as paul just said, that's all going in his favor in ohio. 44% of republican voters in ohio are evangelical christians. guess what, 27% don't have a college education and, oh, guess what, 80% make under $100,000. so what we saw in michigan is romney did much better with higher earners, but managed to pull it out, and win michigan. so while i think santorum has all these things in his favor, he is viewed as a fake, i think on the trail in michigan, he sold the case for the working class folks. he sold the case to union workers and he was able to sell the case to evangelical christians, of course, even though as you pointed out, fred, he has three degrees. >> okay. so what is behind how romney is gaining some momentum, that gap between santorum and romney and ohio is narrowing. >> yeah, basically -- >> is it big money? advertising dollars? you're right, the romney campaign greatly outspending the santorum campaign and throw the super pacs in there. that's the true story this cycle. the pro romney super pac, greatly outspiending the pro santorum super pac. people turn on their tvs and that's a

ohio, tennessee, and vermont. now, ohio, the big battleground state. the rate is down from when the president took office, down from its high of last year. but still an uncomfortable 7.9%. a half a million people there are still out of work. tennessee, the rate is above the national average. 8.5% there. here in georgia, ohio, oklahoma, virginia, candidates can rightfully say that the jobless rate has risen since obama stepped into the white house. in newt gingrich's home state of georgia, with 9.4% was the unemployment rate at the end of last year. and in 2010, the state's jobless rate spiked to an all-time high of 10.5%. idaho, oklahoma, and virginia also have higher rates than when the president took office. but in oklahoma and virginia, you got 6.3% and 6.1%. that's better than the national average. i want to take a look now at housing. because, if you're underwater, it means you owe more on the home than the home is worth. super tuesday states have some of the highest rates of underwater mortgages in the country. i mean, take a look at georgia. 33%

i guess you could say that in ohio. but i don't think that equals enthusiasm for heading to the polls to actually cast a vote for the man. >> i think that's fair. i do think he is gaining momentum, but i'm not sure that translates into gaining enthusiasm. you just heard what i thought about his enthusiasm gap. and i think representative cantor and now endorsing mitt romney, and he has to say things like that. by the way, romney also gathered the endorsement of senator tom cobourne of oklahoma. which is no small feat. cobourne is an unimpeachable conservative. that's a huge endorsement for romney. i think he is getting momentum in endorsements and some in some of the states like ohio. does that mean he is getting enthusiasm, energy, excitement? that's a totally different question and story. >> not that i expected eric cantor to go, woo hoo, romney! he doesn't seem that enthused. >> right. >> thank you so much. appreciate it. >> thank you. >>> today in syria we are learning the government is expanding its deadly attacks.

to win ohio. rick santorum, did he even spend a million dollars? >> he did but he certainly didn't spend nearly as much as mitt romney did to pull out a squeaker in ohio, carol. >> what does that mean? >> i got off the phone with a very prominent republican. i won't say this person's name because they wanted to speak freely. they are very concerned about mitt romney just barely pulling it out in ohio. the fact of the matter is ohio is a very important state. if mitt romney is to be the nominee, if we are to believe that he will amass the delegates, then they're concerned he could be very damaged going against president obama. >> let's talk about voter turnout. i was reviewing numerous papers in ohio online. most of them said voter turnout was at best modest. at worst low. so what does that say? >> because this has been a very divisive primary. it hasn't been exciting and it's engs sighting for us to follow. if you're a republican, you're not inspired by the infighting that we're seeing right now b

top of the talk is ohio? >> ohio, ohio, ohio. if santorum can win in ohio, and our last poll shod neck and neck, if he wins, he'll survive. if romney wins in ohio, it's going to bolster this notion that it's all his for the taking, if you will. ohio is going to be critical. >> then you look at the south, of course gingrich needs to win his home state of georgia. >> he probably will win. >> he probably will. the next question is tennessee. romney hasn't won -- >> tennessee is like ohio. it's snick and neck between santorum and romney. gingrich is not necessarily all that much of a factor in tennessee right now, which is a surprise, because you would have thought in the south he would be doing better, but at least according to the most recent polls we have seen, tennessee is very much like ohio. >> a total of 419 delegates. >> and then the super delegates unplunged from the states that will be more. >> tune in for our coverage. >> more delegates tonight at stake than all the contests until now. >> one third of the delegates of the

