forgiveness is a beautiful thing. we're going to steak suggestions for our free for all friday music so you can tweet me at soledad, underscore, o'brien and we'll get that on the air. i guess i could introduce the panel. will cain is back with us and maria cardona is back as well and the congressman joins us here. polls are just opening in the state of florida. florida you remember is a 50-delegate winner take allstate. 600,000 ballots have already been cast in the two candidates at the very toprolly have literally been ripping into each other right to the bitter end. listen. >> i don't believe the republican party is going to nominate a liberal who is pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase, pro-gay rights. the republican party base does not want to nominate somebody who represents the establishment of wall street in new york. romney refused to allow catholic hospitals to have conscience in their dealing with certain circumstances. romney cut off kosher food for elderly jews on medicare. both of them have the same lack of concern for religious liberty. >> i know the speaker's not real happy, speaker gingrich. he's not feeling very excited these days. i know. it's sad. he's been flailing around a bit trying to go after me for one thing or the other and you just watch it and shake your head. it's been kind of painfully revealing to watch. >> what truer words have ever been spoken, painful. this is crazy to watch. we've got republican congressman allan west joining us this morning, of florida. he is in davey, florida. thanks for talking with us. we had a chance to chat in person last week in the state of florida. let's begin with a little bit of what that becomend forth has been. you have newt gingrich saying romney is a liar and against anything any conservative would believe, against catholics, against elderly jew it is you believe what gingrich is saying about mitt romney. romney says he's flailing, pathetic, essentially. it seems very ugly to me that the point. first, how ding this race is going to turn out tonight and, two, is it just getting brutally, brutally ugly? >> i think it is quite brutal and it is painful to watch. of course here in florida we've been inundate with the radio and tv ads all over the place. i would hope much of the thing as we talked last week in person that they would have presented their vision. contrast between and quality of opportunities versus quality of achievement and allow the voters to decide who would be the best person to go into the arena against president obama. but it has somewhat degenerated into a very ugly food fight. i think people are starting to get tired of it and hopefully get back to discussing the issue. >> who do you predict will be the person who walk away with it tonight. the polls say mitt romney. do you grow with that? >> i think looking at the polls it seems to be mitt romney. when you look at the organization, the structure, the ability to get your message out across the tv, it is definitely going toward governor romney's side. now it will be matter of the speaker gingrich will be able to stay in this race, at least up until march when we have the big super tuesday. >> one other question for you. if romney does win tonight, what's the take away? what happens, do you think? >> well, i think the take away is that florida ended up being a very pivotal point in this primary this time. florida is the fourth largest state in the union. very diverse from north florida down to south florida where i am and of course down into the keys. i think it shows a good indicator of the strength of a candidate as we move on. >> will cain, stand by for one second, if you will, congressman. so he's saying florida might be the best indicator so far. do you think that that's true? >> i think florida is a good proxy for the rest of the nation. it has representatives from all kinds of conservatives. that's the thing that we've had this debate about now for, what, now, six to eight months. >> feels like five years, by the way. >> a candidate that actually appeals to all different elements of con zef tichl. from tea party to establishment. social conservatism to economic conservatism. this is a group that historically hasn't always been cohesi cohesive. ronald reagan is the guy who has brought everybody together. >> everybody has been saying his name. >> if you can win florida, shows real promise. >> let me ask congressman west another question. you were talking on saturday at the lincoln dinner, i want to play a chunk of what you said and then explain it to me of the other side. >> we need to let president obama, harry reid, nancy pelosi, and my dear friend, the chairman of the democrat national committee, we need to let them know that florida ain't on the table. take your message of equality of achievement, take your message of economic dependency, take your message of enslaving the entrepreneurial ral will and spirit of the american people somewhere else. you can take it to europe, you can take it to the bottom of the sea, you can take it to the north pole, but get the hell out of the united states of america. >> i didn't get it. i don't understand what you're saying, telling obama and harry reid and nancy pelosi to get out of the united states? explain that to me. >> no, soledad. soledad, absolutely not. you know that. >> i truly, no joke. i'm not being facetious. i don't get what you're saying the thing is you should have listened to the entire speech. you didn't listen to the entire speech which talked about the contrast between equality of opportunity which allowed a young man born in 1961 from the inner city of atlanta, georgia, to now represent the highest per capita income zip code in the united states of america. that's the america that i love. that's the america that's dear to me. not the america where people sitting far away in washington, d.c. get to decide the winners and losers in the free marketplace or decide who pays a fair share. that's not american values. that's not in concert with our constitution republic. if you can't understand that, please come down to south florida, you and i can read the federalist papers and go over the constitution and have a great chat about this. >> as fun as that sounds, the two of us seitting down, no, i'l stick to tv interviews with you if you don't mind. newt gingrich, we spoke about this the last time we were in person, called president obama the food stamp president. you have said also that he has increased food stamps 41%. and i know that you know that actually the bigger increase was under president bush. right? this is under president obama. but it went up 65% under president bush. so explain to me why the food stamp president thing is a strategy when really the percentagewise is bigger increase -- no one calls president bush the food stamp president, right? >> well, no one called him the food stamp president but i do remember people throwing eggs at his inaugural car and they called him many other different names. let's be very honest. down here in south florida we have a high level of unemployment. the state of florida is 9.9% foreclosures. the amount of storefronts, our small businesses that are closing up. so it is very, i think, apropos to say that we have seen an increase in food stamp recipients. 