>> what we do know is that newt gingrich has been working on a new strategy with his staff, and that is a strategy that we're expecting. sources tell cnn to be more of a positive strategy. this may make you think that's quite a 180. as recently as last night, you heard him hammering on mitt romney, trying to tie him to the big banks, comparing him to president obama, perhaps one of the biggest insults here on the campaign trail for republicans. but sources tell cnn that newt gingrich has been meeting with his staff. what has he been doing? because we know he didn't have a lot on his public schedule today. that's what he's been up do. he will continue to meet with staff tomorrow and flesh out this new strategy going forward and a sign that he's going to come out tonight and continue to say that he's in this for the long haul, this strategy, a source tells cnn, is to move forward and continue to accumulate delegates all the way to the convention. so we are expecting newt gingrich. they're running on time, we know he's nearby this ballroom here at the venetian hotel. and we'll be looking how much of the strategy he unveils today. >> so he's going to be giving an opening statement and taking questions from reporters. breanna, you will be there, as well. even as we await newt gingrich and his news conference and potentially new elements of his strategy, there's still one caucus under way, the religious caucus. i take it it's getting pretty animated. tell our viewers what's going on. >> it sure is. as you mentioned, this caucus is for people like orthodox jews and seventh day adventists who for religious reasons couldn't take part early today. what's going on right now? people are allowed to speak for two minutes about the people they are speaking for. now we have people speaking for ron paul. you can hear right now they're asking if there's anyone else that wants to talk about ron paul? we've had some animated people expressing their support for ron paul. but it looks like we're done with the ron paul people and i guess romney is up next. wolf? >> and at some point they'll vote, they'll write their preferences on ballots or do they raise their hands? what's the procedure, paul? >> it's a ballot. this is just like the caucuses. those caucuses this morning, this is the final one. when we're all done, there will be ballots handed out and the people will vote and those will be tabulated and sent to the clark county republican party office and added to the final vote total. >> you know what i want to do? i want to listen in a little bit and get a little flavor of what's going on at this special caucus. this is a ron paul supporter, i suspect. >> the issue on foreign policy in general, i know some of us want to be somewhere and others just want to come home. but being all of the world costs money and we don't have any. i promise you we will have to come home very soon regardless of your stance, because we just don't have the money to support it. but i would rather do it on our own terms rather than because we're forced into bankruptcy five, ten, years, whatever it may be. a little bit about sound economics. it's really laughable that we just continue to spend all this money year after year, when we don't have any. everyone thinks that it's different than an individual. eventually this is going to catch up with us. government spending itself is a tax. it doesn't matter what any candidate tells you his minimum or maximum tax rate is, as the government spends money, you're being taxed whether through direct taxes or inflation. inflation will come, it has to come. it's just mathematics. lastly, on the gingrich thing, yes, those four years he was a speaker, the budget was balanced, and yet $1 trillion was added to the debt. that sounds like pretty typical washington -- >> time is up, sir. [ applause ] >> okay. anyone else? there was a gentleman here, this guy was -- and please, obviously i'm not trying to stop people from speaking, i just want to remind everybody, please, if you have -- if you're going to repeat something that has been said before, we're going to ask you to pass and let somebody else have an opportunity who has something different to say. go ahead. >> yes. first i want to say i'm voting for ron paul. i think all four gop candidates are incredible men and i'm very honored to be following all of them during the debates. what i've heard is people describe themselves to ronald reagan. and reagan did an interview with "reason" magazine in july 1975 and he -- he said that the heart of conservatism is libertarian itc libertarianism. i would like to see us get a sound dollar, and free trade. thank you. [ applause ] >> is there anybody who has something to add that was not said before? these two gentlemen had their hand up first and then you, sir. >> hello, everybody. first and foremost, i would like to thank you enough for caring enough to be here tonight. [ applause ] i work as a poker dealer and floor man, and i would like to let you know for those who do work for tips, ron paul continues tips to be a gift, not income, subject to taxation. also, ron paul is going to accept a salary of $39,660 a year. he's one of