step down, his regime lashes out. we have shocking images just coming in said to show the slaughter of a sir yarn family. what the relatives want the world to see. i'm wolf blitzer at the cnn election center. you're in "the situation room." in just three hours, polls start closing in florida. this republican presidential primary is critical. it's winner take all. 50 delegates up for grabs, the biggest prize yet. we've had three contests, three different winners so far. tonight florida could make one candidates the clear front-runner or mover. >> florida, as you just said is a mini america. >> mitt rodney has a clear lead. or newt gingrich could rally. i write about this on my blog today. florida will be a critical state in november november. it's the fourth largest state in the united states, and the only one of the top four that's likely to be a serious factor in november, a competitive factor. florida is a classic swing state with a diverse electoral. it's gone to the winner in the most recent presidential elections and it's often you close. just remember what happened in florida in 2000 after a south carolina victory newt gingrich sailed into florida with the wind at his back. that wind has clearly shifted, but gingrich is vowing to move forward. you jim acosta has the latest. >> reporter: florida may not go his way, but he's confidence. one thing is certain, he won't take what happens in florida laying down. newt gingrich is fighting on. mr. speaker, do you still see a path to the nomination after florida? >> of course. >> reporter: how do you see that happens? >> unify the conservatives, you win the delegates and you have the nope name. >> reporter: a memo to supporters points out that florida, which was penalized for moving up its primary date, is actually a smaller prize than the 76 at stake in georgia. >> democrat and republican align by an overwhelming vote, they found him guilty of ethics violation. >> reporter: but there's still the matter of money. they dramatically outspent. in a state where an estimated 92% of 9 ads were negative, gingrich conceded the damage was done. >> reporter: did you let your guard down to mitt romney, would you say? >> no, when you outspend 5:1 with ads that are dishonest. >> reporter: and romney says that taught him a lesson. >> it will be pretty clear when attacked, you have to respond, and you can't let charges go unanswered. >> reporter: expect the gop grudge match to go on for months. in the next contest, nevada, romney is again hitting gingrich for his ties to freddie mac. >> for the first time were forced to eat nonkosher, because romney thought $5 was too much to pay for our grandparents to eat korbel. >> reporter: gingrich said he had not heard of it. >> i think why father would like to see a more positive campaign, but he also understood this is what primarying are all about. >> song of the former president set his father's 11th commandment thou shalt not speak ill of another republican no longer applies in the seek-and-destroy politics of now. >> there's now 12th commandment. forget about that 11th commandment and let's get on. >> reporter: now the former speak is predicting this campaign could go on for another 6 to 8 months. for those who aren't keeping track at home, that's convention time. >> in tampa of all places, this year, as they say, florida fla. thanks vessel, jim. the grudge match is already very, very nasty. what should we expect? joins us our chief political analyst gloria borger this is getting even more nasty by the day. >> we can't beat all of the money power of goldman sachs and all of romney's big money people. we can't beat the money power of romney himself. we can't beat the dishonesty of the campaign by ourselves. >> those are pretty strong words. is this working? >> i think so far it's worked generally, because he's an insurgent ad candidate. he gets his momentum from skirmishing with mitt romney. what he's doone is he channels the anger of the tea party, the antiestablishment voters and the people who just don't like mitt romney. but -- but there's a problem with that. if you want to sustain a campaign in the long term. in the long term voters want to know what they like about you as a candidate and what they can vote for you affirmative for. so far newt gingrich has been doing much less of that and much more attacking. in the long term i don't think it's a workable strategy. >> more than 90% of all the advertising has been negative attack ads, not the positive i'm a great guy and all of that. >> and that hurts both of their likable. >> romney may still have a problem with summer conservative voters. he seemed to address that today. >> i have a conservative record, and that record is one i'm willing to stand by. by the way, even with regard to social issues, i was i was at a state where being a social conservative was not easy. a bill came to my desk calling for cloning of embryos, i want absolutely not and i vetoed it. there was a bill on my desk providing greater alleges for the morning-after bill to young women, i vetoed that bill. i have a solid conservative record. >> does he have a problem among some conservatives still? >> he does. among the most conservative voters, take a look at that poll that nbc and marist did, and they asked who do the very conservative voters support. you'll see gingrich beats romney by about a dozen points. this is gingrich's opening here, this is what his campaign seeing as his opening, making the case to conservative voters that he's going to carry the reagan mantle. if the question is whether he has the 1234e7 discipline to do focus, rather than attacking mitt romney personally and his character. he now has to make the largest case. >> they argue the structure can work to their advantage. they say it's going to be slow, and it's going to be painful for romney, because they're just going to wiggle away at him. they also remind you that only 5% of the delegate after tonight will have been chosen. it could switch back, but i mean, yeah. big question, of course is money. will the super pac sugar daddy come through again? >> and we're going to get hints about florida in november tonight and what happens in this republican primary. remember in november the democrats almost always win california and new york. the republicans almost always win texas. those