the news continues next on cnn. >>> good evening. from mesa, arizona the site of tomorrow's cnn arizona republican presidential debate. tonight the issue that won't go away. president obama's fate. mitt romney labels the obama agenda secular. and the reverend frank ln graham says islam is getting a free pass from this president. also with just a week to go before arizona's primary, brand-new polling tonight show as fluid two-way race between mitt romney and rick santorum. and why wait in line at starbucks when you can inhale your morning jolt? >> we begin tonight with presidential politics. new numbers that underscore just how important our big debate here is tomorrow night and a new twist in the campai campaign conversation. a new cnn times poll shows a statistical dead heat this arizona. 36% for mitt romney, 32% for the surging rick santorum. add in a small santorum lead in michigan which also votes next tuesday, and what you get is a tense, volatile gop race as the final four candidates prepare for their first debate in nearly a month. in a moment h

the votes. it is going to be a long night. arizona is a good win for him, and the exit polls are showing the main reason he won in arizona was because republicans were voting for the person they believed could be president obama by the end of the year. this is important, because republicans seem to be voting more on ideological grounds rather than looking forward to the general election. >> it is the ideological grounds that have called him out, given the fact that he has upset some people in michigan over his comments about the auto bailout deal. >> it goes much further than that. the economy, people are looking to vote on issues surrounding the economy. mitt romney scored quite highly on that, but the real issue is that for many conservatives, particularly tea party activist, he is not considered an authentic conservative. he is not one of them, and this is a problem throughout the campaign. in spite of increasing efforts to trot out his conservative credentials, he does not come across as being the real thing, whereas rick santorum

the folks here in arizona. en some of the gas prices, it's getting close to $4, about $3.88 or so people are paying a gallon. ali, do you ever think there's going to be a time when we could actually see $2.50 gas again? >> yes, in fact, there will be, and then we'll domesticate unicorns and i'll grow hair on my head. it's not likely to happen any time soon. it's a long-term issue. sure if we do all the right things now, which we're not likely to do, we may, demand for gas will drop because people are -- this is pinching them. they're buying more fuel-efficient cars. we'd have to move closer to the cities we live in like the rest of the world, that's not the american way for the moment. i don't think that's likely. >> yeah, i don't think it's likely either. the unicorns will arrive before that happens. but one of the things that people have been debating is whether or not it was actually the gas prices that contributed to the recession or if it was the foreclosures, the homes that were going under that happened f

the people in michigan and arizona are still voting. is what we're seeing so far, in the michigan primaries as long as you're a registered voter you can vote and we're seeing quite a few independents and democrats, more than we saw in 2008. and rick santorum has been trying very hard to appeal to this group as a cross over vote for him and here is how that is shaping up. democrats are making up 10% of the michigan vote for today, and half of those, 51% are-- 50% are going tore rick santorum in the exit polls this evening. a look at the independent vote in michigan for you now, nearly a third of today's voters are independents, they split their vote, 34% going for romney, 31% for santorum, 24% of them for ron paul and 7% of independent votes seem to be going towards newt gingrich tonight. we asked voters about the auto bailouts, hugely sensitive in the state of michigan. all four candidates said they were opposed to the auto bailouts. that's not going to hurt them today because half of the voters that we're seeing, 51% also disapproved o

the day we celebrate arizona's 100th year of statehood. i would like to begin by reading from a proclamation i signed officially designating this day the 14th day of february, 2012, as arizona centennial day, which says in part, whereas, 100 years ago today, on february 14th, 1912, after nearly 49 years as a united states territory and thousands of years as a sacred home to native people, arizona became the 48th and last of the contiguous states to enter the union of the united states of america. whereas, arizona continues to be recognized for its cultural and natural beauty. a high quality of life and innovation in all fields, including agriculture, science and technology, optics, aerospace and defense, renewable alternative and solar energy, bio science and vibrant small business. whereas, the beginning of the second century of statehood offers an opportunity for all arizonans to envision the future and strive toward new achievements in education, innovation, economic development and social well being for the people of arizona. now, there

