georgia actions as you know is a deep south safe deeply conservative, although georgia is growing more diverse. african-american population has grown the latino policies is growing. i think 2012 will be too early. obama got about 47% of the vote here in '08. en if he did a percentage point better in 2012 it woumding inch wouldn't be enough. >> let me ask you one more question which is this: how is the rush limbaugh thing playing out in georgia? >> again, georgia is a deep south state. there are many rush limbaugh fans here, particularly among those voting in the g.o.p. primary. but as you mentioned, i teach at the university of georgia now. i talk to lots of young women, and they are absolutely appalled. they are appalled by the way the republicans have handled the issue of contraception in general. they are especially appalled that rush limbaugh has chosen to attack this young woman in particularly personal terms. i am teaching a class in opinion writing, and i am teaching my students to argue with people's positions, their policies and not to attack them personally. and they are appa

we are watching georgia. georgia, very much on our minds gh

his only win was in his home state of georgia, as we mentioned. that led to some choice words from gingrich to the presumed g.o.p. frontrunner, mitt romney. we go live to atlanta with with that. what did he say, jonathan? >> reporter: yeah. he had definitely harsh words towards the presumed frontrunner. it's hard to be on top. this was a good night for mitt romney, who is the projected winner the at least five states. speaking in boston, earlier, rom nerks rather than criticizing the other candidates, congratulated his opponents on their hard-fought victories and reserved attacks for the obama administration. listen. >> 24 million americans are still struggling for work. they are high-fiving each other this the west wing. but 8% unemployment is not the best america can do. ewe it's just the best this administration can do. >> when i am president, this american economy will not be lagging behind, it will be leading as the world as it has and as it should and as it will do in the future. >> that was mitt romney. newt gingrich celebrating a win in hi

his only win was in his home state of georgia, as we mentioned. that led to some choice words from gingrich to the presumed g.o.p. frontrunner, mitt romney. we go live to atlanta with with that. what did he say, jonathan? >> reporter: yeah. he had definitely harsh words towards the presumed frontrunner. it's hard to be on top. this was a good night for mitt romney, who is the projected winner the at least five states. speaking in boston, earlier, rom nerks rather than criticizing the other candidates, congratulated his opponents on their hard-fought victories and reserved attacks for the obama administration. listen. >> 24 million americans are still struggling for work. they are high-fiving each other this the west wing. but 8% unemployment is not the best america can do. ewe it's just the best this administration can do. >> when i am president, this american economy will not be lagging behind, it will be leading as the world as it has and as it should and as it will do in the future. >> that was mitt romney. newt gingrich celebrating a win in hi

and take their years in georgia institutions. primary and secondary education with them and have to invest those elsewhere and i think what has been so encouraging for those of us teaching at least i don't know how often the students get to see this but it's just how much support there is and how you educators think that this is anything but outrageous and i have to hope. and will prevail i couldn't agree more with my. about what the sort of political drive here is is to use these students to bully these young people and use them as scapegoats for huge system wide problems with funding and allocation of resources when in public both in georgia and elsewhere right but sure there are limits to what we can do as song tears and frankly none of us is interested in trying to replace the real need here which is for the students to attend colleges and universities in the states where they and their parents work and live and pay taxes and i get a comprehensive immigration reform one point where green eyes as well i want to thank you both

here is how gingrich won georgia. our exit polling found the former house speaker won a number of key groups including women, conservatives, and tea party supporters. so gingrich takes georgia, romney leading in virginia and vermont in the early vote count. polls close in ohio at the bottom of the hour. stay with us for more super tuesday updates. i'm scott pelley. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening, it's the biggest night of the presidential primary season and as you just saw newt gingrich is on the board with a win in his home state georgia. mitt romney coming off four straight wins in the past two weeks is leading tonight in virginia and in vermont. with ten states voting, we're just getting started. we have a team of campaign 2012 correspondents covering super tuesday and we'll go first to jan crawford with the romney campaign in boston. jan? >> reporter: well, scott after spending most of the past week battling it out in that key state of ohio, ro

and a professor at freedom university and to stop a magical and i'm talking to youth in georgia and a freedom university student i want to thank you both so much for joining us tonight and i guess so i want to start with you and i just want to get your opinion on what you think is happening within the state why you think that lawmakers are already clearly restrictions for undocumented immigrants there in attending university so why do they want to take it even further and bar it and how does that make you feel. well i think i believe that's the reason why they want to get you going further you know harvard. university this is return they there's real problems going on in the street but they don't want to address it and they want to scapegoat undocumented students and immigrants like me and say oh it's the person you know it's their fault that we're going through there is the least problem success and we're going to deal with them instead of the yelling with the real causes in the real problems that exist here in the state and now it makes me feel the way it makes me feel it's you kn