16% to 17% of poverty roles as well. we're not going in the right direction, soledad. we is had an increase in our debt from president obama more than george washington right up to president bill clinton. almost $5 trillion. and yet we're not haring any plan of how to reduce the debt or deficit. you didn't even hear it mentioned during the state of the union address. the health care law is destroying our businesses. i sit on the small business committee. i talk to these business owners down here. that's what they're saying. i want to see a different vision for this country. >> you have said that roughly a third of african-americans are conservative but when you look at where they vote or they put their political support, 90 plus percent are democrats. one of the things you're interested in is trying to get some of that black support to come over to the gop. what do you think the biggest challenges are in that? >> well, it's not so much get their support to come over. i just want to have the conversation as we did last monday at the conservative black forum, why do 33% of african-americans say that their values are conservative but yet 90 plus percent vote with a democrat party. i think we have to have that conversation. we have to look at how do we restore urban empowerment zone, economic zones. so i think the most important thing that we can do as a republican party, as a conservative black as myself is start to challenge people on those values and get them to see that there is a different way that they can diversify their political capital and spread it out across the entire spectrum and not just the one party. >> congressman allen west, state of florida joining us. thanks for being with us. >> always a pleasure. >> he's in a tough fight because of the redistricting for his district. >> tough district anyway. >> but he's raised go o-gobs of money. i honestly didn't get what he was talking about. >> can i try to explain that because i do think when a lot of people hear that message -- >> i get it. it's out of a speech. i understand breaking down a speech into 30 seconds is a challenge. >> unfortunately a lot of people hearing that they think they're saying i think there's a black kenyan muslim president and should get out of the country when that's obviously not what is being said. this not the vision of america. >> explain it to us, please. >> look, america is built on a romantic idea of rugged individualism, risk takers, doers, pioneers. that's has a practical manifestation as well. short-term unemployment, weak social safety net. what that does is create an economy that is vibrant. barack obama in much of the left right now threatens that by putting in place society that is more dependent on entitlements. this is what this debate is about. it's about the message. >> again -- >> go ahead, tom. >> this is a campaign you're going to hear a lot of red meat in this campaign thrown out and take with it a grain of salt at this point. >> we're tv news. we don't take it with a grain of salt. >> you hear it on both sides. >> hang on. let him finish his thought. no over-talking. don't defer to the lady on this. >> you have to put it in perspective. you're firing up the troops is a partisan speech to a partisan crowd. >> the congressman is one of the most caustic and divisive, allen west, he talks about wanting nancy pelosi and the chairwoman of the dnc wanting to get out of the country. >> i don't think that's true. i don't think he's the most cause tick and divisive. >> he's one of them and he used a lot of divisive rhetoric during his campaign. and congressman, you were head of the nrcc. i don't think you would ever have used that kind of language and have used the kind of language that the chairman of the rnc yesterday comparing president obama to captain schettino. >> we're going to have an interview with republican senator marco rubio. curious to know if he really wants to be vp or sit it out and wait until 2016. i think he might. >> hang in there. >> hang in there. >> what does he mean? >> exactly. we'll parse through that. we have other headlines making news this morning. christine romans who turns 25 stod today is joining us with those. good morning, sunshine. >> nice of you to remember. thanks. u.s. drone strikes have taken out nine suspected al qaeda militants. they say the strikes were targeted in southern yemen and others taken over with links to al qaeda. secretary of state hillary clinton goes to the u.n. today to press the security council on a resolution condemning syrian president bashir al-assad and calling him him to step down. clinton says it could destabilize the region more. this as the u.n. says more than 5,000 people killed in syria over the last ten months. security council will hear from the head of the arab league about their monitoring mission in syria. we're hearing for the first time dramatic 911 calls from the scene of that horrific chain reaction pile-up on i-75 in gainesville, florida. ten people were killed after heavy smoke from a brush fire left drivers with zero visibility. listen. >> okay. do you see any fire? do you see anything like that? >> no fire. we can't see. you can hardly even see your hazards. here comes another one. he's coming too fast. here comes another one. yep, see, there he goes. oh [ bleep ] that one is a bad one. i'm hearing people crying. on the other side that is northbound. >> investigators are now trying to figure out if that fire was arson. a pardoned mississippi killer may be coming back to face authorities in mississippi after police tracked down joseph osmond in why eeming living under an assumed name. he's been served with papers ordering him to appear at a court hearing this week to determine whether his pardon was legal. mississippi's attorney general is challenging pardons granted by then governor haley barbour on his way out