-- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com it's been an amazing few days in the race for the presidency. newt gingrich is go to get out and mitt romney wing five more states last night, and all, but clenching the nomination and the general election campaign under way. our chief political analyst gloria borger is here in "the situation room." gingrich effectively, we knew which was going to happen for sure, suspending his campaign and santorum getting ready to endorse mitt romney. what's going on over here? this general election campaign clearly under way. we're going see six months of this now. >> we are. the first thing we're looking at is republicans and will they fall in line behind mitt romney. as you know, they're skeptical, conservatives about him. they're in the process of warming up to mitt romney. i've got some tape for you, wolf, from a focus wolf that was done by the annenberg center by pollster peter hart. these are republican voters in the state of florida talking about what they think about mitt romney. listen to this. >> we want someone like santorum and like gingrich when he was at his best in the debate to have a position, to stick with the position and not apologize for that position and not shave your answer to a question that matches what you think this particular audience you're in front of might want to hear. >> everybody, make a stand whether people like it or not. at least be strong. >> he's got to mature what he believes in and stick by them, if he doesn't he'll get beat. >> so you see, wolf, what republicans want is a consistent conservative or what is it that mitt romney called himself? severely conservative? they would like to see that, whether that appeals to the independents remains to be seen. so he's got a fine line to walk and work to do. >> i thought the speech he gave last night effectively kicking off this new phase of his campaign was very effective, but he delivered it well. i thought he had some good points in there. to me, it looked like a clear pivot because he avoided some of those sensitive issues that have caused some heartburn for republicans who were going after moderate, independent voters. >> that's right. what i think he tried to do, and i think he did it quite effectively was that he was trying to frame the larger debate as he sees it for the general election. there was one point of it that was of particular interest to me. take a listen to independent this. >> this america is fundamentally fa fair. we will stop the unfairness of urban children being denied access to the good schools of their choice. we will stop the unfairness of politicians giving taxpayer money to their friend's businesses. we will stop the unfairness of requiring union workers to contribute to politicians not of their choosing. >> the campaign has clearly decided to take on the fairness issue and that has been an issue that president obama has been talking about, and they decided they want to go on the offense and not just play defense and say, you know what? some of the decisions that governments make and some of the decisions that democrats make are inherently unfair. we're willing to walk on that turf. it's risky given the public opinion polls about tax cuts, for example, being unfair, but it was clear to me that they decided to just wade into it head-on and that was something we haven't heard. >> as we enter this new phase and it's a new phase right now and we're beginning to get the general message from both of these candidates. >> we are, and i think what we heard from mitt romney last night was a few things. first of all, president obama is not working. i, mitt romney, is a really good guy and here is my vision of smart government and letting the marketplace work. what we're hearing from president obama's campaign is less of mitt romney as a flip-flopper and more of mitt romney as an extreme conservative going back to the positions he took during the primaries. so that's what we're going to see for the next months. >> do you think it's accidental that romney last night in his speech of sorts,a voided some of those social issues, contraception, abortion, gay rights and stuff like that? >> no. this was a well thought out speech in which he was taking the turn to the general election, trying to talk to independent voters as well as conservative republicans and say, this is where i can take america and my america is just as fair as president obama. >> his campaign is just getting started. we have six months to go, thank you very much. romney's primary sweeps and the death knell for newt gingrich and the romney versus obama battle for the white house is shifting into a higher gear right now. today the campaigns are firing fresh rounds at each other and our national political correspondent, jim acosta is following all of this for us. what are you seeing out there today, jim? >> well, wolf, you were just talking about this, with the republican race now over there are only two men left standing. president obama and mitt romney and they are throwing some hard punches. it's only april. >> reporter: president obama's visit with college students in iowa may have been about financial aid, but it was one more sign that school is in session if the race for the white house. >> some of them suggest that students like you have to pay more so we can help bring down the deficit. now think about that. these are the same folks who ran up the deficits for the last decade. >> the president has been doing his re-election homework basically ever since he got in office. in february 2009 on he's made by cnn's count 126 visits to 14 battleground states. >> is it easy to make ends meet? mitt romney was in one of those swing states and new hampshire, and focus a clintonlike laser beam on the economy. it's still about the economy and we're not stupid. >> with romney fund-raising behind closed doors, one of the top surrogates and potential running mate marco rubio delivered a foreign policy speech in washington. >> he may talk tough, but he knows he's weak. >> that would contrast with the