a fellow at the institute of politics at harvard's kennedy school of government. and steve moore is with us for the first time. economics writer for the "wall street journal" editorial page. thank you for being with us. our "starting point" is super tuesday, of course. ten states will go to the polls today. there are 419 delegates up for grabs and potentially 2 presidential campaign on the line. if you look at the map of today's super tuesday, contest, newt gingrich says he's going to win dpnlg and polls are supporting him on that. rick santorum says he's going to do well in tennessee and oklahoma and the polls are supporting him in that. mitt romney says he's going to win massachusetts and vermont and idaho and the polls support him on that and he plans to win virginia, partly because he's the only person on the ballot along with ron paul. so that's probably a pretty good guess. he's leading by a lot of the poll there's. what he's focused on now is the battleground state of ohio. there it is a dead heat between mitt romney and rick santorum. now, mitt romney says he believes he will win the republican nomination if, in fact, he can carry the state of ohio. but newt gingrich and rick santorum say, making mitt romney the nominee would be a big mistake. listen. >> he will be the weakest candidate we could possibly put forward on the most important issue of today. >> he can't close the deal. he can't close the deal in part because people inherently don't trust what he's saying and think that he isn't always very candid with him and sometimes frankly isn't straight. >> all right. no shocker there to see rick santorum and newt gingrich saying he would be a terrible nominee. republican congressman jason chaffetz of utah is a romney supporter. nice to see, you sir. we appreciate it, as always. >> good morning. >> mitt romney has said, i hope i get the support of the people in ohio. and i believe if i get the support of the people of ohio e., i win, i can get the norm nation. do you think that's right? >> it certainly would move him in the right direction. you're mitt romney you won't place places are anybody. i think the governor has always understood this is a national campaign and he's done exceptionally well. take all santorum, all the gingrich support and delegates that they have and you add them together and you still don't come close to mitt romney. i think if people focus on jobs and they want more jobs, they want less debt and want smaller government. if that's your main objective then you're going to support mitt romney today. >> so if he wins ohio, regardless of what happens in the nine other states, you believe he becomes a nominee? >> i think he's going to become the nominee even if it goes one direction or the other by a few thousand votes. i just think the party is starting to understand it needs to coalesce behind somebody that what does unite us is beating barack obama and that mitt romney has behy far the best chance of beating barack obama in november. >> why do you think that coalescing has just started? it sounds to be one of the new, you know, conversation of the week, is we're coalescing, we're coalescing. why is that? >> well, because you need to get up and down the ballot from coast to coast. people united. you've got to raise money. you've got to build an organization. and certainly myitt romney has shown he's got to do that. it wasn't until june that barack obama and hillary clinton were duking it out and then they did come together and get united. the sooner we do that the better off that we get. i think that's partly what you're going the to see because everywhere from alaska to v vermont you've got people voting. >> unfavorable numbers never went far down, 70% for barack obama and hillary clinton, even in june. if you look at the unfavorables for the front run, mitt romney, his numbers are, you know, 39% favorable -- unfavorable. isn't that sort of a oranges and apples on this one? >> yeah, we all tend to pick certain numbers that we like to make them convenient. i think certainly though there has been a steady drum beat when you look at barack obama versus mitt romney that mitt romney is in the best position to beat the president. we probably look at those numbers too much on a day to day basis. i think again once you get through this process republicans will not unite because what drives us more than anything is beating barack obama. >> it's my experience that politicians love the polls if they work in their favor. >> exactly. >> and not at all if they don't work in their favor. yesterday when i was talking to eric cantor, of course, i was trying to get some insight from him on whether he thinks that the coalescing is because they've now are supporting the true conservative and that true conservative is mitt romney. here's what he told me. >> i'm curious to know if you're also saying that by your support it's really mitt romney who is the true conservative here. >> mitt romney, again, soledad, not to be repetitious, but he's got a plan. >> the true conservative in your mind is mitt romney? >> soledad, what i believe is this election is about how we're going to make our country have a much brighter economic future. >> i'm just going to note that you are not going to answer that question for me but i'm happy to move on. >> which he never actually answered that question. so i'll ask you that question. is this support now, i mean, you get, what were you telling me the other day, you're like 99% highest rating in -- >> second highest -- second most conservative person in the house. >> way up there. >> yeah. >> do you think that mitt romney is the true conservative in this race? yes or no. >> absolutely. absolutely. i totally absolutely believe that. look, if we put as our nominee a washington, d.c. insider, someone who has based their career on being a washington, d.c. insider and worked as a lobbyist on k street, do you think that's the winning formula? no, but that's where rick santorum and newt gingrich are. you want somebody from the outside who has had success in the business community and the olympics, who governed a state as a conservative, in massachusetts, who issued 800 vetoes. i could go on and on and on. >> please don't. got it. >> absolutely, i believe that. >> all right. great. you have a