let's go to steubenville, ohio, to ron mott. ron, good evening. >> reporter: hey, brian. rick santorum stopped short of calling ohio a must-win state tonight saying simply it will be huge for his campaign if he does. though not the biggest delegate prize of super tuesday, ohio is considered the catch of the day. mitt romney went home to boston to vote after a solid week slugging it out toe to toe in ohio with rick santorum. >> it's great to be in the heart of ohio here in buckeye territory. that's a tough thing for a penn stater to say. i've got to tell you. >> reporter: a proven presidential battleground, 12 state elections picking the winner, victory in ohio can cast long-lasting signals. for romney, says one political expert, the stakes couldn't be higher. especially considering a possible southern surge in the next week for former speaker newt gingrich. >> the field is tilted for the rest of march in a santorum and/or gingrich direction. not in a romney direction. i think he has to have ohio. has to win ohio. >> reporter: romney is expected to perform best in ohio's u

ron mott, nbc news, mobile, alabama. >> quick program note. rick santorum talking to nbc's david gregory on "meet the press" this sunday on your nbc station. >>> overseas, we have marked the anniversary of the 9.0 earthquake and tsunami in northeast japan. one year ago this weekend, thousands of lives were lost. nbc's ian williams was one of the first western correspondents to reach the scene of that disaster. he reported there for several weeks. tonight, he returned to the region. has this report on how some of the survivors are putting things back together. >> reporter: this was the terrifying moment the torent of water swept away entire towns on the northeast coast of japan. almost 20,000 people died. a year later, the scene is different. a massive cleanup transformed the coach. this fishing town was largely obliterated when the tsunami rolled in. today it looks almost serene. a bar enwasteland. the remains of towns along the coast were piled into vast mountains of trash, some of it toxic. 19 years worth in the worst effected area. more tha

let's go to ron mott in steubenville, ohio, the big state really that we're waiting for tonight, just because of its role in american politics and it is so representative of the rest of the country and all its various facets. ron, good evening. >> reporter: hey, brian, good evening to you. there is some cautious optimism here with the rick santorum camp tonight. we're beginning to hear thing we heard out of michigan out of this campaign. they're trying to temper expectations here. they believe they have a chance to win here in ohio, but they're saying the mere fact that rick santorum is pulling within striking distance of mitt romney after having been outspent by their estimate 12 to 1, $12 million to $1 million here in ohio, they say is a win for them. of course, as peter just mentioned, it is about racking up delegates. we know rick santorum has some real delegate challenges here in ohio. he's essentially conceding almost a third of those delegates because of some filing issues with those delegates including right here in this congressional district where he did not file a full slat

nbc's ron mott reports tonight from mobile, alabama. >> reporter: newt gingrich rolled into alabama, high gas prices in mind, hoping to pump new momentum back in his campaign while on familiar ground, the deep south, relaxed enough for a public dance with wife callista. >> like obama, gingrich supported individual health insurance mandates -- >> reporter: but amid growing calls to get out of the race, both by a pro-rick santorum super pac -- >> who can win? rick santorum. >> reporter: -- and just today by a surrogate who helped gingrich win south carolina, the former speaker appears to be digging in for the long haul. >> despite the many requests by the washington establishment, i am staying in this race. >> reporter: gingrich, however, canceled a planned trip to kansas, which caucuses this weekend. >> mississippi really matters next tuesday. >> reporter: to focus on mississippi and alabama's primaries next tuesday. while gingrich touts $2.50 a gallon gas, republican voters in this heavily evangelical region of the country may be looking for a more clear-cut, socially conservative me

nbc's ron mott reports from mobile, alabama. >> i had to say it right. morning, y'all. >> reporter: mitt romney spoke in a native tongue in mississippi. >> i got the morning off with cheesy biscuits and grits. delicious. >> reporter: it was a bit of an away game, knocking president obama won him a hearty round of applause. if someone's looking for things that the president's done wrong it's a long, long, long list. this president has not succeeded and he's failed and that's the reason we're getting rid of him in 2012. >> reporter: yet for all of the effort to appeal to local, romney is still judged as the outsider of the field. he's up against a southerner, newt gingrich and rick santorum who appears tailor made for the evangelical voting base. gingrich charging ahead went after the negative tone of the republican battle. >> i want to break out of all of the garbage that has become modern politics. i want to get back to talking about the things that have made america remarkable, not the negative ads. >> reporter: the former speaker's campaign can't posit