us, not one of them. thank you, everybody. >> this gentleman here. and back -- yep, that gentleman there. >> i'll make this real quick. when i came in, somebody interviewed me and when they asked if i was a paul supporter, i said i was. they said, that makes sense. the young people are behind paul. i would like to explain i'm a middle age man, facing retirement. i appreciate the statement about being young and i wanted to quickly say that ron paul in my opinion is not the young people's candidate, he's america's candidate. [ applause ] >> okay. anybody else who has somebody different to add? yes, ma'am. nathan, this lady up there. >> hi. i would like to speak on behalf of dr. ron paul. i believe he's the only candidate that would be good for the whole world, and not just europeans, not just south of the border, not just anyone, because he believes in peace and he puts the action to his words if you give him a chance. he understands the history of this country. he more reflects the ideals of this country. never mind that in this country there was slavery, wars that shouldn't have been started. whether he really loves israel in part or jewish people or muslims, it doesn't matter. in america, we can believe what we believe. but we need to leave each other alone and stay out of each other's bedrooms, stay out of each other's countries and telling other people in the world what to do. we need to have peace, trade freely and have sound money. another reason he came to washington was because nixon deanchored the dollar from gold. he understands what really causes the booms and busts and what is stealing our old folk's money in their fixed savings account. he understands the economics. i'm sorry, newt is not a great historian. he's a revisionist. [ applause ] >> this young lady there standing up. >> hello, everybody. my name's cathy. i've been here in las vegas over 30 years. i work in the child care industry, and every day i look at these children and know that their futures are in trouble. and ron paul, i honestly feel in my heart and my soul, from making my own mind up and not watching the media where they've cut it and chopped it, i've looked at some of the debates and when they go on ron paul, the lighting is dimmer, sometimes they don't even allow him to talk, they don't even get him into the conversations. it's just hideous how the media has been handling this entire thing. ron paul is for the people. he is for our rights. he is for our freedom. i think that if we continue the way we are and vote for anybody else, i don't think half the people realize how many freedoms we have lost already and how many more we're going to lose. ron paul is for the people, and i really honestly believe that he will get something done. he will bring this country back to where it belongs, and vote for ron paul. and i also have to say about the government, my son was also in there doing the vaccinations. they were inoculating him with stuff, they wouldn't even tell him what it was, having to fill out forms twice a week telling them how he feels, not even giving him an option to opt out. something has to be done with the government and the way they're using our own men as guinea pigs. it has to stop. >> gentleman down here. and then in the back over there. >> i think we all know where ron paul stands on the fiscal policy, on foreign policy, on the federal government. but i would like to say when i think of the united states, i don't think of george bush. i i don't think of barack obama. when i ask my friends overseas what do they think when i say united states, that's what they say, barack obama, george bush. when i think of the united states, i think of idaho, florida, i think of arizona. i think you want a man who is a pro poement for state's rights and if nevada should be ruled by the people of nevada, then that's ron paul. i don't think that somebody in washington, d.c. should be telling people from arizona if their laws are right or wrong. i don't think that lawers from new york should be telling people in other states what they should be voting for. i think if you want nevada to make its own laws and stand by them and not have the federal government bring it down, i think that's ron paul. >> hi, my name is bill. we heard about speaker gingrich being a student of history. i think if we were all a student of history, we would realize that we are very quickly heading down the same road as the roman empire did. and i don't want to go down that road. i am sick, sick, sick of government spending, regulation, taxation, and really nonsense to support a few people. so that's why i'm supporting ron paul. thank you. [ applause ] >> the lady back up here. nathan, somebody give her a microphone. she's been waiting a bit. and again, i want to emphasize, if you -- please, if you have something that's been said before, please pass. >> i want to say first of all, the republican party is the party of the republic. it's the party of the people, and it's for the people. and it's the party that supports the constitution 1,000%, up like the people we have in government right now that need to get out of government. that's first and foremost. if