with jon huntsman. i'm wolf blitzer, you're in "the situation room." the first primary beghaj at midnight in new hampshire. most polls close three hours from now. we'll have complete coverage. here is what we're watching for. first, mitt romney's margin of victory. final polls show him with a nearly 20-point lead. if romney wins big he may see almost invincible heading into south carolina. if he doesn't win big, he may seem beatable, at least some experts predict. second, who comes in second, jon huntsman gambled on a good showing in new hampshire. he has the chance to show he's a viable candidate. they play very well among many in new hampshire, and could help him emerge as the anti-romney candidate. finally, independenting can stroh in this open primary, so how will they vote? they may decide the winner, who will that signal for next november? we're watching all of this unfold. new hampshire state officials are expecting a record turnout of a quarter million primarily voters on this day. at one polling place, the candidates got caught in the crush as did last-minute campaigning. let's go liv to jim acosta joining us from manchester right now. what's going on there, jim? >> wolf, this polling place in manchester was the perfect backdrop. plenty of candidates and plenty of chaos. >> do you have a shot at working your way closer there, jim? >> reporter: outside this manchester polling place it was time to catch a candidate if you can. we're live on cnn, if you can. do you feel like the comeback grandfather? >> somebody said i was the comeback kid and i said at my age it's more more correct to be the comeback grandfather. romney raised taxes, i fought to lower taxes. he was for gun control and raised the tax on guns. i am for the second amendment rights. i think you'll find there's a real contrast. >> it's unclear whether newt gingrich found knit voters. they were trapped inside the media mosh pit until they made their way back on the bus. >> it was mandi grau, without the fun, the alcohol, the excitement. >> it was wild. >> certainly crowded as mardi gras. >> but new hampshire's version of fat tuesday wasn't over. it just got bigger when mitt romney and his entourage arrived on the scene. unfortunately for the front-runner, the protesters were ready for him. they were all too eager for remind romney of his comments about how he likes to fire people. as he held up a child one demonstrator asked, are you going to fire the baby? are you going to fire the baby? jon huntsman was also looking for some polling palooza magic, in the hopes his campaign will live to fight another day. new hampshire has a knack for big historic upsets. sup what you're hoping for here? >> we always thought new hampshire was a place to come, where you can upend conventional wisdom and i think tonight wisdom will be upended again. we have worked this market harder than anyone else. we've given it our heart and soul and done everything humanly possible. >> reporter: last but not least ron paul came to play, too, defended romney. >> in reorganization is a proper function in a free market, so i think this is just typical politi politics, and i think they're unfairly attacking him on that issue. >> reporter: the new hampshire secretary of state is expecting a record turnout, a big surge of moderate and independent voters could give jon huntsman the strong showing he's looking for, wolf. >> he really wants a strong second-place showing in order to show he's viable. he'll have to beat ron paul for that. it's very close, all these polls coming in, for second place. jon huntsman, ron paul, i'll be speaking with both of them live, this hour and next hour, here in "the situation room." the latest indication is that jon huntsman is getting a bit of a surge over the last couple days? >> reporter: that's right. you can look at the crowd just outside this polling place today, wolf, there were as many huntsman signs as mitt romney signs. he et cetera lofbly the front-runner. as you heard jon huntsman say in that quick interview, he really is counting on something big happening in new hampshire, for new hampshire to really go back to its history of producing historic upset victories. he says if he gets that, he's going to keep fighting. as you heard him in that interview, wolf, if he doesn't have a strong showing, it sounds like he'll drop out of this race. >> jim acosta in manchester, thank you very much. john king is at the magic wall for us. the demographics are intriguing from anyone's perspective. >> intriguing and the potential opening for jon huntsman. let's be honest. he hoped to do win iowa. this is physical in live as results come in tonight. i want to go back to 2008. i want to show you the southern part of the state. most of the population in new hampshire is from manchester down. the dark recent, that's mitt romney in 2008. gna nashua, a lot of transplants from massachusetts, a lot of undeclared voters here. the most interesting demographic, this is a largely white state like iowa. not that many evangelical christians like iowa, but they can all come into play today. look what happens down here. mitt romney has to run it up big down here. if jon huntsman is performing well down in the southern part, that would be a good sign. a lot of democrats moved up from massachusetts and now undeclared, if they're coming into the primaries, this is a place to look for the huntsman factor. we need to turn this part off. this in here, gritty, blue-collar communities, the attacks on bain capital, they just started in the last 24 hours, if they have an impact, you'll see it. where else do you look for? i want to come over here, we're on the 2008 map here. this is hanover, a largely democratic part of the state, did you college campus, dartmouth is right there. if rowan paul is doing we, as he did in iowa, he could have an impact. the two orange spots carried by mike huckabee, that is the question. can rick santorum carry the iowa momentum into new hampshire. he's campaigned here more as a blue collar economics messenger than as a christian conservative, but let's see if santorum can match up the magic. again, a huge night for huntsman. he has to have a strong second place. the biggest question tonight in terms of long-term prospects, can newt gingrich continue to come in at the bottom of the pack and makes the case he's a stronger contain as nominee. and governor romney had 32% last time, john mccain won with 