romney's strength. first of all, how many of you rated hum a stronger leader. and that was one of the areas where mitt romney really stood out. let's ask karen ren sick a question. an unemployed voter, trying to make up your mind. when we heard that high moment from mitt romney, it stood out to you, why did it? >> i was surprised president obama did not stand out more and stronger in this. when mitt romney said the things he said, especially leaning back and showing the constitution and the bill of rights and it just really struck in me, yeah, this man could really help me in the job market and our economy. he stood out as a stronger candidate to me. >> did he stand out as someone that connects with you personally in a way he hasn't so far? >> yes, from the 's, i thought he was much more aloof than he appeared tonight. >> let's get to some of the lows, wolf. there were a couple of moments that our focus group reacted negatively to. >> the low points in the debate for president obama and governor romney,

romney. people haven't seen new ideas, smart energy. can they lock the campaign to it and can they now take advantage to really capitalize on the second look he's going to get. >> rose: was the romney you saw tonight the romney you knew, mike. >> yes. a little secret of the romney, i ran his campaign for governor back in 2002, and he won that state by performing really well in the debates. the go you saw tonight, smart, policy-focused, crisp. you look at him and think boy a guy who knows how to run something well. so i think the country in many ways got the first real look at that and then filtered away and now if the romney guys can keep that going for the month they're really back in the race. the next thing the media narrative will need a couple better polls for romney and my guess is they'll get them. they have a real opportunity to move forward. >> rose: john dickerson. >> on the poll of undecided voters right after the debate who watched, romney not only won two to one but on the questi

this is the romney pre-game show. will mitt romney be held accountable for lies and distortions about president obama's record? we got a sneak preview of what happens when mitt romney is forced to tell the truth. a fox affiliate here in denver asked romney to explain what paul ryan could not, how he plans to pay for $5 trillion tax cut by only eliminating deductions. >> there's an option. you could say everybody is going to get up to a deduction and you could use your home mortgage deduction or others, health care deduction and fill that bucket, if you will, the $17,000 bucket that way and higher income people might have a lower number. >> at least the plan has a name. it's the bucket plan. mitt romney will cap deductions at $17,000 for all americans. is that good for the middle class? do the math. for rich americans, the cap, it just might be lower than that. he was very vague on that point as well. the big problem with romney's bucket plan besides being hilarious is it would only cover $1 to $2 trillion of the $5 tr

some righties are being critical of romney and some are asking where the real mitt romney has been all along? let's start with david brooks. he called the comment a country club fantasy. it's what millionaires say to each other and reenforces every negative view people have about romney. it remains important for the country that romney wins in november unless he chooses to step down and we can get the ryan/rubio ticket we deserve. on the flip side, you have the romney cheerleading squad. who is leading the way? rush limbaugh. he's so excited, he's come down with a case of gold fever. >> this is such a golden -- this could be the opportunity for romney and for that campaign to finally take the gloves off and take the fear off and just start explaining conservatism. this is a golden opportunity and we know romney has got it in him because of what he said to these people. >> eric ericson is also on board. he wrote, the romney campaign should double down on what he said. they should own it. meanwhile it's causing headaches for republican seats across the seat. scott brown said today, that'

mitt romney had a chance to march with romney when he was 15 years old. he had a chance to march with history and he didn't do it. the last time he was running for president, he lied and said that his father did, but he didn't. the civil rights issue of mitt romney's era was civil rights. just -- the civil rights martyrs, james cheney, andrew goodman and michael schwartz were murdered trying to help people get the right to vote in mississippi. that was when hundreds of college students just a few years older than mitt romney were pouring into the south during the civil rights movement. a month after james cheney, andrew goodman and michael schwerner gave their lives for it. the civil rights act was signed into law because the civil rights issue of mitt romney's era was civil rights. the voting rights act was signed into law two months after mitt romney graduated from high school. did mitt romney attend any of the civil rights demonstrations in detroit during his high school years? no, not one. did other american high school kids both rich and poor, white

romney's strength. first of all, how many of you rated hum a stronger leader. and that was one of the areas where mitt romney really stood out. let's ask karen ren sick a question. an unemployed voter, trying to make up your mind. when we heard that high moment from mitt romney, it stood out to you, why did it? >> i was surprised president obama did not stand out more and stronger in this. when mitt romney said the things he said, especially leaning back and showing the constitution and the bill of rights and it just really struck in me, yeah, this man could really help me in the job market and our economy. he stood out as a stronger candidate to me. >> did he stand out as someone that connects with you personally in a way he hasn't so far? >> yes, from his ads, i thought he was much more aloof than he appeared tonight. >> let's get to some of the lows, wolf. there were a couple of moments that our focus group reacted negatively to. >> the low points in the debate for president obama and governor romney