the difference here, mitt romney is leading with 39%. both arizonair primaries this tuesday. make sure to watch cnn for the live results. our special coverage begins at 6:00 p.m. eastern. >>> as we focus on tuesday's all important primaries in michigan and arizona, our cnn debate last week seems to be a game changer. wolf blitzer weighs in next. but, first, some political trivia. who won the very first michigan presidential -- republican presidential primary? the answer right after the break. [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ new newtons fruit thins. real cranberries and cranberry citrus oat... crispy whole grain. newtons fruit thins, o

we are seeing the arizona politics not being the vanguard. >> actually, the arizona -- >> tom's pointu know, if you're mitt romney and you want to run the campaign that he is running but you want to be able to plant one flag and say i'm conservative. what do you reach for? >> it talks about business management and he is a good person for jobs. with most editorials, there is a but clause there and only one but clause saying we disagree with romney is and trying to outstake the whole field to immigration. to see that said otherwise really glowing endorsement i think reflects the fact of what you're hearing and people are worried about the republicans if it's mitt romney going this far, in other words, if this guy is the liberal modern alternative and where he is going on it. >> the repercussions in the general election will be lethal if he does that. just the hispanic vote and we lost it in the last election cycle and i guess republicans don't care at all. >> john mccain, every reason to believe he would do quite well among latino voters. >> he did well in 2010. still, he got around 40%

>>> this sunday, just two days now before the high stakes primaries in michigan and arizona. can the santorum surge withstand attacks on his senate voting record? >> i made a mistake. >> i don't know that i have ever heard a politician explain in so many ways why he voted against his principles. >> and he reshapes the race. >>> what defeat in michigan would mean for governor romney, who is struggling to close the deal with conservatives. with us, chuck todd, and gop strategist, steve schmidt, and columnist for the washington post, kathleen parker, and congressman, harold ford, jr. and gas prices, immigration, and jobs and the economy. with us, arizona's republican governor, jan brewer, and california's democratic governor, jerry brown. captions paid for by nbc-universal television >>> good morning. we will begin with overseas this morning. two american military officers were shot dead in kabul. the suspect, an afghan police intelligence officer. now they have recalled nato personnel working in the afghan ministries in that area, all of this after personnel burned a pile of kor

the economy. thanks so much, miguel marquez in arizona. nities for someone to separate themselves from the republican competition. coverage of the arizona and michigan primaries begins 6:00 eastern with a special edition of "john king usa" followed by cnn's live coverage of results at 7:00 eastern with wolf blitzer and, of course, the best political team on television. >>> well, fire ball at the daytona 500. unbelievable. juan pablo's car slams into a jet dryer igniting a massive fire. more from the track for our cross country segment next. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! whwheeee! ! whwheeee!! whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! ahah h heaeadsds u up. whwheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! evevererytythihingng y youou l , nonow

the number. but why arizona apparently shifting in romney's favor? >> well, first of all, very very fluid as you know. and there's been a lot of changes in the last four or five days. and the shift has been to romney. you can't say it's because he's got a lot of ads on the air. you could also say perhaps -- and this is all conjecture, that it might be about rick santorum and the social issues and talking about satan, et cetera. but there's one thing to keep in mind that is really important here and that is early voting. by some estimates almost half of all the voter whoser going to vote have already voted. and mitt romney is doing very well winning more than a majority of those votes. so that could really be the key to his success if he's going to have it in this state. >> so maybe because of the early voting, tonight's debate not as important in arizona, although there's still plenty of time for people to get out and vote. but in the state of michigan where essentially you have a dead heat. latest polls, romney 37%, santorum 35%. 13% for ron paul, sp

we're going to fly high above the arizona desert. >> all right. belts. balloons are one of the safest vehicles that the faa has control over and i'm a certified pilot. skydiver customers are fun. you're fine. >> the most interesting landing is we were coming in to land way out in the middle of nowhere and there's lots of cactus and it was hard to find a spot to land and we spotted a small community. i was focused on the spot and we ducked through a trailer park and i'm looking up at the balloon and simultaneously you heard, oh, my god, there was a nudist colony. one of my guys said he was emotionally scarred, was the way he termed it. >> it was actually a lot calmer than i had ever imagined. but it was great. we had a great time. >> all right. we did not see a nudist colony but it was a great tour, nevertheless. we are also going to bring you of course the highlight of the oscars, the big win straight ahead. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and

