the republican candidates take the stage in this, their last face-off before the florida primarily. i'll moderate tonight's republican debate right here on cnn. everyone's talking about the tension on the tarmac. in your face airport encounter between arizona's republican governor. what was that all about? and newt gingrich vows to establish a permanent colony on the moon. will that idea take off with voters? i'm wolf blitzer on the campus of the university of north florida in jacksonville. you're in "the situation room." just four hours from now, the four remaining republican candidates will square off right here in jacksonville. it's the final debate before next tuesday's crucial florida primary. it's become a grudge match between the front-runners, mitt romney and newt gingrich. our chief analyst gloria borger is here and jim acosta has been covering this campaign. jim. let me start with you. it looks like romney may try to go to the jugular. >> somebody may go to the moon tonight, but it won't be to establish a lune flare colony, wolf. just listening to the rhetoric today, the only thing missing tonight will be the steel cage. >> we're getting ready for another debate tonight. i can't wait. >> reporter: he seems to be channeling his own newt gingrich. >> if you all can get there, we would love to see you there and cheering -- no tickets? well, just storm in. >> nancy pelosi -- >> in his campaign running the kind of negative ads one left to a pro-romney super pac. this cites nancy pelosi's interview with cnn's john king earlier this week. >> there's something i know. >> reporter: when she said she was holding on to damaging information. >> information so damaging it would help obama win. newt gingrich, we can't afford the risk. >> i think all the way to this negative advertising has hurt us some. >> reporter: he's still fighting off charges from romney. now the former speaker is trying to tie romney to florida's foreclosure crisis, pointing to rivals' past investments. >> i am running as president to represent you, not to represent the washington lobbyists, not to represent goldman sachs, not to represent the people ruining this country and i need your help. >> reporter: the former speaker fending off another attack. it shows nancy reagan praising gingrich. >> barry goldwater handed the torch to ronnie, and in turn ronnie turned that torch over to newt and the republican members of congress to keep that dream alive. >> reporter: all week the smackdown has overshadowed rick santorum who's down in the polls and denying rumors he's considering dropping out. >> i know they're coming from the other camps. i get that. i guarantee you, we'll be in this race for a long time. >> reporter: just to give you a sense to how ugly this race has become, the romney campaigned referred to newt gingrich as dr. newt and mr. hyde, with the hashtag "unhinged." that's the kind of opposition material that democrats will be accumulating in the fall, wolf. >> i want to bring in our chief political analyst gloria borger. she's getting ready to watch tonight's debate. >> i'm here to watch him moderate. >> romney really went after gingrich gingrich in the debate. what will we see tonight. >> romney's numbers started to increase in this state, so the romney people i talked to sort of say, you know, good to play offense rather than defense, so i would assume that romney would continue to go at them, but it's a fine line. too much attacking makes you seem kind of whiney, and romney is not known as a terrific attack politician. in fact, newt gingrich is known as someone who was much more adept with it. what i would expect is for gingrich to fight back more, because he was a little more demure, if you will. >> will gingrich fight back more aggressively tonight? >> i think so. i think he was saving himself for an all-out assault tonight. both are playing as if this is the super bowl. one thing i picked off last week is that mitt romney seemed to be on the defense ichb. this week it seems that is flipped and it's newt gingrich on the defensive over these issues with freddie mac and whether he's a true reagan conservative. he's the one on his heels. he needs to turn that around tonight. >> they're both fighting over the ronald reagan legancy. >> the reagan primary, you think. if reagan with are alive, he would win, right? >> we wouldn't like this rhetoric. >> no, he would not, but newt gingrich according to "new york times" has, what, mentioned him more than 50 times in these debates. it's part of trying to tell the voters you are the conservative heir to ronald reagan. the romney campaign is responding by saying you were only mentioned once in the reagan diaries, you are not the air, and gingrich fights back and shows that video that you showed of nancy reagan saying she's passing the torch to newt gingrich, and by the way, mitt romney where were you? you were running for senate in 1994 in massachusetts, and you were saying, quote, i was an independent during reagan/bush. so there will be quite a fight over that. >> the fact is hundreds of thousands of floridians, early voting is allowed. they voted already. >> you have absent tee ballots and early voting. i was talking with an official here in the state who said they have about 200,000 early voters between early and absentee, and they expect turnout to be about 2 million republicans. back in 2008 it was about 1.9 million, so they expect it to be up. it's an exciting race here. >> that could be a factor as well depending on if they voted -- it might too late for them if they already voted. thanks very much. president obama is making the rounds in key battleground states. his tour is taking him today to nevada and colorado, but everyone is talking about yesterday's stop, with an in your face encounter with the republican governor jan brewer. dan lothian has the story. dan, what exactly happened? and what's the fallout? >> reporter: first of all, as know, you've traveled with presidents in the past, when they fly into various states or around the world, they're met by officials, either state or local, and it's not very controversial. this time it was different. at the heart of it all, border security, a book and an oval office meeting. it's the water cooler