mitt romney contradicted once again, mitt romney. and in the rewrite tonight, the things paul ryan can't say anymore thanks to mitt romney. for example, paul ryan never talks about the cayman islands anymore. and he used to talk about the cayman islands. and tomorrow is the last day that crazy congressman todd akin can drop out of the senate race whichever republican including mitt romney wants him to do. so why was newt gingrich at todd akin's side today urging him to stay in. newt can't stop making trouble for mitt. that's coming up. i'm so g lad you called. thank you. we're not in london, are we? no. why? apparently my debit card is. what? i know. don't worry, we have cancelled your old card. great. thank you. in addition to us monitoring your accounts for unusual activity, you could also set up free account alerts. okay. [ female announcer ] at wells fargo we're working around the clock to help protect your money and financial information. here'sour temporary card. welcome back. how was london? [ female announcer ] wells fargo. t

not mitt romney. and that's what he's done in congress as well. >> jonathan, you've done what i deem a national service in terms of outlining some specifics of ryan's plan. there are going to be two tax rates. the top level will go town to 25%. unspecified tax deductions. we know a lot of is that stuff will be balanced on programs for the poor and middle class. medicare is unchanged for those 55 and older. he's going to repeal.comcare, insuring up to 30 million americans in total. this is a fairly draconian prescription for the country, is it not? >> it is draconian, but the thing you have to keep in mind is that paul ryan is an extremely good politician. and i think you shouldn't underestimate his skills in that regard. his district in wisconsin is not a republican district. it's right in the middle. and he's won it strongly. he's also very successfully managed to craft this image of himself, who he is, what he believes, and where he comes from that's wildly at odds with the reality and peddle it wit

romney. mr. romney being a different mr. romney than we've seen him for the last 18 months or the last section years. do you think even with the new hit romney that showed up last night when he starts talking about states' rights, when he starts talking about regulation or deregulation, when he starts saying he doesn't advocate $5 trillion tax cut when in fact the numbers prove that he does and has been advocating that, will that resonate with independent voters and/or undecided voters in your state of ohio? >> i don't think so. i think people realize that governor romney is still wrong on medicare and still wrong on trade and still wrong on jobs and still wrong on the middle class. i think that's increasingly clear. again it goes back to which path do you go. do you want to go back to the trickle down economics you give tax cuts to the rich and hope it helps the middle class or do you focus on the middle class and that's trait enforcement, it's i don't think training at community colleges like columbus state and sinclair. i

that is something that the romney campaign approved, that governor romney now owns. the ad that was put out by priorities usa is not an ad on behalf of the obama campaign. it wasn't put out by the obama campaign. it was not funded by the obama campaign, so there's a fundamental difference. i find it somewhat ironic, to say the least, when you think about the fact that -- you think about the fact that newt gingrich is out there defending governor romney. what level of dante's political hell has newt gingrich and mitt romney entered? >> this is what i find so confusing, why in the world would newt gingrich go out there and talk about welfare when he knows that he has to talk about an ad that admittedly isn't true, i mean how stupid is that? why would he do that, what's the upside of doing that? >> you know, this campaign, it is the most puzzling campaign, to me, the romney campaign. there's no message. we're now about what 90 days out, there's still no focus. you could literally walk down the street of any major city or small town and no one can tell you what governor

mitt romney. >> the question is, if i were elected and congress were to pass the dream act, would i veto it? and the answer is yes. the answer is self-deportation is people decide they could do better by going home because they can't find work here because they don't have legal documentation to allow them to work here. i think you see a model here in arizona. >> tonight, romney strategists are staring at what may be a latino lock on the electoral college. a democratic source outlined this scenario to politico. "assuming that obama wins all the states that have been won by every democrat for the last 20 years, luing both gore and kerry, and romney wins all the states that mccain won in 2008, that leaves 10 states. with those ten states, there are 1,024 possible combinations. out of those 1,024 scenarios, obama wins 939 of them, and romney wins 85 of them. all 85 scenarios require mitt romney to win florida." a new robo poll of florida registered voters shows president obama leading mitt romney in f

