>> oh, man. they show us what's behind that map are some real trends they have to pay attention to. number one is the economy. look at this. that was the big issue that everyone was voting on. 51% of the people that we surveyed said that was the big issue for them there. look at what happened there. we break it down by how much money they make. various categories. the biggest group is here. look n all of these groups, rick santorum won every one except for the people who make more than $200,000 a year. and he won big. if you look at this group, 30 to 50,000, he won 49% to romney's 21%. newt gingrich did better than mitt romney in this category. go to the lowest end group here and look at this, 65% to 13%. sure, mitt romney won a little bit, but down here his win not so impressive. 46% to santorum's 31%. when you are talking about one of the state's in the country with some of the lowest per capita income, winning with people that make more than $200,000 doesn't get you very far. the darker color indicates places where people have the highest median income. as you can see, there weren't that many that would fall in to a category that romney might have been able to do well with and as you saw from the previous map he did not do well with them. so a tough night on the economy. one more thing that is interesting here. you mentioned it earlier this evening. let's go past this and look at the issue of education. because this is something where mitt romney has tended to do well, the more educated people are. louisiana, as a state, does not have as many people with college degrees or beyond college degrees that a lot of other states document it struggles somewhat in that regard. among people who never attended college, that is something where rick santorum won, some college, college graduates and even post-graduate study the people who supported him, 38% to romney's 35%. trends that romney does not like to see. >> appreciate the numbers crunching. i'm don lemon in atlanta. piers morgan tonight starts right now. tonight, mitt romney's real running mate, the woman who knows him better than anybody else. also tonight, massachusetts senator scott brown. i'll ask what it will take for mitt romney to nail down the nomination as rick santorum continues to challenge. and the woman behind the campaign surge, karen santorum. what she thinks of charges that her husband is anti-women. >> it makes me really sad that the media tries to do that to him. they try to make it look like he's something that he's not. rick is a great guy. he's completely supportive of women. he's surrounded by a lot of very strong women. and i think women have nothing to fear when it comes to contraceptives. he will do nothing on that issue. >> we begin tonight with our big story, an exclusive interview with anne romney. and the candidate's wife joins me now. tell me this. it's been a rough old campaign. everyone accepts that. i always think most of them are anyway. but it's been especially rough. and i suppose one of the things that's leveled against your husband a lot is he's not very lovable. people don't seem to fall for him in the way that they did with barack obama, for instance, when he got elected. you obviously have been in love with him for 43 years. what do you think the public aren't seeing about your husband that they should be seeing? >> well, to begin with, i don't accept the premise. so that's, you know, that's one thing. and once people do see him, it's a totally different thing. at so many of the rallies we go to, the most common refrain is he's so great. you know? and that's -- unfortunately, everyone wants to portray you in a certain way, put you in that box. and so it's my job, it's a great job that i have right now, of making sure that people see the other side of mitt, the fun side of mitt, and the loving father, husband, grandfather and what a just super guy he is. >> what has been the most offended you felt as his wife on the campaign so far? >> you know, i think sometimes -- you know, what happened -- i will tell you, piers, what happened to me last time, four years ago, is the misrepresentations about records and different things like that where they make you feel as though you're not being honest or you're not true to yourself, which could not be further from the truth. and that was why after, you know, four years ago after we got out and dropped out of the race i did turn to mitt and said, look, i'm never doing this again. just so you know, i've had it. and that's the sentiment you had. you were very fed up with it. going into it this time, i of course went in completely committed to doing this again because i really believe our country's in trouble and i really believe mitt is the right guy. but i went in with a different attitude this time and recognize that this is what happens in the campaign and these things happen. and it's hard to do, and i have to remind myself all the time, but to not take things personally. and it is a hard thing to do and to remind yourself, i have to remind myself all the time, not to take things personally. and recognize that is just part of what's involved in running. but if you believe in your message, i believe in my husband, i believe he can turn things around, i believe he has the right skill set, the right experience to be able to really be an effective president, then you just keep putting your head down and going forward. i totally believe in him and was the one pushing him this time to say i know i said that, but i hate to tell you, honey, but you've got to do this again because the country needs you. >> you're certainly emerging as a secret weapon for him. i want to play a little clip of that back to you and then talk to you afterwards. >> let