endorsems we have seen them with tim pawlenty, endorsements didn't matter for mitt romney. >> the senator from ohio, that was dwarfed by the aspect that dewine switched his. >> because switches are fun. that means something in terms of the exact argument that rick santorum has to make is that republicans are set against themselves, to think twice before casting the ballot for mitt romney. to believe that this is a race and he is the guy to do it. >> exciting tuesday. lots of excitement. thank you. >> thank you. >> now to a state holding a caucus on super tuesday, alaska. two dozen delegates are up for grabs. who might have an edge? >> in 2008, governor mitt romney won with almost 44% and ron paul finished third with 17%, but that was four years ago and much has changed. how is it looking this year? form early alaska governor sarah palin is here. good evening, governor.

thank you, tim pawlenty. thank you, gary bower. we appreciate it.he polls close many mississippi at the top of the hour. primary polls suggests it is still a toss-up, but could it lead to a southern surprise for mitt romney? joining us now is mississippi's republican governor phil bryant. governor bryant, thank you ever so much. the stakes are very high. >> thank you, larry. glad to be here. the stakes are high for mitt romney because many people believe the south, particularly mississippi and alabama, this is the base of the republican base. a lot at stake for mitt romney tonight. what's your forecast? can you win one of the two? can he win miss mus? >> you know, i think it's going to be close. now, two weeks ago when we got into this campaign, when i officially endorsed him last thursday, as a matter of fact, we were looking at a third place finish. people were saying mitt romney was going to be down in the teens, and now if you look at it, we have drawn close. i think we're in striking distance. that just goes to show you mitt romney came to miss

soledad o'brien will be joined by former minnesota governor tim pawlenty. and the rnc chairman reince priebus will join her as well. >> still ahead, sarah palin talking to cnn on the wasila caucus cam. who did she vote for in alaska, and could she still jump into the race? >>> to completely do a right turn, let's talk football. colts reportedly set to part ways with peyton manning. could there be two mannings playing quarterback in new york? >> wouldn't that be something? >> oh, man, oh, man. first a quick check of your travel weather forecast. rob marciano busy for us this morning. how does it look out there? >> good morning, guys. >>> warming up and windy in many spots. compared to earlier in the week and last week, atmosphere breathing a sigh of relief. temperatures 10 to 20 degrees above average across the eastern third of the country. speaking of wind, boy, vegas got it and so did so cal yesterday. 105 mile an hour wind in big bear. and las vegas 63 miles an hour. blackouts in some parts of the city. definitely blowing pretty good. going to blow across

we will ask the chairman of his campaign, tim pawlenty. let's go "outfront." >>> good evening, everybody, i'm erin burnett and "outfront" we are counting down and it is game time. it is the political game going on tonight. the republican candidate goesing for the deep south and we have big prizes up for grabs, mi mississippi and alabama, and the total delegates at stake tonight in those two states is 84. if you are keeping track, more than 8 million votes nationwide have been cast in 26 primaries and caucuses so far. the horse race over the past several days has been truly tightening for the states up for grabs the night, and sit down to the wire. we are less than an hour away from the polls closing and will it be sudden death for one of the four candidates to give this country a little clarity of who is in and who might be out of what is a roller coaster race? can newt gingrich rise again as we call canned we called it the triple lazarus. and a bad night for newt gingrich could mean he is out of the race. >> with rick and me together, we

now tim pawlenty, welcome back, governor. it's always a pleasure. i want you to tell me, i want you to swear on a stack of bibles that mitt romney is going to continue on a daily basis, 24/7, 24/7 to push the tax cut plan, the entitlement reform, the deficit-cutting plan so america can grow and stay out of bankruptcy. will he do it, tim? is this the new romney campaign? >> larry, have i ever steered you wrong yet? you were telling me there wasn't going to be a phase two, there's a phase two, it's pro-growth. thor number one issue in michigan was the economy, those voters were also concerned about who's best situated to defeat barack obama and you can set the political rhetoric aside. when you look at how people view these candidates, there is no question that mitt romney has got both in his rhetoric and in the substance his best position to grow jobs and get this economy moving because he's been an entrepreneur, been in the private sector, hasn't spent his whole adult life like rick santorum in washington, d.c. or in government. and yes, he is going

. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who would crowd me out and michele bachmann and then our good friend, herman cain for the first time and then it was donald trump for an almost. then it was rick perry and then it was herman cain and now it's santorum. it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i'm the tortoise. i take it one step at a time. >> the tortoise. exit polling in ohio shows romney had the edge among working women. and santorum had the other edge. working women may have cost santorum the race. the contraception has been front and center. and here's part of what they have said. >> no it's the denying them access to birth control. this is outrageous. the bottom line is you have the federal government now saying we'll give you a right and then saying by the way, we're going to tell you how to exercise that right. we're going to control you, a religious, a church affiliated group and if you don't like it, tough. because our rights to tell you what to do trumps your deeply held convictions about what your dollars should be spent for. >> just this last

. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who was going to crowd me out and remember then it was micheleachmann, and then it was our good friend, herman cain for the first time and then it was donald trump almost. then it was rick perry and then it was herman cane the second time, and now it's santorum. you can't get across them. it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i'm the tortoise. i take it one step at a time. >> the tortoise. exit polling in ohio shows romney had the edge among working women. while rick santorum had the edge among all other voters, in other words, working women may have cost santorum the race in ohio. in recent weeks the candidate's thoughts on contraception has been front and center. and here's part of what they have said. >> no one is denying them access to birth control. this is outrageous. the bottom line is you have the federal government now saying we'll give you a right and then saying by the way, we're going to tell you how to exercise that right. we're going to control you, a religious, a church affiliated group and if you don't

. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who would crowd me out and michele bachmann and then our goodriend, herman cain for the first time and then it was donald trump for an almost. then it was rick perry and then it was herman cain and now it's santorum. it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i'm the tortoise. i take it one step at a time. >> the tortoise. exit polling in ohio shows romney had the edge among working women. and santorum had the other edge. working women may have cost santorum the race. the contraception has been front and center. and here's part of what they have said. >> no it's the denying them access to birth control. this is outrageous. the bottom line is you have the federal government now saying we'll give you a right and then saying by the way, we're going to tell you how to exercise that right. we're going to control you, a religious, a church affiliated group and if you don't like it, tough. because our rights to tell you what to do trumps your deeply held convictions about what your dollars should be spent for. >> just this last w

. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty that was going to cry me out? remember when it was michele bachmann? and then it was our good friend herman cain. and then it was donald trump. and then it was our good friend rick perry. and then it was herman cain the second time. and now it is santorum. you cannot get across to them, it is all right. there are a lot of bunny rabbits to run through. i am the tortoise. [applause] i of always tried to be very candid. sometimes it gets me in trouble. it is how i live and want to do things. >> newt gingrich. i do not think he has ever been called a tortoise. this very process difficult race, has it made the party stronger? >> i do not think it has. some races do have that effect. i think the 2008 race between hillary clinton and barack obama had that effect. this race has been defined by the candidates rushing for to the right on a series of issues. most recently, social issues that have been turning off women. the second group is hispanics. this race has been defined by some very harsh rhetoric about immigration. t

. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who was going to crowd me out and remember then it was micheleachmann, and then it was our good friend, herman cain for the first time and then it was donald trump almost. then it was rick perry and then it was herman cane the second time, and now it's santorum. you can't get across them. it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i'm the tortoise. i take it one step at a time. >> the tortoise. exit polling in ohio shows romney had the edge among working women. while rick santorum had the edge among all other voters, in other words, working women may have cost santorum the race in ohio. in recent weeks the candidate's thoughts on contraception has been front and center. and here's part of what they have said. >> no one is denying them access to birth control. this is outrageous. the bottom line is you have the federal government now saying we'll give you a right and then saying by the way, we're going to tell you how to exercise that right. we're going to control you, a religious, a church affiliated group and if you don't