>> the southern strategy has to be more than georgia. and he did extremely well in georgia. obviously if he didn't carry georgia handedly he was pretty much finished and done. speaking of gingrich i spoke to him a few days ago on my show. he certainly doesn't seem like is he going to get out. hard to figure out the narrative for victory for gingrich. do you get the sense that some of those brutal attacks waged by the romney campaign very systematically from florida on out really stuck with gingrich. he hasn't forgotten that you get the sense is he going to stay in. >> megyn: is there an irony there because the presence of both gingrich and santorum in this race night now seems to be benefiting mitt romney? said from the beginning. >> megyn: people were complaining about romney is not conservative enough. romney is not this. he is not dynamic enough. he is humming davy crockett in tennessee. when was the davy crockett show on? i certainly don't remember that. [ laughter ] you don't even remember that. [ laughter ] >> wore the coon skin cap that would have been a great moment.

speaker and georgia native. here's what's coming up just seconds from now. the polls are about to close in the states of oklahoma, massachusetts, and tennessee. they have been closed now for just about 28 minutes in the state of ohio and still no decision from the fox news decision team but it's coming and now you know the news. election coverage continues now. megyn kelly and bret baier take it away. captions by closed captioning services >> brit: it's the biggest night so far. super tuesday. we are just seconds away from polls closing in three more states. welcome to america's election headquarters i'm bret baier. >> i'm megyn kelly. tonight's results could go a long way to deciding the republic republic nomination. polls are closed in georgia, vermont, virginia and ohio. here is what we know so far. the state of ohio too close to call right now. mitt romney and rick santorum neck and neck for the lead there. >> bret: fox news can project wide margin leaving mitt

y ohio, georgia es el que mÁs delgados da, 76 georgia sÓlo da 66 pero en tÉrminos polÍtico del peso para la naciÓn, es sin duda ohio. >>> georgia es donde gingrich ha estado plantando la bandera diciendo tengo que ganar el estado ademÁs, el que lo vio nazar como polÍtico. >>> claro, fue congresista por muchos aÑos de georgia pero aunque llegar a ganar ahÍ, la atenciÓn debemos ponerla en santorum y romney. >>> puede ganar santorum en ohio y no afectar le la campaÑa a largo plazo a romney. >>> no necesariamente afectar le, pero sÍ lo que pasaria si gana santorum que se individual ve vuelve a poner en la pelea, si pierde no necesario a favor de Él pero casi blin da la candidatura de romney. >>> mÁs adelante las primeras encuestas a la salida de las urnas. el presidente obama realizÓ su primera conferencia de prensa del aÑo. el presidente ofreciÓ reducir el costo de refinanciamiento para personas y ayudar a miembros de las fuerzas armadas que perdieron sus hogares, el tema de inmigraciÓn se prendio gracias a nuestra lory montenegro que tiene los detalles. >>> concientes qu

newt gingrich wins in georgia. we will take a look at the map and show you what is going on right now. you see it. wins for mitt romney in vermont and virginia, and you see the win for newt gingrich in georgia. we are waiting for ohio. the polls in ohio have closed, but we have not been able to make a projection. we have other states closing at the top of the the hour at 8:00 massachusetts closing, and oklahoma closes, and tennessee closes. that is right at the top of the hour. we will see if we can make any projections in those three states, but it is a significant development and a win is a win. mitt romney has two wins tonight so far tonight. so it is a significant development. it was fully expected, but anderson cooper, i expect that the mitt romney is excited to win those states. >> well, a win is a win. and for you guys, what is important, ohio? >> ohio and delegate count though, because you can't separate the two. if you are inside of a presidential campaign at this point, you are looking more at the total d