nbc's ron mott is with us, and we have a report that the santorum campaign is moving on to intimatingwt gingrich should get out of the race to clear the way for rick santorum to actually calling on the party activists and tea party supporters and others to speak to that issue on the santorum campaign or does that seem right to you? >> well, hey, there, rachel. maybe a little divide in the santorum campaign, because the national spokesperson said they are not going to ask newt gingrich to get out of the race, but a senior strategist is saying that they will ask that of the conservative tea party voters is to persuade newt gingrich to give up the bid. if you look at the scorecard, rick santorum with victories tonight has seven primary caucus and victories to newt gingrich's two, so they want to make the case that he is the conservative choice in the race. the spokesperson is saying that if newt gingrich did in fact drop out of the race, that immediately one would think that rick santorum would be able to poll 10 to 12 points higher in the race, and that could change the tone and the ten

so that's where we find nbc's ron mott. all right, ron. is it an all etch-a-sketch day? >> reporter: you know, chuck, good morning. we didn't go to the toy store this morning to see if there were any etch-a-sketches on the shelves there. we think he's probably going to leave that at home today. rick santorum is using tomorrow's anniversary, the two-year anniversary of the federal health care law as the centerpiece for his speech today. the campaign is calling this an important health care speech. all along rick santorum has said this is the reason why he's running for president. he was so offended by this health care law and says it impinges on the fundamental freedoms of americans and so we expect to hear some details about what he might propose in lieu of that. most of these candidates have said they would repeal the federal health care law if they became president. so we do expect to hear some details for, perhaps, the first time from rick santorum about that. it's a beautiful room here. big, big insurance company here. interesting that he chose to take this invitatio

and ron mott with the santorum headquarters heading south. when we return, michael steele, will join us when our coverage of super tuesday continues in a moment. >> big news tonight, mitt romney the apparent winner the ohio republican primary tonight. he won a close victory over rick santorum in the buckeye state. michael steele is with us from washington, and joan walsh is with us from salon.com. it is early out there in san francisco. >> yes. >> and there was a comparison to david and goliath, and of course in the biblical war, david won, but tonight david lost, and not as good a story in ohio. >> well, it is not as good a story, but an interesting story. i think it was a terrible night for mitt romney, chris, because we did look at the night looking at a possible night where he could not clinch it obviously, but he could steal some momentum, and he could start to look inevitable if he had a big win in ohio, and took tennessee which people were saying was possible, so for him to walk away with this and to continue the conversation with mich

and ron mott with the santorum headquarters heading south. when we return, michael steele, will join us when our coverage of super tuesday continues in a moment. >> big news tonight, mitt romney the apparent winner the ohio republican primary tonight. he won a close victory over rick santorum in the buckeye state. michael steele is with us from washington, and joan walsh is with us from salon.com. it is early out there in san francisco. >> yes. >> and there was a comparison to david and goliath, and of course in the biblical war, david won, but tonight david lost, and not as good a story in ohio. >> well, it is not as good a story, but an interesting story. i think it was a terrible night for mitt romney, chris, because we did look at the night looking at a possible night where he could not clinch it obviously, but he could steal some momentum, and he could start to look inevitable if he had a big win in ohio, and took tennessee which people were saying was possible, so for him to walk away with this and to continue the conversation with mich

and ron mott with the santorum headquarters heading south. when we return, michael steele, will join us when our coverage of super tuesday continues in a moment. >> big news tonight, mitt romney the apparent winner the ohio republican primary tonight. he won a close victory over rick santorum in the buckeye state. michael steele is with us from washington, and joan walsh is with us from salon.com. it is early out there in san francisco. >> yes. >> and there was a comparison to david and goliath, and of course in the biblical war, david won, but tonight david lost, and not as good a story in ohio. >> well, it is not as good a story, but an interesting story. i think it was a terrible night for mitt romney, chris, because we did look at the night looking at a possible night where he could not clinch it obviously, but he could steal some momentum, and he could start to look inevitable if he had a big win in ohio, and took tennessee which people were saying was possible, so for him to walk away with this and to continue the conversation with mich

