>> what do you say to those republicans who say that you are spending way too much time talking about divisive cultural issues, that they don't want to get into a culture war, and if you're a nominee, this would doom you with women voters and in fact with independent voters. you know they're coming from high places in washington. >> the gallup poll said we're leading among women, and we're doing well. people care about families, people care about what's happening to our society. but i do get these questions, as john king tried to do, on contraception and other things that are sort of outrageous types of questions. and then the next question from the reporter is, why are you talking so much about social issues? so they ask, and then they say you're talking about social issues all the time. i understand the game and we're just going to stay on message about what we're going to do to make this country more prosperous, build up a strong foundation for our country which clearly is, as i talked about before, we've got to do something to help strengthen the american family and i'm going to continue to talk about those things. >> senator, thank you very much. you got the microphone here. back to you, anderson. >> john king is on the stage with ron paul. john? >> anderson, to respond, i understand the game as well, and i don't think it's out of bounds to ask a presidential candidate about something they said in a presidential campaign, but that's how the process works. ron paul is with me. at the end of the debate, you said the greatest misconception is that people think maybe you can't win. you are the only candidate in the state who has yet to get a win. came close in maine, but when you look at the arena, arizona and michigan next, wyoming and washington state, then ten states on super tuesday, to prove your point, doesn't congressman paul need to get a win? >> it would be nice, but we haven't finished counting all of the votes in maine yet. when we count up the delegates, i'm in second place, so the delegates is the name of the game. i can expand on this whole thing about the polling. when i'm polled against the democrats and independents, i do better than the rest, and the republican party claims they want somebody to win. you understand why i have appeal to somebody outside of the republican party because the foreign policy is different, i have concern about civil liberty and i'm a fiscal conservative. i have a broad base of appeal. that goes by the way, and i have to fight to get that message out. >> what was your sense tonight from your perspective of the most interesting or significant policy disagreement or confrontation or discussion? >> i think that most disagreement that is clear cut is probably what you were able to point out, three guys here, they say they want to go and fight iran and go into war, and i have a different position, which is very legitimate, very important, important to me. and some people sometimes -- they say, if you change your foreign policy, you might get more support. i say the young people who come to see me, that's their biggest issue, war and spending. i work it in, the war, and spending and overseas, the crisis, and i think that's key. it definitely is a different policy. when i can further explain it, i can show where i am closer to eisenhower. he was restrained, he got rid of the war in korea, he didn't get involved with the troops in veit yaveit -- vietnam, and i remember in '56, he would not fight, go to war over the suez canal. i like him, and he was a military man. i have been in the military, the others haven't. i think in many ways i would follow some of the advice ofizen how urand our founders. >> let me bring you back to the first question, the gentlemen's concern about the debt. there are many who say debt and deficit reduction are different things. 8.7% unemployment, do they say take it easy and go more slowly because if you pull too much money back, it might hurt the economy. you say cut a trillion dollars in the first year. do you worry that could have a negative economic impact? >> no because it's a myth. we're just talking about who should spend the money. when the government spends the money, they take care of their friends. when the people get their trillion dollars back and they spend, they're going to spend it by making economic decisions. after world war ii, the men and women came home. we cut the budget by 60% and we cut taxes by 30% and the depression finally ended, proving my point that the government shouldn't be spending their money, the people should be spending their money. >> you hear a consistent message from ron paul. he is second in delegates as we move on to a more crowded calendar. can he win a state, and we'll know much better on that front in ten days or so. >> consistent was the one word he used to describe himself. i want to bring in some of our other analysts watching the debate with everyone else. david gergen is joining us, who won, who did well? >> this was a showdown between mitt romney and rick santorum. a very significant debate. and mitt romney was the winner by a significant margin. he came in better prepared. he remained