. >> ken blackwell is joining us from cincinnati, ohio, he's the platform committee vice chairman of the republican national committee g. morning and thank you for joining us. >> good morning. good to be with you. >> so as we look at the race for the republican presidential nomination, two candidates are rising to the surface in the polls, mitt romney and rick santorum. which one of them has a better shot when it comes to really appealing to the conservative vote? rick santorum says it's him. mitt romney says in the end republicans will support him. how does conservatism play into this race? >> well, i think conservatives want limited government, want economic growth and job creation. and so this comes down to a debate about the size of government, its intrusion and i think the candidate that can best articulate not only a platform but a vision to getting back to constitutional governance is going to be the one that picks up the lion's share of the conservative vote out there. and this is a horse race. people talk about momentum, they talk about delegate count. but at the end of the d

host: ken blackwell is joining us from cincinnati, ohio. the platform committee vice chairman of the republican national committee. good morning and thank you for joining us. guest: good morning. good to be with you. host: as we look for the race for the republican presidential nomination, two candidates are rising in the polls, mitt romney and rick santorum. which one of them has a better shot when it comes to really appealing to the conservative vote? mitt romney says, in the end, republicans will support him. how does conservatism play into this race? guest: conservatives want economic growth and job creation. this comes down to a debate about the size of government, its intrusion, and i think the candidate who can best articulate not only platform but a vision to getting back to constitutional governments, is going to be the one that picks up the lion's share of the conservative vote out there. this is a horse race. people talk about momentum. they talk about a delicate -- about a delegate count. at the end of the day, it's about who can

he is joining us from cincinnati this morning.marion springs, mich.. good morning. caller: good morning. i wanted to say that if we think about why china is a wealthy and why they own so much of our wealth, if we go back to the mid-1990s, the trade agreements that were primarily pushed through by republicans where democrats got the money was, 52,000 american operations are shipped to china. 6.5 million manufacturing jobs. a collateral number of equal jobs. i think the republicans are whistling by the graveyard that they created when it comes to jobs. and then republicans told us about the great prosperity that was going to happen as we signed these trade agreements. bush made china and most favored nation partner. can you imagine that? an ideological and military enemy of the united states. i would like to let the listeners know that these losses of jobs in manufacturing should be right at the doorstep of republicans and democrats. that is the reason i am an independent. guest: i think anytime the federal government, whether under

from many of the 10 states in play. then stay with megyn kelly and me throughout the evening for all results and analysis. thanks for inviting us into your home tonight. from cincinnatiisec

us today. >>> rick santorum's lead in ohio has dramatically narrowed right now. under 3,000 votes, but guess what? we have exclusive new information coming into cnn from hamilton county in cincinnatih is there. tell us what is going on in hamilton county, the latest tally. >> this is big news for mitt romney. we have amy here. and she's going to tell us what the numbers are again. >> yeah, so now with over 99% reporting from hamilton county, we now have mitt romney with 49% of the vote. and rick santorum with 29% of the vote. we're looking at 38,116 to romney. 22,788 for santorum. >> a big lead right now. >> big lead. >> and let me give you the number again. i know we're being asked to give it again. the total raw numbers here. mitt romney, 38,116. rick santorum, 22,785. so -- >> dana, let me interrupt. i'm here with john. john, if this holds, that puts santorum second, romney ahead state-wide. >> that's just shy of 16,000 votes right there. and we had it at 10,000 votes. there's a net plus of 6,000 votes for romney right there. the gap was 2,700 coming into the conversation. that would put romney ahead. that would put romney ahead. i'm going to turn off the telestrator and come o

significant, that does not include the votes, that does not include the votes from hamilton county, cincinnati, where dana bash reported to us based on republican party officials, that santorum is way behind in that county. there's a significant advantage for romney. we'll continue to watch what is going on in ohio. if romney manages to pull out a win in ohio, great news for him. he's going to certainly get more delegates in ohio because santorum couldn't get on the ballots in some of the congressional districts. stay with us. your finances can't manage themselves. but that doesn't mean they won't try. bring all your finances together with the help of the one person who can. a certified financial planner professional. cfp. let's make a plan. that's why i take doctor recommended colace® capsules. i have hemorrhoids and yes, i have constipation. that's why i take colace®. [ male announcer ] for occasional constipation associated with certain medical conditions, there's colace® capsules. colace® softens the stool and helps eliminate the need to strain. stimulant-free, comfortable relief. no wonder more doctors recommend it. say