we could vote for people that would serve in different positions in government, i think that would be great. if we could take the jobs that they would fill in the cabinet, i would vote for ron paul today to do our budget for us and get us out of this financial mess that we're in. but i don't think that ron paul is the guy to lead the whole country. he's the guy to lead us out of financial mess. he's not the guy to lead us out of the whole mess. [ applause ] >> this gentleman here. you need to speak from where you're at. >> thank you for allowing me to address you today. i want to bring up a couple brief points that i'm surprised have not been addressed. first of all, i want to say ron paul is truly the number one friend of israel and for israeli independence and the proof is in the pudding. in the early '80s when israel decided to bomb the iraqi nuclear facilities, the united states congress voted to condemn that action. almost unanimously. there was one lone no vote and there was dr. ron paul. [ applause ] not only did dr. paul vote against it, he stood on the floor of the house at that time, he stood on the floor and told the congress what they were doing was a shame, and that they should be ashamed of themselves for following a u.n. condemnation. ron paul is the number one consistent vote against the u.n., and the ever increasing role that international bodies are taking in our sovereignty and israeli sovereignty. and i want to address one point which i'm surprised has not been given on the floor tonight. ron paul is the only candidate, the only candidate with a plan. it's a plan to cut $1 trillion from the federal budget the first year. it would balance the budget by the third year and fix our fiscal mess. the plan does that without cutting a penny from seniors or veterans or national defense. not spending over $800 million a day in afghanistan to defend the border between afghanistan and pakistan while we let our boarders say as porous as swiss cheese. ron paul is truly a man of integrity and consistency and honesty. he has a record unparalleled in government and that record, a record which you can fully embrace the entire election cycle -- >> we're going to break away from this special caucus in las vegas. newt gingrich getting ready to hold his news conference. let's listen in. >> we thought on super bowl eve that instead of the standard rally we would share with you for a little while. let me just start and say, there's one story that came out today that i want to put to rest, hopefully for the next few months. i am a candidate for president of the united states. i will be a candidate for president of the united states. we will go to tampa. we have over 160,000 donors. 97% of whom have given less than $250. we have an obligation to them to stand up for their values, their concerns, and the reason they've gotten involved. we will leave on monday to go to denver. and then to minneapolis. then we'll go on to i think four cities in ohio and we will continue to campaign all the way to tampa. i think this week several things have clarified that are very helpful. unlike governor romney, i care deeply about helping the poorest americans. i believe that the declaration of independence's commitment that our creator endo youed us with the right to pursue happiness extending to the poorest of americans and one of the great challenges of conservatism is to turn the safety net into a trampoline to give people an opportunity to achieve real status, earning a living, having a decent future. is i'm not comfortable with simply allowing people to languish in the safety net and i think that's a very fundamental difference between the two of them. i believe that his proposal for indexing minimum wage is a bad idea, which will increase unemployment and every evidence that we have is it will increase unemployment. and if you're in nevada, which has some 32% teenage unemployment, in you're in a country which has 43% black teenage unemployment, maybe you shouldn't be suggesting a capricious increase on an automatic basis of a minimum wage that kills jobs and stops access for young people. there's some very big differences evolving in this campaign as we move forward. i also believe that the vast majority of republicans across the country are going to want an alternative to a massachusetts moderate who has in his career been pro-abortion, pro-gun control, pro-tax increase and who ranks third from the bottom in creating jobs in the four years he was governor. so i suspect this debate will continue for a long time. our commitment is to seek to find a series of victories by the end of the texas primary will leave us about a parody with governor romney and from that point forward to see if we can't actually win the nomination. tonight, he will do reasonably well. it is a very heavily mormon state, a state which he carried in 2008. i think that we have early returns. we don't know yet how it's going to end up. the last time around ron paul was in second place. any time we're in a caucus state, dr. paul has a substantial advantage. i think i will do better than john mccain did three years ago. we will get some delegates here. obviously