former presidential candidate tim pawlenty and romney supporter with his take coming up next. >> nowe presidential candidates traipsing through al pam. everybody wanting to have a little piece of your ear. i appreciate you coming out and listening to what we have to say because i think what we have to say is really important because alabama, which is the heart of the south, the conservative reddest part of this country that understands what made this country great. your diet. carol. fiber makes me sad. oh common. and how can you talk to me about fiber while you are eating a candy bar? you enjoy that. i am. [ male announcer ] fiber beyond recognition. fiber one. gregg: attorney general eric holder weighing in on the nypd's monitoring of muslims across the river in the garden state. these surveillance programs stirring some controversy in that state. america's top law enforcer says he is disturbed by it. muslims at a newark mosque under surveillance say they welcome the attention from the department of justice. >> we are american citizens and we have the rights and privileges and ought

joining us is former governor tim pawlenty, a campaign surrogate for mitt romney now. ecky, good morning. >> good morning. we've been watching how this plays out and it has taken quite a bit longer than some people with anticipated to see where we're going to get down to in the finals. how do you think it plays out in the end? >> i think for numerical reasons and in terms of the politics and leadership that mitt offers he's going to win the states coming up, alabama and mississippi are states that are more challenging for him but he's got a shot at overperforming expectations in those states and the delegate math is this, he's got more than twice as many delegates as his next closest competitor, rick santorum. he could win less delegates and still get the nomination. he's on the trajectory to win the nomination. you can't take anything for granted he has to earn the vote but it's highly likely that mitt romney will be the republican nominee for president in 2012. >> governor, the politico has a story we started talking about last week, it looks like it's mathematically

that is one comment from tim pawlenty, the last person you would ever imagine making a deal is ron paul. he is really not to trade his vote or anything. it would be unlikely and unlike him. >> i want to give you a chance to give us the headline from the new budget you introduced. >> balance it in five years. it's consistent with the balanced budget amendment. it's different than most others because you have to eliminate some departments like reagan said, let's get rid of the department of education. ron paul is the one offering it. we are the only budget offering it. we're the only budget that does a flat tax, 17% across the board. it's where we ought to be in republicans so we laid it out as a marker. >> we'll be seeing you in tampa. it could be very interesting. thanks so much for being with us. >> thanks. >> up next, he was a member of the member of iranian revolutionary guard and worked for the c.i.a. but we can't reveal his identity. but why the obama white house has to t we're america's natural gas and here's what we did today: supported nearly 3 million steady jobs across our cou

. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who was going to crowd me out?r then when it was michele bachmann? and then it was our good friend, herman cain the first time. and then for a brief moment it was donald trump almost. and then it was our good friend rick perry. then it was herman cain the second time. and now it's santorum. and you just can't quite get across to them. it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i am the tortoise. i just take one step at a time. >> okay. so we all like the story of the tortoise and the hare. really? >> rabbits underfoot. there are really two reasons, i think, newt gingrich is staying in the race at this point. one is the broad reason. the forces that used to drive candidates out of campaigns are no longer as powerful as they once were. the things that used to force candidates to stop were they were denied attention and money. now with cable television, there's infinite attention. with the internet and super donors, there's a lot of money. so structurally races are going on longer. it's no coinc

. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who was going to crowd me out, then herman cain for the first then for a short time it was donald trump for a short second. i'm the slow tortoise. >>> the vote was very close, is there any talk for a recount? >> reporter: there's certain standards that have to be met for a recount. basically the information we found out is it has to be between a quarter of a percentage point between candidates. at this point it doesn't look like that's going to happen because there's a percentage point difference between this point between romney and santorum. as we've seen with this race anything can happen at any point in time although not yet. >> all right, tori thank you from ohio. >>> our team coverage continue -bs -- continues now with amber lee. you've been talking to voters on the results, what are you hearing. >> reporter: we're at the conservative league committee that comes together every night. we spoke to them about super tuesday. on every first tuesday of every month, they meet and talk about politics. >> reporter: what's the biggest issue for you?

