reality in the republican race. a few things are obvious. mitt romney for example is the clear and undisputed frontrunner but a front run where giant question marks. ten states voted last night and romney won six including the big contested battle ground of ohio. the math now very much on his side. romney's 429 delegates are more than all of his three rivals combined. and they put him almost 40% of the way to the magic number required to clinch the nomination. 23 states have now weighed in on the republican race. and romney has won a come bind 3.2 million votes or 39%. rick santorum is a distant second at 2.1 million votes or 25%. but there is no rush for the exits or for a romney coronation. we have a great opportunity. in the next few weeks and this primary season. to stand up to the establishment. to stand up to all the money, to stand up to all the power brokers, stand up to all the lobbyists who are organizing the favorite campaign. and have an insurgent candidate. >> senator santorum now gets a week that plays to his advantage. conservative-dominated contests in kansas, then mississippi and alabama. but what he won't get is a clear shot at romney. newt gingrich says santorum doesn't deserve it. >> we'll try to fix the audio on that and bring it to you later. joe johns on the trail tonight with rick santorum. the senator told the rally a short time ago he not only needs to win but win big. how much of that is a reflection of the delegate math reality, how much of it is an effort by santorum to send a message to gingrich? >> reporter: well, john, you know it's both when you really think about it. the math when you look at it. i'm not just talking about other campaigns looking at it. i'm talking about academics, college professors. it's very hard to see how rick santorum or a newt gingrich under current circumstances with both of them in the race actually gets to that magic number of 1144 delegates without somebody dropping out. so that's one thing. the other half of it, of course, there really is a message going out from the santorum people to the gingrich people, and that seems to be a message of, it's time to get out. i mean, that came directly, at least, from the rick santorum super pac today. they put out a message today saying it's time for newt gingrich to go. gingrich, of course, says he's not going anywhere. as far as he's concerned, perhaps rick santorum isn't worthy of newt gingrich getting out. so bottom line is, probably going to be in this for awhiles john. >> bottom line i like the way you put this. newt gingrich doesn't think rick santorum is worthy. i think that's exactly the point he was making today. joe one santorum goal is to try to inknock lat voters against what he knows is coming, negative ads from romney and the pro romney supporters. >> governor romney and his super pac will be out there spending millions of dollars telling you how i'm not a conservative. and this governor of massachusetts who signed in romney care is. >> now, santorum didn't spend a lot in ohio, joe, and his campaign just barely lost. so in part they think this tactic works, right? >> reporter: they do. and i've asked santorum about it more than once. about the ads. and frankly, he says, look, i've been hit by these ads again and again and again. i'm still standing. he admits he hasn't been able to pull out all of the wins he'd like to. nonetheless, he says, he's been able to perform very well with those ads coming against him. so he thinks he's just going to keep on doing what he's doing. at the same time he is planning on putting a significant million dollar ad buy out there coming up very soon in these upcoming states in hopes of generating a little television advertising buzz of his own, john. >> and we'll see, joe, after all the criticism of the negative romney ads whether the santorum ads are positive or negative as well. joe johns for us on the trial in kansas. the romney campaign tried today to create an image of unrivalled strength. it announced it raised $11.5 million in february. its top strategist suggested that it is mathematic lick impossible for any of the other candidates to get to the 1144 delegates needed to clinch the nomination. the candidate himself sounded confident he could with president obama's help, he says, heal the internal gop wounds once the nom nagt race is over. >> the community organizer has organized us in a big way. we're going to come together because we really believe that he needs to be replaced, that he's over his head, that the debt he's amassed, that the jobs he has not created suggest that this is a guy whose time has come for early retirement. >> our chief political analyst gloria borger is with us from the cnn election center to help sort the truth from the spin. gloria i moved over to the wall to show folks the map. if you look at the map romney is starting to get impressive. wins new england, in the west, in the midwest. santorum in here. but i'm going to circle what comes. on? santorum in kansas today, mississippi and alabama the next. yes, tromney campaign has lead. what happens when you go to ground that is not romney territory? >> romney can lose. they know that, which is why his staff came out today and said he's a winner. we're going to win. and they figure the more they say that the more this inevitability takes hold and that people will vote for somebody that they believe is actually going to be the nominee. but they understand that they've got a bunch of tough races coming up which are really going to be contests not for mitt romney but they're going to be between rick santorum and newt gingrich. the problem for mitt romney is that honestlies john, he doesn't really want either santorum or gingrich to drop out. because the longer they stay in it, they divide the vote that he's not really getting. which is the working class, conservative, evangelical voters. >> and let's show folks just what you mean by that. we have the kansas contest. then you have mississippi and alabama. i want to go to the delegate map. here's where we are now afr after super tuesday. governor romney 429. let's say senator santorum carries kansas. if santorum can win mississippi and alabama that would make santorum the conservative alternative. they're looking for this to happen. >> a split. >> gingrich wins here, maybe santorum wins one of them after winning kansas or gingrich wins both. if you had something like