we would like to get more. but we're very happy to be competing here and we're going to move on to compete first in maine, minnesota, colorado, early voting has already begun in ohio and arizona. and we'll be competing later this month in arizona and in michigan and we'll go on to super tuesday and then beyond that. so i wanted to set that so all of you could relax and we could -- what happens is every primary day or caucus day, the romney headquarters in boston sends out the rumor that they believe i will withdraw, which of course is their greatest fantasy. i'm not going to withdraw. i'm actually pretty happy with where we are, and i think the contrast between governor romney and me is going to get wider and wider and clearer and clearer over the next few weeks. soy look forward very much to opportunities to debate him. opportunities to draw the contrast and opportunities to compete for votes. i'll be glad to take your questions. [ applause ] [ inaudible ] >> did you miss me? >> we did. >> what kind of conversations took place and what are -- [ inaudible ] >> we got together for a practical reason. i was surprised by the degree to which the establishment has closed ranks and made quite clear that they're desperate over the prospect of a gingrich presidency. i was surprised by george soros, cheerfully explaining in davos that he was happy with either obama or romney, because it didn't make much difference in policy, it was just a change of personality. and i was surprised at "the new york times" article on the romney campaign's decision that they had to destroy newt gingrich. so we stopped and said all right, if this is the objective reality of the campaign, the entire establishment will be against us, the scale of wall street money will be amazing, and the campaign will be cased on things that aren't true. then how do you define the campaign for the average american so they get to choose do they want two george soros approved candidates in the general election or would they like a conservative versus one george soros approved candidate? we spent the last four days laying out a campaign for the next few months in which although we will be outspent, we think we can communicate through the clutter and think we'll be able to draw for the american people how big the difference is. reagan had this challenge with john conley. goldwater had this challenge with nelson rockefeller. we've had past republican campaigns which the establishment had massive financial advantages. reagan lost five straight primaries before he began winning in 1976. i'm comfortable when you come down to it, a pro abortion, pro gun control, pro tax increase george soros approved candidate of the establishment probably is not going to do very well. i'm happy to have that debate with governor romney and i will debate him one on one anywhere, any time that he's willing to stand up and explain his record without the kind of gimmicks he used in florida. >> you seem to be looking past -- >> right here. >> i'm sorry. >> everybody will get a chance. the super bowl is not until 3:29. >> there are reports that sheldon aidleson has been meeting with mitt romney and will help him financially. >> who? >> sheldon. >> i have no idea. >> would that bother you if he is -- >> first of all, i think what he's quoted with saying if i dropped out he would be willing to support governor romney. if the choice is obama or romney, then there's no choice. i think that's how sheldon feels. his primary driving force is the survival of the united states and israel in the face of an iranian nuclear weapon. compared to barack obama, virtually anybody is a better candidate. yes, ma'am? >> mr. speaker, you seem to be looking past the february states and aiming at super tuesday. how much of your focus is going to be on super tuesday states? you're spending a lot of time in ohio this week. can you lay out what the next month will mean in terms of a super tuesday strategy? >> well, one of the things, as you keep score, that you don't quite follow me on, i think we're a national system in terms of information flow. so i think if i'm on "hannity" or if i happen to be in associated press, or if i'm on one of the networks or "the new york times," that in fact it reaches the whole country. so i run a campaign which twice now has made me the front runner and i suspect will again by the texas primary or so, that really is a national campaign. i think next week this coming week, we're in colorado, minnesota, and ohio. then we do c-pac in washington, then california. so we're going to be all over the place again and again and again. but we intend to compete in every single state in the country, and i think you can count on us being competitive in every single state in the country. yes, sir? >> nancy pelosi came out and said she stands in favor of president obama's decision on the -- [ inaudible ] >> she stands with her fellow catholics meaning archbishop dolan, the entire hierarchy, every bishop, every priest? those are her fellow catholics? >> that's who she says. >> ask the archbishop whether he thinks the term fellow catholic applies to him. yes, sir? let me go back for a