question? >> yeah, absolutely. reft ti representative chaffetz, do you think that proportionality elongated the race and in retrospect do you think that's been a good or bad thing for the republican party? >> probably too early to tell but it has elongated the race because when you have a winner take all such in florida where mitt romney dominated, you are ready to move on. parsing it up that's certainly going to stretch it out. even if you kind of ran the table, you could never lock up the nomination until april. so i think the media is very quickly trying to say, oh, it's taking time and, look, you can't physically get to the number of delegates that you need until april. and so let's also remember that john mccain lost 20 states on the way to becoming the nominee. but, look, if you're mitt romney you wouldn't trade places with anybody at this point. >> congressman, you know, not support him. i have heard this from voters who just don't belief that he is their choice. often conservatives, evangelical white christians. is there going to be a messaging that can triangulate between the swing voters that need to move over in the general election and the core voters? >> how do you get everybody under the same tent, i guess would be the question. >> exactly. >> again, when the focus is defeating barack obama or having him for another four years, if it's about jobs, if it's about the economy, if it's about how do we make government smaller? then i think mitt romney would do xenexceptionally well. he is able to attract the independents that will probably truly decide the election in november, mitt romney does exceptionally well in drawing them together. as a conservative, i think he's tea party safe, the right guy for the job, i think he's uniquely qualified. that's why you can tell i'm just a little bitten thus a enthusia his candidacy. >> usually we come in with his music, which was devo the last time. >> she spared everybody this time. >> no, good taste usually. i mocked you on my blog a little bit about that. >> i know i don't have good taste. >> we'll give you another chance next time. >> okay. >> thank you, sir. other stories making headlines. christine romans has those for us. good morning. >> good morning. that teen who admitted to the deadly school shooting in ohio will appear in juvenile court today. t.j. lane is accused of killing three students and injuring two others. prosecutors are planning to use his case to adult court. they're also trying to block the release of more information about lane's past. officials have already revealed that when he was 15, lane was charged for the violent assault of an uncle. russian riot police violently breaking up thousands of protesters in moscow. about 20,000 demonstrators tried to take over the square yesterday. they're angry about vladimir putin's victory in the recent election. they're claiming wide spread fraud. about 250 people were detained. north korea conducting live fire military drills near an island in disputed waters where four south koreans were killed in 2010. and while those drills are taking place, the north is criticizing the u.s. and south korea for conducting their own joint military exercises. all this as u.s. and north korean envoys prepare to meet tomorrow in beijing. they will be talking about a deal that provides the north with food in exchange for all nuclear activities being suspended. israeli prime minister b benjamin netanyahu preparing to meet with leaders on capitol hill. he met yesterday with president obama. they are trying to reach an agreement on how to deal with iran and the nuclear program. netanyahu warning the u.s. and israel are running out of time. >> for the sake of our prosperity, for the sake of our security, for the sake of our children, iran must not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons. >> mitt romney also weighing in. the republican presidential candidate has an op-ed piece in the "washington post" today. he write, while obama frets in the white house, the iranians are making rapid progress toward obtaining the most destructive weapons in the history of the world. it's been another night of violence across syria. reports of explosions and gunfire is rocking the capital city of damascus. the massacre of civilians prompting senator john mccain to urge the u.s. to lead an international effort to carry out air strikes on syrian forces. >> if we want to stand by and watch syrians being massacred in the most brutal and incredibly genocidal fashion, then that is a decision we can make. but please don't tell me we can't do it. we can if we have the will. >> mccain is also calling on the obama administration to begin arming syria's opposition forces. the white house disagrees. a last minute change of venue for the upcoming g-8 economic summit here in the u.s. it was supposed to take place in chicago on may 209 and 21st. but president obama will host those world leaders at camp david instead. the white house says security and likely protests were not factors in this decision. officials say the maryland retreat setting is going to allow for more intimate discussions. the nato summit will remain in chicago. and paula dean's culinary empire under fire. a lawsuit adccuses dean and her brother of sexual harassment and making racist comments. the suit was filed yesterday in georgia from former manager lisa jackson. uncle bubba's in savannah, georgia. jackson claims dean's brother bub bra ba brought porn to work. the suit alleges bubba asked jackson to bring pictures of herself to work, telling her she has nice legs. that's just the stuff that we can tell you about, soledad. >> i was going to say, wow, that even kind of goes for the you think you might want to go first thing in the morning. christine, we will be watching that. still ahead this morning on "starting point," president obama is not going to let the gop grab all the headlines today. the white house announcing he's going to hold his first formal news conference of the year today, on super tuesday. hmm. we're going to talk to the dnc chairwoman debbie waser man shultz about the timing of that. interesting. also, does the constitution po protect homegrown terrorists? attorney general holder is going to talk about when it is okay to target americans overseas. and our "get real" this