me tell you something else that's happening. women are coming to me and saying, will you please talk about deficit spending and budgets? i'm loving that. loving that. women are angry. they're angry about the legacy we're going to leave their children and grandchildren. and i'm going to tell them something. i've got somebody here that can fix it. >> feisty stuff there from anne romney. what's been interesting about the debate is it's been very skewed toward social issues and there's been this kind of rising sense that the republican candidates en masse have been slightly anti-women's rights. what do you think about the way that debate's been framed? >> well, you know, again, i really meant what i said last night because i have been in every -- practically every state of this nation and i've been speaking to hundreds of people every single day and seeing people. and this is what women are coming up to me and speaking about, their frustration with government right now, the frustration with the size of government, the frustration that, you know, that women are just generally generous. i think they're just generous and they want to leave something much better for their children. and they're very frustrated that they're thinking that this is not going to be the case for them, that their children are not going to be better off. and it's because of the overspending that we're doing now and we're not taking responsibility for our actions. and they're extremely frustrated. and so for me when i hear all the other talk about social issues, i'm going that's not what i hear when i'm out on the trail. this is what i'm hearing. it's an economic message that i'm hearing. it's a frustration about government spending too much and not balancing budgets. and they say very common sense things to me. they say, look, i know how to balance my budget. i know, you know, my husband's business or my business or whatever i'm doing, we have to balance our budgets. why is this going on, this irresponsible behavior? and so i think what they're sensing is that it is, again, it's the legacy we're going to leave our children and grandchildren. we don't want to have to feel like they're underwater before they even start out. and we know how that's going to impact their lives. >> and how important has been the endorsement of jeb bush? he's been keeping his powder dry and he's finally come out. many have said, look, big win in illinois, then the jeb bush endorsement. this has been a very significant, maybe even the game-changing moment. >> i thought it was a very significant thing to do. we didn't know he was going to endorse. we didn't have any heads-up at all. the phone rang, and it was jeb. and you know, i didn't hear jeb's side of the conversation, but i could sort of tell what was going on. and i was -- i was delighted. you know, he's a very important voice in our party. i respect him enormously. but i will tell you barbara bush is also, you know, out there fighting for us, too. so that's been great. to have jeb's endorsement i think is a huge, huge day for us. >> and on a slightly more slippery note, how is your etching and sketching going? have you been having words with mitt's senior aides about their little gaffe today? >> you know, this is the distractions -- these are what -- this is exactly what happens in a campaign, where you get these distractions. and obviously he was talking about how we're going to change focus and we're going to change, you know what we're going to do, the organizational sense of changing, not mitt changing positions. and so these are just the frustrations you have to deal with in a campaign. and, of course, it makes for great media. it's a distraction. it's a distraction because what we're talking about is an economic message. it's a jobs message. it's talking about, you know, capping spending, balancing budgets. >> are you going to make eric write out -- are you going to make eric write out 100 times on an etch and sketch "i'm very sorry"? >> i think that's a great idea, piers. great idea, piers. we'll have him do that tomorrow. >> let me ask you this. robert de niro's apologized today because he made this joke about all the wives of the republican candidates. and saying america isn't ready for a white first lady. which seems to have upset everybody. what was your view of that? >> i laughed. you know what? i took it for what it was, a joke. and you know, again, we take everything so seriously, we have to be so correct and everyone has to apologize. and i can say, you know what? i can laugh at it. that's just let's take it for what it is. we're all overreacting to so many things and making things so difficult, which means we have to watch every single word that comes out of our mouth. we can't be spontaneous. we can't be funny. i will tell you in politics the fastest way to get in trouble is to make a joke. so i think robert de niro has just learned that. >> robert de niro in the clear. anne romney, it's been a real pleasure. and again, i wish a very happy anniversary to you and mitt. >> oh, thanks so much. >> coming up next, karen santorum answers charges that her husband is anti-women. uncover stronger, younger looking skin. 