now. >>> it is a big night. the illinois primary. will mitt romney finally get it done? if he wins big, what's next for rick santorum and newt gingrich? >>> and republican budget man paul ryan youth fron"outfront." he says he's open to a trillion ondollars of new revenue. >>> let's go "outfront." >>> good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight -- pressure is on. polls in illinois close in less than an hour. we are in countdown mode after a couple of bruising weeks on the campaign trail and two major losses to rick santorum, of course in alabama and mississippi. mitt romney has to prove he can seal the deal tonight. 69 delegates in the state. it is the second-largest delegate grab to date. to get to the magic number of 1,144 needed to clinch the nomination, mitt romney needs every win he can get. we'll go through the delegate map in a minute. it is a little more come plifktplifk pli krichlt. >>> can romney made in-roads with traditional evangelicals and tea party supporters? we'll get all that information font from our exit poll. >>> two, will santorum surprise? the latest po

. >> rick santorum has the momentum as they go into illinois. pat brady is the chairman of the republican party. joining us now. a good night for santorum, pat. not such a good night for mitt romney. you are a romney supporter. what does he need to do next tuesday for illinois? what does he need to do to make sure he wins in illinois? >> i think he will do well and i don't necessarily agree. he picked up a third of the delegates and has more combined than the rest of them combined. it wasn't a bad night. he doll well in illinois and follow the mark kirk model and run as a fiscal conservative and win big here, i think. >> the most recent poll had mitt romney at 35% and santorum at 31%. is that too close for comfort? >> this is a delegate hunt right now. senator santorum is not on the ballot for the congressional district. he is eligible for 44 of the 54 delegates to be voted on. we give out 69. 15 of those are super delegates. governor romney is in good shape and the war start and he has a ground game started. he has to campaign hard and he won't win everything, but we will walk

, harrisburg, illinois. the mayor of that city joins us live and we talk to those who have lost loved ones today. we also have new developments tonight in the ohio school shooting. we have just learned some important information about the alleged shooter, tj lane's past. let's go "outfront." "outfront" tonight, breaking news in the midwest. death and destruction, more severe weather tonight, a series of tornados ripped through five states starting very, very early this morning. leaving a path of devastation in their wake. here is what we know at this moment. at least nine people so far confirmed dead. 100 are injured. more than 300 homes have been damaged or destroyed today and twisters touched down in kansas, missouri, illinois, indiana and kentucky. harrisburg, illinois was one of the hardest hit. the tornado hit just before 5:00 a.m. this morning. the mayor says despite the loss of life and property, his town will endure and he is "outfront" tonight. those images are stunning and disturbing. can you tell me when you found out about this? what you heard this morning when you woke up to t

romney wins in illinois. it was big. but was it big enough? and what do tonight's results mean for rick santorum? >>> what was an israeli attack on iran mean for america? let's go "out front." >>> good evening, everyone. a big win for mitt romney in illinois. and a state he needed to win, after a new bruising weeks on the campaign trail. and two major losses to rick an storm in alabama and mississippi a week ago. and jabs at president obama. >> we once built an interstate, and the pipeline. we led the world in manufacturing, investments, and today, we lead in lawsuits. when we replace a law professor with a conservative man as president, that's going to end. >>> rick santorum, in his home state of pennsylvania tonight, looking a little less cheerful but trying to state on message. >> we must go out and fight this fight. we must go out and nominate someone who understands, not because some pollster tells them. you know in your gut big things are adrift and at stake in this election. so, i ask each and every one of you, to join us. >> so, where did mitt romney get his support tonight? joh

romney wins in illinois. it was big. but was it big enough? and what do tonight's results mean for rick santorum? >>> and the u.s. military conducts a simulation, what would an israeli attack on iran mean for america? let's go out. >>> good evening, i'm erin burr nut. "out front" we have breaking news. a big win for romney in illinois. he needed to win it after a few bruising weeks on the trail. and let the room -- at the romney campaign headquarter, new jabs at president obama. >> we once built an interstate highway system and the hoover dam. now we can't even build a pipeline. i mean, we once lit the world in manufacturing and exports and now we lead in lawsuits. when we replace the president, that's going to end. >> and rick santorum looking less cheerful, but trying to stay on message. >> we must do out and fight this fight. that's why we must go out in and nominate someone. and understands not just because some pollster tells them, they know in their gut like you do, all across this country, you know big things are adrift and at stake in this election. so i ask each and every one o