story of the day, the tarmac tiff. president obama and arizona governor jan brewer clash over her account of an oval office meeting in 2010 on immigration and border security. >> i felt a bit threatened, if you will, was a little bit disenchanted, if you will, about how he was portrayed in the book. >> reporter: governor brewer's book deals with border security, and discusses her meeting with the president. in this passage, she writing, the president's tone got serious and condescending, and that he proceeded to lecture me. but a white house officials says the governor inaccurately described the meeting in her book. in fact, at the time she appeared to paint a much different picture. >> it was a very cordial discussion. i feel that it was a successful meeting, and i'm encouraged about i that. >> the testy tarmac exchange aside, the issue is back in the headlines. just days after the president against pushed for comprehensive reform during hi state of the union address. >> we should take on illegal immigration. >> reporter: it's a toughish for latinos. buttali nurani, executive director of the forum, says in 2012. the latino community is -- >> he's deported more than any previous administration, but they also know the rpgs stood in the way of the dream act and republicans frankly haven't put a proposal to put the immigration system on the table. >> reporter: latinos are frustrated at the pace of reforms. president obama is courting this crucial segment, doing an interview with spanish language television, pushing policies in states like arizona and nevada. even the first lady is in another key state, florida, joining latino organizations in promoting healthy eating habits. >> at the end of the day good policy makes for good politics. >> reporter: now, back to governor brewer, she said all she wanted to do was welcome the president to her state, invite him to another meeting, and then talk about the economic recovery in her state. she says she respects the office of the presidency, and never meant to be disrespectful. wolf? >> all right. thanks very very much. that iconic photo of with her finger up. i expect that's the last for some time. the moon ha surprising issue here in florida. and former florida governor jeb bush, he's disappointed many republicans by deciding against the white house run. what does he make of this campaign unfolding here in florida right now? plus my interview with florida's current governor rick scott. he's not endorsing anyone, at least not yet. he is speaking highly of one particular candidate. ♪[music plays] when you're responsible for this much of the team... you need a car you can count on. ♪[music plays] when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery. we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." newt gingrich is sending chills down the spine of establishment republicans, and it is positively entertaining to watch. these republicans say things like it would be a disaster if he's the nominee. there's a reason most people that know him best aren't supporting him, and newt means losing 45 states. these establishment gopers say they're worried he could bring back the erratic leadership from his time as leader of the house. in a nutshell they don't thing he could ever beat president obama. in fact so far only 12 sitting republican lawmakers have backed him while more than 60 support mitt romney. many who worry about gingrich also say they doubt he'll be the party's nominee. the irony is being the antiestablishment candidate could be the best thing he has going for him. the so-called establishment includes a few hundred of the most powerful and elite republicans. but americans are fed up pretty much with the establishment, and if the inner circle is nerve out about newt, it would actually help him. gingrich also seems to thrive when playing the insurgent. you can bet he -- they say they're not at def-con5 yet, and presents an even more serious challenge. i love this. here's the question -- is it good or bad that newt gingrich makes establishment republicans nervous? and he does. go to cnn.com/caffertyfile. post a comment on my blog, or go to our post on "the situation room's" facebook page. good question, jack. thanks very much. it sets up perfectly my next guest. rick scott is the governor of this beautiful state. governor, thanks very much for coming in. let me pick up where jack left off and read to you what bob dole, the former republican presidential nominee, just like jacques machine contain of four years ago, blasting newt gingrich. he said this in a statement -- if gingrich is the nominee it will have an adverse impact on republican candidates running for county, state and federal offices. hardly anyone who served with newt in congress has endorsed him and that fact speaking for itself. he was a one man bad who rarely took advice. if my pin if we want to avoid a sweeping victory, reps should nominate governor romney as our standard bearer. what do you think? are you with bob dole on the po templeal down side of picking newt gingrich? >> well, this is the first time i ran for office, so i think, you know, this state elected manage -- i think what i hope he'll talk about tonight is jobs. what we want in florida, we want something to help our state get back to work. we've had a lot of success this last year. but we need or federal partner, not help, really, about you a federal partner that thinks the same way we do. and get our state back to work. >> i know you haven't endorsed anyone yet. it's getting closer to tuesday. that's when the florida primary takes place, but you did say some nice things the other day about mitt romney. it was from a radio show. then we'll discuss. >> if you're going to hire somebody, we're basically hiring a new president, would you hire someone successful in business our unsuccessful? the thing that mitt romney has going for him is he was successful in business. he said, look, this is the greatest country in the world and i can go build companies, and that's what he did. >> sounds pretty close to an endorsement. give me your interpretation. >> here's what i believe. the candidate with the best jobs plan will be the candidate that wins. all these candidates are going beat president obama, because he hasn't been able to turn around our economy. i think in the end, though, the candidates will win if they have, you know, 3, 5, 7 steps to how they're going to turn our economy around, that's what we want in florida. we've had a lot of success. 