>> a brand new cnn poll in ohio. get ready. at the top of the hour, we'll release what's going on in the ohio presidential republican race for tomorrow. and georgia, as well, it's do-or-die, as he himself acknowledges, newt gingrich. two new polls, ohio and georgia, these are the biggest contests coming up tomorrow. super tuesday, we like to call it. >> all over it. >> you'll be working. >> i'll be working. >> i'll be working right along with you. >>> still to come for us, quite the story, a high school kid makes a game-winning shots and moments later he collapses on the court and dies. now an investigation reveals a serious threat for many youk kids. parents, do not miss this next! i've had surgery and yes, i have occasional constipation. that's why i take doctor recommended colace® capsules. i have hemorrhoids and yes, i have constipation. that's why i take colace®. [ male announcer ] for occasional constipation associated with certain medical conditions, there's colace® capsules. colace® softens the stool and helps elimi

another poll that came out in ohio had the same story. santorum had a little lead in ohio it is gone and dead even. such an important state. not only in the primaries but also in the general election. ohio such a big battleground state. let's go to a poll down here in georgia if we have that. it just came out here. and well, look who's on top by double digits. >> he's counting on that and said that a number of times. i need to win my home state. >> or else. >> i guess this is good news for newt gingrich. >> even if he wins one state, georgia. >> is that enough? >> is that enough to make you a viable candidate? someone who has the staying power through the spring or summer? >> it may be for him to continue a while longer but if he doesn't i don't know how you continue. he's putting all his effort here. one more to tennessee. just to the north of the west of us. another state really interesting. this is a real good southern state to look at. a lot of delegates at state. doesn't have the gingrich factor, much more wide open. santorum did hav

>> ohio, ohio, ohio. that's where rick santorum and mitt romney are grinding it out right now. meanwhile, newt gingrich trying to get momentum back be in tennessee. polls show that it's rick santorum state and, of course, we see ron paul who is trying to work the caucus states. he's going to be in idaho. come tomorrow, though, where will they all be? home state of massachusetts where romney will win easy. rick santorum will be in ohio. that's where he'll spend his election night. north dakota will be where ron paul camps out and where we sit in newt gingrich's home state, that's where we are talking about. >> there are some within the best political team talking about the wardrobe. somebody said to me, rick santorum, what's up? he's back in the sweater vest? what happened to the coat and tie and does that mean anything? >> i talked to his top adviser and said, why not the sweater vest and he laughed at me and said, enough is a enough, preston. the fact of the matter is, he's going to wear a suit sometimes and he's going to where a sweater sometimes. >> if you look at where he w

>> in ohio we look at three states out of ten. ohio look at the numbers. it shows that rick santorum and mitt romney are locked in a tight fight in ohio. the state has a lot of people think mitt romney needs to do well if not win to show he can appeal to chose voters. tennessee another state right now where rick santorum and mitt romney are locked in a tight fight, as well. down here in tennessee which of course is just a couple of hours north of where we sit. where we are here in atlanta, georgia, newt gingrich, the state where he was the speaker of the house, served a long time representing back in congress. he is taking the lead right now and has a comfortable double digit lead. >> you have to win your home state or native state. if not, that's a bad showing if you don't. >> especially when you are newt gingrich and you say i have to do well in georgia in order for my campaign to do well. >> put the pressure on himself. tell us how the republican candidates are doing. sometimes you can read into the strategy by how and where they spend their time. >> i

they flew to dayton, ohio. the president said he wanted to bring the prime minister to dayton, ohio, to show him what real america looked like. you can see them. we're showing pictures, brianna, of them in casual clothes a little bit later on in the game. both men ate a hot dog and they drank a soda, not beer. i don't know if beer is allowed in there. who knows at the university of dayton. why was this important? because there are already some criticism that a large amount of taxpayer dollars were spent in taking the prime minister via air force one to the university of dayton for this basketball game. >> reporter: of course, it can't really estate you that ohio is a key sweep state. mitt romney won last week. i think one of the biggest things, if you look at what the british press reported about this, one of the most significant things they talked about was this trip on air force one. this is a privilege that a lot of foreign leaders don't get, and it was quite a visual demonstration certainly on the part of t