are the three largest, the fourth largest being florida. so that's the most competitive and most important right now. >> and it's such a diverse state, it gives you a hint about romney's strengths and weaknesses if he becomes the nominee. >> thank you. ron paul and rick santorum aren't expecting much. they have already 3406d west, looking for greener pastures. dana, why is santorum in nevada? what's his strategy to stay in this race? >> reporter: the answer is because he knew he was not going to do well at all in florida. as gloria was just saying, that state is winner take all. notice vr now he has opened up literally four days ago. he's already got some volunteers coming in, making calls, registered republican voters about rick santorum and about the caucuses where they can go to vote this is very different from what we thought would happen, but he decided to come west because of what also gloria was mentioning. this state as with others are proportional. even if he can get three delegates that could add up, especially if you look at other states he's going to compete in for the next contest, which is february 7th, colorado, missouri and minnesota. they're hoping that with all of those, that he can at least get -- tick his delegate number up a bit to stay in the race. >> what have you learned about rick santorum's financial situation farce hi campaign funds are concerned? >> reporter: he as in pretty good shape. his campaign is saying in january alone he raised $4.2 million. the fact he did so well in the first contest of iowa, that helped. they say the fact that he did well in some of the debates, including the one you moderated, that helped with online fund-raising, and he recalls $1.2 on hand. of course, anybody who even considers dropping out of the race, any race, it's because they can't financially afford to do it. rick santorum doesn't like lie he's in that kind of position. i just spoke with an adviser. they are cutting a brand-new ad, they still have all of the wheels in motion to keep going to quite a long time. >> dana gash, thanks very very much. i'm happy to report that santorum's daughter bella is doing much, much better. president obama catches everyone off-guard talking publicly for the first time about u.s. drone attacks, why it could potentially cause trouble for u.s. allies. newt gingrich draws a line in the sand for debates if he is the nominee. here's -- there is one thing he says a a deal breaker. we'll explain. hillary clinton lays down the law at the united nations. details of what she's condemning in, quote, the strongest possible terms. ♪ my sunglasses. people say i'm forgetful. 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[ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. jack cafferty is here with "the cafferty file." >> wolf, at a time when the federal government should be making drastic spending cuts across the board, they might want to start with their own. a new report out of the congressional budget office shows that federal workers get much better benefits, much better, including health insurance, retarmt and vacation than workers in the private sector. on average, the federal government spends 48% more on benefits for its employees than private employers do. as for salaries, federal workers make just 2% more than private sector workers and -- this is important -- there's a big difference when it comes to salaries when you break it down by education. for example, for federal workers with only a high school del ploppa, their benefits are 72% higher, the wages are 21% higher than they would be in the private sector, but workers with doctorates or professional degrees are worse off working for the government. their benefits are about the same and they earn 23% less than comparable people in the private sector earn. the cbo suggests retirement benefits could be the key to all of this, because most retirmd federal workers gets pension and subsidized health insurance, not so if in the private sector. the government paid 16% more overall in salary and benefits than it would have in the private sector for the same workforce. less than 2% of the total u.s. workforce. now in 2010, congress and president obama agreed to a two-year federal pay freeze, but the president now wants a 0.5% pay increase for federal workers in 2013. hey, this is an election year, in case you have lost track. here's the question, do federal workers deserve better benefits and higher salaries. go to cnn.com/caffertyfile, post a comment on my blog or go to and post on "the situation room's" facebook page. world? yak, thank you. america's drone war is an open secret. they have openly raised it in an online forum, talking about the weapons' pinpoint accuracy. let's go to brianna keilar. what's this all about? >> reporter: wolf, it appears the president was trying to address concerns that civilians are killed in drone attacks, but created a firestorm by even talking about the drone program in what was supposed to be an online video chat where he could take questions from every americans. it was a question from paris patel, a med student in chicago that prompted president obama to do something he never had done before, acknowledge the existence of a classified and controversial drone program that tarts militants and terrorists in foreign countries like pakistan. >> i'm curious to know how you feel they help the nation and whether you think they're worth it. >> i want to make sure that people understand that actually drones have not caused a huge number of civilians casualties. this thing is kept on a very tight leash. >> reporter: officials rarely talk about the program, because it puts leaders in countries like pakistan in an uncomfortable position. they tacitly allow the strikes, but publicly condemn them. in november, a drone attack accidentally killed 24 pakistani soldiers. fran townsend was security adviser to president bush. >> acknowledgement by the president of the u.s. drone program makes deniability by our allies far more difficult. it's one thing when the press talks about the drone program. it's another thing when the president or senior officials in the u.s. government confirm officially that it's u.s. policy. >> reporter: that was evident in the white house briefing, as press secretary jay carney tiptoed around the target. >> was