here's nbc's ron mott from the campaign trail. >> if they were movies, rick santorum's campaign might be the low-key independent breakout. while mitt romney's casts a look of a big studio blockbuster. it was noted in missouri with signs of romney everywhere. >> money is not going to buy this election. vision, character, and authenticity are going to win this election. >> from his famous sweater vest to a st. patrick's day pint, santorum continues to court blue voters. he told voters in illinois he would win the nomination if they give him a win in tuesday's primary. for his part, mitt romney sought to soak his swing and a-- leave the losses in the deep south. romney invoked a familiar campaign theme, u.s. statehood, which puerto ricans will again consider this fall. >> it was ronald reagan that famously said it was important for the people of puerto rico to have a choice to become a state. and if the people of puerto rico choose that path, i will be happy to help lead that effort in washington. >> but before leaving this afternoon, he submitted to a birthday exchange with his wife. >>

nbc's ron mott is live in steubenville, ohio. ney's political director described ohio. he called it, it's a knife fight in a phone booth. >> reporter: hi, there, chris. it's a graphic description but it's pretty apt considering how hard those two gentlemen have fought here in ohio. this is a big state a big prize to win tonight. it's not got the most delegates up for grabs. georgia gets the honor for that today. but ohio is a bellwether for the fall. so president obama and the democrats will stop just as hard as the republicans and their nominee here to try to win ohio. if you can win ohio, probably have a pretty good chance at winning the white house. leading up to this, rick santorum has talked his blue-collar roots. he grew up in western pennsylvania, particularly why he chose steubenville, the eastern edge of ohio. he's going to meet with a lot of blue-collar workers here. he's sold that around this state. he's connected with those folks. ohio is very diverse. you have the urban and suburban centers. they are probably going to

nbc's ron mott is live in pew waky, wisconsin. good morning, ron. >> all eyes are going to being here in wisconsin because of the importance of the state in the general election. it's part of the cluster of states. now, for mitt romney, that error of inevitability is starting to hang around him. he focused his speech primarily on president obama and his failures as he calls it with china in particular. he did not even mention rick santorum, his chief competitor. so as the polls show him up now, the late polling 5 to 10 points here in wisconsin, a lot of folks are going to thing it's all but inevitable that he'll win the nomination, get the 1,144 delegates that he needs to secure the nomination. now, as for rick santorum, he's got giving up. he's campaigning hard across wisconsin. spent the better part crisscrossing. he's got 11 victims but he's not one in the industrial heartland having lost to ohio and michigan earlier. so he very much wants to win wisconsin come tuesday. now, newt gingrich, his campaign is continuing limp on afte

our ron mott joins me now to fill us in.in the type of message that rick santorum is trying to convey in the south, hoping to get some of that southern hospitality his way. >> hey, there, thomas. rick santorum got a little bit of flak for harping on the social issues particularly in michigan. while he's not going to get the same kind of heat down here in the deep south because that's message that the conservative voters want to hear. on paper, it would seem newt gingrich territory since he grew up a couple of states over in west georgia. but, you know, dealing with mississippi and alabama now, this is a lot about social values, this is the teeth of the republican party and the fans are in the deep south. that's why mitt romney isn't expected to do well here. this is a crowd he's had some trouble connecting with. while newt gingrich has focused on energy with the $2.50 newt gallon and who doesn't want to pay $2.50 for gas with the prices where they are, but rick santorum has focused on restoring america's morality, if you wil

nbc's ron mott is in dothan, alabama with more. >> good morning to you. rick santorum and mitt romney added to their victory totals on saturday. meantime, for newt gingrich, he is hoping for that surge, as you mentioned. mississippi and alabama apparently no longer must-win states for him with the former speaker saying once again he's in the race all the way to the republican convention. >> we're in it to win it here in kansas. >> reporter: before tuesday's big southern primaries in mississippi and alabama, rick santorum got another run from his victory speech after winning kansas saturday. >> we're heading today to mississippi and alabama. and we're going to have a sweep this week. >> reporter: as he returns south, santorum is set to challenge newt gingrich on what the former speaker hopes is essentially home turf, as the pace of the race begins to quicken. >> this has been the wildest roller coaster. you don't know where you've been. you don't know where you're going. you're not sure where you are. but it's real exciting. >> reporter: with two primary w