he's in columbus, ohio. paul, what are the mixed results from super tuesday meaning for the supposed front-runner? >> reporter: good news, bad news for mitt romney. he won six of the ten states, good news. he picked up half of the 419 delegates at stake. good news. this is all about a battle. it's a battle for delegates. but the maybe not-so-good news, here in ohio, he barely won, about 12,000 votes over rick santorum. last week he barely won michigan. i guess you could say it was deja vu here again in ohio. that's troubling. in the exit polls, he's having problems rallying the base. >> what's next for the race? >> reporter: well, kansas. kansas is next. you're going to see mitt romney there tomorrow. you're going to see rick santorum there today. kansas, a very conservative state. their caucus on saturday maybe favors santorum over romney. then it moves south, alabama and mississippi are the big two next tuesday. again, two pretty conservative states. it's fair to say in the short run over the next week or

and look at ohio, that battlegrounded ohio. 24% of people who have home loans owe more on house than the house is worth. an interesting thing about ohio, is one of the reasons why ohio is almost a proxy, really, for what the gop nominee faces in november. do voters focus on how bad things got, or how they're very slowly, slowly improving? christine romans, cnn, new york. >>> two big political stories this hour. first, ten states, 419 delegates, four candidates, all adds up to one big day in the race for the gop presidential nomination. the republicans fighting it out on this super tuesday. voters are heading to the polls across the country. we're breaking down the major races. and president obama stealing some of the spotlight from the republicans. he holds a news conference in about 15 minutes. we're keeping our eye on that. the president, he's going to outline a new mortgage relief plan for the military, obviously, take questions from reporters. we'll bring that to you live as soon as it starts. but first, we want to bring in our political heavy hitters, wolf blitzer and chief poli

in ohio right now, mitt romney, if he is to lose ohio today, that could be very troubling for him. now, he is ahead in the delegate count, however, the perception is that he could not empathize with people from ohio, such as yourself, right, where you grew up, and that could be a devastating near narrative for him. >> i got to say that rick santorum speaks more of the language. mitt romney just can't seem to excite them at all. >> he can't. and rick santorum grew up right across the border. you know, he was from the pittsburgh area. son of a coal miner, grandson of a coal miner. he has those roots. but mitt romney could have a very good night though. if we are to talk about the good things, he could win upwards of five states. maybe more. if that's the case the narrative tomorrow would be mitt romney will likely to be the nominee. >> let's talking about the voter turnout because it doesn't seem that voters are that enthused in any state on super tuesday. who does that benefit? >> certainly benefits barack obama, right? >> that's true. but in this primary, doesn't that benefit rick

is ohio totally up for grabs? >> reporter: it is. i think that's always true. ohio is the battleground state. people have strong wills, strong minds in this state. the's very interesting how the demographics break down. a lot of evangelicals, a lot of social conservatives in the state. some say as many as 40% in the republican party. it's presumed if they wanted to, they could sway the vote. there's also huge concerns in this state about the economy, although it hasn't been as bad as much, people are still hurting here. romney's argument about the economy plays very well in this state. >> joe johns, bowling green, thank you. in his puffy jacket, we like. two thumbs up. see you a little later on. >>> will success in the washington caucus propel to a big showing on tuesday? cnn will have indepth analysis. may provide you a clue to the answer to that question. our washington caucus conform begins 8:00 eastern right here on cnn. judge. >> a pennsylvania man dress necessary a parade as what he says is a zombie version of islam's prophet muhammed. he says he was then

cnn's joe johns is in ohio in bowling green. rick santorum may have a bit of a problem after all there, what's going on? >> reporter: yeah. i think you're right, fred. there is more than one problem, if you think about it. the first problem he has is that he had a strong lead and romney has been able to narrow that within the margin of error. a statistical tie in terms of polling here in the state of ohio. that's one reason why we are looking at advantage romney here. the other reason, of course, is that santorum had a bit of an administrative problem not able to get on the ballot in three congressional districts and could come up short some 16, 18 delegates in a worst-case scenario. if you look across the country, it's a different story. it looks like a little something for everybody. in the state of tennessee, for example, santorum is running pretty strong there. in the state of georgia, which is the state newt gingrich represented in the congress for so many years, newt gingrich is actually running very strong. a little bit o

and why did you pick ohio, besides the obvious? >> why did i pick ohio state? because they're a physical team, and i think that that's important. >> okay. well, they've got their hands full against kansas. which as you remember, we profiled thomas robinson on this very show, before the tournament even started. and so we've got an emotional play with him, and so that's going to be quite a game. just to make you feel better, we'll go back to -- we'll go to my bracket. and it has, as you'll see in a second, nearly -- nearly as much red as yours. now, i went for -- kind of an all-tornado bracket. i figured that kentucky would be a slam dunk. if you remember, the crimson tide of alabama won the college football national championship, and their stake just got absolutely devastated last year by tornadoes. well, kentucky, i was just there with the tornadoes a couple weeks ago. and i figured, with all the talent they have and the heartbreak they've had with the tornadoes, this would be a slam dunk. and i'm still sticking by that. >> so hopefully kentucky will win and th

