Newt Gingrich plans on wins in the South; says Romney ‘can’t close the deal’

GOP candidate Newt Gingrich says he anticipates victory in several Southern states and discusses his competitors on Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien.

On his Southern strategy, Gingrich says, “Next week we have Mississippi, Alabama and Kansas, and I think I’ll win at least two out of three of them…. I think we’ll be very competitive in [Oklahoma and Tennessee]. And our hope is to also pick up some delegates in Ohio and possibly some in Idaho.”

He adds, “I think somebody could break loose sometime in April or May, and you could suddenly see a delegate migration towards one person.”

On Mitt Romney, Gingrich adds, “[Romney] can’t close the deal…. People inherently don’t trust what he’s saying and think that he isn’t always very candid with them…. But it’s not at all clear to me right now that Romney can get above a certain ceiling.  And the question is whether or not ultimately his money starts to run out.  It’s very clear in any kind of relatively evenly financed campaign Romney would not win.”

Starting Point with Soledad O’Brien airs week mornings from 7-9am ET on CNN.