romney runs an opaque campaign. he goes to a hardware store and says what are you buying and he says hardware stuff. he tries to be opaque. he hopes the numbers win for him. but ryan is going to talk. what a fiscal conserve tifr person believes. does romney want that kind of campaign. >> i think he does. >> a very clear campaign. >> a very clear campaign. i think he's going to have a clear contrast between the president's record, what he's done. you get that with a portman, with a ryan. i think all this chatter on the right that we need ryan is overblown. >> the knock on portman, i don't know the guy. he doesn't come on this program. but pawlenty seems like a nice guy. but portman everybody says a boring. romney's not exciting. >> i think portman brings a lot. >> i saw on colorado yet, known as a guy that doesn't excite. he confused the conservatives on the trail. he's not as bad as people are on the trail. >> no not a hail mary but a pass. >> for the guy has known rob portman for 30 years. >> tell me about this. wh

shelly, what do you expect mitt romney to do? what would you want mitt romney to do? >> well, we certainly know his history with bain capital, and we understand, well, we don't understand fully what his relationship with bain capital is now, but we certainly believe he has some influence and the workers here really would love for mitt romney to come to our community and talk to the people who are losing their jobs. actually, what we would really love to see is the mayor, and i talked this afternoon, would be for governor romney and president obama to hold a debate in the city of freeport to talk about how to make america more competitive. companies like bain capital are in the business of creating wealth. we're in the business of creating jobs. they don't have to be mutually exclusive, but it's difficult to handle those on a local level because it's federal policies that make the difference. we would love to see a debate held in freeport, which is home of one of the famous lincoln-douglas debates and we would like to see how we could keep our jobs here at home. >> how

romney was wrong. governor romney has been wrong. no matter what he tries to do tonight, he's been wrong. when you're commander in chief you have to be steady. you don't get multiple choices to get it right. the president was strong. that was a commander in chief there. we thought governor romney was unsteady and fairly reckless in his language. >> how surprised were you at the new agreements that you got with governor romney tonight? afghanistan specifically. >> it's his fourth position. you can't trust him. he'll have a new position next week. this president has one position. he's going to end this war in 2014 in part because we've ses mated al qaeda. you look at governor romney you saw a politician not a commander in chief. i think that's going to worry people all across america. >> on what is the new afghanistan agreement between president obama and mitt romney, i want you to think about it as you're in a unique situation as having been a campaign techtition and work in the white house. with just looking at it tactically is it th

you say to mitt romney? >> if transferring wealth to the top 2% created jobs wouldn't we be swimming in them already? >> i still want to see his tax returns. >> what would you say to mitt romney? >> the three of us here have been arrested defending american jobs. we're waiting. come on out here and talk to us. >> you want to talk to him? what would you say to him? >> save our jobs. >> what would you say to mitt romney? >> he's the devil's twin brother. >> mitt romney, tear down the outsourcing. >> bring back the jobs in freeport, illinois. >> what would you say to mitt romney? >> save my job. >> that's what you'd say to him? >> yeah, save my job. >> sir, what would you say to mitt romney? sir? >> help the people. >> help the people. help the people. how about you, sir? what would you say to mitt romney? >> save my wife's job. >> i would tell him, please save my mom's job. >> what would you say to mitt romney? >> just be honest. be honest. >> you don't think he's been honest? >> not at all. no. >> not at all?

mitt romney knows that. so mitt romney has delegated the crisis management of his nugent problem to ted nugent. who today, tried to explain himself to friendly interviewers. >> if it wasn't for the federal government, my life would be perfect. bottom line is, glenn, i've never threatened anybody's life in my life. i don't threaten. i don't waste breath threatening. i just conduct myself as a dedicated we the people activist. i'm a nonviolent guy. i don't threaten. i wouldn't waste my time threatening. i've never threatened anybody's life in my life. i certainly wouldn't threaten the life of the president or anybody in public office or anybody anywhere. >> i'm a black jew in a nazi clan rally. >> that guy knows something about damage control. and the only thing about ted nugent that seems to bother the romney campaign is nugent's claim that romney solicited nugent's endorsement. ted nugent announced his endorsement on twitter after a long heart and soul conversation with mitt romney today, i concluded this go

only two people involved in conversations ann romney and mitt romney. the third, beth myers the woman who has been i long time aid to mitt rom nee. beth myers led the search committee. she's cut her teeth in american politics years ago in texas alongside karl rove. the romney campaign said that they would conduct a very long, very intense vet prog ses that would be unprecedented in the depth it would go to ensure they'd pick the right person for the job. and there is a lot of unthese yachl. because the buzz has gotten so pronounced there is a possibility that any selection other than him might disappoint some conservatives concerned that rob portman, tim pawlenty, capable wex peer yens in government may not bring the type of chemistry that the romney ticket might need. there is marco rubio, florida u.s. senator who could help with hispanics across the country, coming from the important swing state of florida. ruby yoe would be exactly the type of spark romney might need in order to not only court latinos maiblging up a key, growing coalition but also to