let me begin with the great state of ohio. you see here 63 delegates is actually not the biggest delegate prize today, but no republican has ever actually won the presidency without winning ohio. in fact, a lot of people, ohio represents urban, rural, evangelical, blue collar, white collar. watch for voter turnout enthusiasm. why? because low voter turnout could be a bad omen, bad signs for republicans going into november for the president. remember, the president won ohio back in 2008. moving along to georgia here, this is the most number of delegates up for grabs here at 76. and specifically the question is, can gingrich maintain his poll numbers here? we have to wait and see if, of course, he served congress for two decades here, so can he maintain his own home state? we're going to watch and just have to see there in georgia. moving on, though, staying in the south, and this is a huge state because, again, this is conservative territory. a win for newt gingrich could jump-start his campaign. if he wins georgia, that would

ohio a pivotal state. there have been few distractions for ohio. are voters will consumed with super tuesday or has this kind of been put on the back burner because of more pressing issues for people there? >> it really has been on the back burner. especially here in northeast ohio in the last week because of the shootings at chardon high school. matter of fact, it has been really the only story here this week. which is kind of a good thing in a way, i would think, for the politicians. because, well, i shouldn't say good thing. they haven't made any appearances in this part of the state this week. they've been elsewhere. cincinnati and columbus. not here in the cleveland area. that's going to change starting tonight. >> okay. so what's going to change this evening? >> well, you're going to see an appearance by rick santorum. he's going to be speaking at a county lincoln day dinner. mitt romney has a big rally planned tonight at cleveland state university. and they're going to be blanketing the state this weekend. >> okay. what do ohio voters want t

now after that bluegrass battle, ohio state and kansas go at each other aaron craft has a special fan in afghanistan. his older brother brandon shipped out with his army infantry team while aaron and his team, the buckeyes were beating syracuse in the elite eight last weekend. aaron says brandon is in his prayers and aaron admits he was worried about brandon going to afghanistan but brandon assured aaron he was well trained and remind himd this was the path he chose. aaron said he would never have made to it ohio state without his older brother pushing him while they were growing up. >> i played two years with him in football and basketball, awesome to see his leadership and work ethic, prepared me to where i am now. >> i think his procedure is tough enough, crafts out on on the court you know how his brother can get, by any means, i know he's coming back home. >> aaron's parents spoke to brandon thursday night before coming down to new orleans. that was the first time they had spoken to brandon since he deployed. randi, aaron craft is trying to concentrate on kansas and the big game

four ohio teams still in the tourney? >> one of them is ohio university. we have a lot of bobcats here at cnn. a lot of our photo journalists and one of our good buddies a huge bobcat fan. we have a lot of fans here with a big thumb's up on the green and white and fun to watch them play the next couple of days and weeks. >> ohio state, go. that's my pick to win it all. >> there you go. >> thanks, reynolds. >> you bet. >>> president obama is in full campaign mode but it seems some donors with deep pockets are not ready to fork over any cash. we are looking at why just ahead. >>> and we are hearing the shocking 911 calls from a night of florida neighbor watch captain shot and killed an unarmed teenager. >> this guy looks like he is up to no good or he is on drugs or something. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay. we don't need you to do that. >> more tapes for you in a moment. ohh dear... i'm not sure exactly what happened here last night. i was out helping people save money on their car insurance. 2 more! you're doing it! aren't they doing great?! hi

rick santorum will be in ohio as will mitt romney. and of course ron paul will number idaho on super tuesday. the big day. where is everyone? >>> they going to be where they think they will fare the best? >> i think so. that's right. >> good stuff. sorry your tie didn't make the trip. >> it's cool down here. i don't want a neck tie. always good to see you in person. >> cnn is starting with the special edition of john king usa and all contests. right here on cnn. other news is prime minister benjamin netanyahu meets with president obama at the white house tomorrow and sunday he welcomed the president's remarks to a pro israel lobbying group. preventing iran from a weapon is in the interest of israel and the u.s. dan has more on the speech and the monday meeting. >> president obama delivered reassurances when he addressed monday's meeting. >> whenever an effort it mead to delegitimize the state of israel, my administration opposed them. >> there should not be a shred of doubt by now. the chips are down and i have it. >> with the electio