morning, a guy who is a movie buff wanted to have snacks at the concession stand. now has a lawsuit because he thinks concession stand snacks are extortion. truly. you're watching "starting point." we'll dig into that right after this. i'm robert shapiro. over a million people have discovered how 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for our free guide and tips on planning for your retirement this tax season. ♪ welcome back, everybody. that's stephen moore's play list, "sherry darling." nice photo. you can send us your picture. nothing cracrazy, people. send it to us on twitter. if it's crazy i'm not going to put it on tv. i should mention we have our new blog starting today as well that i wrote this morning because in all the free time i have, why not also do a blog, right? >> yes. >> let's move off of our talk about super tuesday this morning. the white house wants you to forget all about it. in fact, what they would like you to do is focus at 1:15 p.m. eastern time on the president's first solo full length news conference, first one since october. is it strategic timing or a coincidence? dnc chair monday debbie wasserman schultz is joining us this morning. nice to have you. >> thanks. >> let's talk timing. hmmm, super tuesday, or a big long press conference starting at 1:15 eastern time. it's not coincidence, right? >> no, it's not coincidence. i mean, i think we have got a lot of really important issues going on in the country right now. president obama just hosted prime minister netanyahu in the white house yesterday. there are so many different things going on in terms of jobs and the economy and the discussion of where we need to go with this country. and moving our economy forward. so this is a perfect day to -- for the president to hold a news conference. >> that's not what i meant. isn't it a perfect day because it's a busy news cycle, it's a perfect day because everybody should be talking about the gop nomine nominees. that's intentional, right? >> the world doesn't come to an end just because it's super tuesday for the republicans. i mean, we do have a president of the united states, barack obama, who is singularly focused on continuing to get this economy turned around and making sure that he's able to communicate his efforts and his policies to the country. and that's what this news conference will be all about. >> so then that's yes, we're going to make sure to steal some of the fire from all the conversations about super tuesday and insert the president into that conversation, that's how i read that, am i right, before i move on? i'm having a hard time getting people to answer my questions this week. >> no, i'm answering your question straight up. the world does not come to an end or screeching halt because the republicans have a primary. while they seem singularly focused on out right winging each other, president obama has been been focused on trying to make sure we can continue to create jobs, fight for the middle class and working families. by the way, yesterday, he hosted the prime minister of israel at the white house. he's continuing to do his job and that's the job that the american people elected him to do and sod is a good day to make sure that he can check in with the american people and give everyone an update on where we've been and the progress that we've made and the direction that he'd like to see this country go. >> let's talk about these conversations with the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. they spoke yesterday. they have both given speeches at apac. let me play you a little clip of what benjamin netanyahu had to say. >> i appreciate president obama's recent efforts to impose even tougher sanctions against iran. and these sanctions are hurting iran's economy. but unfortunately iran's nuclear program continues to march forward. my friends, israel has waited, patiently waited, for the international community to resolve this issue. we've waited for diplomacy to work. we've waited for sanctions to work. none of us can afford to wait much longer. >> mitt romney had an op-ed in the "washington post" this morning. he says, he will take, if he were president. i will take every measure necessary to check the evil regime of the ayatollahs. i will buttress my diplomacy with the option that will persuade the ayatollahs to abandon their nuclear ambitions, even when they understand that it at the end of the that road lies not nuclear weapons but ruin will there be a real chance for peaceful resolution. what role is going this going to play in the re-election? >> on sunday, president obama's speech he made it very clear to the 14,000 apac activists that he is singularly focused on -- in terms of iran policy -- on making sure they do not attain their goal of achieving a nuclear weapon and that he is using every tool at his disposal and leaves no option off the table. and so the difference between president obama's policy and mitt romney and what he said in his editorial this morning is exactly none except for the bellacoast language and telegraph that mitt romney is doing and characterization that president obama laid out in his speech to apac which is that you should speak softly and carry a big stick. and you know, when it comes to strategy, when it comes to making sure that we can actually achieve our goals, president obama's focus on making sure that the iranian regime understands that we are deadly serious and that he has consistently backed up his words with actions. we have only to look to the demise of osama bin laden to see that or to the demise of gadhafi and libya to see that. but we need to make sure that the time and space that has been created by those economic sanctions is utilized to its fullest extent and that at the end of the day, military option is necessary, that option remains on the table. so the prime minister and president obama are on the same page. and let me just also add, soledad, that president obama also emphasized that -- in his speech, that israel is a sovereign nation and has the ability and the responsibility to make sure that they make decisions about options that they would pursue on their own. >> okay. that was a long answer and i don't want to run out of time. >> it's a tough issue. >> i agree on that. here's a question for yo