37%. just about every strategist tells you romney not only has to outperform the 32%, pell better be in the 37 closer to the 40% rain to call what we expect to be a win tonight. all pos show romney is going to win, but new hampshire, ask barack obama four years ago, sometimes surprises us on election night. >> they had barack obama winning in new hampshire. hillary clinton surprised a lot of folks when she actually won. john will be with us throughout the night. thanks very much. jack cafferty has "the cafferty file." >> john king has those maps down, doesn't he? >> he certainly does. he makes miracles work. >> very compelling stuff. thou shalt not speak ill of another republican. that was president reagan's 11th commandment and the mantra for the republican party. these days not so much. for a while newt gingrich was all about running a positive campaign. remember back in iowa? he called on his supporters to stay positive and aavoid attacking fellow candidates. the former house speaker said he would refrain so the reference yell nominee could elearning to face president obama unbloodied. the plan was to devote his energies to the economy and unemployment, real issues. that lofty rhetoric matched his one-time lofty standings in the polls. when his numbers started to drop, so did hi civility. eventually he imploded in iowa, finishing a distant fourth. flash ahead to new hampshire. guess what? the old newt is back, snarky and snarly as ever, spewing personal attacks on an almost daily basis. gingrich called romney a liar, said he's full of pious baloney. he described romney as unconservative and a relatively timid massachusetts moderate. it's the same old story. they all say going negative is not their first preference. newt says he needs to defend himself, but pat buchanan writes the bad blood between several candidates could wind up damaging the eventual nominee. he likens the process to a circular firing squad. it could play right into the democrats' hands, quote -- such wounds take time to heal. some never do, and some won't be closed before the republican convention, unquote. so the here's the question -- what happened to gingrich's promise to take the high road? go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog or go to a post on "the situation room's" facebook page. >> politics is a tough business. you get hit, you get hit right back. >> then don't tell me up front you're going to be a nice guy. tell me the minute you throw a punch i'm coming at you. don't give me the crap in the beginning i'm going to be honorable, do the right thing. don't lie to me. >> okay. fair enough. thank you. two of the candidates are standing by to join us live in "the situation room" on this important primary day. ron paul is up next. i'll ask him about the attacks on mitt romney for his venture capitalist past. will ron paul condemn them or not. coming up in the next hour, jon huntsman will join me live. will his gamble pay off? [ todd ] hello? hello todd. just calling to let you know i'm giving you the silent treatment. so you're calling to tell me you're giving me the silent treatment? ummm, yeah. jen, this is like the eighth time you've called... no, it's fine, my family has free unlimited mobile-to-any-mobile minutes from at&t. so i can call all i want. i don't think you understand how the silent treatment works. hello? [ male announcer ] buy unlimited messaging and get free unlimited calling to any u.s. mobile on any network. at&t. [ driver ] what do i want? ♪ i want horsepower. cleaner horsepower. i want power that dominates the road. and fuel efficiency that respects the earth. gimme 43 miles per gallon. and the rush of 200 horsepower. what i want is the best of both worlds. [ male announcer ] introducing the reinvented 2012 camry hybrid. from toyota. ♪ some new hampshire voters are still making up their minds as they walk into the polls places today. as dan lothian is joining us. what's going on over there, dan? >> reporter: well, wolf, you know, some of the voters here said they really struggled with nailing down their choice. yes, they did get a chance to meet some of the candidates. they watched a lot of the debates, but each after months of these kaentsds campaigning very hard, some of the voters told us they only made up their minds in the last week, the last day or the last minute. >> at the hot it's polling place in man chest, the candidates made one final pitch, amid a crush of cops, supporters and the media. and melissa rose and her mother donna, both still trying to find clear skies in what has been a murky political process. >> it doesn't seem like there was a lot of love involved in this process. >> there wasn't, really. there wasn't a lot of love. >> she finally settled on a choice yesterday, but melissa walked in still undecided. >> so you're going to decide when you walk in and pull that curtain. >> i suppose so. >> and nervous. >> i was shaking my hand as i was trying to right. >> inside ward 1 as voters streamed in moderator diane beaten saw signs of uncertainty. >> even as they're walking up they're going, i still don't know who i'm going to vote for. >> reporter: some voters ballet the indecision on the republican field, that it failed to inspire them. >> however, i agree more with ron paul and where he stands on the issues. >> back of the voting booth, donna rose was in and out quickly. her daughter melissa stayed behind the curtain for almost a minute and a half, finally emerging from her first voting experience, no longer undecided. >> i ended up voting for ron paul. >> reporter: her mother decline to say who she voted for, but seemed convinced her choice was the right one. will your mystery candidate be able to beat president obama? >> i think he will. >> reporter: just another example of how fluid the situation was right up to the last minute. this morning jon huntsman and his wife were at a local diner. they ran into a couple undecided voters. mrs. hadn'tman made the hard sales pitch, and the voters said they would vote for her husband. so, wolf, a lot of voters there trite down to the wire still trying to decide who to vote for. >> historically the last person an undecided voter hears from usually has the good shot of getting that vote. i suspect that's what's going on right now. dan lothian, thanks very much. here's a look at some of the other political news. the stroke of mid rot brought the traditional votes in a small down of dickville