nbc's ron mott is in steubenville, ohio. kelly o'donnell is in marietta, georgia. rt with you. ohio, obviously a do or die for santorum. how confident is his campaign with the race being neck and neck? >> reporter: hey, there, thomas. i think they're cautiously optimistic about this race here. one of the things that rick santorum said last night at a rally we attended up near cleveland in cuyahoga falls, of all the money that mitt romney has spent in this race, the fact that the polls are showing this state to be a dead heat tells you something. ohio matters not just on primary day but in the general. this is a true bellwether. they've picked the president correctly in the past 12 elections. this race has a lot on the line here. for rick santorum, he's unfortunately at a disadvantage when it comes to totalling delegates tonight because of a filing requirement he did not make in certain congressional districts. he's essentially giving back as many as 18 delegates out of the 66 here. he may very well win ohio and actually walk away from ohio with fewer delegates than

nbc's ron mott is with us from stubenville, ohio. how is romney feeling in terms of confidence, expectations for tonight? >> i think they are cautiously optimistic about their chances here in ohio today, but it is going to be a wait and see approach here because it's close. the polls are pretty much neck in neck. what rick santorum is counting on here is to get the vote out, especially among those conservative evangelicals, a bigger percentage of those voters here in ohio than we saw in michigan last week which mitt romney won. so it is going to depend on which of these two candidates were able to energize their base support enough to get them out to the polls, have to wait and seem the polls close here at 7:30 eastern. >> one of the challenges for the santorum campaign has been organization. chuck was just talking about this. right where you are in stubenville, ohio, mr. santorum can't win delegates from that area, as far as i understand it no matter how much of the vote he gets there and that's simply because he didn't file a full

nbc's ron mott reports from alabama. >> but we have had a very, very good day. >> reporter: before tuesday's big southern primaries in mississippi and alabama, rick santorum got another run through his victory speech after winning kansas today. >> things have an amazing way of working out. >> reporter: as he returns south, santorum is set to challenge newt gingrich on what the former speaker hopes is his home turf. looking for a surge of his own to bring a bit of zip back to his campaign as the pace of the race begins to quicken. >> this has been the wildest roller coaster. you don't know where you have been, you don't know where you're going and you're not sure where you are. but it's real exciting. >> reporter: with two primary wins in the south, gingrich donned the more casual look. out of the suit for the first time in months. calling on his southern roots to zing his northern opponent, mitt romney. >> i got it started with a biscuit and cheesy grits. >> reporter: reminding voters of his georgia upbringing as he tries to gain ground. >> if you don't understand grits there's a pretty high

ron mott has the latest for us tonight. >> reporter: if they were movies rick santorum's campaign might be the low key independent breakout. while mitt romney's cast a look of a big-studio blockbuster. fireworks and all. differences in tone and budget that santorum noted at an event today in missouri with signs of romney everywhere. >> and money isn't going to buy this election. vision and character and authenticity and trust are going to win in this election. reporter: from the now famous sweater vest to the st. patrick's day pint, santorum continues to captivate blue collar conservatives. he pledged to clean up what he called america's pornography pandemic. today, he told voters in illinois he'd win the nomination if they give him a win in tuesday's primary. for his part, mitt romney sought to stoke his campaign with a high energy swing through puerto rico. in the wake of primary losses this week in the deep south to santorum. >> we came here to speak. we learned more by listening. >> reporter: in courting the vote ahead of the primary on sunday, romney invoked a familiar theme, u.s.