multiple tornadoes swept through the midwest and one of the hardest hit towns, harrisburg, illinois. the mayor of that city joins us live and we talk to those who lost loved ones in the devastation across the midwest. >>> also new developments in the ohio school shooting. we learned important information about the alleged shooter, tj lane's past. we have that for you. let's go "outfront." >>> i'm erin burnett. out front, breaking news in the midwest. death and destruction, more severe weather tonight. a series of tornadoes ripped through five states, starting early this morning, leading a path of destruction in their wake. here is what we know at this moment. nine people so far confirmed dead. 100 are injured. more than 300 homes have been damaged or destroyed today. the twisters touched down in kansas, missouri, kentucky, illinois, and indiana. harrisburg, it hit the town just before 5:00 a.m. this morning. eric gregg said despite the loss of life and praurptoperty, his will endure. the images are stunning and disturbing. can you tell me when you found out about this? what you heard thi

. all right, so what is the takeaway here, gloria? now we'reerto rico. >> and illinois, where the polls in illinois have shown it's a neck and neck race. that's going oo be exciting next tuesday, and i think what you have got is a question of how do you measure this? talk to the romney people, the romney people say this is about delegates. it's all about the delegates. and they have a point. it is all about the delegates. the problem is that mitt romney hasn't been able to seal the deal. with his own republican base. and that's a problem for him. >> i'm curious, david gergen, at this question that keeps coming up. that is, does the mormon thing matter? when it comes to evangelicals, you see the highest portion of evangelical volt voters we have seen so far, and their continued hes tnlsy to vote for romney, but could religion play a bigger role? >> i think it did. a month ago or six weeks uz go, you could say of course this is good santorum regions. santorum goes in as the guy who says he's anti-climate size, doesn't believe it's a hoax, and he goes into two states where about half

running in illinois, which holds its key primary tuesday. >> mitt romney's come tog illinois and looking for support from women. but here's what women need to know about mitt romney. romney says he wants to get rid of planned parenthood, ending federal support for critical health care services like cancer screenings for thousands of women here in illinois. >> planned parenthood, going to get rid of that. >> the romney camp says the governor does not want to get rid of the organization, only he wants to end government funding for it. but how effective is the argument that republicans are antiwomen? john avlon, leslie sanchez and jamal simons. leslie, you are the republican woman, so yes, i am going to des criminate by going to you first, do you think this ad will mick people think twice about voting for mitt romney and women will b affected? >> not at ul. i want to give a tiny bit of kudos for the obama pr team to think this shift the conversation away from the real attacks are and that is on republican women, independent women, suburban women, walmart moms who are very much in that contr

us. >>> all right. day after winning the illinois primary, mitt romney picked up a big endorsement from jeb bush, but he's facing embarrassment about what his top adviser said. his adviser used an unfortunate choice of words to describe the campaign strategy. >> well, i think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. everything changes. it's almost like an etch-a-sketch. you can kind of shake it up a and we start all over again. >> well, his opponents of course seized on that moment saying it proves mitt romney has no core conviction, you shake it and you go over here and you get the point. john avlon is here. rick santorum is in a car, looking at an etch-a-sketch. there he is. why is this getting so much pickup? >> this gets a lot of pickup because it goes to the heart of political communications. these are nates because it demons an existing negative narrative about mitt romney. namely he's the opposite of a conviction politician. and it was compounded by the sin of vivid language. and a visual metaphor. etch-a-sketch, that gives something to hold on and that gaffe ended on a

, because next tuesday, they are in illinois and advertising to be ready for a huge primary in illinois. >> i was looking at the numbers and as usual mitt romney with the super pac millions of dollars. and he predicted he would win one-third of the delegates tonight. >> he will probably given the proportional nature of distributing the delegates. >> is that enough? >> well, way ahead, and he has double of the delegates of santorum, and more than gingrich and ron paul is way, way behind and yet to win any of the primaries or caucuses. so methodically, that will keep mitt romney going, and obviously he would like the win them all, but the drepublicans are following the democratic lead and following with the proposh gnat -- proportional ti. . >> well, they know it is going to happen if you speak to them, because they are very, very confident and looking a ttd n i numbers and the money. if you have a billionaire giving you $10 million or whatever, that goes to a super pac, but there are restrictions of how it can be used. it can be was yused in attack ads, but not day to day operat