cincinnati, new orleans, new york, philly and d.c. >>> and for the first time the world is hearing from the former rutgers university freshman, using his web cam to spy on his gay roommate. >> that roommate, tyler clementi, killed himself shortly after the incident. dharun ravi sat down with chris cuomo, insisting he is not to blame for clementi's death. >> looking back, i was very self-absorbed. it was just about what i was thinking, what i was -- how i was reacting. it was never, what if tyler finds out, how is he going to feel about it? i was 18. i was stupid. i wasn't thinking about my actions like beyond a minute into the future. >> reporter: did you bully tyler clementi? >> no. no, i didn't bully tyler clementi. >> reporter: do you think tyler clementi thought you were bullying him? >> no, i don't think he thought that at all. >> reporter: did you want to intimidate him? frighten him? >> no. >> reporter: shame him? >> no. >> reporter: make him feel that what he was and what he was doing was wrong? >> no. i would never feel that about anyone for any reason. >> reporter: do you hate gay people? >> i don't. i don't hate gay peop

from a prestigeous competition. we'll tell you why that is. stay with us here on 9 news now. >>> a prestigeous choir competition is coming up in cincinnati, ohio, but one of the leading groups in the field won't be this there in person because they are, in fact, in prison. the convict choir actually has its third cd coming up this summer. some of them have been locked up for more than two decades at this ohio prison. since the inmates can't make it to the competition itself, the judges will go to the warren correctional facility a couple days early and the prison choir is entered in two categories, spiritual and gospel music. >>> crews are busy working on what will be the tallest building in western europe. look that the cool shape. it's going up high over london. the final section of steel was lifted into place this week. once the so-called shard building is finished it will stand more than 1,000 feet. plans call for it to have offices, restaurants, apartments. it won't hold the title of tallest building in western europe long. two other skyscrapers going up in paris will be about 60 feet taller. >>> coming up on 9news it really pays to go to

us today. >>> rick santorum's lead in ohio has dramatically narrowed right now. under 3,000 votes, but guess what? we have exclusive new information coming into cnn from hamilton county in cincinnatill us what is going on in hamilton county, the latest tally. >> this is big news for mitt romney. we have amy here. and she's going to tell us what the numbers are again. >> yeah, so now with over 99% reporting from hamilton county, we now have mitt romney with 49% of the vote. and rick santorum with 29% of the vote. we're looking at 38,116 to romney. 22,788 for santorum. >> a big lead right now. >> big lead. >> and let me give you the number again. i know we're being asked to give it again. the total raw numbers here. mitt romney, 38,116. rick santorum, 22,785. so -- >> dana, let me interrupt. i'm here with john. john, if this holds, that puts santorum second, romney ahead state-wide. >> that's just shy of 16,000 votes right there. and we had it at 10,000 votes. there's a net plus of 6,000 votes for romney right there. the gap was 2,700 coming into the conversation. that would put romney ahead. that would put romney ahead. i'm going to turn off the telestrator and come out. this is wh

us some sense of the areas where we are waiting to hear from. >> well, right now, it looks like a typical map of ademocrate mitt romney is winning in the areas of cleveland, columbus and cincinnati the big urban areas and rick santorum is winning in the rural areas which is the rest of ohio, we still have some rural counties that are not reporting right now, i don't know wit if there is going to be enough votes in those counties though to make a difference for rick santorum, it is really close and one of the things that cost him tonight apparently is a loss in hamilton county which is the home county of cincinnati, that went big time for mitt romney and that could end up being one of the things that costs rick santorum ohio. >> what is the word on voter turnout? and enthusiasm today? >> voter turnout has been pretty low, we have been early voting here in ohio for several weeks and even early voting was deemed pretty low in terms of turnout and a lot of the exit polls are showing people just weren't all that excited about getting out to vote. there was a lack of enthusiasm so to speak. you know,, a lot of voters who said they decided on their candidate just in the last few days,

