>> it's x factor this year because there's a game changer now in the santorum momentum that's happening reet now and cpac is a very dynamic place. if a person has a speech that takes over the place, it could change everything. i was at the straw poll, the florida straw poll about three months ago when herman cain won. and that surprised everybody. and that started his momentum going forward until the herman cain implosion occurred. and i think that right now rick santorum has a unique opportunity to gain unprecedented momentum because mitt romney has chosen not to connect with the conservative grass roots. the tea party -- right, so mitt romney is going to give a speech but he's also met with conservatives because of all those things that you say. he's kind of getting in to get a one-on-one message here sort of private meetings. and then, number two, rick soon santorum has to deliver a message that leverages off the momentum. how does he do that? >> well, this crowd yesterday when i mentioned it, if you just spoke it, clearly he has their heart. mitt romney is going to have to take the stage and show them if he's not one of them he sat least for them. there's a suspicion that he's not one of them. he's going to have to actually say something, take a position on entitlement reform. take a position on tax reform. his 59-point plan isn't selling people. the "wall street journal" has gone after his tax plan. he's revised his tax plan. he's going to have to say, you know what, i'm with paul ryan on this budget. he has come out for it. he needs to make it clear. he needs to show them he's willing to actually not just manage a decline as his op point ne -- opponents have painted him but fix tmess. >> here's what he said on fox news. >> i look at my report and describe my record as governor. some of these things bed hidden over time. people forget. i have a strong record on the issues that matter. i'm going to point that out when i gather with my friends at cpac. >> is that the strategy, point out the record as governor? that seems to have worked against him in the past. >> let me start with this. i think it's important to remember at the straw poll in florida that herman cain didn't have this huge rise because of herman cain. the rise came because perry fell apart. if you remember four years ago mitt romney at this convention and around the country was a conservative. so this is kind of an ebb and flow of this election cycle. mitt romney has a very conser conservative record. he will come to this event and connect with conservatives. one, everybody here is looking to create jobs. he's the one candidate that knows how jobs are created in the real world, not in the government setting. >> it's the one thing that he said that strikes me is governor, his record as governor. for the past six to seven months he's campaigned on his private sector experience. she he's shifting now to his gubernatorial record. if the economy is beginning to fix himself, he needs to pivot now and say look at all the things i did when i was an elected executive. >> you're talking about the issues here though but this group of people over the last three years has been attacked by the mainstream media, has been attacked by the organized left. the occupy movement was created to counter conservative grass-roots tea party type behavior. and mitt romney needs to figure out a way to say a to these people i appreciate what you've done for the last three years to change the topic, to fiscal responsibility and a return to the constitution. they've been attacked, they've been attacked. they're looking for somebody like scott walker who is willing to stand up against threats against their being. >> there's been so much -- time has been spent -- the 16 debates, right? it seems odd to me that you're saying well, now, we need to hear this. >> it's less about hearing a specific thing than it is feeling that the candidate is willing to march side by side with this grass roots group of people. it's less about an issue than it is about a connection with them. >> what about social issues? >> it's not just been 16 debates. it's been since 2007 when mitt romney arguably before that when he left the governorship of massachusetts that he's been running for president. i think there's a danger for him. all the pressure on him today is to appeal to this group. remember, he's going to have a general election and the folks who get really excited about coming to cpac cannot elect him alone. he's getting squeezed. right. he's having trouble with his conservative base and he needs to do work on that. at the same time, the president has started the general election campaign. independents and moderates will be important to mitt romney come -- if he wraps this nomination up. he's got two groups there squeezing him. >> let me ask you about social issues. i think i have a clip of republicans who have been really attacking the white house on some of these -- loose week was -- this week, social issue tuesday, basically, when all these things broke. i want to play a little clip. >> government shouldn't be telling he's institution what's to do and they certainly shouldn't be oh prosing them. >> this attack on religious freedom cannot and will not stand. >> this administration is assaulting the catholic church. people of faith across our nation, by forcing their pro-abortion agenda on religious hospitals, on charity, and on employees. >> they're all talking about this contraception issue. seems to me now the conversation has moved away from the economy, economy, economy because of that chart that really shows the economy with the slow improvement has shifted dramatically into social issues. how do we see that play out here at cpac? >> i think this is a huge issue that continues to show that this administration doesn't belief that the constitution and that personal freedoms and liberties matter. and they -- it's an assault on our free m dos. whether it's an barack obaobama help to buy something they may not want to be buy, and now enforcing the church to do something that is gins its own tenets, this shows an arrogance and it's almost this -- you've got president obama who is a lawyer and so he has decided that whatever the words of the constitution are don't matter to him, he will interpret it in a different way. and that i think is what is creating