second. the obama administration has declared war on religious freedom in this country. and people need to understand that. this is a decision so totally outrageous, and the illustration of such radical secular ideology, that the entire hierarchy will oppose it every inch of the way. it has to do with whether or not the government of the united states can tell a religious institution you must give up your religious beliefs. that's what obama care has come to mean. the right of a washington politician and a washington bureaucrat to tell you that you may no longer worship god the way you want unless you're willing to pay a penalty for doing so. as the average american comes to understand that, they will be repulsed at the arrogance and the bigotri of the obama administration. >> you've been on the ball to the in five states and lost four. you talk about debates, but you've had 18 of them and you've been considered to have done well in them and it's still not showing up well in the polls. >> i'm not going to defend the outcome in a state where i was outspent 5-1. and i suggest you're sophisticated enough you understand that the idea of taking a state where the other guy spent five times as much money, and many of his ads were false, that may beliebe that's accurate measure. when it was an entirely positive campaign, i was up 12 points in gallup. >> is that ignoring the reality of the campaign? he has gone negative and it's working, and -- >> right. so he has gone negative, and it is working. what i'm asserting is over time, i don't believe the american people will approve of a campaign which actually suppresses turnout. i think it's amazing, if you look at florida, every county i carried in florida had an increased turnout. every county romney carried had a decreased turnout. how is he going to do in the fall if he outspending somebody 5-1, how is that going to apply to a campaign against obama who is going to outspend him? i suggest there are underlying factors in this race, and i'm quite happy to continue campaigning and i'm mildly amazed at the news media's desperation for finding an excuse to say, would you please quit this evening? [ inaudible ] >> first of all, i'm not sure that mitt romney is in my head. i think that's an interesting analysis on your part. i'm sure that with a psychiatric degree that will give you a tremendous opportunity to have new clients. i think there's a clear contrast. i think that the clear contrast is really important. and i think that over time we're going to drive home that clear contrast which will be enormously to his disadvantage. the american people, when somebody who is generally conservative, who is prepared to change washington, just take his one comment this week about noncanot caring about the poor, which we know was a mistake. i would suggest that a conservative who cares about the poor, a conservative who cares about every american of every background, a conservative who says, why don't we rethink the entire safety net so it becomes a trampoline, which is not me. it's jack kemp. it's a whole range of people who have been working on these ideas for 25 years. as charles krauthammer said, romney's comments were a sign that he doesn't quite understand conservative philosophy. i think that's important for the country, for republicans, for conservatives to think about. nominating one more moderate, like in 2008 when we lost badly, i don't think that's a very good future for the republican party. and because it's vital to beat barack obama, it's not a very good future for the country. yes, sir? [ inaudible question ] >> i was surprised. go back and look at the second debate. go look at what he said. you had larry in the middle of the debate tweeting that romney was being factually false. i didn't have any good mechanism s to turn to somebody who was being dishonest to the entire country as a candidate to the president. if you can't tell the truth as a candidate for the president, which is a charge that's been made by mccain, fred thompson, by huckabee, if you can't tell the truth as a candidate for president, how can the country possibly expect you to lead as president? i frankly was stunned. i make no bones about this. in the second florida debate, i had nothing to say, because i had never before seen a person who i thought of as a serious candidate for president be that fundamentally dishonest. and it was blatant and deliberate and he knew he was doing it. >> do you plan on dealing with that? >> i don't want to tell you now. please, jeff, you have to give us a few trade secrets. yes, ma'am? >> you mentioned that romney -- [ inaudible ] >> no. i think this is a state he won last time. i think we will do better than john mccain did last time. and john mccain went on to a reasonably good success. yes, ma'am? [ inaudible ] >> i haven't seen the reports. i have no idea what they're referring to. i'll be happy to look at them. >> last night you said you're ashamed of the negativity in this campaign. have you engaged in any negativity? >> of course. >> and are you willing to commit to give up any negativity? >> you can't disarm in a world where -- >> if you're ashamed of it, why