this happen romney would pick up some delegates along the way. even if gingrich wins the two southern states and santorum wins kansas, santorum would be in second place. but a two to one lead for romney, gingrich a distant third. is this even though you're losing three contests in a row is that the best scenario, won't call it the dream scenario for romney? >> they'd like to have kind of a split decision between those two guys. no matter how it works out. i mean, the romney campaign says that they're looking towards illinois, they're looking towards missouri, they're looking towards, john, what we call the yankee primary april 24th which has lots of states in which romney could do well. although pennsylvania is in that group, so santorum could do well there. but they want to give themselves enough time to get a larger lead than they already have. so they really need these two fellows to stay in it. and even ron paul, by the way, to stay in it and keep dividing up their wins so that romney can continue to move ahead. don't forget, these races are proportional, john. so there's not going to be another super tuesday. you're going to have to crawl across the finish line, right? >> crawling. not exactly what an athlete likes to have said about them as they get to the finish line, crawling across the finish line but true indeed. gloria thanks for your help tonight. for the first time today the united nations humanitarian keefe and her envoy why allowed into the shattered syrian district of baba amar. she had 45 minutes to tour the bombed out neighborhood following the deadly siege there. in a word she calls the area "devastated." the secretary of state hillary clinton used a different word "unacceptable." >> the regime's refusal to allow humanitarian workers to help feed the hungry, tend to the injured, bury the dead, marks a new low. tons of food and medicine are standing by while more civilians die, and the regime launches new assaults. this is unacceptable. >> tiff words from the secretary of state hillary clinton there. but on capitol hill there's friction over what to do next. the defense secretary leon panetta is warning against military action. that's not how senator john mccain sees it. >> how many more have to die? 10,000 more? 20,000 more? how many more? >> i think the question as you stated yourself, senator, is the effort to try to build an international consensus as to what action we do take. that makes the most sense. what doesn't make sense is to take unilateral action at this point. >> our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence is tracking this and standing by for us tonight. chris, why it's calm words but a pretty aggressive pushback against what mccain wants. >> reporter: well, john, it's because i've talked to some pentagon officials here. they say it's because going into syria is incredibly risky. and they don't want the united states to bear that risk alone. they want to share the burden so to speak. they look at the situation and say this could easily devolve into a civil war. they look at 100 different groups making up the opposition. and they look at the options and the risks involved with each. the pentagon has prepared detailed military options, but they all carry risk. establishing a humanitarian corridor. well, hard to see how that would happen without ground troops to protect the food trucks. establishing a no fly zone. well, syria has managed to inflict a whole lot of damage with tanks and artillery on the ground, not so much in the air. and even limited air strikes are being considered. but again, they look at the fact that syria has five times the air defenses of libya, that it's got some highly densely populated areas that carry a lot of risks of civilian casualties. and the fact there's no free zone. there's no benghazi like you had in libya where you could say the rebels are on this side, the regime's on that side so we know exactly where to strike. the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff said, look, we could easily do a quick strike raid. that's doable. but any sort of sustained operation is going to be pretty challenging. >> and chris, you mentioned the challenges, the policy challenges, the action challenges if you will if you do have an operation. the secretary was talking about if it came to that, if they were trying to build some sort of international coalition. he used some language that piqued the republicans' interests. let's listen. >> when it comes to the national defense of this country, the president of the united states has the authority under the constitution to act to defend this country. and we will. if it comes to an operation where we're trying to build a coalition of nations to work together to go in and operate as we did in libya or bosnia yeah, for that matter afghanistan, we want to do it with permissions either by nato or by the international community. >> senator jeff sessions in particular, chris, took issue with seek permission. what did panetta mean by that? >> reporter: i spoke with a senior defense department official a couple hours ago who tried to clarify the secretary's remarks. he said look, he wasn't ceding american authority to some foreign body. what he said was he was trying to re-emphasize the need to get some sort of international mandate which gives the operation more legitimacy. but i also spoke privately with senator sessions after that hearing. and he said, look, this is a real window into both the pentagon and the administration's mindset, that they spent weeks trying to romance all these other nations while egg foreing congress. jeff sessions doesn't buy the administration line that the assad regime is doomed to fail. he said dictators have a way of hanging on. he said the window to stop assad may quickly be closing. >> interesting difference between the two parties on that one. chris lawrence live at the pentagon tonight, chris, thanks so much. iran's growing nuclear capabilities a growing concern to israel. we're checking the mindset of israel's leaders who say time is running out to take military action. >> the republican party does not have any room right now, right now, for anyone who is willing to deal with comprehensive immigration reform. 