ron mott is there with the latest. what's going on behind you? >> reporter: hey, there, alex.e never covered a golf event but i'm going to have to do this report in a golf voice. you mentioned voters going to the polls on tuesday. the biggest prize is here in wisconsin. all three of these candidates have been campaigning hard across the badger state. mitt romney has returned that air of confidence around his campaign. here's what governor romney had to say to this audience moments ago. >> life liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and those rights and those associated with them, i believe, are what made america what we are. and today those rights are under attack by this administration which is one more reason we've got to replace this administration. >> reporter: now, there are three weeks between the three races we have on tuesday before we have elections again. five states going on april 24th. if mitt romney is able to hold on to win here in wisconsin, a poll shows him up by seven points over rick santorum. rick santorum for his part has won 11 states during this campaign.

ron mott is on the trail for us tonight in wisconsin. ♪ >> reporter: looking ever more like a republicanarty's leading man again, mitt romney's performance is also sounding more like a starring role. >> this is an election not just about a person. not even about a party. it's about a vision of america. >> reporter: today, at a forum near milwaukee, romney, rick santorum and newt gingrich all spoke. former massachusetts governor ignored his gop competitors, instead, sending zingers toward obama. >> the president says he wants to transform america. i don't want to transform america. i want to restore the principles that made us the hope of the earth and together, we're going to do that on tuesday and every day until we get back spoot white house. >> reporter: romney appears to be calibrating for the general election and a victory on tuesday could be seen as the effective end of the primary race. he's ahead in the polls. the latest marist poll shows romney up over santorum. even the coke brothers reportedly funding a multi-million dollar ad buy hitting the president on high gas prices. >> s

i asked ron mott about this earlier, we had him on from the rick santorum campaign, right? ron about the organizational difficulties that the rick santorum campaign has had, he can't get all the del gatts out of ohio, even if he didn't sweep ohio, he can't get it logistically to do that, newt gingrich tonight not able to vote for himself in virginia, because he didn't get his name on the ballot there also just talking to kelly o'donnell in georgia where newt gingrich just won at poll closing time in front of an empty ballroom and nobody knows where the candidate is and there has been no response from the campaign. don't you want to have your cheering crowd there ahead of closing time if you think you're going to win big? >> you do. i think when you look at the gingrich capped dash circumstance he is somebody whose campaign went brurnlgt the entire staff quit. for a long time, it was him and mrs. gingrich campaigning by himself. he has been an enormously consequential candidate in this process. he came close to derailing mitt romney. i think gingrich created the conditions th

. >> thank you to ron mott. now we go to the romney campaign tonight in los angeles. garrett, what is the feeling in the romney campaign? is there some amount of fear? >> i this the the fact alone we're in southern california tells you it's on the neh scale than on the fear side. mitt romney was down on his home in la jolla. that tells you about what they're thinking. they're getting ready to get into a big fund-raising swing at the start of this next week. several stops in southern california, a couple of stops in texas. they're starting to pivot from the sprint mentality to the marathon and also starting to look a little bit ahead to the fall. you don't hear mitt romney say rick santorum or newt gingrich's name ever on the stump anymore. we're not even expecting to campaign in wisconsin until later in the week. >> i did not think a man running for president would beat me to seeing "the hunger games." >> somehow they found the time. >> now we go to the gingrich campaign. alex, you have been spending time watch newt gingrich feet etch a sketches with alligators. what'

nbc's ron mott has details on this story. ron, good morning. >> good morning to you.veryone around here knew melissa jenkins as a hard-working teacher and dedicated mother. but no one in this small town can make sense of why she was killed. at st. john'sberry academy, melissa jenkins classroom has become a makeshift memorial. students and staff coming to grips with the unthinkable. their beloved science teacher murdered. >> there are some who are numb who just really can't take it in right now or some who are confused about how something like this could happen. >> reporter: on sunday night vermont state police found the 33-year-old single mom's suv idling on a road not far from her home. police report there were signs of a struggle. most troubling of all, jenkins' 2-year-old son ty was found all alone, but safe, inside. >> we know she didn't leave voluntarily based upon what we have at the scene. >> reporter: less than 24 hours police found a body after a back road 15 minutes from where jenkins suv was located. on tuesday officials positively identified jenkins, rulin

and ron mott with the santorum headquarters heading south. when we return, michael steele, msnbc's coverage of super tuesday continues in just a moment. >> big news tonight, mitt romney the apparent winner the ohio republican primary tonight. he won a close victory over rick santorum in the buckeye state. michael steele is with us from washington, and joan walsh is with us from san francisco. it's like the afternoon out there in san francisco. >> yes. >> and there was a comparison to david and goliath, and of course in the bibl war had an interesting result. david won. but tonight david lost, and not as good a story in ohio. >> well, it is not as good a story, but an interesting story. i think it was a terrible night for mitt romney, chris, because we did look at the night looking at a possible night where he could not clinch it obviously, but he could steal some momentum, and he could start to look inevitable if he had a big win in ohio, and took tennessee which people were saying was possible, so for him to walk away with this and to contin