hard to make sure we can carry georgia and all the polls now indicate we will carry georgia. >> the front runner, mitt romney, trying to close the deal tonight against his rival bus he is picking up baggage along wait that could hurt him long term. >> what does it say about the college coed, susan fluke, who goes before a congressional committee and essentially says that she must be paid to have sex? what does that make her? it makes her a slut, right? makes her a prostitute. >> it is not the language i would have used. >> msnbc brings complete coverage of tonight's super tuesday primaries and caucuses with the analysis of chris matthews, host of "hardball," ed schultz of "the ed show," lawrence o'donnell of the last word, al sharpton of "politics nation" and former john mccain senior strategist steve schmidt. we live for nights like this. and msnbc's coverage of super tuesday begins right now. >>> we live for nights like this, live to cover nights like this it is election night, super tuesday, thank you so much for being with us here at our msnbc headquarters in new york city, alon

georgia is the only place gingrich run first. governor romney won every other state we have exit polls from with voters says beating the president is their number one priority which includes tennessee and oklahoma. >>> it comes down to elect ability. >>> 6 minutes after the hour. time to take a look at who's talking. >> the candidates are talking. big winner mitt romney and his message to america about reelecting president obama. >> president obama seems to belief he is on check by the constitution. he is unresponsive to the will of our people. he operates by command instead of by consensus. in a second term unrestrained by the demands of real election. if there's one thing we cannot afford it's four years of barack obama with no one to answer to. >> santorum may not have won ohio but it was in his victory speech. >> this is a big night. we are going to win a few and lose a few. we went up against ee more no-- enormous odds not just here but in every state. we were in this thing not because i so badly want to be the most powerful

tell us about georgia, one of the biggest prizes in tuesday's balloting. >> well, most of georgia's voters live in the atlanta metro area which i believe is still the largest metro area in the nation. about 28 counties. you have some very, very conservative voters in that area. what you're going to see in the electorate that turns out next tuesday will be an electorate that is roughly two-thirds identifiers as evangelicals or born-again. there are a number of tea party groups which are fairly active in the state and you're going to find some support and indeed it looks like santorum is gaining ground in georgia. if we go back to four years ago romney fought to a three-way tie in georgia. he got 30% of the vote here. he'll do well if he can repeat that this year. he's been polling more below 25% so it will be... the interesting in georgia may be who will come in second, will it be santorum or romney? >> suarez: professor gere tze there regional particularism at play this time around or are the issues animating voters in tennessee the same ones animating voters everywhere, like the economy?

i guess i wonder, you're in georgia, do you think that georgia is still on the side of newt gingrich, they know more about this guy than the rest of the country. >> well, first of all, i know kathy newt's daughter and daughters and those stories do not hold water. i know them personally, i have had lots of discussions with them and they are not true. it would be foolishes that a person like mitt romney can come to georgia and claim to be the conservative when newt has 30 years of experience down here. all the southern states, newt ran here when you could not get your trash picked up, it was his leadership that turned the ga republican party and when he became speaker the whole south turned republican. he was the first guy who as a republican believed that republicans could govern, they had the better policies and the whole south agreed and today, the south is largely republican, north carolina will change soon, because of newt gingrich's leadership, i don't think that the south will forget it. >> the south is largely republican because of newt's leadership. >> look at the history. her

he has a very long history with georgia, loves georgia, really feels at home. and he will work very hard here. >> reporter: does speaker gingrich have a home-field advantage here? >> he should. he's our guy. >> reporter: how do the candidates connect to the georgia voters? >> the candidates come to georgia. we are a red state. we are probably the reddest state in this nation. we get ignored every time. and the candidate or the candidates that pays attention to georgia is going to be the candidate that georgia will elect on super tuesday. >> the republican party and all of these candidates with the republican party are focusing on those economic issues. and i think that's what brings the women toward the republican party. and i think they will begin to see that there are more women coming toward the republican party because of economic issues and they feel that the obama administration is not solving those economic issues at this time, particularly dealing with obamacare. >> reporter: the volunteer state of tennessee has 58 del -- delegates, the third most on su

