the next contests. >> we will compete everywhere. we will compete everywhere. the time is now for conservatives to pull together. the time is now to make sure -- to make sure that we have the best chance to win this election and the best chance to win this election is to nominate a conservative to go up against barack obama who can take him on on every issue. >> all right. let's take a closer look at the numbers in both states. you can see how tight this race was. it took awhile at cnn to make these calls. it was running as a three-man race for most of the evening. alabama, rick santorum 35% lead there. and more votes are coming in. but 98% reporting. mississippi calling later for rick santorum with 33% of the vote. there is no mistaking it. it is rick santorum's night. the candidate who began as a virtual unknown for many americans now can say his appeal stretches from middle america all the way down to the deep south. a big part of what we heard from his communications director tonight. jim acosta is live at rick santorum's headquarters right now in lafayette. jim acosta, what was the -- i guess, the celebration there. there was a bit of surprise. they seemed to have down played expectations coming into this. >> you're right about that, erin. when rick santorum said we did it again. cheers went up in this room. then later on in his speech he talked about how he did not see one poll in mississippi that showed him winning this contest tonight. and so i think this results in the deep south even surprised the santorum campaign. hi a chance to catch up with the former pennsylvania senator after his speech here for just a few moments. if anybody noticed rick santorum sounding hoarse tonight, that's because he's recovering from a cold. the next question for this campaign is what happens to newt gingrich. if gingrich had not been in the race tonight, santorum might have had wider margins over romney. i asked rick santorum do you think speaker gingrich should get out of the race? here's what he had to say. >> do you think newt gingrich should drop out, senator? do you think speaker gingrich should drop out of the race? >> it'd be great if everybody dropped out. >> clearly you would have won by a wider margin. >> got to play with the cards you're dealt. >> so you hear him say you have to play with the cards you're dealt. clearly this is a delicate situation for the campaign. earlier he was on the glenn beck show. he said he would think it would be great for speaker gingrich to get out of this race. later this evening i asked one of his spokes people, his press secretary. do you think newt gingrich should get out of this race? does the santorum campaign say this? she said absolutely then came back later to me this evening saying we're not formally calling on newt gingrich to get out of this race. no question about it heading into the contests here, it would be a big help to this campaign. just to tell you how they are not taking anything for granted from this point forward, they are getting on a plane tonight at 1:00 in the morning to head to puerto rico in advance of this primary down in the u.s. territory. they got creamed in the u.s. territories last weekend. helped offset those delegate gains he had when romney took the other territories over the weekend. they're not taking those territories for granted anymore. >> thank you very much. the great irony. the popular vote doesn't get to count. something deeply seems to be unfair. but that is for another time. let's talk about the big scenario here. if newt gingrich gets out, let's just say pigs fly. all right? what happens then? what happens to the delegates? >> i think it's interesting. they're back tracking saying they're not calling on him to get out. maybe if his friends say do the math. all right let's do this here. here's the national map. this is a blow to speaker gingrich. here's the delegate map. i'm going to give you two scenarios here. here's roughly where we are tonight. governor romney conferbly ahead. so i'm going to touch the button. what are you doing in june? this race. i'm going august. bang. i've been generous to santorum. i give him both illinois and indiana. some are saying no way. but i'm giving him those states to santorum with gingrich still in the race. look what happens. even under this scenario, romney wins. now, let's say senator santorum he wins pennsylvania. let's say for some reason he could win new jersey. here's the big one here. let's say he could win california. winner take all states. i'm again being generous and hypothetical. then this is a dream sequence for santorum. even then, yes he stops romney. he would go to the convention behind him. this is with gingrich in. >> hold on one second. what happens in tampa in this scenario? newt gingrich is a very powerful man, clearly. >> gingrich would be a powerful man. ron paul would be a potentially powerful man even with 125 delegates. and there would be other people from jeb bush to chris christie that people would be walking around watching them at their every move just to see what happens here. here's the point. this is unlikely. this is a big money state. there's is big conservative base in california. governor christie is on team romney. let's give this back to romney. romney is close to the finish line. okay. but let's do this other scenario. first i want to come back to today. then i want to bring this. if gingrich gets out -- if gingrich gets out -- >> okay. >> if gingrich gets out with -- now, these went to santorum tonight. make these purple. do that. now we're going to move on. i'm going through these. if gingrich gets out, now santorum gets that. i've decide we're generous to