now ohio advances to play south florida. between ohio and south florida, we have two cinderella teams. when they play start, they will definitely have a sweet 16 cinderella team, which is great. >> so maybe i'll still be in it. let's see. >> 97% accurate right now. you had a great shot at beating most of your colleagues. >> i'm going to call the president and give him some advice. >> i think it's a good idea. >> thank you, joe. i know you're under the weather, so i hope you feel better. >> thank you, thank you. appreciate that. >>> today's tournament action begins here at noon eastern. every tournament game is like on cbs, tbs or tnt. watch onlights at ncaa.com/marchmadness. >>> but first, house training a dog can be frustrating, especially if you live in a high rise apartment or you don't have a yard. yes, been there. a new invention is helping dogs take care of business without going outside. gary tuchman has the story in this week's start small, think big. >> hopi skovron's career is going to the dog. >> these are my top

he has ohio -- >> game on, blitzer. game on. >>> bring it on, blitzer. bring it on. >> you know, you may be right, but you never know. we're looking for the cinderella teams. >> i love a cinderella story. >> harvard, you know, how often has harvard gone to the ncaa tournament? >> remember george washington a couple years ago? i love those stories. everyone loves a good cinderella story. to your show, what's coming up? >> enough of the bracketology. >> yeah. >> we have serious news. political fallout in the aftermath of santorum's huge wins in mississippi and alabama. we'll assess what that means. also taking a close look at leon panetta's visit to afghanistan right now. and we're digging deeper on some of the situation. it's an ugly situation. my fear is it's going to get worse before it gets better, and it might not get better. >> we know that sara sidner was reporting, the soldier accused of that, he has left afghanistan. >> probably smart to get him out of there. >> thank you, sir. >>> before i let you go, wall street, this executive quits his job, ca

let's look at ohio. extremely important state. rust belt state, very important in the general election. seen as a state that mitt romney needs to do well in. let's go down south and look at tennessee right now. we heard a lot from newt gingrich saying he would do well in tennessee. he's ceded that a little bit. look at the numbers right there. rick santorum and mitt romney fighting for tennessee. where we sit here in georgia, which is really the make or break state for newt gingrich, newt gingrich now is doing very well in that latest poll. >> does this mean newt gingrich has the most to lose if he doesn't do well, particularly in the southern states? because while he's banking on georgia, he's also kind of banking on the other southern neighbors too. >> he is. he's talked about tennessee, he's talked about oklahoma. he's playing a southern strategy. the fact of the matter is newt gingrich said he has to win georgia in order for his campaign to show viability. he's also kind of downgraded the fact that rick santorum has done well

be the ohio state. that is my pick to win it all. do you think the ohio state can do that? >> i like it, carol. i like your pick, yeah. the ohio state, a, a very good team and, b, most of your friends are going to pick either kentucky or north carolina. ohio state has pretty similar chances to win it as the other two teams. if you want a different pick, a way to distinguish yourself from other people in your bracket pool, i think ohio state is a great pick. >> i feel good about myself now. ken pomeroy, thank you so much. we appreciate it. >> go buckeyes. >> go buckeyes. i love brutus buckeye. you have until tonight's halftime to get in our march madness bracket challenge. head to cnn.com/brackets. join the cnn group. see if you can pick the games better than any of us. >>> in just about five minutes from now, troubling new questions about the home base of a soldier accused of murdering afghan civilians. a reporter from "stars and stripes" a military newspaper will explain why that base is called the mos

of course, kentucky fans, louisville fans, ohio state fans and kansas fans. i have to tell you -- the louisville fans do not like each other and kansas fans don't like each other. john calipari and rick pitino don't get along. serious note, there is no sports team that is a professional sports team to unify the fans in that town. in fact, let's hear from the n fans right now from louisville and kentucky. >> a house divided is one u of l fan and one kentucky fan. you watch it in two different rooms. >> we enjoy the rivalry a lot, and it does get heated, though. >> there's going to be a lot of trash talk, let's put it that way. a lot of trash talk. >> you see where they put me, back here. >> louisville fans in the back. >> they won't let me roll my window down. >> kentucky fans talk a lot. >> whatever. >> big blue nation right there, baby. >> after this all happens, is our city going to be safe? i sure hope so. >> and of course, carlos, you're trying not to laugh. and that makes you laugh even more. >> i know. it's amazing. the fans here are really out of contr