what mitt romney's tv ads say about women, or what mitt romney, himself, says? >> do i believe supreme court should overturn roe v. wade? yes. and it would be my preference that they reverse roe v. wade. hopefully reverse roe v. wade. overturn roe v. wade. planned parenthood, we're going to get rid of that. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. >> no matter what mitt romney's ads say, we know what he'll do. >> in an interview with "rolling stone" magazine president obama was asked if he believes mitt romney will try and undo roe v. wade. "i don't think there's any doubt," the president said. "we know the current supreme court has four members who would overturn roe v. wade. all it takes is one more for that to happen." the longer mitt romney stays silent on this issue the worse he looks. this is an issue of leadership and character which i think he lacks. at least richard mourdock, as much as i disagree with him, has the guts to stand up and say what he believes and then stand by it. the same can never be said for mitt romney. get your cell phones out. i w

first and foremost, a romney. the romney name has been in the public eye for the last half century, a family of great wealth will and business achievement, political success as well as failures. mitt was the fourth and last child for george and lenore romney. born march 12th, 1947, some recall him as the favorite. george wrote to the family in september 1956 -- mitt is growing like a weed, as full of ideas and energy as ever. tom mccaffrey grew up with romney. >> mitt as a child was extremely energetic, the kind of kid who could never sit down. his mind was going 100 miles an hour. >> george was much the same way. >> you know, he's just got that energy. >> phillip maxwell lived down the street from the romneys in a wealthy detroit suburb. >> george would go out on the golf course. and he had fluorescent golf balls, and he would hit the ball and he would run after the ball, jogging, hit the ball again. and that was his exercise. >> young mitt not only had his father's energy -- >> there seems to be a special bond b

. >> romney is on a roll. when we come back, obama report card. >>> issue two, obama report card. >> i promise to do everything i can, every day, every minute, every second to make sure this is a country where hard work and responsibility mean something, and everybody can get ahead. not just those at the very top, not just those who know how to work the system, but everybody. >> trust me. with the economy. that was the message president obama brought to ohio this week. but what do the experts have to say about that? 36 selected economists from the nation's esteemed banks, financial firms, independent consultants, and academic institutions have rated the president's performance on the economy. here's the breakout. one, half of the group rated him fair, 18 out of 36. two, a third of the group rated him poor, 13 of 36. three, 15% of the group rated him good, 5 out of 36. four, not a single one of the 36 economists gave mr. obama a rating of excellent. which republican candidate would do the best job on the econom

mitt romney. >>> a couple of new polls out. the new nbc news "wall street journal" poll -- >> polls -- >> polls indicate -- >> we've got months of this. >> this is the first full week of the full-on campaign. round one of the general election. >> i'm probably going to need a helmet between now and november. what do you think? >> a poll out today shows the president up. >> 42% of registered voters have a favorable view of the president -- >> this is a snapshot in time. >> does 29% see romney in a favorable light? >> president obama leads by ten points in the enthusiasm gap. >> the likability factor is part of all of this. >> and the trustworthy thing. >> romney has a lot more baggage than the president. >> i wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth. >> i know the president likes to attack fellow americans, particularly those successful like my dad. >> the "new york times" poll shows the candidate lost in a dead heat. >> i'll use my energy to help the american people go to work. >> everywhere he

romney, romney, romney! romney, romney, romney! >> our mission -- our mission is to increase the freedom and opportunity of the american people and our blueprint is the constitution of the united states. we're going to build an america where hope is a new job with a paycheck, not a faded word on an old bumper sticker. and i will not attempt to bribe the voters with promises of new programs and new subsidies ander increasing checks from government. if this election is a bidding war of who can promise the most benefits, then i'm not your president. you have that president today. but if you want to make this about restoring american greatness, then i hope you'll join with us. if you believe the disappointments of the last few years are a detour and not our destiny, then i'm asking for your vote. i'm asking each of you to remember how special it is to be an american. i want you to remember why it was that you or your ancestors who sacrificed to come to america and to overcome the challenges of life in a new coun