, with the arizonacandal that forced him to resign admits co-chair man amid shocking allegations by a former boyfriend. stand by. the interview in the next hour. ♪ [ male announcer ] offering four distinct driving modes and lexus' dynamic handling, the next generation of lexus will not be contained. the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. ♪ sure. what flavor? mm, one of each. lemon burst, hm, cherry orchard, blackberry harvest... my daughter's grabbing some yoplait. pina colada, orange creme. i can't imagine where she is... strawberry cheesecake. [ grocery store pa ] clean up in aisle eight. found her! [ female announcer ] yoplait original. 25 flavors for you to love. it is so good. >>> lisa is monitoring some other top stories, what's going on? >> hi, wolf, if you're one of the 21 million people is have that have been iphone 4. when it came out apple was blasted for reception problems. now the company has settled a class-action lawsuit and you may be eligible for a free case or $15. >>> a mou

also tomorrow the arizona primary where mr. mney will try and overcome the "sports illustrated" cover curse of being endorsed by that state's republican governor.

and the arizona primary there. >> about 130,000 people live here in warren, michigan. ose, more than 20,000 of them either work for chrysler or general motors. the auto industry is a huge deal here in michigan. the top two frontrunners, rick santorum and mitt romney, and santorum is making a blue collar pitch, revitalization of manufacturers, how that pitch sells in a place like warren could make a big with the capital one cash rewards card you get a 50% annual bonus. and everyone likes 50% more cash -- well, except her. no! but, i'm about to change that. ♪ every little baby wants 50% more cash... ♪ phhht! fine, you try. [ strings breaking, wood splintering ] ha ha. [ male announcer ] the capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. ♪ what's in your wallet? ♪ what's in your...your... >> welcome back to birmingham, michigan, ahead of tuesday's presidential primary. another big election tomorrow, it's out west and the strategy in arizona has been different. correspondent alicia acuna has that story from phoenix. >> reporter: as far as the cam

the polls. mitt romney has lead in arizona right now. if you believe the curse, maybe gentleman brew brewer endorsing him might turn it around. having the establishment on your side has not been a good omen in that state's republican politics. the biggest thing that happened in the last year in arizona is the recall of the most powerful republican in the state. now the most powerful republican politician in arizona has not been the governor, the head of the state senate, russ sell pierce, he's no longer in the senate because he was recalled from office by his district voters in november. that is after he championed the state p state's anti-i am grant law. he was the first lawmaker ever recalled from office. he was the powerful guy in the state. he wasn't replaced by granola eating sympathizer, he was replace bid a normal republican. his district was disgusted by russell pierce but they are a republican-leaning district. the guy they put in it's slins s an average conservative. after that pretty stunning rebuke from the voters, how did the

let's begin with the cardinal hosting arizona. the first half arizona up three. finishes with the jam. he looks good early on. later in the half, keep an eye on jason randall. alley oop and trailed by one at the break e. second half, they continue to work. josh owens with the bucket and arizona is on a 21-6 run and nick johnson with the break away jam. arizona gets the win. 56-43. cal hosting arizona state. jorge gutierrez looking to stop at the split against the arizona schools. second half and gutierrez flashes inside. no look past the camp for the reverse finish. gutierrez had ten points and three assists and over 11 to play. take a look at cal moving the ball. keep moving the ball with four passes. five passes. can you get? can i get seven? before the baby hook by half. cal cruises 68-47 the final. well, bad news for local guys looking to get into the hall of fame. ed brown and charles haley were not selected for the hall of fame this year. among 17 finalists, but none got in. chris is the only member of this year's class with bay area ties, defensive star pla