on offense, he knew his brief, he was able to go on attack against santorum very, very well. he was a dominant figure in a hall that seemed to be dominated by pro-romney supporters. rick santorum, who has had terrific debates leading up to this, seemed nervous tonight coming out of the gate, and he couldn't quite get into the groove on the economic issues, and in particular, it was interesting how romney and then ron paul managed to make santorum defend himself as a legislator and put himself smack in the middle of congress. i don't think that served him well. and one last question, anderson, i think it did help romney in michigan. it will help him on super tuesday, but did it help him looking toward november? that's a tougher question. there are a lot of women on twitter who believe the candidates really live in the past, they're men who don't understand the women's rights movement, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. >> eric erickson, let's check in. you haven't been a fan of romney all along, do you think he did particularly well tonight? >> between santorum and romney, he did much better. particularly in the first half, santorum found his footing in the second half, but in the first half, he stumbled a lot, he anticipated the attack, and the attacks came. i think romney was very smart to get rick santorum to defend voting for arlen specter, something that won't go over well with tea party groups. but at the same time, i think we saw the same dynamic we saw in florida. when newt gingrich and romney went after each other, santorum and ron paul shined brighter in florida. tonight, i think gingrich shined brighter than the others. he came off as the statesman we haven't seen in a while. he has good lines and brought everything back to barack obama. is it enough for him on super tuesday? probably not, but he may have locked in georgia and tennessee, which is all i think he's expecting on super tuesday. >> to david gergen's point about a women problem, do you agree that was shown on the stage tonight? >> oh, absolutely. i know the republicans would like to make this an issue about religious liberty, but for many women in the country, those currently on birth control and those who have used it in the past, this is about access to reproductive health issues. i think the republicans came off tonight as saying basically a blast from the past. i understand this is a women's health issue and not a religious liberty issue. >> ari, do you think that's how it came off? or do you think there are many who said this is a religious liberty issue? >> no, i think this is one of those republicans are from venus, democrats are from mars and independents are from both, and that's going to be the jump ball of the general election. there are valid arguments on both sides, if you look at this as a birth control matter, you're going to disagree with republicans. if you look at this as a religious freedom matter and government being able to mandate how much you can charge for a product and telling you you have to give it up for free, you're going to look at it from a republican point of view. both sides to have make their arguments to win the campaign. >> hi, anderson. governor, thanks so much for being with us tonight, and thanks for having us in the state of arizona. earlier this evening, you spoke with our colleague john king, who mad ratoderated the debate. you said if you were so inspired, you might actually endorse someone this evening. were you so inspired? >> i was really inspired tonight. i thought this was a fabulous, fabulous debate. so much so that now maybe i'm a little more confused. i thought they all did fabulous. >> now, you have met with each of the candidates, except for ron paul, i gather, and can you share with us anything that they told you to try to tip the balance in their favor? i know you met with mitt romney just before the debate. >> i think, you know, of course, i understand they come in and they want to tell you all about their positives and where they want to go, and they were kerned about the things i was concerned about in trying to make my decision. we discussed a lot of that back and forth, and each and every one of the three that i met with satisfied that in some instances. >> obviously, immigration, a huge issue here, a huge issue for you. is there anything that struck a chord with you this evening because there was a lot of discussion about building a fence, building a double fence, building a wall. strengthening immigration laws. is there any one in particular who you thought made the best case that would sell in the state of arizona to the republican party? >> to be candid, i liked exactly what newt gingrich has said about really working with the governors of those border states. i think that's really, really important, but that doesn't mean that the other candidates won't do that. i think that we hear from all of them that they understand that that is a huge issue for america, and that they need to stand tall and to secure our borders and that we're a nation of laws and we believe in the rule of law. >> thank you so much, governor. and tell us when you're going to