where does that leave milt romney? >> it's a very tough place and he has struggled throughout this campaign to articulate a narrative about himself, either has a business person, a job creator or -- if you want to see what mitt romney's policies are like, let's revisit the bush years, you can also take a look at romney's own time in massachusetts. he ran that state very much in the way that he ran bain capital. he loaded it one a lot of debt and he ended up taking the prestige that he got from that position and moving on and killed a bunch of blue collar jobs in the meantime tame. >> ari, i want you to listen to more of the president's speech. listen to this. >> the challenge we face right now, the challenge we faced for over a decade is that harder work hasn't led to higher incomes. bigger profits haven't led to better jobs. and you can't solve that problem if you can't even see that it's a problem. >> ari, he's right, isn't he? if you can't acknowledge that problem, how can you resolve it? >> that's right and mitt ro

it has also been a good night for mitt romney. mitt romney winning in idaho. winning in virginia where only he and ron paul were on the ballot winning his home state of massachusetts in vermont and squeaking one out in ohio. these are the of all states won throughout the country up to and including tonight. you are seeing some streaky patterns there, and in terms of regional favorability for these candidates, but right now, it is still a good night for rick santorum. had mitt romney lost ohio to mr. santorum, i think that it would have been seen as a spectacular night for rick santorum. the states that he won the night included north dakota, tennessee and oklahoma, but in the end, not ohio despite having been close all night. this has been a heck of a night. super tuesday tonight, and we are waiting for some of the results from alaska. which, you never know, might end up being definitive at any point. >> and sarah palin voted for newt. >> did she? >> sarah palin voted for newt so anybody who tells newt to get out, she will be all worked up about that. >> well,

he was helped by romney. he was helped by romney for two reasons. one, romney made a classic mistake. he came to the second debate, thoroughly prepared for the first debate. he said the same lines, often using the same words that he had said two weeks ago. so he had telegraphed every line, he had telegraphed his arguments. the president knew what he was going to say and was prepared to box him, to call him, to hold him accountable. secondly, on style, romney was like the hall monitor. and then he was lake a frustrated guy who, because he couldn't have everything his way. you know, if ownership on the wrong side of the gender gap, i wouldn't fight with a female moderator of a debate. i wouldn't try to bully her. and it's even worse if you end up failing. >> michael, is there any issue that mitt romney gained ground on last night? >> i think he did, on the libya piece. >> michael! you're not serious! come on, you can't be serious. i mean, you can't be serious about that! it was a disaster. it was a train wreck. >> bob, can i make my point? >> bob, you

it became an issue with romney taking strong exception to a spanish language ad by gingrich calling romney the most anti-immigrant candidate. >> is he still the most anti-immigrant? >> i think so. >> senator rubio came to my defense. i'm not anti-imgrnlt. my father was born in mexico. my wife's father was born in wales, they came to this country. i'm glak that marco rubio called you out on it, i think you should apologize for it. >> romney is running a spanish ad of his own accusing gingrich of calling spanish the language of the ghetto. he didn't mention spanish by nade name. romney said he wasn't aware of the ad, his own ad. a few minutes later, wolf set the record straight. >> we did double check, that governor we talked about where i quoted you as saying gingrich called spanish the language of the ghetto. it is one of your ads. it's running here on florida and in the radio, and at the end, you say i'm mitt romney and i approve this ad. >> let me ask a question. >> he asked whether or not gingrich in fact did say that and said we should check the record. we did. john, gloria, david, ari

head, romney was a different guy after the libya stumble and again, the romney folks believe th the fact checkers will tank their side but mitt romney couldn't make the argument. it is sort of the same issue president obama had in that first debate. but i thought that one of the big misses for mitt romney we are not talking about now and that we would have been talking about if not for the libya moment was what i thought was a miss on the bush question, right? he gets the question that i think is this sort of lingering question out there with some swing voters, particularly say in the upper midwest, the ohio, iowa, portion of this -- of these battleground states and yet it was, hey, i am going to be tougher on china, i am going to be more free trade, he didn't seem to have a solid answer of what makes me different than bush and then the president in there clearly was ready with his talking points. i will tell yo tell you how he s different from bush, hits him on medicare and on immigration. so it was almost a reverse of here you have the president with a plan and he executed it toni