open mike session with the russians. >> adding to the political overtones. >> a rising star in the next generation of america's foreign policy leaders. >> joe lieberman appeared with rubio, a reminder that the democrat-turned-independent independent senator backed john mccain last time. and the romney campaign is trying out a new line of attack on taxes, consider this column in "the wall street journal" from former george w. bush-turned romney economic adviser glen hubbard who writes president obama's higher spending will require raising taxes for all americans. the president who has only proposed increase for wealthy americans seems ready for that one. >> first of all, these guys ran up the deficit. these are the same folks who voted in favor of tours without paying for it. [ inaudible ] >> now that newt gingrich is all, but dropped out republicans are eager to combine forces and poke holes in the president's image. the preazy of the united steezy. >>. >> reporter: take mr. obama's slow jam on the news. >> do you know mitt romney? >> i've met him, but we're not friends. >> reporter: it's now a new rnc ad. >> that is how we slo jam the news. >> oh, yea. >> and itten with the twitter #, notfunny. >> back to newt gingrich. his campaign officials say the speaker will formally get out of the race perhaps as soon as next week and we know the speaker for all intents and purposes has been out of this race for weeks and he took a call for mitt romney according to a gingrich spokesman earlier today, that call was described as gracious. again, wolf, these are words we don't normally hear from newt gingrich and it's a sign that the primary season are starting to heal. >> did you notice, jim, i certainly did last night, newt gingrich started giving his speech and ann romney and mitt romney didn't even wait until he was finished. after a few minutes they just went out there and they big footed him, as they say and we certainly dunked out of newt gingrich's speech and went to ann romney and mitt romney. i don't think that was an accident that they decided to do that at that moment. it just raised an eyebrow because normally these candidates wait for another candidate to finish their speeches on these election nights before they go out and address the world, if you will. >> reporter: that's right, wolf. i was around a lot of people with the romney campaign last night and that was not lost on them either. so whether or not this was an overt sort of stepping on newt gingrich, it's not really clear, but safe to say a lot of times behind the scenes before they make their entrances for these types of speeches, they are watching what is happening on the cable networks and on the news coverage. there are people with the romney campaign who are well aware that newt gingrich was starting to talk last night. i guess they felt this was their night and they didn't want anything overshadowing it. >> ann romney came out and no one was paying attention to newt gingrich anymore and they were listening to the romneys. >> thanks very much. >> it's one of the most controversial cases of the year and today the supreme court justices seemed surprisingly sympathetic to arz arz as they heard arguments for and against the state's controversial immigration law. our congressional correspondent kate bolduan was inside and listening to all of the arguments. what happened? >> reporter: this was the final oral argument of this supreme court term and they're going out with a bang, taking on illegal immigration in the middle of the presidential election season. the political issue of illegal immigration landed squarely on the supreme court steps wednesday. >> i don't think arizona has done anything that isn't basically common sense. >> inside the courtroom the conservative majority appeared to lean toward upholding at least part of the arizona law. >> justice antonin scalia suggesting if the federal government isn't doing the job, states may be justified stepping in, asking, quote, what does state sovereignty mean if it does not include the ability to defend your boards. >> arizona has a right and i, as governor, i felt was somewhat insured that i had the right to protect the citizens of arizona. >> it is focussed on the law's most controversial measure. they'll check immigration status while enforcing other laws if the officers have reasonable suspicion they're in the country illegally. the white house and its supporters argued that intrudes on what is exclusively federal authority over immigration. >> the justices are concerned about a system of mass incarceration that's going to catch u.s. citizens and immigrants who are lawfully in the united states. >> reporter: but for the obama administration, challenging the state law it was another uphill battle. chief justice john roberts indicating the arizona law is meant to help by alerting federal immigration officials to who is in the country illegally, nothing more. and he questioned washington's commitment to solving the problem. quote, it seems to me that the federal government just doesn't want to know who is here illegally or not. even liberal justice sonia sotomayor bluntly told solicitor general part of his argument wasn't, quote, selling very well. adding why don't you try to come up with something else. and to signal that the justices are aware of just how politically divisive this is, the chief justice made a point to ask the government's lawyer even before he began his argument to clarify that the government's challenge has nothing to do with racial or ethnic profiling. instead, is solely focused on the narrow question at hand. the solicitor general agreed that the remark seemed designed to head off any criticism that the justices may face in an election season. >> eight justices will make this decision and elena kagan would recuse herself as solicitor general. if it's a 4-4 vote, what happens? >> reporter: it means that the lower court decision would stand. that would mean that the four provisions at question, the controversial provisions in this law would not take effect, wolf, but it would mean that this wouldn't set any broad, sweeping precedent and it would not stop other states with similar legislation and it would not stop them from moving forward and essentially it would mean this fight will be kicked off to another day. kate bolduan. >> women and latinos, should mitt romney be looking outside of the box for a running mate. that's jack cafferty's question. and details on a bird strike that had passengers on one flight fearing for their lives. plus, my interview with madeleima madeleine albright, former secretary of state. she talks about the family secret that change herd life. