Mitt Romney greets supporters

Mitt Romney has taken a lead over rival Rick Santorum in the latest poll of likely Republican primary voters in Ohio, a ten point reversal in just a week as women shifted sharply to the former Massachusetts governor.

Conducted by Quinnipiac University, the poll released Monday found Romney leads the former Pennsylvania senator 34 percent to 31 percent among likely Republican voters, compared to a poll released a week ago showing Santorum with 36 percent to Romney's 29 percent.

Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said Romney is clearly the momentum candidate "with the wind at his back," though the three-point margin makes it too close to call just one day before Ohio voters head to the polls.

"Just as he did in Florida and Michigan, Romney has erased a sizable deficit a week before the primary to grab the momentum in the final 24 hours," Brown said.

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Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney

/ Getty Images

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum still has a small lead over rival Mitt Romney in the latest poll of likely Republican primary voters in Ohio, though the gap between the two men has shrunk since Monday.

Conducted by Quinnipiac University, the poll released Friday found Santorum leads the former Massachusetts governor 35 percent to 31 percent among likely Republican voters, compared to a poll released Monday showing Santorum with 36 percent to Romney's 29 percent.

Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said a third of Ohio Republican voters told pollsters they might change their mind before March 6, when Republicans in ten states choose who they want to take on President Obama in November.

In addition to the Buckeye state, voters in Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Vermont and Virginia head to the polls on "Super Tuesday," as the early March contest has come to be known. Ohio is considered the most important of the states as it will be crucial for the Republican candidate to win Ohio in the general election seven months from now.

Rick Santorum and Mitt Romney

/ CBS/AP

Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum has a small lead over rival Mitt Romney in the latest poll of likely Republican primary voters in Ohio.

Conducted by Quinnipiac University, the poll found Santorum leads the former Massachusetts governor 36 percent to 29 percent, though almost half of respondents said they could still change their mind ahead of the Buckeye state primary to be held in a little more than a week's time.

"While almost half the voters say they might change their mind, Santorum supporters seem a little surer of their vote," said Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

The U.S. Capitol with letters

/ CBS

UPDATED 7:03 p.m ET

A handful of lawmakers, including House Speaker John Boehner, have received threatening letters in the last few days with an unidentified white powdery substance and more may be on the way, law enforcement officials told CBS News Wednesday.

In addition Boehner, at least one lawmaker from Wisconsin and a senator from Indiana have received the letters at their district offices, with more expected to receive additional letters, the officials said.

"Those letters (already received) were tested and the substance found to be harmless," said Terrance Gainer, Senate Sergeant at Arms.

In a letter to the Senate community, Gainer, the chamber's chief law enforcement official, said the author of the letters suggested some of these letters yet to arrive at Senate offices "may contain an actual harmful material."

"Although all letters received thus far have proved harmless, it is essential that we treat every piece of suspicious mail as if it may, in fact, be harmful," Gainer wrote in his memo to the Senate community.

The letters make vague complaints about too much money in politics and had a Portland, Oregon return address from an organization listed as "The MIB, LLC," a law enforcement official told CBS News.

In addition to the letters to the lawmakers, officials said television comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert received letters mentioning the letters to senators.

The author told the comedians he would send letters to all 100 senators and ten percent of them would contain "lethal pathogens," an official told CBS News.

The author wanted an end to corporate money and lobbying, an end to "corporate personhood," and called for a new constitutional convention to rewrite the constitution.

The author also told the comedians he would tell the senators they are "working for the wrong side" and there is a ten percent chance they have been exposed to a lethal pathogen. The author also said he "randomized" which letters would contain the pathogen and even he did not know who would get which letter.

The letters come more than a decade after five people, including two Washington postal workers, were killed when anthrax was mailed to the Washington offices of a pair of Democratic senators and a number of media personalities. The mail system to the U.S. Capitol was completely overhauled in the wake of those attacks and letters are now sent through and off-site processing facility before arriving at lawmakers' offices.

Additional reporting by Bob Orr, Nancy Cordes, Rob Hendin and Jenna Gibson.

Sheldon Adelson

/ Getty Images

UPDATED 11:07 a.m. ET

The billionaire casino magnate backing Newt Gingrich said he is prepared to give $100 million to help the former House speaker in his quest for the White House if he decides it is necessary.

Sheldon Adelson, who has already given $11 million to the outside group backing Gingrich and is expected to give another $10 million in the coming days, told Forbes magazine he is prepared to spend five times that amount.

AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari

UPDATED 1:51 p.m. ET

U.S. officials on Friday arrested a Moroccan man they say was planning a suicide mission at the U.S. Capitol, a law enforcement official told CBS News.