not? >> as a realistic person, you might as well withdraw from the campaign. that's a fact. >> you don't think you could win this campaign with purely positive? >> no. i stayed positive in iowa and lost by 22 points. >> so you're ashamed of it but -- >> i think it's terrible that the american system is reduced to negative ads, some of them false. i wish i wasn't happening, and i think we would be better serving our children and grandchildren if it wasn't happening. but it's a fact. it is a fact. and unfortunately it's a fact and if you're not willing to stand and fight, then you have to get out of the raisce. yes, ma'am? >> some sources have suggested that you've decided you want to go more positive in the tone, but that doesn't seem to match your news conference. so is that true and what do you want to see about the tone moving forward? >> i think we're going to make a whole series of positive speeches. i'm happy to talk about the idea of turning the safety net into a trampoline. i'm happy to talk about ideas we have for creating a much better future in terms of tax cuts and less regulation. i gave an entire speech last night at a local church, which was a positive statement about american exceptionalism. and the nature of america. and i'm happy to do that. i predict to you that it is relatively harder to get your profession to cover totally positive speeches. i can give hours of totally positive speeches. that doesn't necessarily mean they'll show up. >> if i may follow, is it positive about -- is it a positive message about america's future but negative about mitt romney, is that the plan? >> there is a positive future for america if we elect a conservative, and i'm happy to talk about why that's true and why i think it's very hard for somebody who invented romney care to be part of that future. yes, ma'am? [ inaudible ] >> what? >> the article that mistated trump endorsed you -- >> i couldn't understand those articles when they came out, because nobody i knew thought he was going to endorse me. we thought it was kind of weird. and those of you who wrote those articles ought to go back to their sources and ask why they misinformed you. there are few people better than manipulating the press than donald trump and he proved it once again. yes, ma'am? >> you cheered the fact that you don't use political consultants in your campaign and the explanation is that you are the brain s behind your campaign. you talked about not responding quickly enough to governor romney. do you think it would have been different if you had consultants? >> no, it wouldn't have been. how is a consultant going to say to you in advance -- until i saw "the new york times" article about the discussion they had last sunday morning, it hadn't occurred to me that you would have the level of ruthlessness and dishonesty that we saw last week. i've been around a long time and have been through a fair number of fights. the language in that article is startling and frankly, a break with american tradition. yes, sir? >> is it fair to say you are running your campaign and you are your own campaign manageer? >> michael crow is the manager, but when it comes to what the candidate does and what the candidate says, that i bear full responsibility. i don't get talking points or coaching in a sense that governor romney did. here you have a guy that comes in and does a pretty good job. the only two debates romney does well he was coached by this guy and they fire him? just kind of weird. the last question. >> you talked about difficulties in running a campaign. reports are that your campaign is $600,000 in debt -- >> i don't understand where that came from. some clever person went back and jury-rigged their entinterpretan of the last 30 days. [ inaudible ] >> that's the one state we messed up in, and i've been honest about that. we did the wrong thing, hired the wrong person and it didn't work. we'll be in 49 states and the territories. i hope you have a great super bowl. take a few hours off from politics. try to enjoy life. thank you very much. [ applause ] >> if you thought that there was going to be a softer, milder newt gingrich, forget about it. newt gingrich making it absolutely, positively clear. hold on a second. >> forget all this other junk. paul is my son-in-law from sheboygan who gave my daughter one share of packer stock for christmas. we had a serious conference call, and we concluded that we should be for the team that beat the pack. now it's painful, but i'm for the giants, period. >> all right. we'll see if that makes any difference. but he made it clear right at the top, there had been rumors circulating throughout much of the day that perhaps, perhaps newt gingrich might think of dropping out, withdrawing from this presidential contest. he made it absolutely, positively clear from the start he's not going anywhere. he's in this race until the bitter, bitter end. he's looking forward to super tuesday on march 6 and then moving forward to texas and beyond. absolutely, positively staying in this race. newt gingrich also not backing down, very, very tough in criticizing mitt romney, the winner of the nevada caucuses, lumping him in with