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... how did the nba become the hottest league on the planet? 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[ man ] saw 'em in '83 in fresno. place was crawling with chicks. i got to go. ♪ any way you want it ♪ that's the way you need it ♪ any way you want it ♪ jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." jack? >> while mitt romney is cruising toward the republican nomination, he's a long way from cruising into the weiss and the two biggest reasons might well be women and hispanics. during the primaries romney was forced to the right on issues that concerned both women and immigration, and he now has emerged as damaged goods among those groups. polls suggest president obama holds a 20-point lead among women. many women were turned off by romney's comments about birth control and getting rid of planned parenthood. the damage may not be permanent. one of the ways he could recover -- pardon me, is by selecting either a woman or a hispanic as his running mate. there's speculate women like new mexico governor susana martinez, also hispanic and nikki haley could be on romney's short list. there's a limit, it's a safe bet sarah palin probably isn't on that list. one train wreck is plenty for a life time. romney is in even worse shape. one poll says he trails president obama by 40 points. experts say he's got to get 40% of the latino vote if he's going to win the race. enter florida senator marco rubio who has suddenly been campaigning with romney. a lot of people think rubio would make the perfect running mate. on the other hand it's possible that romney's v.p. pick would be neither a woman or hispanic, a political piece entitled vice president vanilla, suggests that it might be a safe, uncontroversial one, someone like ohio republican ron portman who is described in the article as vanilla, wonky and unflappable and the, quote, safety school the gop needs after the sarah palin experiment in 2008. here's the question. which v.p. candidate would benefit mitt romney more? a woman or a hispanic? go to cnn.com/cafferty file and post a comment on my blog or go to my post on the situation room's facebook page. >> i think rob portman has a very, very good shot of getting that. >> lindsay graham's another name that you hear ticked around. >> you hear jeb bush, former governor of florida who speaks spanish, a very popular guy as well and is the country ready for another bush. these are questions only romney can answer right now. good question. thank you. moments for terror from passengers aboard a jetblue flight. lisa sylvester has the details for us. lisa, what happened here. >> a pretty serious thing, wolf. this is the second time in less than a week that an airplane has taken off from a new york city airport and has had to return to the terminal because birds hit the plane. you can imagine it was very frightening for the passengers. just after takeoff the pilot of jetblue flight 571 radios the control tower. >> contact with departure. >> we have to come back. we hit two big geese. >> 571, roger. and stand by. >> jetblue 571, runway 1-6. >> stand by 571. would you like to declare an emergency? >> you can see the damage here on the plane's windshield caused by two large geese. the flight headed from a suburban new york airport to west palm beach had just taken off tuesday evening and was about 300 feet in the air. laura e chevarria was one of the passengers on that flight. she feared the worst. >> the plane started swerving immediately right after the two hits so he was rocking the plane back and forth and we knew something was going on. i'm going to die. i'm going to get to my family. i'm not getting home. >>. >> reporter: bird strikes are xhiet common. according to the faa between 2006 and 2010 there was an average of two dozen flights reported every diet. joe biden's plane hit birds as it was coming into the santa barbara airport. on the same day a delta flight from new york to los angeles birds were sucked into the engine forcing that plane to make an emergency landing. but the most famous bird strike was the incident now referred to as the miracle on the hudson in 2009. captain chelsea "sully" sullenberger successfully landed his u.s. airplane on the hudson river after a flock of birds flew into the engine. airports will use various techniques to shoo away the birds including sonic booms. >> they're not uncommon. they do happen and we deal with them on a routine basis and most of the time they're just an inconvenience. >> reporter: the jetblue plane was taken out of commission yesterday and inspected and you saw the picture of the bird after it hit the plane's windshield, but the strike did not crack the window. the window was deemed okay and the plane is going back into service today. >> fortunately, everything worked out and that's a big problem, those birds especially in the new york area. >> these aren't tiny birds and we're talking geese in this case and you saw the big mark it left on the plane's wind she would. >> thank you. >> president obama's appearance on late-night tv sparking a skirmish of sorts with the republicans. our strategy session is next. coming up in the next hour a u.s. congressman is barred from entering afghanistan even though america pumps $2 billion a week into that country. details and the controversy and my conversation with dana rohrabacher. that's coming up. 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