santorum. that's our scenario. let's keep going move quickly. he gets louisiana. let's say santorum he's doing well in the midwest. we're going to give him wisconsin. all right? let's keep coming through. he wins pennsylvania. i'm going to generous. santorum. gingrich is now out of the race. you watch this delegate map. as santorum starts marching and wins all of these, okay? now look what's happening? he's getting closer. he's closing the gap. can we win all these? he would like the two-man race. that's how you catch mitt romney if santorum's not in the race. let's say santorum can get nebraska. again, gingrich is not in the race now. this is a two-way hypothetical scenario. keep coming. let's keep this here. he's winning in the south and border states. texas goes to santorum. uh-oh in team romney. they're seeing something like that. then you have a real race. this is why there's pressure on gingrich to get out. then you get here. and new jersey, let's leave it in the romney column. we come out here, i think that's probably feasible, right? >> uh-huh. >> that's how that becomes so important. under this scenario, even with gingrich out of the race -- >> still not there. >> utah. look. just shy. just shy. so you want a broker convention with two guys fighting, that's your scenario. if this is going on and you play like this you're getting closer there. >> this is amazing. >> just for fun you do this. that's a very different race. if gingrich gets out, santorum has a chance to get close. to get close. >> close but not there. >> hard to see in beating romney. but he can get close if gingrich gets out. if gingrich stays in, it's almost impossible. >> this is my favorite part of the night. john king map. we got to change the color rotation. we'll take a break. but we'll be back to talk more on this big night for rick santorum. 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jessica you had a chance to find out what the president thought of rick santorum tonight. >> the president was away at a basketball game. i'll tell you. the obama campaign in general as you might guess is pleased the longer this goes on. because it -- they ultimately expect that mitt romney will be the nominee despite what we're all watching tonight. the longer this takes, the more money it drains from romney. the more attention it takes from his eventually fight with his president. i'll tell you. jim mesina even sent out an e-mail tonight to obama supporters saying if the general election were today, president obama would lose to mitt romney. that was based on a "washington post" poll. he's trying to fund raise off that. they're not even looking at rick santorum now with great attention. i see you're playing the video, so i think i should talk about that. president barack obama took prime minister cameron of the uk to his very first basketball game. and they went -- not coincidently to a swing state of ohio. and the president talked about why they went there. listen. >> first of all, i thought it was going to be wonderful for the prime minister to have a chance not only to see a basketball game for the first time but also to come to the great state of ohio. because sometimes when we have foreign visitors, they're only visiting the coast. they go to new york, washington, los angeles. but the heartland is what it's all about. >> and vice president biden will be in ohio as well later this week. on thursday he is going to toledo to unleash what all sources are saying will be a fierce real election-themed speech. and we're expecting him to really take it to the republican candidates then. >> thanks, jessica. there was something about that image. as the republican party all hell breaks loose, the president is stuffing a hot dog in his mouth. well, you know, so this is good for him, roo igt? >> well, he's at a basketball game in ohio. you need ohio almost certainly to win the presidency in november. so he's going there, i'm sure he's scoring points -- forgive the pun -- in dayton. and have been a good time. >> his brackets were heavy in swing states. >> he's doubling down in the dayton area. democrats have to win it by a decent margin to win the state. as we end tonight, if you go to the maps, go to the history, logic, mitt romney s still the front runner. i think rick santorum has a chance to reset the race. let's see what happens in the next week or ten days. the underdog given the tea party, given to the obama election. forget the rules. >> any chance we get a change in strategy from romney? >> i don't know. he's been steady. they have believed in their strategy from the get go and that was like five years ago. so they really haven't changed much. i don't know. i mean, they are convinced that they're going to get this. and so -- and they believe the kind of stand offish from the media most of the time. at least very controlled media events. they believe he's been doing just fine. so i just think, you know, it's a recipe for june. >> oh, thank you for cheering us up. you can argue math all you want, which the romney campaign is arguing. but presidential campaigns are not just about math. they're about passion. they're about what you believe. they're about who you believe in. and mitt romney has yet to find a way to make that base believe in him. >> still have some fun to go. next sunday puerto rico, next tuesday illinois. >> puerto rico. i love it from the territories. >> of course rick santorum spending two days there. maybe he'll get a nice dinner or something. thanks to all of you. our special coverage continues right after this with wolf blitzer. and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. 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