. >> bret: we're going to get thoughts now from former minnesota governor tim pawlenty, becoming national mitt romney. governor your reaction to the results tonight? mitt romney coming in third now. looks like third in alabama? >> i think people perceive things gore tok chalg yempking. the key thing is what does the delegate count look like? if he gets a third of the delegates tonight he's going to keep his lead and nudging is going to have changed in terms of a commanding lead in that count more than twice the next closest competitor that is remaining he's on the trajectory to be the nominee. if you look at numbers and what happened tonight nothing changes. >> bret: we've heard from the romney campaign about how tough it will be for rick santorum or newt gingrich to get to 1144 but it's tougher for mitt romney, isn't it? >> there is a long night of head of us yet. congratulations to rick santorum z begin, if you look at the exercise of delegate counts, mitt remains likely to be the nominee. and this speaker just framed a question, a main question as who is best situated to beat barack ob

that is one comment from tim pawlenty, the last person you would ever imagine making a deal is ron paulally not to trade his vote or anything. it would be unlikely and unlike him. >> i want to give you a chance to give us the headline from the new budget you introduced. >> balance it in five years. it's consistent with the balanced budget amendment. it's different than most others because you have to eliminate some departments like reagan said, let's get rid of the department of education. ron paul is the one offering it. we are the only budget offering it. we're the only budget that does a flat tax, 17% across the board. it's where we ought to be in republicans so we laid it out as a marker. >> we'll be seeing you in tampa. it could be very interesting. thanks so much for being with us. >> thanks. >> up next, he was a member of the member of iranian revolutionary guard and worked for the c.i.a. but we can't reveal his identity. but why the obama white house but why the obama white house has to t [ male announcer ] how do you trade? with scottrader streaming quotes, any way you want. fu

. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who was going to crowd me out, then herman cain for the first time. then for a short time it was donald trump for a short second. i'm the slow tortoise. >>> the vote was very close, is there any talk for a recount? >> reporter: there's certain standards that have to be met for a recount. basically the information we found out is it has to be between a quarter of a percentage point between candidates. at this point it doesn't look like that's going to happen because there's a percentage point difference between this point between romney and santorum. as we've seen with this race anything can happen at any point in time although not yet. >> all right, tori thank you from ohio. >>> our team coverage continue -bs -- continues now with amber lee. you've been talking to voters on the results, what are you hearing. >> reporter: we're at the conservative league committee that comes together every night. we spoke to them about super tuesday. on every first tuesday of every month, they meet and talk about politics. >> reporter: what's the biggest issue fo

. >> bret: we're going to get thoughts now from former minnesota governor tim pawlenty, becoming national mitt romney. governor your reaction to the results tonight? mitt romney coming in third now. looks like third in alabama? >> i think people perceive things gore tok chalg yempking. the key thing is what does the delegate count look like? if he gets a third of the delegates tonight he's going to keep his lead and nudging is going to have changed in terms of a commanding lead in that count more than twice the next closest competitor that is remaining he's on the trajectory to be the nominee. if you look at numbers and what happened tonight nothing changes. >> bret: we've heard from the romney campaign about how tough it will be for rick santorum or newt gingrich to get to 1144 but it's tougher for mitt romney, isn't it? >> there is a long night of head of us yet. congratulations to rick santorum z begin, if you look at the exercise of delegate counts, mitt remains likely to be the nominee. and this speaker just framed a question, a main question as who is best situated to beat barack ob

i thought tim pawlenty was interesting. he said we look at ohio. it's a positive.oints down about three weeks ago according to one poll and to win it last night was remarkable. it's a four-way race. you're not going to be coronated in a tough fought four-way race. you have to go out and earn every vote. he's doing that. i think you look at those numbers and a reasonable person would conclude he's the best candidate and most likely to be the nominee. >> i think that santorum -- if the santorum campaign would cleat l completely disagree. >> i think on fwal governor pawlenty is right. ohio is reflective of the base. santorum has a coalition enough to threaten romney but slightly too narrow to beat him. in no state so far has rick santorum won more than 31% of voters who are not evangelicals. he's too re4r50i7b9 on evangelicals. while romney has the advantage in ohio, he is not coalescing the party. in states that are competitive, he is still struggling among that populist evangelical wing of the party. >> if romney is a real threat, if gingrich gets out, santorum sudd