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>> piers, rick is amazing. he is so optimistic. he's a guy who stays strong. and he just amazes me. i've known him a very long time. and he's not the kind of guy who gets down and out or loses his energy. and he's staying strong and i just love that about him. he's a really neat guy that way. >> he looks -- a rather british phrase. but he looks like he's got his gander up. which is a sort of euphemism for he's beginning to beat his chest with the expectation that he's gone from being this rank outsider to somebody who now wakes up and thinks you know what? i could actually win this. >> it's so exciting, piers. because he's -- you know, he did the hundreds of town hall meetings. and when no one believed in him, he kept at it. he kept at the message. and he loves grassroots. he loves going and meeting with people and talking to them about the issues and hearing about what's on their minds and sharing his ideas and hearing other people's ideas. and that fortified him and kept him going. and he draws strength from things like that. so now, it's very exciting to watch this unfold and see what's happening. and, you know, it's been a wonderful journey. >> one of the big things that's gripping i guess the whole race at the moment is this question of women's rights and women's issues. and john mccain was pretty strong on "meet the press." i'll read you what he said. he said, quit think there's a perception out there because of the way this whole contraception issue has played out, we need to get off that issue in my view. we ought to respect the rights of women to make choices in their lives." what did you think of that? >> exactly. i completely agree. and the unfortunate thing is when rick was asked the when rick was asked the question he said these are my personal beliefs. and the press kept asking him the issue about it again and again. rick is brilliant with national security and jobs and health care. and the economy. and for some reason the press kept wanting to go back to it. and really what it is, continuities an issue about contraception. it's an issue about personal freedoms. and the fact that the government should not be making people go against their conscience. we all have -- i think most people in america respect freedom of religion. and i think the real issue is not forcing people to go against their conscience and do things that they really don't think is right. >> when you say you agree with everything john mccain said, do you agree with him when he says we ought to respect the right of women to make choices in their lives? because that's a pretty fundamental step away i would say from what rick has been saying. >> abs- -- well, it depends on what you're referring to. absolutely. with jobs. contraceptives we feel differently. but with contraceptives -- with women wanting to be in the workforce or women wanting to be at home, with how they choose to live their lives, get married, be single. you know, there are so many different decisions. so i don't know what john mccain was referring to. but i would agree with him with that. >> i think he was specifically talking about the issue of contraception which has been so dominant. i know that because of your catholic faith you have a strong position on this. you've also got young daughters, of course. people will say how do you feel about changing times? i mean, they're going to grow up. they're going to grow up in an era which is -- you know, contraception is widely prevalent amongst young women in this country. and many of them are thinking if rick santorum becomes president what does it mean for me? is he anti-women? is he anti-us having contraception? >> not at all. >> what is his view? >> not at all. he's not anti-woman. and i can tell you, i'm a registered nurse. i'm a lawyer. i'm an author of two books. when i was doing my book tours, piers, rick was the one who was home changing diapers and making meals and cleaning the kitchen. he's been 100% supportive of me and my dreams and my career. it was my decision to stay home and be a mom at home. and someday when i go back to work, rick will be 100% behind me. so it makes me really sad that the media tries to do that to him. they try to make it look like he is something that he's not. rick is a great guy. he's completely supportive of women. he's surrounded by a lot of very strong women. and i think women have nothing to fear when it comes to contraceptives. he will do nothing on that issue. i think the issue was what i had said about the religious freedom issue and not allowing the government to be intrusive in our lives and force us to do something against our conscience. >> when you say he'll do nothing on the contraceptions issue, do you mean that if he was to become president that he would basically respect a woman's right to have contraception if that's what she chose to do? >> absolutely. and he has said that. >> i mean, that seems to me to be a pretty fundamental conclusion to this debate. because that's what people have been saying. would rick santorum bring his personal religious beliefs to play as president? and from what you've just said i would imagine the answer is not necessarily. >> not in that area -- no, absolutely not. and again, i think the issue is the government forcing people to go against their conscience. that's really the issue here that we're referring to. >> now, let's move on to what he told me when he last appeared on my show. because i like this. he basically said that after he came out with his snobbery jibe against president obama you rang him up and gave him a right earful, karen. let's watch this. >> i can get pretty wrapped up about, you know, how important this country is to not just providing a great future for our children but also for the world. and sometimes i get a little -- you know, say the wrong word. and as you know, you know my bride very, very well. usually the phone rings very quickly if she isn't there in person to say, you know, rick, you went -- you shouldn't have said that. >> so come on. how often do you pick that phone up and say rick, you shouldn't have said that? >> well, we talk a lot throughout the day, piers. we talk many times about the campaign and what's happening. and i'm a news junkie.