endorse. >> i will, thank you. >> we'll be waiting for that. we're going to take a quick break. when we come back, we'll play you some of the key moments from the debate in case you missed any of that. we're on facebook, google plus, let me know who you think did well. i'm on twitter right now at anderson cooper. later, we'll pay tribute to a fallen colleague who fell in to syria to expose to assad regime. marie colvin, assassinated. we interviewed her just hours before she was killed. we'll show you her life and legacy. [ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan was designed with near-perfect weight balance from front to back... and back to front. ♪ giving you exceptional control from left to right... and right to left. ♪ the cadillac cts. ♪ we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. have 46 grams of whole grains... mmmm. ...and a touch of sweetness. you'll be delighted to discover how good they taste. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares on facebook. we're back with special 360 coverage. contentious debate wrapped up. first, some of the pivotal moments from tonight's debate. >> congressman paul, you questioned the fiscal conservative credentials of all of these gentleman, but particularly rick santorum. especially one that labeled him as a fake. why? >> because he's a fake. >> i'm real, ron. i'm real. >> congratulations. >> he's out there on television ads unfortunately attacking me for saying i'm this great earmarker when he not only asked for earmarks for the salt lake olympics in the order of tens of millions of dollars, sought those in the system, and he did it to the governor of massachusetts, $300 or $400 million. >> didn't follow all that, but i would put a ban on earmarks. our gains were successful, but while i was fighting to save the olympics, you were fighting to save the bridge to nowhere. >> you're misrepresenting the facts. you don't know what you're talking about. what happened in the earmark process, it was that members of congress would ask formally, publicly request these things, put them on paper and have them allocated, have them voted on in the committee, have them voted on in the senate. >> attached to a bill, attached to a bill? >> as part of a bill. >> and the president can veto it? >> he can veto the bill. >> but not the earmark? we tried to do that, by the way. i supported the vetoes. >> since birth control is the latest hot topic, which candidates believe in birth control, and if not, why? it's a very popular question. a very popular question in the audience, as we can see. >> i want to point out, you did not once, in the 2008 campaign, not one ask why barack obama voted in favor of legalize iing- >> you said you personally opposed contraceptives but you said you voted for title ten. but you use that as an argument, saying this is something i did. you didn't say this was something i was opposed to. you said this in a positive light, i voted for title x. >> i think i was making it clear, while i have a personal objection to it, while i don't support it, i voted for bills that included it. and i made it clear that i don't support that, i have never supported it, and on an individual basis, have voted against it. yes, governor, you balanced the budget for four years. you have a constitutional requirement to balance the budget in four years. i would like to see it federally, but don't go around bragging about something you have to do. michael dukakis balanced the budget for ten years. does it make him president of the united states, i don't think so. bringing back our panel, what do you make of newt gingrich's comment about president obama supporting infanticide? >> i don't know if the transcript would support it, but i think there was a case when the mainstream media focused on the republican social vulnerabilities, what they perceive as the questions, and i would be fascinated to go back and see what hardball questions they asked to the democratic candidates to see if it was just as vigorous on their alleged weak points. that was the point newt was making. i thought he was going to give it back to the media, he pulled the punch and let it hang out there. >> i'm a little sad we didn't talk about satan tonight. >> he got points. >> it wasn't enough. the truth is that during the 2008 contest, we had a lot of discussion about these issues on the democratic side. not as much as perhaps republicans like, but remember, in the democratic debates, our base tends to focus on health care, access to all, equality, justice issues. we had a big conversation about the war in iraq and other important national security issues as well. >> if i could jump in on that one, it reminds of something, in 2010, you had a lot of democratic analysts and pundits and reporters even, some of the top echelon in the republican party threatening it was becoming the party of no, and we're seeing this in the contraception issue. it's going to drive women to vote for the democrats. you have reporters, the top of the republicans fretting about it. in 2010, the party no didn't hurt the republicans. i'm not sure that the contraception issue 11 months from now, ten months