notch. dixville notch. newt gipp rich's wife says his campaign has been an emotional experience for her. here she is with her husband in new hampshire earlier today. >> what's it like traveling? it's extraordinary, like everything else hanging out with her. >> we have a lot of fun together. >> in fact, if she wasn't with me, who would fix my hair in the morning? >> that's right. thinchts this has been a tremendous experience, and, you know, just getting to know people across the country. i loved being in iowa, back in the midwest. i group up there. new hampshire has been great. >> she was very sentimental last night. >> i was. >> i think she had gotten back -- >> i got a little teary. it's all been a fabulous experience. her story has inspired people across the u.s. and beyond. now gabby giffords is getting her own comic book. the new edition of female force tells giffords' store from her starred as a tucson business woman to her remarkable comeback from an assassination attempt one year ago. it's profiled the likes of hillary clinton, margaret thatcher and sarah palin. for complete political coverage be sure to go to cnn.com/ticker, for the place to go. they sound like democratic talking points, but it's republicans attacks mitt romney for past business deals. >> is capitalism about the ability of a handful of rich people to manipulate the lives of thousands of other people and walk off with the money? >> we'll go inside the surprise debate now dominating much of the republican race for the white house. we'll talk about that and much mower in our "strategy session." donna brazile and mary matalin both will be standing by. up next, ron paul, the presidential candidate, i'll talk with him about the attacks with mitt romney for his venture capitalist past. will ron paul condemn him like several other republican candidates? stand by. 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[ male announcer ] buy unlimited messaging and get free unlimited calling to any u.s. mobile on any network. at&t. coming up shortly, my live interview with ron paul, the republican presidential candidate. in the meantime, let's check in with lisa sylvester. she's monitoring other top stories, including another american rescuing of iranians. >> the u.s. coast guard rescued six iranians after their small merchant vessel apparently flooded. the americans responded to flares and flashlights. they treated one for injuries and gave them all water, blankets and food. just last week the u.s. navy rescued iranian sailors whose ship was taken over by somali pirates. and pregnant women in texas who want an abortion may be required to have an ultra-sound first. a three-judge panel overturned a lower court's decision, meaning texas can enforce the law while the court ballots continues. it requires a look at the fetus and a description of the development before having the procedure. and the family of a student who announced today they will sue the bus company for negligence gens and wrongful death. robert champion died in november from trauma he suffered as part of an alleged band hazing rituals. relatives believe the fact that she was gay may have been one of many factors leading him to be beaten more severely than others. a family attorney says his death was not a hate crime, but a hazing crime. and an oil tanker and coast guard escort are within 100 miles of their destination. the tanker is carrying more than a million gallons of fuel for the ice-bound city. the cutter hayes broken through ice ridges as high as four feet. there's no land way to land deliver gas to nome. the dow and s&p closed at the highest levels since july. the dow gained nearly 70 points and the s&p was up nearly 1%. investors reacted to optimism about europe's debt crisis, as well as a decent start too quarterly corporate earnings report. >> good news on weight. thank you, lisa. up next, we'll go inside the surprise debate now dominating the republican race. donna brazile and mary matalin are standing by in new mexico. we're standing by to speak live with ron paul. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the personal attention tdd# 1-800-345-2550 you and your money deserve. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, that means taking a close look at you tdd# 1-800-345-2550 as well as your portfolio. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 we ask the right questions, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 then we actually listen to the answers tdd# 1-800-345-2550 before giving you practical ideas you can act on. tdd# 1-800-345-2550 so talk to chuck online, on the phone, tdd# 1-800-345-2550 or come in and pull up a chair. glue all right. let's guess more on the surprise debate all of a sudden over capitalism unfolding in new hampshire. congressman ron paul is joining us live from new hampshire. congressman, always good to have you here in "the situation room." >> thank you. >> i want to play the clip, the full context of what mitt romney said yesterday, causing some of your republican colleagues out there to condemn him for what he said. i'll play the whole thing and then you and i will discuss. >> i want individuals to have their own insurance. that means the company will have incentive, that means if you don't like -- i like being able to fire people that provide services for me. if someone doesn't give me the good service, i want to say i'm going to get somebody else to provide that service to me. >> several of your republican counterparts -- but you're stopping short of that. give us your perspective on what's going on here. >> well, if the other candidates criticizing mitt are serious, then they don't have the vaguest idea about the market, because he's talking about the market. if they do understand the market, they're just politically demagoguing this to get a political point, about you to pick and choose your consumers and customers, that's the basis of the free market. also to condemn him for restructuring and making some money, if somebody restructures and doesn't get any money from the government, doesn't commit fraud, restructuring is a very important part of the free market. this is how you cleanse the system. this is how you clean up a corporation. if you don't restructure when they're on the roping, everybody loses. as a matter of fact, that principle ought to be applied to the federal government. that's what i've been trying to do, restructure the federal governme