president obama as a george soros favored candidate. strong words from any republican candidate. we're going to stay on top of this. soledad, if there was any doubt about where newt gingrich was going, forget about it. >> i think the only surprise there was the giants. there was also a rumor, of course, that it was going to be a new strategy in terms of what he was thinking about delegate wise. also it was going to be the kinder, gentlerer -- rumors all because none of that happened. >> here's the thing, he was kinder to the media. he was very charming to the press. he was engaging to the press. he was still attacking mitt romney, calling him fundamentally dishonest, his debate was full of gimmicks. but newt gingrich in this press conference was very warm and open. >> i can't remember a national candidate who is so ambitious for the office but so driven by personal hatred. >> it's going to be amazing. you get the sense the reaping what was sewn in the negative ads. >> this is a blood feud that goes back to iowa. he feels he was taken down unfairly and by god he's going to bring mitt down. >> we're going to take a short break. we're back in just a moment. stay with us. uh oh. should we be letting him p-l-a-y with our t-a-b-l-e-t? 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[ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge! ♪ you want to save money on car insurance? no problem. you want to save money on rv insurance? no problem. you want to save money on motorcycle insurance? no problem. you want to find a place to park all these things? fuggedaboud it. this is new york. hey little guy, wake up! aw, come off it mate! geico. saving people money on more than just car insurance. in addition to the two hundred plus facilities that the university of phoenix has we have a very progressive online learning environment. we have something called phoenix connect that allows students to have a social network. you can post discussion questions. we have more than twenty thousand faculty members, chances are one of them is online when you need some assistance. i'm ron gdovic, i'm committed to providing my students with a twenty-first-century education and i am a phoenix. welcome back, everybody. take a look at this shot. they're collecting those ballots in the special caucus taking place in las vegas. they had to wait until after sundown for this particular caucus so observing jews and seventh day adventists would have an opportunity to caucus. so they're close to being able to count those ballots. let's get to our contributors. what did you think of the kindler, gentler newt gingrich? >> i said he might take a softer tone. let me say i was very wrong. that was a press conference where he invoked george soros, called mitt romney a liar, he's burned the village. >> a friend texted me and said the new newt motto is storm the continent for super tuesday. this is mitt romney's worse nightmare. he is saying he would rather beat mitt romney than be president of the united states. >> so you think the strategy there is, i'm going to take out mitt romney, not i want to be president, but i'm going to destroy him. >> if your path to be president is to take out mitt romney, you take out mitt romney. >> i've been calling newt that chucky character. his new name has to be pyro from "the x men." what got he, he's still mad he got his butt kicked in the debate. he's going, i had no mechanism to respond. how about your mouth? that's how you do it in a debate. and then he eludes to the mitt romney camp, firing the debate coach who helped mitt romney. i'm like, newt, suck it up, he kicked your behind, move on. he cannot handle getting beat in a debate. amazing. >> there were so many contradictions. he was very angry, absolutely. he focused on mitt romney. in fact, a republican friend of mine emailed he and he was like, instead of contract with america, it's contract against mitt romney. he was charming to the elite media that he hates. he was sucking up to them. >> john avolon is at romney headquarters. do you think this is mitt romney's worst nightmare? >> look, the more newt gingrich goes on, that does create a problem. there's still that majority of the republican party that wants someone other than mitt romney to be their nominee. one of the things newt gingrich does very well is give loud voice to their frustrations. there's another trend as well. turnout is down in every state except south carolina. that does speak to an enthusiasm gap. that's a real problem for republicans, as well. >> i'm going to come over here. it's interesting to see that in some ways it feels like mitt romney wasn't able to close the deal and now he's reaping that, as well. because he couldn't close the deal, he's got santorum, who gave a pretty good speech, and he's got newt gingrich who has given this angry, focused message to journalists and he's now trying to deal with president obama. >> i don't think we should expect him to walk away. these are people who have super pacs with money. there's no incentive to leave. if newt gingrich is as personally hostile to mitt romney as he seems to be, and in fact, talking about the suppressed turnout that