georgia, vermont and virginia. at the top of the hour let's see if we'll be able to make any projections. stand by. >>> even with all the delegates up for grabs on this super tuesday, no one will be able to clinch the republican nomination tonight. there's a lot of concern among republicans that this long, drawn-out fight could end up with a weakened nominee and a divided republican convention. our tom foreman is here to take us into what we're calling a virtual convention. tom, give us a sense of what may unfold late this summer in tampa. >> reporter: you know, wolf, this is about the delegates the delegates the delegates. they're how we really keep score. not fundraising, not ads, not debates, it's do you win enough delegates. what the republicans want is a candidate with a clear lead they can get behind. what they don't want is a divisive battle. >> so how could such a war actually shape up here? where i'm virtually standing right now at the republican convention in tampa. and how will the top contenders deal wi

and he lay on the tracks of the georgia road cradled by the rails. heart stopped. >> all railroad abandoned. between across ties. trees

. >> i have to win georgia. i think to be credible in the race. >> gingrich is banking on not just a win, but a big one to reinvigorate a dragging campaign. the georgia state republican chairman says he just might do it. >> if he does very well in georgia, and then does well in few of the other southern states i think it gives him what he needs to push him to tampa, florida. >> to get there, gingrich has campaigned heavily. 19 events in recent days, reasserting himself as the visionary conservative. the kind that previously earned him criticism as an erratic, unrealistic dreamer. not so says his campaign chairman. >> he's a man of ideas. if you a man of ideas people who are not men of ideas consider you erratic. >> georgia is the richest prize with 76 delegate at state. they are proportional. but should gingrich cos 50% of the vote he could claim more than 60 of them. that would be a boost to his southern strategy. >> we're back on the same page. back on the visionary, big solutions. approaches that we think wil

severe weather impacting southwest georgia. you're looking at pictures of northern georgia where there was tornado damage yesterday. >> bonnie schneider, keeping an eye on it for us. the fast-moving tornados up ended lives and homes in just seconds. cnn crews are spread out across the stricken region. we'll have much more on the damage from the storms, just ahead. >>> plus, forget about super tuesday. there's actually a political contest today in the republican presidential race. washington state is making their presidential choice. we'll look at what's at stake, next. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then, he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. call now for our free guide and tips on planning for your retirement this tax season. sure. what flavor

newt gingrich's win in georgia pushed his delegate total to 75. and ron paul picked up a handful of delegates, he now has 35. and now for some closing thoughts from mark shields and david girsch and mark shields and michael gerson, i will get it right, .. mark, we heard stu rothenberg say it is going to be a long slog. if it is that, then what does -- if you are mitt romney what do you see tonight that is a help to you? what do you see that makes it tough as a challenge? >> i guess you see, the help is that you are that much closer to the end of the race, that you are still ahead, you have got twice as many votes from people who have gone to the polls, than anybody else in the race, and i guess you would be grateful, judy that newt gingrich is still in the race, because the possibility or the prospect of running one on one, given as you mentioned the 41 percent that ron paul got in the state of virginia today, which is sort of irreducible minimum of the people who just will turn out to vote against mitt romney, then if he were on a one-on-one race

>> he's very confident and all the polls show that newt is ahead, but even if he wins georgia, georgia is a proportional state. so romney has a chance to pick up delegates in georgia as well does santorum. and i think what newt's got to do, you know, i'm a newt supporter, newt has got to show he's more than a one trick pony in the south. he won south carolina, he's probably going to win georgia, but, you know, he's got to show he can be competitive in the swing states like ohio, and otherwise there is no -- if he can't do that, there is no path for newt to the nomination. i hate to say it, but truth be told, that's the reality. and it is kind of like survivor, you know. if he doesn't win georgia, newt has said he's done, he's going to have to get off the island. that's a reality. >> all right, paul, so all eggs in one basket or no? is he being a realist about that? if he doesn't win georgia, he's got to reconsider. >> he has said that. he was on the "state of the union" with candy crowley today and sounding optimistic he would do well in georgia. the polls indicate he could do well her