147,000 private sector jobs last year, but we need a federal partner. >> so of these four candidates, who do you think has the best plan as you see it now? >> i don't think they've talked enough about jobs. there's way too much attack in this, just talking about some of these negatives. ultimately that doesn't work and we're beating that right now to do it. i think they're making a mistake. this is what i will do to get you we're not doing it enough. >> governor, with all due respect, and i have, i've been prepares like crazy, they have extensive proposals on how to create jobs, how to improve the economy, 50 steps here for mitt romney. newt gingrich has a very detailed plan. all of them i'm sure they would tell you that. >> absolutely. maybe i don't see all ads down here, but all the ads are negative. these are the 3 or 5 or 7 things i'm going to do to turn around the federal economy to make sure this is the greatest company to build businesses. instead of attacking the free market, we need to support the free market. that's how we get jobs going. that's what they ought to be talking about instead of some of these other things i hope tonight that these candidates will talk more about what they're gog to create jobs rather than saying this is person is negative for these reasons. >> thanks very much, governor, i know you'll be watching appreciate the hospitality we're getting from the floridians. >> have a great time. >> governor rick scott. thank you very much. we will. coming up, a man base on the moon? getting slammed here f. alex castellanos, and maria cardona are standing by. in the wake of a new daring operation, new questions about special operations forces, why one former commander says they're starting to fray. let 'get right to our strategy session. joining us the democratic strategist maria cardona, and the republican strategist alex castellanos. lovely campus here, isn't it? >> beautiful. i love the energy. north florida in jacksonville. newt gingrich had a comment today, and his proposals for space and the response from rick santorum. listen to this. >> bit the end of my second term -- [ cheers and applause ] -- we will have the first permanent base on the moon, and it will be american. >> the idea that anybody's going out and talking about brand-new very expensive schemes at a time when we do not have our fiscal house in order in my opinion is plays politics and not being realistic with the people of this country to the nature of the problems. >> alex, newt gingrich said this is a bold idea, popular with a lot of nasa employed workers, along the space coast as they call it here in florida. some are ridiculing them. what do you think? >> i think his campaign launches a lot of rockets. some land him on the moon, some land on grandma's house. the space program is one of the few things that has produced economic growth, something that the private sector, it produced everything from tang to wd-40 to the microchip and the computer. the gold coast of florida, there are so many people who not only have lost their jobs, but they've lost their confidence in america's future. i think this is a very smart move, tactically and strategically for gingrich. >> a colony of americans living on the moon by the end of his second term if he's elected. you're smiling? >> i do think it's a grandiose idea, and i think voters are desperate for one of their candidates to capture their imagination. and i agree in general, it is a great idea and what americans like to hear, but rick santorum is right, the reality of today, and if you look at his economic plan it slashes medicare, slashes medicaid, and basically slashes all the programs that middle-class americans and those that are most vulnerable, that's where reality does not meet what he is saying, but he's saying to florida voters that there once was a country that can do great things, we can bet that country again. i think it will help. >> it might work. >> you wrote last may a little column. newt gingrich is the devil in a red dress. i'll remind you what you wrote. you wrote the opponent obama needs to run against, the only one he can beat is the old, uncaring republican. it is not the caricature he needs to create. it lives, it walks, it breathe. it's the gingrich. in this op rattic campaign of sell dug, he is the devil in a red dress, a tempt tres who would lead republicans to ruin. >> put me down there as undecided. yes, i city believe that. he has many great strengths, but he's barry goldwater. he's an expression of the party's principles, but he at the top of the ticket? he is such a polarizing force that his 21% with obama's favorable among independents. i think he would wipe out republicans for the house. we may not win the senate, lose the presidency. newt gingrich could very possibly bring back the first two we're when he ran everything, and boy, that is not something that -- did you see bob dole's statement today? very similar things. it looks like the republican establishment is really going after newt gingrich. ironically, as jim acosta pointed out, that could help him. >> that could absolutely, especially in this year that's very anti-washington, and i think the more they go after newt, the more it's going to hurt romney. it's that romney is so wanting. >> and a great bob dole story, newt asked him once why is it so many people take an instant dislike to me, and bob dole says, ah, is saves them time. >> under the hispanic vote, latinos, they're voting big numbers, as both of you know, i don't know the percentage of the overall state. republicans, alex, and you're cuban-american, they're in trouble, not necessarily cuban-americans in south florida, but with others. why? >> i think the tone of some of the immigration debate hat not been productive, has sent a message we're not just anti-illegal immigration, but mere antiimmigrant, and that's alls a mistake. we've got marco rubio in the senate, suzanna martinez, governor sandoval, and once we're looking at employment-b