. >>> i'm ron mott in ohio where rick santorum is hoping to celebrate a victory here. eastern time. a lot of people are wondering who will get out to vote. mitt romney expected to hold very well in the urban and suburban areas. rick santorum counting on places like steubenville. it's considered a must win for both campaigns. mitt romney wants to very much win here as does rick santorum. much more ahead on msnbc. so uh this is my friend frank and his, uh, retirement plan. one golden crown. come on frank how long have we known each other? go to e-trade. they got killer tools man. they'll help you nail a retirement plan that's fierce. two golden crowns. you realize the odds of winning are the same as being mauled by a polar bear and a regular bear in the same day? frank! oh wow, you didn't win? i wanna show you something... it's my shocked face. [ gasps ] ♪ [ male announcer ] get a retirement plan that works at e-trade. >>> from heavy weight champion to deconstructing rush. here are our top lines super tuesday edition. >> the heavy weight champion of my life. >> talk to t

i asked ron mott about this earlier, we had him on from the rick santorum campaign, right? i asked ron about the organizational difficulties that the rick santorum campaign has had, he can't get all the del gatts out of ohio, even if he didn't sweep ohio, he can't get it logistically to do that, newt gingrich tonight not able to vote for himself in virginia, because he didn't get his name on the ballot there also just talking to kelly o'donnell in georgia where newt gingrich just won at poll closing time in front of an empty ballroom and nobody knows where the candidate is and there has been no response from the campaign. don't you want to have your cheering crowd there ahead of closing time if you think you're going to win big? >> you do. i think when you look at the gingrich capped dash circumstance he is somebody whose campaign went brurnlgt the entire staff quit. for a long time, it was him and mrs. gingrich campaigning by himself. he has been an enormously consequential candidate in this process. he came close to derailing mitt romney. i think gingrich created the condi

. >> ron mott with the gorgeous sky behind him. david gregory moderator of "meet the press." good morning. they walked away with a handful of sell gates tm kansas win for santorum, does that change the narrative? >> he's in the middle of a sweep here that tends to favor him over romney. as he goes through the south and has some other contests like louisiana coming up but as ron mentioned it is the gingrich factor that's going to be the big factor. >> because of a stronger conservative vote? where does that leave romney? >> i think if he can win mississippi or alabama, the gingrich can say, i'm staying in this thing,s a southern candidate. i'm accumulating delegates. for santorum, each man would like to run one-on-one against romney, and they can make a better run at him if that were the case. as it continues to be split, have you to favor romney. >> i'm looking at the numbers. you need 144,000 delegates. with santorum gaining momentum, gingrich for the south, is this up for grabs? >> the tough is tough for anybody but romney. the only thing he lacks is he's not connecting wit

illinois primary returns from his home state of pennsylvania today, and that's where we find nbc's ron motte town of gettysburg. >> there is no word on why they're not in illinois to watch these returns in the land of lincoln, if you will. they're coming here to gettysburg partly because they don't see a victory there today. santorum says his campaign is all that lincoln spoke about in 1863, and that is freedom. yesterday he got caught up a little bit saying he didn't care what the unemployment rate was. he clarified those remarks saying his campaign was not a single issue campaign, he says it's much bigger and all about freedom. we expect him to talk about freedom here. gettysburg is his home state. and all the stuff floating around the country they believe is incorrect. they believe this race is much tighter than the romney race would have you believe. they had a conference call to talk about that and the issues they're going to bring up with various states about delegates. we'll have to see if they're successful in that effort, but they believe right now this is a much closer race. they