of office. rescued american aide worker jessica buchanan is on her way heem. the 32-year-old buchanan left italy yesterday. it's not known when she will arrive back in the states. buchanan and fellow relief worker were held captive for three months by somali kidnappers until they were rescued last week by an elite navy s.e.a.l. team. a prestigious california college caught cheating. clairmont mckenna college admits to inflating s.a.t. scores. official resigned after taking responsibility. investigation finds the school exaggerated scores for incoming freshmen by 10 to 20 points for the past six years. clairmont mckenna is currently number 9 among the nation's liberal arts colleges. >> now it's number 30. but i'm kidding, probably not. thanks, appreciate, still ahead on "starting point," it is decision day. florida voters are lining up right now at the polls. will the outcome of the primary cement the gop nominee or do we just keep going and going and going? the head of the florida gop is up next. plus, take a look at this young man, high school student making a commitment to help cancer charity by growing back his hair. but, no, the school says, no, we have rules against that. and he is suspended. we'll talk about what he is doing when today's "get real" is ahead. goodnight, stuffy. goodnight, outdated. goodnight old luxury and all of your wares. goodnight bygones everywhere. 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[ male announcer ] the audi a8, chosen by car & driver as the best luxury sedan in a recent comparison test. chosen by car & driver as the best luxury sedan this was the gulf's best tourism season in years. all because so many people came to louisiana... they came to see us in florida... make that alabama... make that mississippi. the best part of the gulf is wherever you choose... and now is a great time to discover it. this year millions of people did. we set all kinds of records. next year we're out to do even better. so come on down to louisiana... florida... alabama... mississippi. we can't wait to see you. brought to you by bp and all of us who call the gulf home. can you enjoy vegetables with sauce and still reach your weight loss goals? you can with green giant frozen vegetables. over twenty delicious varieties have sixty calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce. this is a great way to start your morning. i'm going to be quiet so everyone can enjoy it. this is marvin sapp, gospel the start your day. i'm going to have you as gospel convert by the end of the show, in one hour and 45 minutes. >> it's going to be a long show. >> you are going to be demanding marvin sapp on your ipod, i know it. welcome back. decision today, of course, today, the polls are now open in the state of florida. my next guest says whoever takes florida is likely to become the gop nominee. the chairman of the florida republican party, part of the reason why he says that. nice to see you, lenny. >> thanks for having me. >> you look at the polls and we have this thing called political insiders from each state. when cnn does the gop political insiders romney is winning, who will win the florida primary is the question, romney at 43, gingrich is 4. is there any reason in your mind to think that this poll is incorrect? >> all the polls that i have seen show romney up. there are varying spreads. but going into this emping it looks like romney has got it based on polls. that being said, we've seen a lot of surprises and a lot of volatility this primary season. so we're going to have to wait. the game is played on the field, so to speak that will when the votes are counted tonight. >> i love when people use sports metaphors when talking about politics. when you look at the same poll on gop political insiders and talk about political obstacles on the two front-runners. biggest obstacle for newt gingrich in the state of florida, 63% say he doesn't have the right temperament to be president. look at the biggest obstacle for mitt romney in the state of florida. perception he has changed his view on keyer shus. to me that says some of the mug slinging is sticking among the electorate. do you worry about how ugly it's gotten? >> the negative ads have been running in florida now. i don't like the negative ads but they're not throwing anything at each other that the obama campaign re-elect team will eventually throw at them. it will be old news by the time we get to the general election. >> let me ask tom davis this. it makes your candidate stronger is what he says. >> this is spring training. election is in november. memories are short. so it allows the romney campaign to make those adjustments, get your answers, see what sells at this point. >> isn't it different weight when your own guys are throwing them versus your own party? >> a little butting look, you have a long time to rrve. this race is an eternity between now and november. >> own you have the candidates going at each other, calling each other unethical, calling each other dishonest they basically have written the democrat ads for them and that is ultimately going to hurt the party. >> a couple weeks ago, soledad, one week ago -- >> just feels like a few weeks ago. >> gingrich was coming out of south carolina handedly in florida. i know we've all guessed over the past week what happened. but in florida what happened? what is oh we if you had to say one thing, is it this message about fanny and freddie, that newt is tied to the housing bubble burst? what is it? a plethora of ads? the money? what happened in florida? >> looks to me like the spending advantage that romney had allowed him to get his message across a lot better than newt was able. >> lenny, why don't you answer both of those? what happened to newt gingrich and how much of that correlates to the amounts of money that romney shhas spent? >> what i've been saying all week is whichever candidate connects with the voting public in all demographics, makes the case for free enterprise and how families can basically have a better lot in life for their families in the next generation would win the primary. if i were to guess, i would say romney is make that case right now and connecting. who knows what will happen on the campaign trail today. look, i can't take sides. >> you always say that. >> i can't -- >> i know. i know. we know. we know. >> but i have -- i have to be able to rally all of our troops around our nominee regardless of who that is when we get to the convention. >> when you look, there's an article today in the "new york times" which is called, i think, "new ten