from now is going to hurt the party. >> i think it could. these are issues that are important to women, and women don't forget these things. i thought, however, that santorum handled it well tonight, because when he was asked about it, you know, he said just because i'm against something doesn't mean that i'm going to legislate against it. which means that he may personally oppose contraception, but it doesn't mean he's going to pass federal legislation that opposes contraception, but i believe if it continues it could become a serious real issue and there already is a gender gap. >> there has been a gender gap for some years and that's because many women have moved into a position of thinking as donna is arguing, this is about reproductive rights. i thought when this argument first started about the church that the republicans were in a very strong position. it did look like the obama administration was forcing the catholic church into taking positions that were contrary to their beliefs. but once obama found his compromise, they have talked about a more general conversation about contraception, and even culture when santorum talked about families, and for a lot of women, it's sounding like four white guys saying this is how we're going to tell you. >> let's play that. >> senator, i just saw a youtube clip of you being interviewed where you said you opposed contraceptives but you said you voted tore -- for title x. you use that as an argument saying this is something i did. you didn't say this is something i was opposed to, something i wouldn't have done. you said this in a positive light, i voted for title x. >> i think i was making it clear that while i have a personal moral objection to it, even though i don't support it, i voted for bills that included it. i made it very clear in subsequent interviews that i don't -- i don't support that. i have never supported it. and on an individual basis, have voted against it. >> this was one of the points that someone on the panel earlier said that romney was able to put santorum squarely in the center of washington politics. >> right, and you know, i think that's a problem for rick santorum because the more that mitt romney makes rick santorum look like an earmarker, like an insider, look like, oh, okay, you supported arlen specter over a true conservative because of the team, the inside washington team, you know, that's trouble for rick santorum, particularly with tea party voters with whom he's strong with right now. >> anderson, any time a candidate in a national debate starts talking about title x, distinguishing that from title xx and trying to defend himself on that, he's got problems. >> there's a reason that governors are more successful, they're chief executives, they haven't cast hundreds if thought thousands of votes, and they don't learn for better or worse when they get to washington, the language where santorum is trying to describe the votes. speaker gingrich tends to avoid this better than most candidates, but even he starts to describe the process, and whether you agree or disagree with the answer, it gets into the washington gobbledy-gook. it's one of the problems that was a problem for dole. >> santorum had excitement and he didn't take advantage of it. it was almost as if he didn't have a strategy coming into tonight. his strategy should have been to make the case that mitt romney is an inauthentic conservative who changes his views and i will always speak from the heart. i'm an authentic conservative. whether you disagree or agree with me, you'll know where i stand. >> when we watch the candidate claw their way up and they finally get there, and they're great, santorum had two terrific debates before this debate. then you get to that middle hot seat, and you're under attack, then they seem to have problems because they're not used to it. >> not newt, newt had another good night tonight. >> but he was not in the center seat. >> i don't think it's going to help newt win any elections, but he had a good night tonight. >> he had a very good night. >> given the volatility on the republican side, i wouldn't be surprised if newt gingrich would find a way back to being a front runner in a couple weeks. >> we have to take a quick break. when we come back, we'll play more of the things that gingrich said, particularly about president obama, i believe he said he's maybe the most dangerous president in history. we'll play you the sound bite. we'll have the panel talk about that. the coverage continues of the republican debate. we'll be back. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems... ... and protect land - by reducing our footprint and respecting wildlife. america's natural gas... domestic, abundant, clean energy to power our lives... that's smarter power today. everybody who serves in the fire department, in the police department, not just the first responders but our national guard, whoever is going to respond, all of us are more at risk today, men and women, boys and girls, than at any time in the history of this country, and we need to understand that's the context in which we're going to move forward in understanding the nature of modern combat. this is a sobering period and this is the most dangerous president on national security grounds in american history. >> pretty bold statement by newt gingrich there. let's talk to the panel about that. john king is with us, ari fleischer, donna brazile, eric erickson, gloria borger. do you believe that's an argument that can win, that obama is the most dangerous president on national security grounds? >> i'm partisan on the issue and freely admitting, i think the president has been a disaster on national security. yes, he may have gotten osama bin laden, something george w. bush didn't do, but he spends more time appall skwzing for the allies that he does for the enemies. our south america policy under obama and bush has not been good, and we don't seem to have a comprehensive policy on mexico, we want to talk about north korea, china, it seems like they're our friends except when they're not our friends. >> david gergen, do you buy that? >> no. i will say this, from my perspective, barack obama is very vulnerable on a range of domestic issues starting with the economy, but his strength, his surprising strength has been in international-affairs. he's not only gotten us osama bin laden, but he didn't get us into a war in iraq that a lot of people oppose. he's getting us out of the war in iraq. he's handling it, he's got the sanctions against iran, appearing to be making headway, we have slowed iran down. there are many different reasons why i think it could be argued that he's a much more successful foreign policy president. has he gotten everything right? no, but can he have arguments in november? he'll have the better arguments on foreign policy. >> and the big question out there is syria. i didn't hear any definitive solutions to what we should do in terms of what is going on in syria, and i also remember that newt gingrich in his campaign was back and forth and back and forth on libya and whether we should go in unilaterally or be part of a no-fly zone. >> can the white house also run on the expanded use of predator drone strikes which have been very effective in eliminating the top leadership of al qaeda and the taliban in pakistan. >> i think it's a mixed verdict. you have to give the president credit for what he did with osama bin laden, and also give him credit for flip-flopping and continuing the george bush policy, warrantless wire taps, guantanamo, keeping it open, and the drone strikes which he has increased. i wish he wouldn't say george bush violated the constitution when he did it because now he's doing the same. the worst thing he did was iran. he missed a chance when he stayed silent when the iranian people took to the streets to protest the stolen election, to see if the iranians would take control of their own future. he sat silent, timid. that was a huge missed opportunity, and now iran is stronger and it looks like they're going to go nuclear. >> they're not stronger. go ahead. >> many people in iran at the time in the green movement who did not want the u.s. to visibly be siding with them because they didn't want it to play into iranian government's hands, if i'm not mistaken. >> and it would have consolidated the people of iran behind the iranian government at a time when we were trying to strengthen those on the street. i think the president made the right decision with regard to iran, and i think he made the right decision in regard to israel in making sure they have what they need to protect themselves against any future attack from iran. that's why they're working closely with iran at this time, and there are no good options in syria, and yet tonight we heard a lot of paper rattling. and on the foreign policy issues, i agree with ron paul. >> i think it's important to remember, anderson, at such an uncertain time in the republican race, they're competing for conservative votes. number two, the points about osama bin laden is a fair one. this is an election that will be, by and large, barring some big change, a global event or crisis, ab electin election abo economy, about the role of government, an election about taxes and spending, perhaps health care. however, these republican candidates, and the white house, they get this too, the giant question mark in the foreign policy front and center is the question of iran, the iaea inspectors told to leave without seeing the nuclear facilities, the price of gas rising every day in part because of this confrontation and uncertainty. that's a giant question mark. we can't, as we speak tonight, have any idea whether it will be a big issue in november, and if it is, how it will play. >> who scored highest among conservatives? i'll ask that to the panel when we come back. a lot more to talk about. also we look back on the life and legacy of marie colvin, killed 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[ man ] saw 'em in '83 in fresno. place was crawling with chicks. i got to go. ♪ any way you want it ♪ that's the way you need it ♪ any way you want it ♪ we're back with special coverage of tonight's republican debate in mesa, arizona. the candidates threw punches on a number of issues. >> congress has