georgia. mitt romney will be in boston. rick santorum will be in soup beville -- stupenville, ohio, which is in one of those congressional districts he won't be on the ballot. they joke it's a metaphor for his ailing candidacy. >> bret: we head out to ohio tomorrow. let's bring in our panel. a.b. to docard. thoughts on this win and how it breaks down. charles? >> it's a significant win for romney in washington. it shows the limits of intensity. i think it speaks for ron paul. this was his one shot, this was the place he wanted to come home with a victory and he's way behind by about 13 points or so. he could end up third behind santorum. but i think for romney, what it says is he's maintained the momentum that he gained last week and up until now, whenever he's had the momentum after he did well in new hampshire or in florida, he has not been able to put it away with a smashing success. each time he's lost. i think he's got another opportunity on tuesday if he can win ohio, i think that will b

he lives in mcclain virginia and wasn't born in georgia but represented georgia in congress. he needs to win georgia. he said as much. if he doesn't win georgia i would expect newt gingrich to get out of the race and that would change the dynamic completely. if he wins georgia and it is a big delegate dump there, 76 delegates, he could, you know, win other southern states perhaps. that is what the gingrich campaign hopes after super tuesday. >> gregg: still on the subject of newt gingrich. our viewers can go to the real clear politics website and look up the polling data and what struck me is when i looked at the negative ratings of all of the different candidates newt gingrich has the highest negative 3 to 1, 2 to 1. astonishing. gallup has him at a 60% negative rating. is it even possible for somebody with such high disapproval rating to win? >> i think that is a great question but you also have to remember how much money has been spent trying to gingrich in a negative light in iowa and in florida. talking upwards of $35 million in ads negative ads both campaigns and super

when the war ended, georgia returned to the stars and bars, but without the stars. >> georgia is the most controversial state flag. it set national records for having eight different state flags, and it was a controversy steeped in the history involved with their ties to the confederacy. >> many people believed those ties were too reminiscent of slavery. others believed georgia's confederate past needed to be recognized. in 2003, georgia introduced a flag that addressed the concerns of both sides. >> it features the stars and bars, which is the first flag of the confederacy, but in the canton, you see three pillars, which are supposed to represent the three branches of government, and words like wisdom, justice, and moderation. >> a soldier bearing a sword symbolizes georgia's commitment to defending the constitution. >> so it seems as if georgia has finally settled on a flag. >> one thing that isn't controversial is georgia's important role in agriculture. its nickname is "the peach state." pretty sweet. with flag facts, i'm scott. >> on "speak of the week," we find out what you thi

georgia could be a huge, huge state on election day. >> boy, i'll tell you, georgia turns out for free pancakes, oh, my goodness. >> i believed in you. i placed my bet on the american worker. and i'll make that bet any day of the week. >> every time i hear mr. romney talk about this, i think his daddy must be turning over in his grave. >> i'm here today to tell you that i'm endorsing mitt romney in his candidacy for the presidency of the united states. >> moderates do not have the best chance of winning because they don't inspire with conviction. >> rick santorum is a nice guy but he's an economic lightweight. >> i'm the one candidate on our side who runs on really big ideas. romney was the kind of guy who would have fired christopher columbus. >> what do you feel like when you hear 4,000 people chanting your name? >> i almost feel embarrassed. i wonder why they come. >> good morning. i'm chris jansing. and after that wild week, can you believe all that was just in the last week? it's here. super tuesday, biggest prize so far in this tumultuous republican presidential contest. voting i

if we go back to four years ago romney fought to a three-way tie in georgia. he got 30% of the vote here. he'll do well if he can repeat that this year. he's been polling more below 25% so it will be... the interesting in georgia may be who will come in second, will it be santorum or romney? >> suarez: professor gere tze there regional particularism at play this time around or are the issues animating voters in tennessee the same ones animating voters everywhere, like the economy? >> oh, i think economy cleay dominates here tennessee is doing okay, better than average but definitely the economy. social issues matter because a lot of voters are, in fact, evangelical voters, especially the remember primary but at the end of the day it's the economy and it's going to be santorum's responsibility and romney to connect to voters here to see if they can get additional support. >> suarez: how is tennessee faring economicly. >> it's doing better than the avere. our umployment rate i around 8% and there are job growth. the housing market didn't take quite a big a hit a