cincinnati beat florida state to advance to the sweet 16. the bearcats became the fourth team from the state of ohio to continue to dance. ohio is still wearing cinderella's slippers. [applause] [laughter] >> usecoming up next, -- >> it was to be the final resting place of a young girl who died in 1913. [ dog growls barks ] bring your dog to work day... not our best idea. [ barking ] george! stop it! stop. oh. it was a nice thought. [ male announcer ] some business decisions are better than others. the best decision is switching to verizon. you're good to go. that was fast! thank u. [ male announcer ] speed, reliability and now with our worry free guarantee, there's no better time to switch. get your choice of terms. no activation fees. a 30-day money back guarantee. flexible scheduling. professional on-site installation. and 24/7 tech support. all for just $84.99 athonth. plus you get a $200 value reward card. so switch to verizon high-speed internet and phone backed by our new worry free guarantee all for just $84.99 a month. call 1-888-610-8090. that's 1-888-610-8090. contact the verizon ceer for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. on from verizon. >> all lot of people have b

go the dana bash who is in the cincinnati area, hamilton county, board of elections, and this is a central part of ohio where john boehner is from, and set the scene for usre, dana where the polls have just closed. >> that is right, southwest ohio is crucial, and this particular county, hamilton county is one to watch, because it is not only a swing county, but a swing county in a swing state, and one of the most important counties to watch in the general election, but also for the republican primary. we want the show you and the viewers what we will show you later as they get the ball lots coming in in about 45 minutes, but this is a room where they are going to be counting the ballots, and they are going to be feeding some of it will be electronic, if you can look in here, there is a card reader, where they will get information in there and zip it in and go to the computer, and later, wolf, we will take you back to the director of the board of elections, and we are going to try to get the realtime vote results, as they are getting it here, wolf. >> dana, that is interesting, because it is going to be a close race, and it will be anxious to get the info

us, it's so hard. let me show you what the storm is going to do now. it's going off. behind it, a lot of cold air. i need you to know it's very windy from chicago to cincinnati. >> and in just a bit, we're going to turn the camera slightly and show you some more shocking images from here in henryville, indiana. for now, back to dan and bianna. >>> much more coming up. including the arrest in the mysterious murder of a mom and businesswoman from a wealthy suburb in michigan. who was found if her luxury suv. this killing shocked one of the richest communities in america. the suspect? handyman who told police he was there the night she was killed but the question is, is her husband now off the hook? >>> plus, prince harry as we have rarely seen him. mixing diplomacy with dancing? we're with the prince on his special mission for the queen. >> he's not bad. >>> and our favorite feature coming up. your chance to tell us about your news. your week in three words. coming up here on "gma" on this saturday morning. keep it here. having triplets is such a blessing. not financially. so we switched to the bargain detergent, and i found myself using three times more than

cincinnati. paul, tell us again, why is ohio such an important state? >> reporter: well, because you're from there, carol. there are other reasons as well. listen, it's a good answer. it's a battleground state. we know that. it's also a real player in the primaries. i guess arguably it's the most important on super tuesday. a blue collar state, a working class state. mitt romney needs to win here. if he doesn't, questions about whether he can win the nomination. for rick santorum who's been trying to appeal to blue collar voters, very important state for him to win. the neighboring state to pennsylvania where he's from. large catholic population here. a lot of conservatives. today, look at this, can't get any closer to this. here's our cnn orc poll. that's about a dead heat, isn't it? i think it's pretty much all tied up at the top according to our poll with gingrich and santorum a little lower down. carol? >> i know it's early, but i wondered, do you see voters rushing to the polls? >> reporter: yeah, we've seen a steady stream of voters right here. we are in hamilton county, just west of c

ohio in 2006, served as ohio secretary of state, and has been at the mayor of cincinnati, the city where he is joining us from this morning. howard, independent caller bank in muscle shoals, alabama. caller: good morning. guest: good morning. caller: we need in this country a big thinker running our country. no corporation that wants to ward willmove up o hire a small thing forbid we have a small thing for running the country as president. -- small thinker running the country as president. we need somebody who thinks big, not somebody who puts a tin can with a motor in it and calls that an automobile. the underground gas belongs to the american people. who in our government signs the leases giving that oil to the oil companies, where they can refine it and sell it back to us? they need to have in those pieces that date and will supply the needs of the american people -- they will supply the needs of the american people. they to do the same in this country if foreign countries pay more for the food we are manufacturing and producing. it will go overseas, too, and we will starve. host: go ahead. guest: thank yo