The man was never a real threat and part of an apparent sting, the official told CBS News.

The suspect is a 29-year-old, who is in the United States illegally and living in Alexandria, Virginia, officials said.

The man had been seeking assistance in executing a terrorist attack against the United States, and officials had investigating him for months. FBI agents arrested him in his garage in Alexandria after providing him with what he believed was a suicide vest.

Click here for updates on this breaking news story

Additional reporting by Andres Triay and John Miller.

Sarah Palin

/ AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite

Fox News analyst Sarah Palin hinted Wednesday that it is not too late for her to get into the Republican presidential contest.

Asked in an interview if she would be interested in jumping in the race if there is no clear winner by the time Republicans gather this summer for their nominating convention, Palin said she would "do whatever I could to help."

Fox Business interviewer Eric Bolling asked about the possibility of a so-called "brokered convention" in Tampa, Florida, in August -- a scenario many consider unlikely.

Palin told Bolling she thinks "it could get to that," and if it does "all bets are off."

UPDATED 12:15 p.m. ET

White House hopeful Mitt Romney wants Michiganders to know he is one of them -- even though he opposed the bailout of the dominant car industry that was started by President George W. Bush and continued by President Obama.

In an opinion piece in the Detroit News two weeks ahead of the February 28 primary, Romney focused heavily on his Michigan roots.

"I am a son of Detroit. I was born in Harper Hospital and lived in the city until my family moved to Oakland County," Romney said in the opening line of his piece, which also touted his father' role as the head of American Motors and his own life drinking the popular Detroit creation: Vernors ginger ale.

President Obama and Mitt Romney.

/ AP Photo

President Obama has resurfaced in the swing state of Virginia, taking the lead over Republican front-runner Mitt Romney in a poll released Wednesday.

Mr. Obama bests Romney 47 percent to 43 percent, a five percentage point gain from December, when the president trailed with 42 percent and the former Massachusetts governor garnered 44 percent, according to Quinnipiac University.

The Virginia Republican primary is March 6 and widely expected to go to Romney, as rivals Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum are not on the ballot.

President Obama and Mitt Romney.

/ AP Photo

UPDATED 2:17 p.m. ET

The bruising primary campaign appears to have taken a toll on Mitt Romney's prospects for throwing President Obama out of office.

Mr. Obama is ahead of Romney in a hypothetical contest between the two men, according to a poll conducted for The Washington Post and ABC News.

The president leads the Republican front-runner 51 percent to 45 percent among registered voters, the first time he has led in a Washington Post/ABC News poll. That is the first time either candidate has a majority, however slight, in the hypothetical general election matchup.

AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

President Obama predicted in an interview airing Monday morning that the upcoming general election campaign could get nasty.

"One of the worries we have obviously in the next campaign is that there are so many of these so-called super PACs, these independent expenditures that are going to be out there. There is going to be just a lot of money floating around. And I guarantee you a bunch off that is going be negative," Mr. Obama told NBC News.

Republican presidential candidate, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney

/ Getty Images/Ethan Miller

Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney said Thursday he "misspoke" when he told CNN on Wednesday he was "not concerned about the very poor."

In an interview with Nevada political reporter Jon Ralston, Romney sought to downplay the comments, which have been widely criticized.

"It was a misstatement. I misspoke," Romney said.

"I've said something that is similar to that but quite acceptable for a long time. And you know when you do I don't know how many thousands of interviews now and then you may get it wrong. And I misspoke. Plain and simple," Romney added.

Mitt Romney and Donald Trump

/ AP Photo/Julie Jacobson

UPDATED 5:16 p.m. ET

Reality television show host Donald Trump injected himself into the race for the Republican nomination for president, endorsing Mitt Romney just days before Nevada voters head to the polls to decide who they want to take on President Obama in November.

"It is my honor, real honor, and privilege to endorse Mitt Romney," Trump said with Romney and Romney's wife Ann at his side for the brief announcement at a Las Vegas hotel bearing Trump's name.

"Mitt is tough. He is smart. He is sharp. He is not going to allow bad things to continue to happen to this country that we all love. So Gov. Romney, go out and get em. You can do it," Trump added.

Perhaps not coincidentally, Trump's announcement comes ten days before the beginning of the new season of Trump's reality show, "The Apprentice," which airs February 12.

Donald Trump

UPDATED Feb 2, 11:09 a.m. ET

With just days to go before Nevada Republicans head to the polls to choose who they want to take on President Obama in November, reality show host Donald Trump is injecting himself into the race.

Trump's office announced Wednesday that he would make a major announcement Thursday morning in Las Vegas, without providing details of what he would say. Trump's reality show, "The Apprentice," begins a new season February 12.