mitt romney's middle class tax increase, he pays less, you pay more. >> the romney campaign has been caught completely flat footed. on a conference call this morning, romney advisers struggled to combat the truth about their tax plan. eric fehrnstrom called the independent analysis a joke. another adviser said the romney plan would create 5 to 10 million jobs. but couldn't explain how the campaign arrived at that number. it's important to understand what they're saying here. after an independent analysis says romney's plan would raise taxes on 95% of americans, romney's advisers call that report a joke. yet won't provide details to dispute the report. then those same advisers claim the romney tax plan will explode job growth. today governor romney tried a similar strategy saying he'd put out a tax plan that can't even be analyzed not by any group ever. so the romney campaign made a tax plan that can't be analyzed yet the tax policy center scored it. they bent over backwards to analyze the romney plan in a very favorable fashion to mitt romney and it still didn't add up. president oba

and romney with a lead there. and again, still some of the vote is out, and down here in the southwestern part of the state this is down around hamilton county, butler county, home of miami university. this is where george bush won his sek term in 2004. it was in these counties late into the night on that election night back in 2004 when hamilton county and butler county, claremont, and warren, they all checked in because it was rough weather that night. and the voters came out and stood in line in the rain. and they were wound down around the street and corner. they put bush over kerry in the end by 118,000 votes. this is butler county this, just checked in a moment ago. romney up eight points throughout the east here this is a growing county. coming out of cincinnati down south and up in the surrounding areas so we're going to watch this area to see whether or not it changes but still, 8% of the vote out. what is santorum doing here in ohio? he's doing really well. he expected to do well, frankly. driving these

the president's words were romney versus romney. romney as governor on coal and energy and assault weapons, versus romney new. >> let's play an exchange they had on oil. that will be the first one we look at. >> governor, we have produced more oil -- >> no, no. how much did you cut federal licenses and permits on federal waters. >> there were a whole -- >> i had a question how much did you cut them by? >> i'm happy to answer the question. >> and it is? >> here's what happened. >> the right course for america is a true all of the above policy. i don't think anyone really believes you are a person pushing for oil and gas and coal. you'll get your chance in a moment. i'm still speaking. >> and let's take a look -- another exchange they had on coal. >> when i hear governor romney say he's a big coal guy, and keep in mind when governor, when you were governor of massachusetts, you stood in front of a coal plant and pointed at it and said this plant kills and took great pride in shutting it down, and now suddenly you're a big champion of

mitt romney has the anti-palin. you cannot -- well, right, but i think he can go outside washington to a tim plenty, by the way, who has run for the presidency. don't underestimate the importance of that, ready to go from day one. >> it's funny, the portman pick could look to washington and in one way and to bush. >> it's rare, almost unprecedented for a vice presidential candidate to make a decisive difference. >> well, except for last time. >> what the candidate looks for, a vice president who won't embarrass the ticket and nominee and can carry his home state. he is from ohio. >> we haven't had someone to carry his home state though -- >> one thing romney could do if he wants to get the subject away from taxes, he could announce his vice presidential choice ahead of time. that would change the subject and dynamic. i don't know that he would do that. >> we don't have it today, means we won't have it until august. when we come back, "scoops and predictions" from the notebooks of these top reporters. tell me somethi

romney was 38 percent. one point higher than rick santorum. >> another call coming in while you were sleeping alaska. romney won with 33 percent with santorum coming in second. we have all of the details about super tuesday. >> morning. >> hi there. it was a super night for mitt romney no question. he secured the most states picked up the most delegates. is very much ahead in the delegate lead still far short of the more than 11,000 needed to secure the nomination. he was celebrating victory in a number of states including his home state of massachusetts as well as virginia, vermont. idaho, alaska and as you mentioned the big prize of the night ohio where he really pulled out a nail biter of the win. for rick santorum it was also a very good night. he was extremely competitive in ohio making that a very, very tight race. he secured wins as well in three other states including north dakota, oklahoma and tennessee. he points out it is a particularly big victory because he was so seriously out spent by his top

romney nor mr. ryan have any foreign policy credentia credentials, but those comments would have been nor appropriate in 1982 than today and then there was mr. romney's attempt to mock the growing threat of climate change. of course, 30 years ago, the science on climate change was just beginning to e

i worked with governor romney for a long time and i know that governor romney has a jaw. and we will move to talking about the facts and then talk about what he will do for the future. what newt gingrich is doing right now is putting out adds that are not accurate. governor romney is pro-life, he has made clear his positions on the issue of life. and for those social conservatives or any republicans in that matter who want to know about the governor's position on that, they have to listen to his words not newt gingrich. governor romney welcomes accountability on where he stands on that issue of live. when we get down to the campaign, there will be attacks, but what is important that we fight them with the facts and talk about what governor romney would do as president. what his vision for the country is. if we do it successfully he will be able to earn the nomination. >> forgive me for interrupting. finally, and briefly. are newt gingrich and rick perry going to help re-elect obama by going after nominee when it's clear that eps on the march to the nomination? >> he will

