wisconsin, maryland and the district of columbia. polls are closing in less than an hour's time. we have the first insight into who voted today, why they voted as mitt romney is looking to lock up the republican nomination once and for all. there have been a lot of night wheres we have said that and it has not occurred. you have been looking at exit poling data. what do you see? >> we have our first indication and the first and best mysteries of this election and it is right up here in wisconsin. largely a rural place and agriculture going on. biggest prize is in milwaukee. 18% of the population. let's look at the exit polls. we'll talk about the mystery here. look at how this primary worked out. it is an open primary. 58% of the people say republican. 30% say they are independent and 12% say they were democrats. i am just going to show you part of this. 12% are democrat and out of that 32% say for rick santorum. 22% for mitt romney among the democrats. you are saying how is it that the democrats are lining up behind rick santorum? we have heard democrats might step into a race and try to spoil it by keeping the republican going at each other. the question is, is that who is voting for him or are these reagan republicans. the last time wisconsin went for republican president was ronald reagan. if the people are over 46 years old they were old enough to vote then and now. is it? we won't know until later tonight. there is something else to give us a clue here. vote by ideology today. in our exit polls 31% people said very conservative. 31% said somewhat conservative and 38% say moderate or liberal. when i bring out the moderate or liberal. 30% for romney. 30% for santorum. 30% saying they are voting for the person who says he is conservative. that would suggest that maybe what we are seeing in the first number is democrat spoilers. we really won't know until the night is over. right now it is a big mystery that the camps have to be hanging on. >> i cannot wait to hear whether it is spoilers or people doing what americans always do, something we don't expect. we'll be getting to the bottom of that. we have less than an hour until the polls close. >> general motors and chrysler reported car sales. this will shock those of you thinking we are in a terrible recession. it is the best month for auto sales. the corps of american manufacturing since the summer of 2007 with when americans were buying 17 million vehicles a veer, we are not there yet. wree getting there. today is evidence america is getting back. there is a darker side of this. let's wait for that and bring in the outfront strike team. research comes out front. good to see you. it appeared to me some of these companies came in short of expectations but it was a good month and some u.s. companies topping some of the perennial favorites from japan. >> it was overall a good month. seasonally adjusted, one of the best marchs that we have seen in quite a while. the numbers seem to be moving forward. it shows that despite $4 gas or more than $4 gas people are in the mood to buy cars. >> it is amazing with gas prices up 20% for the year. let me ask you something on the politics and that is the volt from gm. there have been public fire issues the ceo saying the attacks on his vehicle were outrageous and unfair and political in nature because people try to say the government told them to build this battery operated car. they came out with the volt with the best month so far. it was pretty incredible. is this vindication for the volt? >> it is too early to tell at this point because last year the numbers were not that impressive. they ran well below what they hoped. they sold around 7,500. they did say that they were going to put it on hiatus and not make it this summer so there might have been a rush to get them before they stop making them. they are good numbers and they'll take good numbers versus poor numbers. >> all politics aside, in a moment i will lay out how much money gm still owes taxpayers or how much shares need to rise for taxpayers to be in the green. will the general motors bailout ever be a bailout where taxpayers made money? >> boy, that's a tough one. if it is going to make money it will be several years down the road before we find out whether or not it is going to make money. it has been a big slot to make it back in profitability. it's still below the initial public offering price of about 14 months ago. we got a ways to go. it's possible but not on the immediate horizon. >> thank you very much. laying out the facts of where we are right now. that leads us to the shadier side of the story. the government and that's taxpayers still own 500 million shares of general motors post bailout. that is about a third of the company. it's a lot and we are still deeply in the red in our investment. we could make money on it and some people say it doesn't matter whether we do or don't but analysts say the stock must trade at about $59 for the government to be made whole. it closed toot at $25.54. who is going to win the auto bailout battle this fall? all three of you, john, the irony is that nobody supports letting these companies liquid ate. george w. bush initiated the bailout. president obama finished it. who is going to politicly be able to seize this. >> when you have the responsibility of being president you don't play the cheap seats. here is what you know. partisan spin aside. mitt romney wrote it if the bailout goes through you