on the right the arizona sheriff, paul babeu. riend and allegations that he tried to have him deported by threatening to say, you say i'm gay, you're out of the country. but is it true? you're watching "early start." [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's got 10 speeds, my friend. ♪ is it fast? it's got a lightning bolt on it, doesn't it? ♪ is it fast? i don't even know if it's street legal. ♪ is it safe? oh ya, it's a volkswagen. [ male announcer ] the security of a jetta, one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. ♪ got you in a stranglehold, baby ♪ will be giving away passafree copies named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. welcome back. 53 minutes past the hour. if you know if you're a teacher in the buffalo area, you can get a bob job or nose job and have it paid for. >> here's what makes the story more surprising.

they could secure them on the arizona border, and instead what do they do? send guns down there, fast and furious, to the cartels and then don't track them and then noble people like border patrol agent, brian terry gets murdered. 47,000 mexican citizens have been killed south of the border, and we just ignore that? mexico is arizona's largest trading partner. why doesn't the administration step up and do something to help mexico? we help all of these other countries. they do nothing? they don't secure our borders. they send guns down there. they sue the state of arizona and me personally for doing the job they should do. it's frustrating, david. >> and the frustration has bubbled over in your interactions with president obama, too. this picture when you met him on the tarmac and appeared to have a confrontation with him over things in the book that was not liked, and you were invited to go to dinner, and you declined to go, and are you showing disrespect for the president of the united states? >> i hope not. i have other commitments. this event was a social

the legal arguments for the claims being settled predate arizona's induction into the union. it's also worth noting that for more than two decades more than 20% of arizona's statehood time, hundreds of individuals in arizona and here in washington have worked hard to settle all of these claims. the protracted and at times contentious negotiations are a reflection of water's fundamental importance as well as the care and attention communities in the southwest have given to managing this very limited resource. for many on the navajo and hopi reservations, however, management of the resource is nothing more than a mirage. it shocks the conscience that in this day and age many on the navajo and hopi reservations only have access to the am of water they can haul. in some instances literally by horse and wagon to the remote reaches of the reservations. while this picture of conditions near dilkon on the navajo reservation could be confused at depictions at the time arizona became a state in 1912, madam president, this photograph was taken in august of last year. you can see that it

back to the arizona primary this morning. the washington times has this piece that mitt romney has received the endorptes of immigration hard liners such as the arizona governor jan brewer, pete wilson and exactly of state crisco vac and the arizona primary today in this washington times piece, they say it could be a test of how well, he with the hispanic community. that makes tuesday's vote a test of turnout and percentages. -- host: other than that, he said he supports no new citizenship right for illegal immigrants and proposing they have a great period to get their affairs in order before going back to their countries. in the "l.a. times" this morning, they have a piece about how romney's immigration stand differences from the mormon church. the mormon church supported -- allowed illegal immigrants to remain in the state if they worked and didn't commit crimes -- host: in arizona this morning, excuse me, the -- yesterday was the deadline for candidates to turn in petitions for the april 17th special election to replace ret

the war room." i'm jennifer granholm. republicans fireworks in arizona. 'll take you there in a few minutes with former congressman turned radio talk show host, j.d. hayworth. and then the president is pushing for lower corporate taxes. we'll get a view from the white house, and everyone knows nancy pelosi, and tonight you'll meet her daughter kristine, and what she's up to. this is "the war room." come on inside. >> let's get right to it with our nightly tracker on the big board. presidential smiling for a reason because he's got good news today on both the economic and the political front. he rolled out his new corporate tax reduction plan, restructuring plan. it would lower the corporate tax rate from 35% to 28%. remove the loopholes, it's revenue neutral. the plan has very little chance of passing congress this year, but that's not the year. it's an election year, sort of subdues the republican rhetoric and shows that the president can reform corporate taxes. we'll have more on this story later from the white house. but by all measures it has been a go