can romney win down there? >> i think romney can. i think mississippi could be a good playground for romney, quite frankly. it's a fairly new political environment for them in terms of, you know, the way their primary is set up. so you still have romney tied to the barbour clan. has the opportunity to use that network to get that vote out. but this is, you know, one of those situations where i think even if romney wins mississippi tonight and newt or santorum takes the other, it doesn't change really the dynamics in terms of that march towards 1,144 votes. the reality for romney remains the fact that give him all the outstanding winner-take-all state, the rest are proportional. he's not going to pull 50 to 60% of that vote. but as chuck has pointed out, that's not been the trend line here. so i think we're going to see a little more status quo ante coming out of tonight than a lot of people anticipate. >> i'm watching romney. you can't see this, michael. here's romney doing his local shaking hands. he reminds me of prince charles in

>> this is all about mitt romney. these votes for santorum are about romney, rejecting romney. it seems the thing, the way that this thing could change is after it feels like a done deal, there is something like a jeremiah wright moment was, it seemed like a done deal. then something so crazy happened that people started, that you could imagine the super delegates just fleeing. i think something beyond the signs of problems for romney. something really dramatic and negative would need to happen. >> well, events can happen as you and i know very well. thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> when we come back, the question of the night. rick santorum, mitt romney, newt gingrich, maybe ron paul. who knows who will face barack obama? dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholesterol. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪ [ slap! slap! ] [ male announcer ] your favorite foods fighting you? fight back fa

it's all about romney's taxes. a new poll suggests americans want to know what is in his taxes. 56% of voters said he should release the last 12 years. and it doesn't stop with voters. tea party icon ron paul told politico in the scheme of things politically, you know, it looks like releasing tax returns is what the people want. texas governor and alleged romney supporter rick perry had this to say. >> no matter who you are or what office you're running for, you should be as transparent as you can be. with your tax returns and other aspects of your life. >> and the editors of the conservative national review wrote, wraumny as a politician running for the highest office in the labd, and his current posture is probably unsustainable. this guy has really boxed himself in. he told the country two years of tax returns, that's all you're going to get. there's an arrogance to that, don't you think? just like rom nay told andrea mitchell last year he wasn't considering releasing any returns. >> and with regards to my tax r

romney must accuse the president of trying to create a new religion, a religion newer than mitt romney's. religiously mitt romney lives in the glass house of american politics. that's what these polls tell us. 22% unwilling to vote for a mormon for president. mitt romney knows that the press wouldn't let him get away now with accusing barack obama with being a secret muslim, which is an even bigger glass house in american politics. polls show that 46% of voters would be reluctant to vote for a muslim candidate. so instead of calling barack obama a muslim mitt romney is now calling him an atheist. >> i think there is a desire to establish a religion in america known as secularism. and i know that based upon reports the obama administration gave this a lot of thought, a lot of discussion. >> so having failed to make barack obama a muslim, republicans led now by mitt romney are hellbent on making him an atheist. and here's why. in the politics of religion in this country, the only thing that's worse than being a mormon or a muslim in the eyes of our extremely religiously intolerant electora

the president leads romney by three. what is helping romney tighten the race? a fact true all year continues to be true. republican voters are more interested in this election than democrats. the president has a larger lead. he is up seven. the problem for him is a lack of enthusiasm of hispanics and young voters. romney has to do things to make people substantially change the way people feel about him. his approval rating is still under water. the lowest for any presidential nominee at this point in time other than george h.w. bush in 1992. romney is out with his second straight to camera ad in the direct effort to undo damage of the remarks. >> more americans live in poverty than when president obama took office. we should measure our compassion by how many fellow americans are able to get good paying jobs and not how many are on welfare. >> look at these numbers. by a whopping 51 to 28 voters say what they have heard about romney has made them feel more unfavorably there is still a few yellow flags for the president. more people disapprove of how he has hand

mitt romney the double talker, mitt romney the rewriter of mitt romney, is a very deliberate politician, a politician who's determined to say at every moment of his career exactly what his voters want him to say in that moment. as a result, romney has left the longest self-contradictory paper trail and quote trail of anyone who has ever run for president. and republicans who attacked john kerry because john kerry said he was for a bill before he was against it, now support a candidate who was once for everything that he is now against. tonight's case in point is stimulus. in 2008, when the economy fell off the cliff in the months after the presidential election, mitt romney thought something had to be done right then. and though we had a lame duck president, george w. bush, and a lame duck congress, mitt romney thought our economic situation was so dire, so severe, that we needed action from washington immediately. on december 19, 2008, he wrote this breathless exhortation in the national review. what is washington waiting for? the inauguration is less than five weeks away. at the rate