can kiss the auto industry. the auto industry is coming back. that's an american success story. i think at the end of the day it is an accomplishment president obama can point to but a larger win for the american people. >> how does mitt romney spend this this fall? >> i'm mixed on this because there is a fundamental problem here. we are a nation with trillion dollar deficits as far as the eye can see. anytime anybody in america suffers whether a business or individual why does the government need to bail them out whether it is autos or houses. my old house started it. barack obama finished it. it doesn't make it right. politicians is all addage. don't just stand there just spend something. that is what it seems we keep doing. >> the irony is chapter 11 as someone like mitt romney would say would have protected the company not as if anybody wanted all jobs to go away. but politicly the president might make that argument and be successful doing it. >> the president will make the case to say he helped save over a million jobs. over 200,000 jobs have been created because gm is back in profitability. it is the highest profits in 100 years. they are not only building more cars but better cars, cars that will get 30 miles to the gallon on the highway. that will save people, voters money at the pump. so this is a great success story. we should all celebrate it. it is a bipartisan agreement. now that we have this trade deal our cars will be able to be sold in south korea. that is a win/win for the american people. >> ford didn't need it and ford is doing well. the fundamental issue still remains if the government doesn't do it will the private sector get it done. more jobs would have been lost but as long as americans buy cars there will be car makers. >> nobody was putting their money on the table. when you saw lehman brothers collapse this was a time when the government had to step in to save american jobs, a very important manufacturing sector but also save communities. >> and that's what george w. bush did because he said it was because we would have otherwise gone to depression. >> the union contracts. ultimately it is how the two parties did it differently. >> we can have a good debate on that. good for ford for not needing the bailout. i think they deserve real props for that. but if you look at mitt romney saying make the prediction if the bailout went through it would be the end of the auto industry he was wrong about that. >> chrysler got sold. >> $1.3 billion is still the estimate for what taxpayers would have owned for it. there is a new car coming out. it leaked out. it is designed to look like a naked woman. it is an italian company. >> i would like to have a sneak preview and the keys if you have them downstairs. >> it looks like a pretty neat car. you'll see that out of chrysler/fiat tomorrow. we have breaking news because the tornadoes have been ripping through dallas. airplanes grounded completely and we have a storm chaser on the scene tonight next and airlines have found a new way to get your money. you thought it was impossible for them to gouge you. and protesters fire bombing an embas embassy. we'll be back. [ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan was designed with near-perfect weight balance from front to back... and back to front. ♪ giving you exceptional control from left to right... and right to left. ♪ the cadillac cts. ♪ we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. on december 21st polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space. which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd, and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans? mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ breaking news tonight. a series of tornadoes have been ripping through the dallas fort worth area in texas. continuing now tractor-trailers tossed through the air literally like tinker toys, destroying homes, schools, businesses. this is what is incredible, truly a miracle. there are no reported deaths at this moment. multiple injuries have been reported. search and rescue teams are coaming through the wreckage. all flights grounded at dallas fort worth airport as severe hail caused hundreds of cancellations. more than 47,000 people in the forth worth area currently don't have power. areas southeast of dallas where some of the most severe damage has been found. i know we have had trouble getting your shot up and keeping it up. tell us what you saw. >> reporter: it's been difficult to manage and navigate our way into these neighborhoods hit by these storms. this is the area on the edge of the neighborhood that was so hard hit. found several dozen homes heavily damaged or destroyed here. you can see here the way the destruction has happened here. a second ago i came across a ladder in the front yard that someone uses to get into their attic inside of their house. it gives you the sense of the force of which the tornado sucked everything out of these homes and into these neighborhoods. you can see trees uprooted and fences torn apart. the images of what the storms did to the big trucks to people in text that are used to seeing this kind of severe weather and tornadoes this time of year in the spring, what we saw today was absolutely breath taking and stunning with the ferociousness and the power of the storms. it is amazing that no one was killed. i talked to a woman a little while ago who had to duck into the corner of her room. she