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[ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪ helping you do what you do... even better. weight loss programs can be expensive. so to save some money, i just got the popular girls from the local middle school to follow me around. ew. seriously? so gross. ew. seriously? that is so gross. ew. seriously? dude that is so totally gross. so gross...i know. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. align can help. only align has bifantis, a pantented probiotic that naturally helps maintain your digestive balance. ♪ ooh baby, (what) can i do for you today? ♪ try align today. will israel strike iran in 2012? the israeli prime minister says diplomacy hasn't worked so far and in his words time is running out. >> 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. >> how do we define much longer? joining me now to answer that question the israeli ambassador to the united states michael oren. mr. ambassador it's good to see you. sober tone from the prime minister. since that speech the international community has reached out to iran again and said come back to the table. israel is cautiously optimistic about that. but how worried are you that in giving iran more time for diplomacy what they're getting in the end is more time to work on their weapons system? >> we know from experience that iran has used talks to delay and stall while it keeps on enriching uranium while it keeps on developing its international ballistic missile program. we've had some bad experiences. as the prime minister said we've been waiting now for 20 years, warning about this program, we've had ten years of diplomacy, six years of sanctions. and according not just to our sources, according to the international intelligence atomic energy agency, they say that the program keeps on advancing, keeps on accelerating. apparently now at three times its speed. >> critical and we're told at sometimes tense meetings between the prime minister and the president of the united states and their delegations this week. it seems there's absolute agreement that iran must not get a weapon. the president says his goal is not containment, to deny them getting a weapon systems which is is what israel wants. where the disagreement we're told where's that trigger, that red line, the point of no return. why does the administration see more time than the israeli government does? >> well, it's sort of a built-in structural difference. the united states a very big country with a big window. it looks out that window and sees the middle east very, very far away. we are a tiny country we're less than 1% the size of the united states with a very small window and we look out our window we see iran in our backyard. so it's built in. but i wouldn't characterize that meeting as tense in any way. i've been in that meeting, all the meetings. very cordial meeting. very constructive meeting. we've had an ongoing dialogue about the iranian issue and other regions. the entire region is aflame. >> republicans candidates for president say the united states has essentially been soft on israel. they say when the president of the united states says i've got israel's back they say no true. let let's listen. >> israel doesn't need lectures about decisions to weigh war and peace. it need our support. >> from what i've seen on this administration he has turned his back on the people of israel. >> the red line is not the morning a bomb goes off. the red line is not the morning our intelligence community tells us they have failed once again. the red line is now. >> are they right? has this president of the united states undermined the relationship? has he turned his back on israel? is he asking israel to do things that prior u.s. presidents, democrat or republican have not done. >> of course i'm not going to get involved in internal american politics john as ambassador. but i'll say that president obama, the security relationship between our two countries under his presidency is really at a very, very high level. very close security relationships. he's led a courageous international effort to impose crippling sanctions on iran. he says that all options are on the table including military options. he says containment is not one of those options. but most importantly from our perspective he says that israel has a right to defend itself by itself against any middle-eastern threat or begin ancient of middle-eastern threats. >> you say they're wrong. >> i'm repeating what president obama said. he said at the end of the day israel is a sovereign country and israel can decide what's best for its self-defense. >> if the iranian issue isn't enough for the neighborhood you have a lot of other hot spots in the neighborhood. one is syria. senator john mccain says the obama administration has waited too long to get tougher with assad. his zbln can you tell us how much longer the killing would have to continue? how many additional civilian lives would have to be lost in order to convince you that the military measures of this kind, that we are proposing necessary to end the killing and force to leave power? how many more have to die in 10,000 more? 20,000 more? >> the administration is reluctant especially to act alone. syria is your neighbor. i know you have no love lost for president assad. would the united states military strikes, would some sort of a nato or international operation and arab league military operation, would that help or hurt the situation right now? >> whether it be america's policy toward the syria situation or toward iran, these rain term american issues. and they're legitimate debates on both sides of the aisle. >> it's your border. military jets flying dropping bombs in syria help or hurt? >> at the end of the day no one is a prophet here. i come from jerusalem but no one can tell you. we don't know what kind of government would replace him. having said that, we do think it would be better if he departs and we have that blow to iran and liberation for lebanon. >> mr. ambassador, appreciate your time today. as always, thank you, sir. still ahead cops bust a man smuggling seven pounds of heroin through a florida airport. but it's how he was hiding the drugs that left authorities scratching their heads. plus will he or won't he? tim tebow finally speaks out about whether he'll join "the bachelor" up coming season. for a limited time, passages malibu will be giving away free copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. welcome back. kate bolduan is here with the latest news you need to know right now including a l