whereas romney was. romney really believes. >> he was having fun. >> bill: here, the difference, romney believed everything he said. can you call romney a liar and say this and say that. >> it wasn't just that. he believed but bill. >> bill: the president is like ah, you know. >> yeah, bill, of the president has to defend four years, it's very difficult to defend. he really can't. >> bill: i created this and i did that. >> he created a big mess. i'm sorry but barack obama is smart enough to know that when the real unemployment is 11.7%. that's kind of hard to defend. and when you don't have a teleprompter and you don't have a press giving you the circling the wagons treatment and up against a guy who actually did exist in the business world and thrive in that world, it's like the emperor has no clothes. and last night i believe the emperor has no clothes. >> bill: i don't believe barack obama san empty suit. >> i'm talking about last night. >> bill: it wasn't just last night. the tel her. mundo interview

on romney's defense, i looked at romney for a long time. i call him the energizer bunny of social smiles. because a smile should go high and low and be over in like less than four seconds. often romney holds a smile, it's very fake. tonight, last night rather, he managed to go up at least a little bit. not a high octave but a more genuine, more reflective smile. and more discussed. a lot more variety from him than you typically see. but he does not have that electric smile. >> you're going to have me timing my smiles right now. dan hill facial coding expert, president of sensory logic. that was a lot to digest. >> absolutely. >> zoraida? >> the next debate i want to watch with him so he can point all these things out. much different debate this time around. a sharper tone with a lot more tension. so who won? the results of our cnn poll and more highlights as well coming up. ross ] we are in the dades gorge, high up in the atlas mountains of morocco. have you seen this road we're going down? ♪ there is no relief for the brakes. we'll put t

romney's poll numbers are falling. it must be autumn. >> people are commenting that mitt romney has been looking extremely tan lately. he got tan. yeah. in fact, if romney gets any darker, he's not going to vote for himself. in america today we're running out of a vital resource we need to compete on the global stage. what we need are people prepared for the careers of our new economy. by 2025 we could have 20 million jobs without enough college graduates to fill them. that's why at devry university, we're teaming up with companies like cisco to help make sure everyone's ready with the know how we need for a new tomorrow. [ male announcer ] make sure america's ready. make sure you're ready. at devry.edu/knowhow. ♪ throughout our entire lives. ♪ one a day men's 50+ is a complete multi-vitamin designed for men's health concerns as we age. ♪ it has more of seven antioxidants to support cell health. that's one a day men's 50+ healthy advantage. can help make you a better investor. our e-trade 360 investing dashboard

that would put romney ahead. that would put romney ahead. i'm going to turn off the telestrator and come out. this is where we are in the official count right now. >> it would put him ahead by about 3,000 votes. >> and then you look, is there any place rick santorum can win. he is winning in fairfield county. santorum could pick up votes here. i'm going to tap some santorum votes. 100% of the vote in, 100% of the vote in, 100% of the vote in. in most of the places santorum is winning, we have 100% in or close to it. here is romney's extra bank, cuyahoga, a very big lead. if the numbers hold up, we'll give romney the votes to come back. by our count, cnn's exclusive numbers from there, pay no attention. romney would be ahead. >> this is now 99% in hamilton county. >> hamilton county, our numbers at 78%, we'll update this when i close the wall down for a second, but by this exclusive new number, romney is winning in the state, and there are a few places where santorum is voting where you have votes out. i'm tapping random counties. here's a ch

romney did -- governor romney was terrific last night. he did all the things he had to do to get back in this race, and i am also mystified at the president's strategy. you know, chris, i'm a good sports fan. in fact, i even do sports tv and i write -- >> i know you do. >> and there's a great sports analogy. when you play the perfect defense when you have a lead, when you try to sit on the ball in basketball when you have got a lead, when you play conservative, what often happens is you lose the lead. and i can't for the life of me believe that that's what they did, but that's the only explanation. they told the president, don't be confrontational. they told the president, be above it all, act presidential. but the one thing that gets me when i was running for re-election as mayor and when i was running for re-election as governor and even d.a., i had a passion for what we'd accomplished. i had a passion to explain where we didn't accomplish something, why we didn't, what the roadblocks were, and he could have done that without being aggr