described this scene here today as the windows and her walls were starting to come apart and explode around her. she said it was like being inside the middle of "the wizard of oz." >> jason mclaugh ln joins us, he said out with his camera and fought the tornado touching down in a field about 14 miles outside of fort worth. here is what he recorded. >> large violent tornado on the grou ground. >> a short time later he came up on another tornado touching down in forney. this time the tornado came close to an elementary school. >> oh, my god. this is terrible. >> he is out front with us tonight. tell me how these were different or worse or what compared to what you have seen before. >> reporter: this is one of those days that the conditions were kind of conditional for this event to happen. last night a couple of storms towards the southeast was a cause of all of this today as it left a boundary across the metro plex. kind of unexpected but slightly expected. the amount of damage that occurred today it was just unbelievable and heartbreaking. >> what makes you want to be a storm chaser? how did you get into this? >> i love storms. i love nature. it is more about being out there and helping people and warn people about what is coming. thankfully there haven't been major injuries or fatalities that i heard of yet. the biggest thing is helping keep the public aware. >> we heard a little bit of you reacting as one of the twisters touched down and as the other came near the crosby elementary school. what was the worst thing you saw today? >> the worst thing was being that close to the one in forney. it was a large tornado that touched down quickly. i had been following that storm for about an hour. it is hard to dissipate how violent the tornado was. i don't know the words to describe it. it was so close and i was just seeing the debris of these homes literally falling. thinking about the homes and the lives and everything that these people built up until this time. just destroyed like that in a matter of a couple of seconds. >> we appreciate you very much, chasing several of these twisters today in the dallas area. we have new developments in the trayvon martin case. george zimmerman has made a change to his defense team and the airlines have found a new way to increase a fee on you. we're going to tell you exactly what it is. [ artis brown ] america is facing some tough challenges right now. two of the most important are energy security and economic growth. north america actually has one of the largest oil reserves in the world. a large part of that is oil sands. this resource has the ability to create hundreds of thousands of jobs. at our kearl project in canada, we'll be able to produce these oil sands with the same emissions as many other oils and that's a huge breakthrough. that's good for our country's energy security and our economy. mine was earned off vietnam in 1968. over the south pacific in 1943. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve. >> announcer: this is the day. the day that we say to the world of identity thieves "enough." we're lifelock, and we believe you have the right to live free from the fear of identity theft. our pledge to you? as long as there are identity thieves, we'll be there. we're lifelock. and we offer the most comprehensive identity theft protection ever created. lifelock: relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. the chevy cruze eco also offers 42 mpg on the highway. actually, it's cruze e-co, not ec-o. just like e-ither. or ei-ther. or e-conomical. [ chuckling ] or ec-onomical. pa-tato, po-tato, huh? actually, it's to-mato, ta-mato. oh, that's right. [ laughs ] [ car door shuts ] [ male announcer ] visit your local chevy dealer today. now very well qualified lessees can get a 2012 chevy cruze ls for around $159 per month. e.p.a. estimated 36 miles per gallon highway. so fuel surcharges, meals, checked bags. now we are used to paying for everything to fly. some airlines are taking it a step father. allegiant airlines is going to start charging for carry on luggages. here is some relief it won't charge you the bags you can charge under your fee. the charges range from 10 to $30. the fee on most routes will be less than $15 but you have to pay in advance. if you wait until you geet the airline it is $35. our number tonight is 2.6 billion. that's how many billions of dollars u.s. airlines made on baggage fees in the first nine months of last year. all of those fees are adding up to a lot of cash for them. new developments in the trayvon martin case. george zimmerman has a new piece of his defense team. and president obama has drawn a battle line. last season was the gulf's best tourism season in years. in florida we had more suntans... in alabama we had more beautiful blooms... in mississippi we had more good times... in louisiana we had more fun on the water. last season we broke all kinds of records on the gulf. this year we are out to do even better... and now is a great time to start. our beatches are even more relaxing... the fishing's great. so pick your favorite spot on the gulf... and come on down. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. start the second half of our show with stories we care about where we do the work and find the outfront five. a really good month for american auto makers. gm reported a 12% gain led by the subcompact sonic. chrysler which is technically italian now reported a 34 jump in sales. one analyst said the numbers are getting us back to peak stalz. number two, a man accused of killing seven people execution style shows no remorse. authorities say one goh went looking for a specific administrator and found out she wasn't there. then we are told the 43 year old started shooting. officials say he was expelled from the college and planning the shooting for weeks. riot police clashed with demonstrators. arrows with fire attached to them. the video -- that is just amazing to watch. the attack went with the 30th anniversary of the start of the war, the conflict between argentina and the united kingdom. lasted 74 days and sort of still continues. number four, a reverse decision a trans gendered contestant will be allowed to compete in the pageant. it's not clear what the requirements are. last month organizers blocked her because she wasn't naturally born female. we last reported on the story last week. the 23-year-old said she knew at the age of four she was a girl and under went sexual reassignment surgery at 19. it has been 243 days since america lost the top credit rating. what are we doing to get it back? the federal reserve is leaning away from a third round of quantitative easing. you may have heard of it as q.e. 3. if they do it it could mean mortgage rates stay lower longer. if they don't it could mean interest rates rise for all of us. race had nothing to do with it. >> for justice, justice, justice. >> the 28-year-old volunteer watchman added a new lawyer to his defense team. he will join defense attorney in the controversial case. earlier today he spoke out on wofl. >> if you look at the forces against george, if you look at the media particularly the national media and the state attorney's office and prosecutor and u.s. justice department and kraig has been trying to stand up for this guy. i think it is time we have a little more effort put in in getting the truth out and getting george's story out. >> as the investigation of the shooting death of trayvon martin continues both sides of the case are disputing the evidence. there aren't definitive answers from what we learned from the 911 calls or what witnesses saw. zimmerman says he shot trayvon martin in self defense. martin's family wants him arrested. the fbi, department of justice and state attorney are conducting parallel investigations. david is out front in sanford. what can you tell us about the new lawyer? we saw a brief clip of him there with george zimmerman new attorney. >> reporter: he is a long known and long time defense attorney. he started out as a police officer. as attorney he was general council for the orange county sheriff's office. he worked as an assistant attorney general here in the state of florida. he is also distinguished as a pioneer in cases involving dna evidence. it's not known if that type of expertise will need to be brought here. we know george zimmerman has not been charged or arrested in this case of any wrong doing. >> and so what are you hearing about where george zimmerman is right now? >> reporter: we don't know where he is. there are a lot of people looking for him. when we were able to get answers from the police department they assured us thart they knew where he was and how to reach him and they were in contact with him. his whereabouts are not a mystery to the authorities but only the public at large. >> is there any indication from what you are hearing and various attorneys that there could be an arrest before the grand jury or is it safe to say that is not going to happen? >> reporter: that option is on the table. the special prosecutor has the option of arresting and charging zimmerman outright if she determines there is enough evidence for probable cause and has the option of not charging and the option of calling the grand jury. there was some indication from the office early on that there may not need to be grand jury called. after there were leaks from the police department and unauthorized information coming out here that there was a clamp down on the information. the special prosecutor not releasing information playing everything close to the vest or as closely to the vest when you are under this kind of intense national scrutiny. >> thank you very much. there is something else. a new task force being formed to reev reevalua reevaluate florida's stand your ground law. the murder rate is down, too. murders have declined across the country. chris smith is behind the task force. florida governor rick scott appointed a task force. obviously you are not satisfied. how come? >> well, in appointing his task force what he is trying to do is wait until after the trayvon martin is gone through. i think that would take a little long. stand your ground law was misused and misapplied way before trayvon martin. it is not only about that case. it is about this controversial law in florida that has been misused. we have eight years of evidence on this law and there is no need to wait. >> so let me just ask you a question about this. i know that back in 2005 when this law passed you were not in favor of it. but you said that there are positives and negatives. first could you give us an example of when the stand your ground law specifically in florida has gone wrong. >> well, when people are the aggressor and they may avail themselves of this law. remember this law came out of the doctrine being able to defend your home and your car. what this law did and the legislature in 2005 was