scott macfarlane. >>> 7:17.n gary men deis concerned about california's voting if more than a dozen processing centers are closed. 15 processing centers are set to be closed on may 15-d when a moratorium on closures expires. he will appear before the elections committee to call for a 6-month extension. he says the closures could cause mail delays and lead to thousands of ballots arriving after the june primary date. >>> just about an hour from now president obama is scheduled to deliver a statement at the white house moving new efforts to enforce trade rights with china. they want to pressure china to level the playing field for businesses and workers. specifically the president will call on china to end its export restringses on key materials used to manufacture high-tech products. the budget office is set to release a newest of the cost of the health care reform law. the newest will include the price of a mandate requiring all americans to have health insurance by 2014 or pay a penalty. last march, the congres

gop voters in mississippi and alabama go to the polls today and as ktvu's scott macfarlane reports, it is a crucial day for one of the candidates. scott. reporter: yeah, those voters could give newt gingrich a pair of much needed victories or they could very much end his campaign. newt gingrich banking on something of a southern strategy, adding today's states to his victories in south carolina and georgia. the polls this morning show him in a very tight race with mitt romney in these two states and there's a growing sense here this morning mr. gingrich's campaign can't survive a loss in both. he'll hold a primary night event tonight in birmingham. mitt romney has already departed, spending the day in missouri instead where caucuses will be held on saturday. one of his surrogates on the ground today in alabama is comedian jeff foxworthy. >> you go back to the 1980 election, they had ronald reagan running as a moderate. ronald reagan was a great president for this country, he took on a lot of mess. i think it's the same situation here. i'm sick of the arguing about who's the most conser

ktvu's scott macfarlane is in our washington d.c. newsroom with why the primaries are especially important to the campaign of newt gingrich. scott. reporter: in fact, both those voters in both of those states' voters are going to the polls right now. newt gingrich now the only candidate still on the ground still campaigning in that region. mr. gingrich has something of a southern strategy. he wants to add wins in both alabama and mississippi to his victories in georgia and south carolina to help boost his stalling campaign. in fact, gingrich has a primary night event in birmingham tonight. the polls are too close in these two states to determine who's the favorite. but rick santorum supporters want gingrich to lose, bail out and set up a two-man race instead. >> we feel like the states that are coming up are states that by and large are going to favor us. we are going to do exceptionally well in these states and the race will take another different go. clearly if we are successful here, it can have a very, very positive effect. report