through the tennessee valley. storms firing in illinois and indiana and then ran across the ohio river into parts of kentucky. at times, i had 29 tornado warnings for 29 separate tornadoes on the ground or indicated by doppler radar. by about 10:00 at night, things calmed down. down to ten tornado warnings for ten separate storms. that seemed great because we were one third of where we were. when you look at t you see the ten tornadoes were still on the ground that late in the night. it typically happens that after sunset, the tornadoes start to calm down. the air is hot, the ground isn't hot because the sun is gone. the air doesn't want to rise anymore because it's not buoyant, hot at the surface, things start to calm down. the storms start to calm down. things are going to go up for a lot of the night, watches and warnings for the rest of the evening into the overnight hours. i don't see this being a big overnight storm system that keeps on going like the storm that did move through harrisburg into illinois three days ago. that hit at 5:00 in the morning. that's rare for that to happ

the tornadoes. we're going to go to harrisburg, illinois, and talk to a grandmother who was picked up and thrown from her home in the storm where winds exceeding 175 miles an hour. >>> and how much should someone be held responsible when someone commits suicide as a result of something they did or said. this is at the center of a trial going on right now involving the death of tyler cclementi, and two more soldiers killed in afghanistan as the result of the burning of the korans. what will stop the violence? [♪...] >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock, the only identity theft protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. lifelock: relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. progresso. it fits! fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit. okay is there a woman i can talk to? [ male anno

. ♪ >>> all right, a day after winning the illinois primary, mitt romney picked up a big endorsement from florida governor jeb bush but he's also facing some impairment for a remark his top adviser made here on cnn. eric fehrnstrom was looking forward to the fall but he used an unfortunate choice of words to describe the campaign strategy. >> well, i think you hit a reset button for the fall campaign. everything changes. it's almost like an etch-a-sketch. you can kind of shake it up and we start all over again. >> well, his opponents, of course, seized on that moment saying it proves mitt romney has no core convictions. you think this and then shake it and you go over here and you get the point. john avalon is here. we have pictures today of newt gingrich carrying around an etch-a-sketch, rick santorum in a car looking at an etch-a-sketch. so they were quick to seize upon this. why is this getting so much pickup? >> this gets a lot of pickup because it goes to the heart of political communications. this resonates because it deepens an existing deepening narrative about mitt romney. that's

night. we'll go to harrisburg, illinois and talk to a grandmother who literally was picked up and thrown from her home during the storm where winds exceeded 175 miles an hour. >>> then, how much should someone be held responsible when someone commits suicide as a result of something they did or said? this is at the center of the trial going on right now involving the death of rutgers student tyler clemente. two more soldiers killed in afghanistan in response to the burning of those korans at bagram air force base. what will stop the violence? the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ then lead a double life! with new blast flipstick from coverg

. >> absolutely. >>> ahead, a city devastating by the tornadoes. we're going to go to harrisburg, illinois, and talk to a grandmother who was picked up and thrown from her home in the storm where winds exceeding 175 miles an hour. >>> and how much should someone be held responsible when someone commits suicide as a result of something they did or said. this is at the center of a trial going on right now involving the death of tyler clementclementi,o more soldiers killed in afghanistan as the result of the burning of the korans. what will stop the violence? [ male announcer ] this is lawn ranger -- eden prairie, minnesota. in here, the landscaping business grows with snow. to keep big winter jobs on track, at&t provided a mobile solution that lets everyone from field workers to accounting, initiate, bill, and track work in real time. you can't live under a dome in minnesota, that's why there's guys like me. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's new glucerna hunger s

through the tennessee valley. storms firing in illinois and s that hit at 5:00 in the morning. that's rare for that to happen. that's not saying storms won't continue, because they will, and you'll see rumbles of thunder and there may be a tornado, but they're not going to have the f-4 or f-5, the 200-mile-per-hour tornadoes. they're not going to happen at 2:00, 3:00 in the morning. as you see it, the storms are moving to the northeast. they'll move to the carolinas and go down pp hill, as they do into north carolina, south carolina, they'll lose some of their intensity as well. i'm concerned in the gulf coast where it's muggy, humid. that's what the gulf coast is almost all of the time, but it has the potential to keep the storms going for quite some time. i'm going to drag it down on the upper side of this system. we have snow coming down behind that banner. from michigan into wisconsin. and even into the higher elevations there of the u.p. it's kind of an ironic snow this late in the season when you have tornadoes. here is the cold air. here is the warm air, and when they clash, yo