extend that to any place you are legally allowed to be. you can be in the street or mall or anywhere and stand your ground. the big problem with it is if you initiate contact and you are the aggressor you shouldn't be able to avail yourself of this. you can avail yourself of common law self defense and have to go to court and prove it but it is being misapplied when people are the aggressor and criminals are getting off and have been doing it a number of years in florida. that is why i have assembled legal minds to look at this and come up with suggestions to set the parameters of a civilized society in florida. >> i talked to george zimmerman's lawyer and he said he doesn't plan to use the stand your ground law in this case and plans to use pure and simple self defense. >> well, you see in this case and that is why i say the governor is wrong in saying he has to wait until the end of this case. this line has been used and i'm glad this case is shining a light on it. two weeks ago this law was used in miami, florida when a gentleman chased a thief a block down the street and stabbed him to death. it happened in 2008 here in tallahassee, florida where gangs were shooting each other in the street. it doesn't change. that's why i have assembled legal minds to review this law, to review what is going on over the last eight years and come up with suggestions so the governor and legislature can act and set the perimeters. >> appreciate you taking the time. it is nantrusting point. at least 21 states in this country have some form of a stand your ground law. new exit polls are coming in. we told you the first fascinating part of it which is democrats are voting in wisconsin tonight and voting for rick santorum. spoilers or something else? that's next. and my hands were full. i couldn't sort through it all. with unitedhealthcare, it's different. we have access to great specialists, and our pediatrician gets all the information. ser and i only need to talk to one person about her care. we're more than 78,000 people looking out for 70 million americans. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. i get my cancer medications through the mail. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices coast to coast. closing plants is not the answer. they want to cut 100,000 jobs. it's gonna cost us more, and the service is gonna be less. we could lose clientele because of increased mailing times. the ripple effect is going to be devastating. congress created the problem. and if our legislators get on the ball, they can make the right decisions. demand media expands on the big board. on december 21st polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space. which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd, and you still need to retire. td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans? we are just a few moments away from the polls closing in maryland and washington, d.c. as you can see in count down mode and wisconsin after that. our panel joins me now. and i don't know what is wrong with him, the spoiler from washington. he has this new book coming out, a new novel. this book looks really cool called "patriots" appearing to be from the country's first black president not being reelected. you said fiction, right? let's start with wisconsin. i know that is traditionally where everything gets sewn up. it was for john mccain. will it finally be for mitt romney? >> it looks that way. the party that you are hearing signals frat after wisconsin it is really time to put it away. paul ryan who speaks for the right wing of the party has endorsed mitt romney. so has marco rubio. it looks like there is not a path for anyone else after today. >> rick santorum, how well does he need to do tonight. i was looking at tom forum where you had democrats voting and the democrats that did voted for rick santorum. >> same thing happened in michigan. i think rick santorum is going to have to gauge what happens espelsly if he loses all three and then he has to roll the dice. does he stay and walk away or stay and win pennsylvania and then have no way forward. it is a question of him deciding when it is right for him to quit. >> i think he is going to stay in to pennsylvania because it's sort of like a victory he has to have, i think, symbolically in his home state. what would happen in pennsylvania and i think it is likely is that santorum can win the popular vote but lose the delegates and then it's a real victory for him. >> the polls show him losing a few days before he has to assess. >> he lost a senate race by 17 points. if it appears that he will lose, rick santorum will likely step aside. but if he wins i'm sure he is going all the way to texas and try to compete for that pocket of delegates sometimes at the end of may. >> their big thing now is they say we have to get through april and we'll do well on the 24th but may looks really good for rick santorum because you have texas. you have kentucky, arkansas, north carolina. >> the other april 24 states are really bad. you have to go through april to get to may. i think he had his chance and he wasn't able to capitalize on it. he had a shining moment to puncture mitt romney and he went backwards. >> an amazing race to a never ending race. >> 10-1, how do you survive a contest? i live in d.c. so we get the media from maryland. every five seconds restore our future a negative ad against rick santorum. >> the next time voters say they don't pay