. >> bret: we're going to get thoughts now from former minnesota governor tim pawlenty, becoming nationaln co-chair for mitt romney. governor your reaction to the results tonight? mitt romney coming in third now. looks like third in alabama? >> i think people perceive things gore tok chalg yempking. the key thing is what does the delegate count look like? if he gets a third of the delegates tonight he's going to keep his lead and nudging is going to have changed in terms of a commanding lead in that count more than twice the next closest competitor that is remaining he's on the trajectory to be the nominee. if you look at numbers and what happened tonight nothing changes. >> bret: we've heard from the romney campaign about how tough it will be for rick santorum or newt gingrich to get to 1144 but it's tougher for mitt romney, isn't it? >> there is a long night of head of us yet. congratulations to rick santorum z begin, if you look at the exercise of delegate counts, mitt remains likely to be the nominee. and this speaker just framed a question, a main question as who is best situated to

at any event, we looked at each other and said, you know, remember when it was tim pawlenty who was goingo crowd me out and remember then when it was michele bachmann and then it was our good friend, herman cain the first time and then for a brief moment, it was donald trump almost. then it was our good friend, rick perry, then herman cain the second time and now it's santorum. and you just can't quite get across to them, it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i'm the tortoise, i just take one step at a time. [ applause ] >> i have always tried to be very candid. sometimes it gets me in trouble, on balance, i think it's how i want to live and how i want to do things. so i said at the very peak of the santorum surge and all this stuff, if i can't carry my home state where people know me, i would have no credibility. and i knew the basic wall street technique, which was to come in and spend lots of -- how many of you have noticed negative ads? sn>> how many have noticed the reagan ad a total lie. that's what we're up against. it's one thing to have lots of money a

tim pawlenty, this has been a long, long process and ultimately, if i become the nominee, i am going to be going up against president obama. he has put together an organization he says will raise $1 billion. we have to have a enemyny who has the capacity and the organization to raise money to be competitive. i intend to be very competitive with president obottom ato make sure that we get our message out and that we defeat him. this is not a shoestring operation. this is an operation that can be competitive with the president of the united states and beat him because we have to get him out of office -- his failed policies on energy, the economy, internationally, we have to get him out. >> last thing, governor, your campaign has been aggressively pointing out, it is mathematically very difficult for rick santorum or newt gingrich to get to the delegates needed for the nomination. but they -- you need to get frats% of the delegates left to get to 1144. they are talking about preventing you from getting to that initiative. what do you make of that strategy? what happens if they succeed?

. >> remember when it was tim pawlenty who was going to crowd me out?nd remember then when it was michele bachmann? now it's santorum. you just can't quite get across to them, it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i'm the tortoise. i just take one step at a time. >> this morning is former ohio congressman bob mckeown. newt being the tortoise, describing himself as such in this race. evoking the idea of steady, consistent, but he's been anything but consistent when we see voters go to the poll. that means in items of a win. he won big in georgia. he has won in south carolina. not won anywhere else. how does newt gingrich consider himself so viable to keep going? >> well, as you know, in a four quarters, we're in the middle of the second quarter, much yet to be done. the next couple states coming up look very, very good for him. when you talk to people over the water fountain and you ask them, who do you think is best prepared to be president of the united states, everyone seems to concede they know that it's newt. so whether y

tim pawlenty to battle. there has been a long process and ultimately, if i become the nominee, i'm going to be going up against president obama and he's put together an organization and he says will raise a billion dollars. we have to have a nominee with the capacity to -- and the organization necessary to raise money to be competitive. i intend to be very competitive with president obama, to make sure that we get our message across and defeat him. this is not about a shoe string operation. this is about an operation that can be competitive with the president of the united states and beat him because, by the way, we've got to get him out of office. his policies on energy and the economy, internationally, we got to get him out, that's one of the reasons we've organized such a strong campaign. >> your campaign has been aggressively pointing out it's becoming mathematically very difficult for rick santorum or newt gingrich to get to the 1144 delegates need to do get the nomination. but you need to get 48% of th

