the governor of florida, rick scott. governor, you have heard a lot of mudslinging from both sides in this campaign. any of it make you cringe? >> well, i think they ought to talk about what is important to florida. what is important in florida we need jobs. our unemployment rate is dropped from 12 to 9.9, 2.1% drop, second biggest in the country. florida companies added 141,000 jobs but we have 900,000 people out of work. we need somebody in washington that thinks like we do. reduce taxes. reduce spending. don't have all these regulations that are just killing jobs. that's what we in washington. when people go to the polls today and i think people have voted and i think almost 700,000 votes earlier than today, they talked about jobs. i mean how do you get people to work? that is what people in florida care about. jon: well, let me fair a phrase president obama. he cited some of those figures you just did, said, hey, our unemployment rate is declining slowly. we were in a deeper hole than i ever thought when i took offic

she was also the member of governor rick scott's transition and advisory panel and she served as a seniordviser to governor mitt romney's 2008 presidential campaign, responsible for overseeing florida primary operations. she also works for governor jeb bush and has had a variety of other roles in florida and national politics. the numbers to call if you would like to join the conversation, 20 #-727-0001. if you are a republican, 20 #-737-0002. independent voters 202-628-0205. before we get to the phones, sally bradshaw, tell us about your involvement with mitt romney's campaign four years ago. you are not coming out and supporting him this time? >> well, there is a secret ballot. i'm not working for any candidate in any

tom thanks for having me so why does government a republican governor rick scott hate democracy. well i think that's a huge exaggeration let's face it what happened here is that you had the florida legislature wanting to privatized the prisons makes perfect sense save the florida taxpayer forty million dollars then you have an activist judge with a political agenda erecting barriers to this decision so the legislature is kind of going around this to try to come up with new laws to be able to save the florida taxpayers forty million dollars and have a much more efficient system and look florida is a pro-business state we have low taxes here why do so many people want to come to florida we have so many people wanting to come here because it's a it's a state that's very efficient that's trying to create jobs and it's a state that's easy to live in by keeping taxes lower so if we can privatized certain aspects of our state government to help the florida taxpayer why should we do that and because way because their monopoly is israel there's a very there's a very simple reason why you