attention to negative ads. >> president obama lost a major assault. he has been doing something getting press. smart politicly but casting himself as the champion of the middle class. >> in this country broad base prosperity has never trickled down from the success of a wealthy few. it has always come from the success of a strong and growing middle class. >> is this devolving into class warfare? >> absolutely not. if there was a class warfare the republicans would be fought because it is warfare. this is about protecting, preserving, enhancing and expanding america's middle class. president obama has made this a signature issue of his campaign to preserve the middle class and fight for them and champion their issues. what president obama is offering the country, he is offering policies that will help to strengthen the middle class. i thought he speech was similar to franklin roosevelt. >> can i just get you in here -- nonpartisan -- let me put the question to you. isn't that class warfare? >> president obama's highlighting a vulnerability that republicans chose to inflict on themselves. a lot of us have been saying it wasn't necessary. you have to have a plan to get the budgett balanced and have to do it primarily through spending cuts. you don't have to utterly rule out medicare taxes. you don't have to have a tax cut at the same time. the president is driving this point home. so the republican party is trapped in a pincer with president obama in one side and the most active members in the base on the other and mitt romney being squeezed by both. >> he has endorsed the ryan plan. >> i disagree with both analysis. said what the president said today in ing. this is a president whose own budget has been rejected by democrats in the house and senate. you finally had somebody come forward with the leadership of the house representatives to try to tackle the deficit and tackle long term debt and that was paul ryan. the fact is people in washington don't start thinking differently we are heading towards greece. we have to look forward in this country. the new politics of 2012 to save this country. >> the most interesting thing to me is each side thinks it can win by drawing bright lines. you have president obama saying this is ridiculous and going backwards. jow republicans on the other side making a bet that being more conservative on the deficit and doing something about medicare can help them win a general election and the democrats betting on the absolute polar opposite. >> chairman ron's budget is a recipe for disaster. it will not balance the budget. it will blow the deficit out of control. it preserves all of the bush tax cuts and eliminates more tax cuts so it starves the government of revenues at a time of trying to close the fiscal hole. it sets up the show down in october where we will have the fight, will the government shut down or will the government not shot down. i don't believe mr. ron showed great leadership. he came back with the same bad recipe. >> i hope trillion dollar deficits make people refocus on why they went to washington in the first place and it does force you to make decisions. they have to cut back and make hard decisions. it is hard. that is the job of the leaders, democrat and republican and the president. >> last september he gave the republicans an offer and they said pass and we punted. now we have to make tough choices and that's why we have an election. this election is about a a final word, though, couldn't there be something politically smart of mitt romney saying i'd be willing to let the bush tax cuts expire for the wealthiest americans? >> i don't think he has to go that far, he has to just not pile on an additional 20% tax cut as he's committed himself to. that's where the republican party is here for lower taxes and to say we'll defend the bush tax cuts makes sense. the additional cut is unnecessary and so is the refusal to deal with medicare until after ten years from now. say we protect the baby boomers and hold them completely harmless and load all of the burden of fiscal adjustment onto the younger and the poorer. that's not good paul seeolicy a good politics. mitt romney does not want to be there. he's been pushed there and it's an unfortunate place for him to be. >> thank you very much, all three of you. paul ryan said to me, oh, erin, it will affect people like you and me, people our age. paul ryan, you are still a young man but i'm just a little younger. exit polls are continuing to come in and tom foreman has new headlines as we are just about nine minutes away from hopefully making our first call of the night. impact wool exports from new zealand, textile production in spain, and the use of medical technology in the u.s.? at t. rowe price, we understand the connections of a complex, global economy. it's just one reason over 75% of our mutual funds beat their 10-year lipper average. t. rowe price. invest with confidence. request a prospectus or summary prospectus with investment information, risks, fees and expenses to read and consider carefully before investing. in absolute perfect physical condition and i had a heart attack right out of the clear blue... he was just... "get me an aspirin"... yeah... i knew that i was doing the right thing, when i gave him the bayer. i'm on an aspirin regimen... and i take bayer chewables. [ male announcer ] aspirin is not appropriate for everyone so be sure to talk to your doctor before you begin an aspirin regimen. so he's a success story... [ laughs ] he's my success story. [ male announcer ] learn how to protect your heart at i am proheart on facebook. 