a role of allocating resources when they think the administration has it wrong. i defended that at the time. i think they did make mistakes. i do believe there was abuse, and i said i think we should stop it. as president, i would impose earmarks. >> governor? >> i didn't follow all of that, but i can tell you this. i would put a ban on earmarks. i think it opens the door to excessive spending. congress wants to vote in favor of a bill. they should take that bill, bring it forward with committees, have people say vote it up or down in the floor of the house, the senate, and move it forward. you mentioned the olympics coming to the congress, asking for support. no question about it. that's the nature of what it is when you lead an organization or a state. you come and say these are things that we need. i was fighting for those things, our games were successful. while i was fighting to save the olympics, you were fighting to save the bridge to nowhere. >> it's really interesting, governor, because the process you just described of an open process, where members of congress put forth their suggestions on how to spend money, have it voted on individually, is exactly how the process works. so what you're suggesting as to how earmarks should work in the future is how they worked in the past. >> the 6,000 earmarks that were put in place under the speaker's term, for instance, were often times tagged on to other bills. >> you're misrepresenting the fact. you don't know what you're talking about. what happened in the earmark process, what happens in the earmark process was that members of congress would ask formally, publicly request these things, put them on paper and have them allocated and have them voted on the committee, voted on in the floor of the senate. congressman paul -- attached to the bill? >> as part of the bill. gr and the president can veto it? >> part of the bill? >> not the whole earmark? >> we tried to do that. >> that's what i support. >> hold on. >> we're back with our panel. again, who do you think appealed to conservatives the most tonight? >> newt gingrich. you know, i think newt had one of those nights, and this is why debates don't always drive vote behavior, although in this cycle, they have, but i don't think this one will for newt. he had the commonsensical appeal and he approached it with a good conservative point of view, especially when we talked about energy production, he made some good points. rick santorum spoke, anytime you talk about committee and the floor, you're losing. you're talking washington inside process. and that's what hurt rick santorum tonight. >> anderson, this earmark debate has become definitional in the romney/santorum tug of war. it's a defining piece of the budget, but this is a litmus test to the tea party. they look at what happened in congress, and they believe, whether it's right or wrong, this is the gateway to corruption in congress, so it's become an issue in congress, and rahm knees has decided to push it. despite if you took away all of the earmarks in the past ten years, you wouldn't do a huge role in cutting the deficit. santorum, he's new in terms of being the candidate in the center. he's saying take another look at this guy. he's not who you think. >> from the tea party's perspective, anderson, and congressman jeff flake of arizona, he called it a gateway bill. if you look at every controversial piece of legislation that's beb -- been passed in the past few years has required the president of the congress to add earmarks to get particular votes. if you get rid of earmarks, it's inordinantly more difficult to pass pieces of lidge slagz. i talked to good a friend who doesn't like romney, not gingrich, it's not me, by the way. and he doesn't care for santorum, he said santorum is the guy where his heart is, but when he hears him hiding behind jim demint on earmarks, it makes him diminish santorum. >> what was interesting is santorum made the point, what is the difference between asking for earmarks and approving earmarks? because you, mitt romney, asked for earmarks for the salt lake city olympics, which of course gave ron paul an opening to say this is what is wrong with washington. there is no difference. and gingrich had a great line. >> i want to come back to a more general point. and that is how these debates fit into the narrative of the whole year. when you have candidates spending so much time on earmarks as opposed to talking about barack obama's record and putting him on trial through the debates, i think that's a negative for republicans. >> they really got into the weeds tonight. isn't that because, eric, because the reason we have the volatility, the reason we have had so many leaders, i won't use the term front runner, there is a trust issue. conservatives around the country saying who can we trust? >> absolutely. >> the earmark debate is part of the trust. >> here's the thing, i think the more -- the harder the time they have getting the conservatives to trust them, they have to play more and more to the conservative base, and that's fine for getting the nomination, but in terms of winning the election, you have to have far more