georgia siendo el Último, y georgia un poco decir que que no obstante, que lo gana gingrich no gana los 63 delgados porques se repartieron. >>> tennessee, un estado interesante, del "surimi" reno esto, romney apareciÓ verde pero de chi rip. >>> lo gana santorum y confirma que sigue en la pelea, era frn estado conservador pero romney habÍa estado y lo gana con firma.>>> y aquÍ vemos por ahora lo que aparenta ser ohio. todavÍa quedan como ven algunos condados que no han entrado, algunos condados de noroeste de ese estado se espera que podÍan ser para romney en este momento estÁn a tres puntos por zeno skwau les de diferencia y sin ohio, romney puede continuar y santorum. >>> no, todos van a continuar, pero en realidad santorum estÁ obligado para tener posibilidad y estar cabeza a cabeza con romney, romney puede darse el lujo de perder porque tiene mÁs diven ro y mayor organizaciones. >>> carlos gracias por este anÁlisis. >>> les hablo del presidente obama que realizÓ su primer conferencia de prensa del aÑo. el presidente ofreciÓ reduccion coso todo refinanciamiento para person

georgia, take cover. this is to the north of valdosta. we're seeing very strong thunderstorms, supercell thunderstorms that show rotation that could produce a tornado at any time. we're watching for a tornado watch. this is important to note because it will continue throughout the day today. right now it's until 2:00 today. this includes areas into florida, tallahassee. i mentioned valdosta. you can see off to the west, we still have heavy bands of rain along i-10 to the south and east of mobile, alabama. some of those southeastern parishes of louisiana getting clipped with severe weather as well. but i think the worst of it is into florida and southern alabama and certainly in the carolinas. the big picture shows you that we're not only watching this tornado wedge but you can see heavy lines of severe weather working their way into south carolina at this hour. you can also see heavy rain starting to come into north carolina and virginia. as far as the northeast goes, we haven't seen too much of an impact

will be his firewall. >> i have to win georgia. race. >> cordes: speaking before the cobb county chamber of commerce this, we gingrich made an appeal to the voters who know him best. >> we need to control spending, reform government, and balance generation. theory. it's what we did. >> cordes: what gingrich did from 1979 to 1999 was represent georgia in congress, the last four years as speaker of the house. >> i ran for five years and lost twice before i finally won. then we spent 16 years creating a majority. the folks here were very supportive for a very long time. >> cordes: he's been campaigning down memory lane this week from atlanta and savannah to carlton, the west georgia town where he taught college in the 1970s. attorney randy evans was his student and has served as an adviser ever since. >> when we became speakener 1995, there were-- there were thousands of things that he wanted to do because he knew that for over 40 years, the democrats had been in control, and he wanted to make big changes fast. >> cordes: big changes

in georgia. not on the ballot in virginia. thank you. >>> at least nine people were killed as powerful storm season rolled across the plains and midwest this morning. at least six of those were in harrisberg, illinois. the national weather service reports 16 tornado sightings in five states. still ahead, update on afghanistan from the american ambassador and the top commander of the u.s. and nato troops there. an russia's strong man prepar prepares for return at the presid >> bret: in world news now, the u.n. humanitarian chief says syria is refusing to allow her in country. meanwhile, this is said to be video shot duce in the dara province inside syria where intense clashes have been reported between the government troops and the arm detectors. there are conflicting reports tonight over whether egypt lifted a travel been a on seven american aid workers in the country. among those affected is sam lahood, son of the u.s. transportation secretary. russian prime minister and presidential candidate v

>> unemployment in georgia is 9 1/2%. all right? in ohio it's 8%, in tennessee, 8 1/2%, if i'm right that the guy with the strongest economic, most coherent economic message is going to do well, i think romney could have a good day, tuesday. >> ohio is important for santorum, in particular, a little more economically down scaled than michigan. a big portion. michigan voters made up more than $100,000 remarkably in the republican primary. in ohio, a lot less well off voters, and a lot more culturally conservative voters. so, this is prime territory for santorum. so i keep hearing. you never know. the pitch he made recently, simply made for that kind of audience, which is college, what a snob, obama wants you to go to college. that's the kind of play that may be arousing some enthusiasm. you never know, voters are extremely sophisticated even if you don't have a college education and know when they're being-- >> i agree with that. that's one of romney's weaknesses where he doesn't do as well as santorum, that's simply the fact. >> wel