it purposeful what he said? >> look, i would just refer you to what the president and to note that the point he was making is that our counterterrorism efforts by his order include, um, very concerted efforts to be targeted. >> reporter: it doesn't address whether it was purposeful or not. that's what i'm asking, if el he made a mistake. >> he's the commander in chief of the armed force of the united states, the president of the united states. i would point you to his comments. >> reporter: you can see just how sensitive this is, wolf. when jay carney was asked multiple questions about this topic, he wouldn't even say the words "drones." at least publicly, wolf, the white house doesn't want to touch it with a ten-foot pole. they don't want to talk about it anymore it's very unusual when a report in a white house briefing asks the press secretary, did the president make a mistake? did he slip up? you don't hear immediately "of course not." that's what you would normally hear. so that's a good point. i spent many years covering presidential press secretaries. they always immediately come back and say of course not, but in this particular case, we can she. the u.s. navy to the rescue of an iranian ship. we're learning more about what prompted the mayday call. and birthday wish comes true for a little girl. her emotion at surprise reunion with her soldier dad. an emotional story. . ♪ america america ♪ ♪ god shed his grace on thee ♪ ♪ ♪ you and me and the big old tree ♪ ♪ side by side, one, two, three ♪ ♪ count the birds in the big old tree ♪ ♪ la la la [ male announcer ] the inspiring story of how a shipping giant can befriend a forest may seem like the stuff of fairy tales. ♪ ♪ you and me and the big old tree side by side ♪ but if you take away the faces on the trees... take away the pixie dust. take away the singing animals, and the charming outfits. take away the sprites, and the storybook narrator... 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[ male announcer ] sustainable solutions. fedex. solutions that matter. the u.s. navy rescues an iranian boat. mary snow is monitoring that and other stop stories in "the situation room." what's going on, mary? >> it happened in an rabidian gulf where there was a distress called picked up from a fishing boat. the helicopter spotted the vessel drifting. a team from the guided missile destroyer "uss john paul jones" came aboard, not only fixed the engine, but the damaged propeller as well, send the the iranian bot on its way. the u.s. the python problem is worse than anyone imagined, according to a new study. they have wiped out about 95% of the raccoon and opossum area in some areas. the python population has exploded as police release their pets into the wild. a the 6 utah girl got what she says was the only thing she really wanted for her birthday. what a surprise for little baby paige, as she sat in her kindergarten classroom, her father was home from the war in afghanistan. >> guess what, bailey? turn around. >> dad! >> sergeant page has been in the army seven years and been re-deployed for utah. it will be the first time he's lived with his family since she was born. >> so sweet, so nice. happy for those kids, happy for the dads. would like to see that happening more every single day. thank you for sharing with our viewers. mitt romney breaks out in song. ♪ for purple mountains' majesty above the fruited plain ♪ ♪ america you'll hear more and what's behind it. stand by. newt gingrich says he won't participate in debates moderated by journalists if he gets the republican nomination. what is he thinking? talking about? that's coming up in our "strategy session." [ male announcer ] this was how my day began. 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? ♪ here are some of the stories we're working on for the next hour. the first exit polls will be coming in soon, it will shed some light a what voters are thinking of. and why officials fear iran is willing to attack the u.s. on its own turf. stand by. you're in "the situation room." let's get to our strategy session right now. joining us donna brazile and the republican strategist alex castellanos. marco rubio, the junior senator here, still a very powerful figure, he was on cnn with soledad o'brien earlier today. listen to what he said. >> i'm not going to speculate who will win, but here's what i'm comfortable in saying. i think the winner of florida will in all likelihood be the nominee for our party. as you said, florida is a mini-america. it's. so we'll wait for the results. i don't know what they'll be, but let's see. we have an election week in florida. people have been voting for more than a week with the absentee ballots. >> um-hmm. >> early voting and absentee ballots, alex, you agree with marco rubio, in all likelihood the winner will be the republican nominee? >> i would say in all likelihood, but not in all certitude. when you look at other states mitt romney is winning tactical victorie victories, because he does negative ads, kills opponents, has more money, but hasn't won at the message level. that's why it hasn't translated nationally. yes, mitt romney should win, but rubio could be wrong. he hasn't heard mitt romney sing evidently. >> let's not get carried away. we'll talk about that a bit later. the whole notion of newt gingrich's strategy. let's sea if he were to lose. >> first of all less than 10% of the delegates will be selected by the end of the night. newt gingrich still has an opportunity if he can find the money, to compete for about 180 delegates in the month of february, so no question if he can go the distance to accumulate delegates. 1,144 delegates. so is there a path to the nomination? absolutely, but i don't know if newt gingrich, given the fact that his campaign, he's come back twice. he's had more rebounds than larry birr. if he doesn't show he can compete and stop the establishment from piling it on, i think it will be tough to security the nomination. >> february looks tough. it's the march across the desert. there are very few primaries and caucuses and newt gingrich thriving off debate, guess what? he doesn't have much coming up, he's going to need big money to get ready for super tuesday. can he find it in he takes a big beating in florida? maybe not. i was frankly surprised when he made this comment. there