than the conservative base, and they have driven so far over to the right in order to convince the conservatives, i think they're paying a price in terms of their positioning for the general election. >> mitt romney tonight, i believe, john, said arizona immigration law, is a model for the country. that's going to hurt him in the fall when he tries to go out and tell the rest of the country why the arizona law is good for the country. again, he's pandering to the choir, but he's forgotten he has to tell it to the congregation in the fall. >> i agree with ari that i think newt gingrich did himself the most help because romney and santorum did battle each other into the weeds, and gingrich tried to bring the fight back to barack obama. i was disappointed. no offense to john, but i was expecting the final four to fly to the moon to battle each other on contraceptives. >> i think they actually all did what they came to do. mitt romney had to make rick santorum look like an insider and a big spender, at the same time, looking presidential. ron paul had to be candid and be anti-washington and newt gingrich had to look like the visionary who was above it all. i think they each played to type to a degree. >> all three except for rick santorum, because i think rick santorum did miss that chance tonight. it's been all about rick santorum and tonight he didn't continue that momentum. if anything, he gave mitt romney his chance back into washington. >> and at these moments when candidates have risen up, everybody has had a bad debate in the cycle, if you're right and he had a bad debate tonight, will he get another chance? there's none on the books. >> and already, the numbers in michigan, we're getting closer for mitt romney, he was coming up again in the polls after having falling to rick santorum. we'll see if tonight moves the needle. we'll have more from the coverage. we'll be right back and more on the death of marie colvin in syria yesterday. s soooonn exextrtra a bubutttter titickcketets,s, s swon pepengnguiuin n jojouruy jujuninioror m minints momoviviefefononee evevilil p pririncncee bobollllywywoooodd 3-3-dd shsharark k atattatack nened d ththe e hehead 5%5% c casashbhbacackk ririghght t nonow,w, g getet 5 k onon m movovieies.s. itit p payays s toto d di. 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[ brian ] there's a bright future here, and there's a chance to get on the ground floor of something big, something that will bring us back. not only this company, but this country. ♪ ...we inspected his brakes for free. free is good. free is very good. my money. my choice. my meineke. final thoughts from the panel. first, ron paul taking a direct shot tonight at rick santorum. >> we have a new television ad that labels him a fake. why? >> because he is a fake. >> i'm real, ron. i'm real. >> congratulations. >> thank you. >> i find it really fascinating that when people are running for office, they're really fiscally conservative. when they're in office, they do something different, and then when they explain themselves, they say, i want to repeal that. >> let's get back to the final thoughts. i'm hearing mitt romney's top eight are expecting a win. they're going to spend the next two days in michigan. do you think tonight is going to make a difference for mitt romney in michigan? >> no question it will. i think that's the history of the debate cycle. they have had an inordinate roll in the next state that wins. if romney wins michigan, it resets the table. gives him a chance at the upper hand on super tuesday. if santorum takes michigan, he's got the momentum, and he'll take it into super tuesday. >> manage bankruptcy, tell those to the union workers, 1 million of them, without a job, because of the bailouts that saves chrysler and general motors. >> i think the devil's in it details. pun intended. if mitt romney wins michigan, when the vote comes in less than it did last time again, and he gets less votes this time, you're going to have them saying the republicans aren't sold. >> if rick santorum won tonight, he would have won michigan and done well on super tuesday. all of that has changes. romney is in a much better position. >> if romney were to win michigan and arizona, maybe that sets the table to use ari's phrase, for a comeback for newt gingrich, you never know. >> i would add this in closing, look backwards as we look forward. this has been a volatile, unpredictable race. if romney can win michigan and arizona, people will say he's the front runner again, but i would say he's been the front runner before. we still have a lot of twists and turns here. let's let the people vote. >> john king, great job tonight. all of the panelists, thank you. up next, our tribute to journalist marie colvin. killed in syria last night. she put her life on the line repeatedly to tell the suffering of other people. we talked about it hours before she was killed. we'll hear some of her last interview. forty years ago, he wasn't looking for financial advice. back then he had something more important to do. he wasn't focused on his future. but fortunately, somebody else was. at usaa we provide retirement planning