, polls across the state of arizona close one hour from now, at 9:00 eastern. just about to get the first look at what voters said was important to them today when they talked to the exit pollsters. our first look who turned out today, but before we get that first data, has to be said the stakes are high, nobody would have put michigan in play at the start of the primary season, nobody would have thought anyone would get close enough to mitt romney in his home state to warn any suspense at all about the results of michigan. but tonight, there's suspense. the polls have been wicked close heading in tonight in michigan and this is therefore, a big night for presidential politics. chris matthews, what is your take? >> before we get in the results, we have to remind ourselves through the circus we have been watching the past several months about the stakes of the fight. who makes the big decisions in our country about peace and war, how the burdens of society are shared. future of our health care, you look at a couple candidates who emerged at the top

the west. mitt romney has won arizona. that state's delegates, winning rather handedly, and look at the leaderboard there, it goes romney, santorum, coming in third we will put it up for you there, newt gingrich and ron paul. gingrich winding up with a third place finish in arizona but it does not necessary matter because that is a winner-take-all state. >> now to michigan. the 30 delegates there. mitt romney the big winner. not so big in the spread , but a big win as far as momentum. rick santorum will finish second. in third, ron paul, and newt gingrich will finish fourth. the interesting thing about michigan is the congressional districts were still -- 8 of them are two close to call. the split in delegates could be very tight. santorum could pick up relatively the same number, maybe even more, depending on how it goes congressional district. >> joining us now, chief political correspondent, mr. cam ran. hey, carl. >> hi, megyn. a big relieve for mitt romney to pull off the win in michigan. there's not a lot of doubt in

and the arizona primary there. >> about 130,000 people live here in warren, michigan. those, more than 20,000 of them either work for chrysler or general motors. the auto industry is a huge deal here in michigan. the top two frontrunners, rick santorum and mitt romney, and santorum is making a blue collar pitch, revitalization of manufacturers, how that pitch sells in a place like warren could make a big difference tuesday night. we'll be back after this. whee! whee! wheeeeeeeee! ah heads up. wheeeeeeeeeeee! everything you love about geico, now mobile. download the new geico app today. living with the pain of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis... could mean living th joint damage. help stop the damage before it stops you with humira. for many adults with moderate to severe ra, humira's proven to helrelieve pain and stop joint damage. humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. serious, sometimes fatal events can occur, such as infections, lymphoma, or other types of cancer, blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic

the sheriff advocates? >> i think you see a model in arizona. that people who come here and try and find work, that the employer is required to look them up and e verify. this system allows employers in arizona to know who's here legally and who's not. as a result of that being put in place, the number of people in arizona that appear illegally has dropped by some 14%, while the national average has only gone down 7%. back to the question, the right course for america is to drop these lawsuits against arizona and other states trying to do the job barack obama isn't do g doing, which -- and i will drop those lawsuits on day one. i'll also complete the fence. i'll make sure we have enough border patrol agents to secure the fence. and i'll make sure we have an everify system and require employers to check the documents of workers and if an employer hires someone that has not gone through everify, they'll get sanctioned like they do for not paying tacks. you do that, and just as arizona is finding out, you can stop illegal immigration. >> governor ro

. >>> the fight for workers rights is exploding in arizona. police, firefighters and teachers are under fire in the desert, and we're going there for the latest. >>> on capitol hill the arrest everyone is talking about. >> this is a public hearing. i'm within my first amendment rights. i'm being taken out. >> josh fox was arrested for filming a house committee hearing on fracking. because republicans didn't want him there. tonight, director josh fox joins me exclusively. >>> good to have you with us tonight folks, thanks for watching. >>> mitt romney won big in florida but still has a major problem connecting with regular folks. his problem got a lot worse today. >> i'm in this case because i care about americans. i'm not concerned about the very poor, we have a safety net there, if it needs repair i'll fix it. not concerned about the very rich, they're doing fine. i'm concerned about the very heart of america, the 90, 95% of americans who are struggling, i'll take that message across the nation. >> mitt romney thinks the country has done enoug