we were surprised to see romney getting a lot of attention too. when i ve talked to voters, they say they like all three, referring to gingrich, santorum and romney. it looks like you have a swamp behind you. there s a green thing behind you that could be a gator. i m just gag. anyway, kelly, thanks very much. the polls have been open for about an hour. john, it s been interesting if you just worried about win, place or show, the romney folks think they d have a better shot in mississippi than alabama, but alabama is about delegates and that s where they have been spending a lot more time. reporter: that s right. romney was here yesterday making a last-minute stop in alabama. they think if santorum and gingrich continue to split the conservative vote, they have a chance of sneaking in. but newt gingrich has been the
it is possible, chuck. i think it s wise to transport the voter to the first day, first year to see what it s all about and get out of this process that we re in right now. is the gingrich-perry ticket something that is being floated out to woe the southerners and would it matter? probably a bit of both. you look at the fact that the texas primary coming up in may and that s something the speaker is banking on. newt is in second place. i think before we even have this conversation, don t forget, the spoker wrote the foreward to rick perry s book. before we get to this point newt s got to show well tomorrow night. i think the worst thing that could happen for newt and rick santorum is if they split the conservative vote and allow romney to hand romney another
neck-in-neck with his top gop rivals. james carville and david are standing by. we ll talk about that. i m wolf blitzer and you re in the situation room. a new wave of fury may be about to explode in afghanistan after a u.s. soldier allegedly walked out of his base and went on a house to house shooting rampage. 16 civilians are dead, nine of them children. military authorities say the soldier acted alone and turned himself in. vowing revenge for the killings, a statement from the taliban calls u.s. forces and i m quoting, sick-minded american savages. u.s. officials are voicing deep sorrow. let me say that like many americans, i was shocked and saddened by the killings of innocent afghan villagers this weekend. we send our condolences to family who have lost their loved ones and to the people of afghanistan. this is not who we are. and the united states is committed to seeing that those responsible are held accountable. let s go straight to kabul with sara sidner stan
tina is painting here, the report in the new york daily news which says the romney camp poured a lot of resources and cash into alabama. if romney manages to win one of these states on tuesday, do the others have to realistically think about dropping out? i don t think they will because of what christina said. if mitt romney won both states, let s say, that would really from the south and everywhere. hard for him to continue. my guess is if romney won one of the states and santorum and gingrich won one or the other they would say romney won only because we split the conservative vote. they are constantly going to keep eight game of blaming one another. gingrich and santorum for splitting the vote among conservatives. i think that the case where neither one of them will drop out. i think they are running until someone really forces them out. they are going to keep pushing until the tea party vote is no longer with them. ron paul s effect on all of that, too. pull a couple dele
for the republican parrty. eric: and perhaps they split the vote and help mitt romney. they help mitt romney, in the situation, mitt romney moving forward needs to get to the magic delegate number and if the two of them stay in the race the anti-romney, conservative vote is split between them. i think, ultimately, though, look at the maps, the argument the mitt romney folks made over the past couple of days is a good one and mathematically it is very, very difficult for anybody to overtake mitt romney, get to that 1,144 delegates they need to clinch the nomination, and, all of this stuff is happening, will happen between now and, you know, the convention in tampa, could be nothing more than a distract for the party, and the eventual nominee and the mitt romney folks are making a good case and have been for the past week. eric: gingrich vows he ll stay in until tampa and what will happen on tuesday, mississippi and alabama, 90 delegates at stake and it is much more significant tha