for our military, veterans and their families. now more than ever, it's important to get financial advice from people who share your military values. for our free usaa retirement guide, call 877-242-usaa. we're ending the program with heavy hearts in a tribute to an incredibly brave journalist who repeatedly risked her own life to tell other people's stories. a woman whose own life has been cut short. we got the sad news that marie colvin was killed in homs where the syrian government has unleashed an all-out assault on its citizens. remi ochlik was also killed. he was just 28 years old. i spoke with marie colvin yesterday on this program, and she talked about a little boy who died after being hit by shrapnel. his story could make people wonder why no one is stopping the murders that are happening every day in homs. it's that sense of purpose that drove her career, her life, and something we honor tonight as we pay tribute to her. >> this is what is left of the building where marie colvin was killed. a jumble of concrete and debe. it's where she and other reporters had been taking refuge, where they were bearing witness to the atrocities committed by syrian government forces against the people of homs. under constant threat, under daily barrage, talking to us just hours before she was killed, her voice was cool and direct. >> it's a complete and utter lie that they're only going after terrorists. there are rockets, tank shells, and anti-aircraft being fired in a parallel line into the city. the syrian army is shelling the city of cold, starving civilians. >> it's a cliche to say she died doing what she loved, but she died doing what she felt driven to do. dedicating her life to giving a voice to those who had been silenced. >> you tried to bear witness to that makes you think you sometimes can make a difference, attempt to, anyway. >> marie colvin made a difference year after year, story after story. even if the world didn't always listen, marie colvin still insisted on speaking. >> she had this incredible passion to do the right thing, to do what this extreme profession demands, and that is to report the truth and humanize these terrible conflicts and these terrible wars. >> among war journalists, she was a legend, raised in long island, she made her name as a correspondent for the sunday times. she went to the middle east, africa, and asia. >> i was star struck by her. she was the kind of person who had a standard of journalism that many of us strive to achieve, and it was only in this last time period where i was here that she was there as well that we were able to spend time together. >> while covering in the civil war in sri lanka in 1991, she was ambushed. she lost her left eye to shrapnel and had to wear an eye patch. it didn't seem to slow her down. she was among a select group of journalists to interview moamma gadhafi. then she reported to us all she saw and learned about the slaughter and the mass rapes that were occurring there. >> the direct evidence that i have is talking to one of gadhafi's soldiers who is a prisoner here and repentant. he said his two officers entered the house, there's about 1,000 rapes. >> 1,000 rapes? >> across misrata over a two-month period. >> she may have questions her impact at times, all war reporters do, but she continues to travel to the front line. she believed it was important she told a group of young journalists in the georgia republic. >> many of you may be asking yourselves, is it worth the cost, and am i in pain, not just for us, but for family and friends? and my answer is then and now, it is worth it, i believe. >> she believed it was worth it to sneak into the besieged city of homs. she had been under threat before. she had her life in danger nubeerous times, but she told us hours before she died that being in syria felt different. >> you covered a lot of conflicts over time. how does this compare? >> this is the worst, anderson. for many reasons. the last time we talked when i was in misrata, it's probably personal safety. there's nowhere to run. the syrian army is holding the perimeter. and this is far more ordinance being poured into the city, and no way of predicting where it's going to land. >> as other western journalists left for safer ground, marie colvin chose to stay. now her mother hopes she will finally come home. >> i'm going to miss her so much. and i just hope we can bring her home. one more time. >> marie colvin saw each war, each death, as an open eye, an open heart. she died hoping the rest of the world might see it that way as well. >> a lot of people were calling her fearless, and i didn't know her well, but i don't think she was fearless. i'm sure she did feel fear, but what makes a great war correspondent like her is despite feeling the fear, she continues to go to the front lines, she continues to put herself in danger. she doesn't allow fear from stopping her bearing witness. we salute her for that on this program tonight. we'll be right back. ar? for full-sized cars, please listen to the following menu. for convertibles, press star one. i didn't catch that. to speak 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