speculation, rubio, ryan, john thune, chris christie of new jersey, bob mcdonnell of new jersey and tim pawlenty portman, he puts critical ohio in the bank. the downside, like romney, evangelicals aren't big portman fans. romney ran with a woman when he was elected governor of massachusetts. add ceo meg whitman to the list losing her race for governor won't help. the wildcard could be condoleezza rice. top romney advisors suggest this. they say his search would be more disciplined. governor romney went through the vigorous vetting process four years ago. those close to him say he won't put others through that just for show. joining us obama pollst. should i add you to the liss snt. >> no. when your professional athletes say it's not about the money, that's, what, paul ryan and rubio are saying. it really isn't about the money with me. you couldn't melt me and pour me in that job. i think your assessment with portman, john kasich used to be a member. he's been in the governor's chair for two years and probably would be too quick and look like an tunist. i think portman is a good start and i think

but in any event, we looked at each other and thought you know, remember when it was tim pawlenty thatas going to crowd me out? and remember then when it was michele bachmann? and then it was our good friend herman cain the first time. and then for a brief moment it was donald trump, almost. and then it was our good friend rick perry. then it was herman cain the second time. and now it's santorum. and you just can't quite get across to them it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through i'm the tortoise, i take one step at a time. [ applause ] >> newt, newt, newt. >> i've always tried to be very candid, sometimes it gets me on trouble. but on balance it's how i want to live and do things. and so i said at the very peak of the santorum surge and all this stuff, if i can't carry my home state where people know me, i would have no credibility. and i knew the basic wall street technique which was to come in and spend -- home of you noticed negative ads? the reagan negative ad that is a total lie, okay? that is what we're up against. one thing to have lots of money, anothe

in any event, we looked at each other and we thought, you know, remember when it was tim pawlenty whome out? remember when it was michele bachmann? and then it was our good friend herman cain the first time. and then for a brief moment it was donald trump almost. then good friend rick perry and then it was herman cain the second time and now it's santorum. and you just can't quite get across to them it's all right. there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i'm the tortoise. i take one step at a time. [cheers and applause] i have always tried to be very can did candid. sometimes it gets me in trouble. on balance it's how i want to live and do things. so i said, at the very peek of, you know, the santorum surge and all this stuff, if i can't carry my home state where people know me, i would have no credibility. and i knew the basic wall street technique which was to come in and spend -- how many of you have noticed negative ads? how many of you have noticed the reagan negative ad that is a total lie? that's what we're up against. it's one thing to have lots of money. it's anothe

and you were right and tim pawlenty was trite.overnor romney came back with a plan "b," and i think it's a good plan "b." >> it's a great plan "b." >> i'm waiting for plan "c." romneycare and the issue of taktsing people without insurance all which sounds a bit like obamacare, i think governor romney has to put it right out there in a clear speech, vin. >> i think you'll see it all laid out in a comprehensive speech you want. but the key elements are already out there. >> all right. we'll have to leave it there for tonight. vin weber, thank you, tim lefebvre and robert costa. >>> next up, a new two number in the never hfr ending fast food fights. >>> plus, peyton's new place. he's made a decision and it's going to displace the quarterback who became one of last season's fan favorites. more on "kudlow" in just two minutes. if you have copd like i do, you know how hard it can be to breathe and what that feels like. copd includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema. spiriva helps control my copd symptoms by keeping my airways open a ful

does he appeal that way like mccain did with palin or does he go with maybe a tim pawlenty, low risk, >> trey, isn't there a problem with regard to the vp states? in a sense, having had this quasi attack on women on all kinds of issues, won't you think whoever wins this nomination will feel almost obligated to engage with a female vice president because for the last six months, many people feel that will republicans have been very antagonistic towards women. >> absolutely, martin. i think that there are names being flowed around like governor nick kill haley from south carolina, governor martinez from new mexico. listen, independent voters are a very influential voting bloc and they're going to be in force this fall. neither side has them right now. the obama doesn't, the republicans don't. so yes, it would be wise for romney to consider that or the republican nominee to consider that. but regardless of who they consider, they need to be -- they need to start talking to women voters directly. >> trey harden, as reasonable as ever, thanks so much and perry bacon, too, thanks for joinin