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. ♪ for a hot dog cart. my mother said, "well, maybe we ought to buy this hot dog cart and set it up someplace." so my parents went to bank of america. they met with the branch manager and they said, "look, we've got this little hot dog cart, and it's on a really good corner. let's see if we can buy the property." and the branch manager said, "all right, i will take a chance with the two of you." and we've been loyal to bank of america for the last 71 years. all right, welcome back. we're counting down to the polls closing in washington, d.c. and maryland getting ready for wisconsin. tom foreman has been looking at the exit poll data. you saw that mystery up in wisconsin. democrats are voting. >> yeah, yeah, yeah, and supporting rick santorum. why is that? we're hoping to find out when the polls start closing. we know a lot more about who is voting up here. we fly into wisconsin, which is a big prize tonight. look at something here. this is tea party support in the state. darker the color, the heavier that support is. so presumably rick santorum needs to do well in these areas. you want to know why? look at who showed up today. 57% of the people who voted today say they support the tea party movement. if they stay behind rick santorum, that's good news for him there. if, however, they listen to paul ryan and other people the tea party like who have endorsed mitt romney, that could be bad news for him. look at this other number that came out today of who came out to vote. very conservative 31, somewhat conservative 31 wkt, moderate to liberal, 38%. the other thing that was interesting is the degree to which people said they were evangelical or born-again christians. that was a small percentage compared to what rick santorum has enjoyed in other states so that kind of takes it out of his wheelhouse. this is the one that interests me the most. you ask people what's the most important candidate quality today. of all the people we talked to, look at this, right experience, strong moral character, this matters. these are the two that rick santorum has played with, true conservative, strong moral character. but you're right, almost as many people just care can they defeat president obama in the fall. that's a very telling and very important number. >> and that one that has actually increased which could be good news for like him, don't love him, whatever it might be, but perhaps coa lessing behind mitt romney. >> state after state after state after state this is what we've seen. i'd rather have a more conservative candidate, they then in the end say that's what i want but i don't know if that's what the country wants. i'm going with the one i think the country wants so we'll see how that shakes out when the numbers come in. >> tom will be monitoring this and as we start to get the information coming in from maryland, from washington, from wisconsin, a breakdown of exactly people who wanted a candidate who would beat president barack obama. did that mean they voted for mitt romney or could it have meant they voted for rick santorum? wolf blitzer, obviously maryland and washington about the same size as wisconsin, but can, do you think, mitt romney lock this up tonight? >> i suspect that santorum will stay in this contest at least until his home state of pennsylvania has an opportunity to vote at the end of the month. i don't think he's going to go it, even if he loses in wisconsin, maryland and d.c. he's got some more fight left in him. i would be surprised if he simply walked away as a result of what's going to happen tonight. >> what do you make of what tom was talking about which is when you see the breakdown, you see lots of independents but also a lot of democrats and the democrats voting for rick santorum, which could indicate some spoilers out there. not enough probably to move things. >> it depends how many voters showed up, democratic voters, and wanted to spoil things a little bit, move things, continue this process thinking the longer the republican primary process continues, the better off president obama would be. if they want to play that role, it depends on how many actually show up. i suspect some did but not that many. >> i haven't mentioned ron paul and newt gingrich obviously telling in and of itself. what about newt gingrich? >> newt has said he's staying in until mitt romney has 1,144 delegates sewn up because he's still hoping against hope if he doesn't go into the convention with enough delegates he'll have a chance to do something on the convention floor, first ballot, second ballot, third ballot. ron paul is promoting certain ideas. this gives him a platform so he's not going anywhere. >> wolf, i'll hand it off to you. wolf has it here and we'll see if we can make a call any time soon. i will now exit my stage. breaking news on two fronts. tonight is a special primary edition night of "ac 360." races going on in maryland, wisconsin and the district of columbia. polls about to close in both maryland and in washington, d.c. also other news we're following, we're following developments after a string of tornados cut through the dallas area. yes, look at this. those are tractor-trailers being tossed around like little toys. there's extensive damage in the dallas-ft. worth metro