certain today on the floor of the u.s. house. congressman bobby rush, democrat from illinois, was removed from the floor after he addressed the chamber wearing a hoodie sweatshirt like the one martin was wearing the night he was shot. >>> we're also learning that george zimmerman, who shot martin last month, was almost arrested immediately after the shooting, but so far he has not been charged. george howell is in miami for us tonight. george, what's the reaction to that news, that there were some in the police department that did say that zimmerman should be arrested immediately? >> reporter: well, erin, there's a lot of talk today about these published reports that the sanford police department, specifically the lead investigator in this case, that he wanted to arrest george zimmerman on negligent homicide and manslaughter charges. now, you'll remember the police chief, who has temporarily stepped aside, that in his first press conference he said that his officers were prohibited from making an arrest that night. also in that initial police report, you see these charged listed o

there. it's not likely. the potential is there now to embarrass him this month, beat him in illinois and then head into the bigger states, maybe with gingrich one-on-one, santorum, romney. he could lose then, but it's unlikely. >> gingrich gets out say after next week hypothetically, what happens? >> it's still almost impossible for rick santorum to get enough delegates to go to the convention with the nomination, but it's possible heading through april, may, june, it's possible that him and the combined delegate of the other candidates could deny romney a majority and then you're talking about one of those crazy journalistic fantasy scenarios of a brokered, contested, crazy convention, and we'll all be really happy if that happens. >> you wrote hey, mitt romney, there's ten things you have to do right before super tuesday. there were two things on that list that really stood out. one is get a better relationship with the media. your relationship is horrid. and two is write a memo. get your campaign to write a memo about why it is inevitable. why your delegate count is in inevitable.

this in perspective, former governor of illinois, rod blagojevich, was found guilty of 18 counts of corruption, including trying to sell a u.s. senate seat, and he got just about the same sentence. 13 years for killing trees. the lesson, you don't mess with trees. now, this is not a political statement, it's a warning, because people are really passionate about trees. joyce kilmer said i think that i never shall see a poem as lovely as a tree. we all climbed trees as a kid. we had tree houses. trees are connected to us. family trees, christmas trees, tree huggers, tree climbers, the joshua tree and its park, neon trees. trees are in our dna and our lex con. don't believe me? >> i love the trees. >> she does and you know what, she does at that age, she will forever and so will we all. let us know if you see

what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. john avalon, what happens in illinois? today the latest poll actually, 44% for romney and 30% for santorum. >> i mean in the expectation game this poll probably doesn't help romney. we've seen santorum outperform the polls. this should be a strong state for romney. but there's really a division between the downstate conservative rural voters and the suburban voters who are more likely to be romney folks. this is a big state, it's romney's latest firewall. if santorum pulled off an upset, it would be a big headline. but right now they're looking downstate. romney is hoping for a strong win tomorrow and this is going to play out for weeks and months. >> was it gq or esquire that came out with this breaking news? someone will tell me in my ear. but anyway -- gq. the secret service names are out. apparently mitt romney is javelin and rick santorum is petris. >> what? >> i don't know, petris. >> it's an expensive wine, right? >> that's the plural of petra in jordan? that's not exactly -- that's not really renegade, right? >> javelin is not bad.

, pennsylvania, illinois and ohio actually have more than 59 delegates. it's unlikely, but if mitt romney is unable to secure the necessary 1,144 delegates, and we go to a brokered convention, those 59 delegates could help put someone over the top. that sure puts the whole issue of rights and statehood back on the table. what do you think, does america need its territories anymore? go to our blog and let us know what you think. >>> out front next, a cinderella story out of nowhere. president obama and a gopher. m. nice. but, you know, with every door direct mail from the postal service, you'll find the customers that matter most: the ones in your neighborhood. print it yourself, or we'll help you find a local partner. and postage is under 15 cents. i wish i would have known that cause i really don't think i chose the best location. it's not so bad. i mean you got a deal... right? [ bird cries ] go online to reach every home, every address, every time with every door direct mail. we asked total strangers to watch it for us. thank you so much, i appreciate it, i'll be right back. the

, georgia, pennsylvania, illinois, and ohio have more than 59 delegates. it's unlikely, but if mitt romney is unlikely to secure the necessary 1,144 delegates and we go to a brokered convention, the 59 could help put someone over the top. that puts the whole issue of rights and statehood back on the stable. does america needs its territories anymore. outfront next, a cinderella story out of nowhere. president obama and a gopher. ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. [ male announcer ] brake problems? stop in to meineke today for a free brake inspection and you'll say... my money. my choice. my meineke. >>> so president obama is sitting down for dinner with british prime minister david cameron about now. it's rumored to include appearances by john legend, john buff and warren buffett. earlier today, they exchanged gifts, ate traditional british food and drank american wine. they talked a little bit about international-affairs and played t