he said romney is suppressing the turnout. what does that say about a general election? so this is romney's nightmare, because what he's doing is saying, you want somebody that is electable. look at our entrance polls tonight. but guess what? he is not getting people out to vote and what do you think that's going to do in the general? >> soledad, my sense is that there's a disconnect between what newt is saying and the reality out there in the field. he's sort of assuming that there's an army out there waiting to mobilize them and take on romney. my sense is that republicans are saying we may not like romney very much, but he's electable and they're moving toward him, not away from him. and that army newt is counting on isn't out there. >> they are counting ballots in the special election. we'll be able to update you on what's happening there. we have to take a short break. back in just a moment. stay with us. ways see life in the best light. every time of day. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it is meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses. welcome back. they're still collecting the final ballots over at that special caucus in las vegas. these were for observant jews or seventh day adventists who didn't want to participate in a caucus on the sabbath. they were waiting for sundown. we've heard the speeches of the various supporters. now they've voted. once we get the results, we'll get the results of all of clark county, which is where las vegas is. the biggest county in nevada. i think, john king, about 70% of the people in nevada live in clark county. once we get that, this will jump up close to 99%. >> we were waiting for the second biggest county where reno is. now we have 99% of those votes in. 100%, 100%, every one of them is 100%, except clark county. so 70% of the state, they're holding it until that special caucus is over. now, if you notice, in that county, mitt romney getting 56%. if his numbers are higher in clark county, the volume will be higher. conceivable if he keeps tracking, it could go up. one other thing, speaker gingrich in that press conference said he's staying in. hi doesn't expect to have a strong february but by the texas primary he could have relative parody with governor romney. let's assume governor romney carries tonight. you get minnesota, missouri, colorado, now they don't always -- not all their delegates are settled next week. assume governor romney runs the map in february. this is a hypothetical. you watch the other delegate totals. they're going up. washington caucuses will award to ron paul. down here newt gingrich is strong, but he's not on the ballot in virginia. so we give the northern states to romney, the southern states to gingrich. if we keep moving, split them here, give alabama and mississippi both to gingrich, give missouri to romney and that's a tough one. puerto rico. let's come through illinois, louisiana for gingrich. then you get here. at this point, with a rough projection, romney has almost 2-1 in the delegate chase. so gingrich would have to do much better in the north. if we won the texas primary, if that's his definition of relative parody, okay. but that's in the ballpark of where it would be things play out with romney winning. so that ice a long haul to go. and went through a lot of states right there. that requires a lot of money and organization and when you're losing, the money doesn't keep coming in. so he's going to have to run a very disciplined campaign to get this far in and have the resources to compete not only in texas but the other places. that's april 3. >> he seemed 100% determined to do that. he's not going anywhere because you can see how angry he is at mitt romney. let's take a quick break. we'll go back to that special caucus in las vegas. we'll see what happens there. stay with us. our special coverage continues in a moment. financial advice. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa. my high school science teacher made me what i am today. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ welcome back, everybody. we've heard from all the candidates. what's your final takeaway? >> florida and nevada were the firewall of the romney campaign, always planning in advance, but speaker gingrich says he's going nowhere. fasten your seat belt. >> david gergen? >> even though there were no surprises, mitt romney rolled up a significant victory tonight. he's much closer to the nomination, but there are knives waiting for him. >> from newt gingrich, who is not going away. my question is whether he's going to have the money to continue this crusade against mitt romney. >> and now we know why newt gingrich didn't make a phone call congratulating mitt romney tonight for his win. once again, he's really angry at mitt romney. i'm looking forward to the next debate in this context february 22 in arizona. the four candidate also be there. we assume. and that will be exciting. >> and i think ultimately game on. as much as we thought this might be something that is wrapping up, it sounds like santorum is in, gingrich is in. >> the february map is advantage romney. sometimes you get a sense of buyer'