this frustration. >> you know there are democrats all over the country right now who is throwing things at the tv. the president doesn't care about the constitution. >> if you look at his own record, he has done everything to move against the constitution. you can't -- you cannot have obamacare and say that you respect somebody's liberties. >> i'm going to say again, roughly over two zillion people who would disagree with you. i have to get to our updated news coverage. christine romans is standing by with us. gentlemen, stick around. we'll continue our conversation. good morping. >> that's right. we're following the latest in syria this morning. the slaughter of syrian civilians escalating out of control today. again, another 25 deaths being reported overnight in syria's northern city of aleppo. antigovernment dissidents reporting government troops shelled the city of homs for the fifth straight day yesterday, killing 137 people, including women and 10 children. happening now, protests in greece. we're monitoring the live pictures from athens. demonstrators are angry over tough new bailout conditions. eurozone finance ministers want more cuts and austerity pledges for a new greece bailout. the trade unions called for a two-day strike to protest these austerity the measures. chairman of the house financial services committee is under investigation for possible insider trade violations. they're looking at suspicious trades on alabama congressman spencer bacchus disclosure forms. they oversee the u.s. banking and financial services industries. again, that is on "the washington post." witness in the lacrosse murder trial says he saw the defendant george hughley with his arms around the neck of than girlfriend yeardley love. that witness says love screamed help me. she managed to struggle free. more witnesses are expected to take the stand when the trial resumes today. a cancer drug may offer hope for alzheimer's. scientists say mega doses of a drug used to treat skin cancer erase alzheimer's disease in mice. researchers say the drug might now work on people. they hope to try it out on healthy humans in two months. minding your business. u.s. stock futures pointing to a lower open. optimism about a debt deal being reached in greece was erased when european leaders said they need more time to review the terms. all right. former congresswoman gabby giffords back in washington this morning. she will visit the oval office to witness president obama sign the final piece of legislation she sponsored. it's the ultralight aircraft smuggle and prevention act that gives law enforcement more to combat drug trafficking on borders. a former aide to giffords who was also injured in the january 2001 shooting now running for her old congressional seat. ron barber told cnn's piers morgan that giffords asked him to run. >> very hard to say no to congresswoman giffords. i've never said no to her in my life. but i did go away from that conversation and gave it considerable thought, looked at the pros and cons and finally i was able to say her to, congresswoman, i will do that. >> again, ron barber to piers morgan. soledad? >> wow, he looks good. shot twice. foodness. thanks, christine. back to our conversation with our panelists. so yesterday i think it was on "john king usa." rick santorum was a guest. talking about the contraception issue and women in combat. he said this. i want to play a little bit. >> i do have concerns about women in front line combat. i think that could be a very compromising situation where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved. >> where people normally -- naturally may t not do things that might not be in the interest of the mission because other types of emotions that are involved. who wants to jump into that one? what does that mean? >> well, i -- well -- you know, if you think people got upset with my characterization of the president on the constitution, i mean, you know that there are women around this country who are saying, what is he talking about? >> that's what i said. emotional? what does that mean? >> rick santorum and trying to convince conservatives not only are you conservative, which people agree he, is but you're elect i belie electable. every time you make a mistake like that oh. >> is that a mistake? >> to his credit, very few unforced errors. >> some of that is he has not had everybody staring at him. >> he needs to clarify what he meant. did he mean soldiers on the front lines wanting to protect the ladies on the front lines? >> no. >> i don't think there's an explanation for it. >> i have no idea what he meant. i mean, my best rational guess for what he meant is crickets in my head. i don't understand. >> i think it's pretty clear what he meant. >> what do you think he meant? i don't know. honestly. >> i think he meant there's not a place that he didn't think there was a place for women or the front line. >> because girls are emotional? >> emotional or whatever. but that is just false. it's just not true. you know, this -- again, this kind of feeds into the whole line that we're going to somehow divide americans. i mean, look, if there are men and women who are serving our country and admirableably and men and women equally can do the job and we ought to treat them as such. >> will be be an impact? >> i don't think they know rick santorum yet and he's con se tive and willing to talk about that when other people would rather talk about things like the economy. that's one of the things he's going to have to doer do here is define himself, what he does stand for. if he's going to be such a strong socially conservative candidate, what are those values that he's going to fight for first and foremost? >> that's a lot of tap dancing. you literallyibustered me. yes or no, is that a problem? >> i don't know what he said. >> yes, it's a problem. >> it's going to be a problem of rick santorum because of independent voters. ahead on "starting point," we're talking about jerry sandusky, apparently some say he's been watching school children from his porch. his neighbors now say they want him confined indoors. sandusky wants more freedom. there's a hearing today. it all goes to court. also, a photo of marines posing in afghanistan with a nazi like flag. talk about how the marine corps is handling that controversy today. our "get real" this morning. girls high school basketball team wears pink uniforms to support a children's charity. the other team cries foul if refs step in and they lose. we'll take a look at that story this morning. and now from my play list, ait ait anita baker "sweet love." she sounds amazing to this day. everybody, listen. vacations are always wasn'ta good ideaa ♪ priceline negoti - - no time. out quickly. you're miles from your destination. you'll need a hotel tonight we don't have time to bid you don't have to bid. at priceline you can choose from thousands of hotels on sale every day. save yourself... some money i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. hold up partner. prilosec can take days to work. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement. welcome back. have you seen this, nancy pelosi declaring war on steve then kpht and the super pac? i'm going to play a little bit of it for you and then we'll talk about it on the other side. >> join me in stopping colbert and creating a new politics, free of special interest money. the first step is passing the disclose act. >> she goes on to talk about -- it just goes on. you can see it online. it's funny. it's kind of strange, right, because we're in the news yesterday we were talking about the president and the super pac and, of course, he's been against super pac money, but sort of said, stealing a line from newt gingrich when we head the head of the dnc on, that actually everybody has got to be, you know, unilaterally armed other wise somebody loses. i find the whole thing very strange. what do you think? >> yeah, i find the whole thing very strange. >> you can't copy my own words. >> i just saw this yesterday. it was very light hearted. >> it's hilarious. >> to her credit, everybody is talking about the disclose act on tv because of this ad. >> you have to find these opportunities to breakthrough and what better way to embrace what stephen colbert is doing and use humor. it does point out this division in the democratic party where on the one hand democrats say they are trying to close this loophole but yet on the other hand the obama campaign is very aggressively now supporting super pacs. >> is this going to be an issue in the election, do you think? >> first of all, i think it was a huge win for colbert. >> of course. he could win. he could beat -- >> he might be running up in the polls. >> if it goes to a brokered convention. >> you know. >> that's right. >> maybe i'll endorse him. i don't know. >> i think what it does though is it really creates a problem for the democrats. so you've got the president who says, you know, speaks out against all the super pacs. we're not -- and then all of a sudden he's telling awe of his people to go to the super pacs. >> don't you think a lot of people would say if everybody is arming then you've got to arm. >> it might be because -- that might be the because. but when the president has spent so much time saying that we can't do this, special interest, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad. and now his own words is bad and he's going do it. so he's welcome to do it. >> we always have in election cycles campaign finance discussions. >> right. >> the donors. voters don't care about campaign finance. they never have cared about campaign finance. they don't care about mccain-feingold or super pacs. >> i'm done talking about it. >> reporters care about it. voters care about unemployment. >> i'm never discussing it again, sir. gentlemen, never. done. ahead this morning on "starting point," the social worker in that really disturbing case that we were talking about earlier in the week, josh powell, now speaking out for the first time. you're going to hear what she experienced. she's the woman who dropped those boys off. they went right into the house and the next thing she saw was the house explode. then petty in pink, high school basketball game. these girls, they're wearing these uniforms baz they're trying to raise money for a children's charity. they end up getting punished for it. it's our "get real" straight ahead. and this is his play list. ho is this? the okerville river rider? >> you said take the top songs. mix it up a little bit. >> i like it. i'm not criticizing. just trying to pronounce it right. okerville river. >> got it. >> here it is. ♪ ♪ see? that's a black crowes' "hard to handle." that would be erick erickson doing better than yesterday. see oh. >> there you go. my wife would be proud. the girls basketball team at burke high school in omaha, nebraska, decided to do a really nice thing last monday night. they wore pink uniforms to raise money for the make a wish foundation. after the second quarter though the opposing team's athletic director pointed out a state rule. all home teams must wear white. so then the referees had to choice but to slap the burke bulldogs leading at the time with a technical foul. and their opponents picked up two, you know, kind of easy cheap points. burke went on to lose the game. the good news in this, of course, they raised $2600 for the make a wish foundation and also, i believe, the good news is other team karma, will come back and bite you. you do that, i i believe. ahead this morning on "starting point," a marine sniper team posing in front of what looks took a nazi symbol. the military says they won't be punished. two of the biggest players in the tea party will join us live. congressman steve king and congressman allen west will be back. from congressman west's play list, what do you think he likes? pink floyd, "comfortably numb." ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] for our families... our neighbors... and our communities... america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering. 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? ♪ our machines help identify early stages of cancer and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life, matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn, and i'm a cancer survivor. [ mimi ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ erica ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ herb ] from the moment we walked in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been helped by their work. i was just blown away. life's been good to me. i feel like one of the luckiest guys in the world. ♪ ♪ this is the temptations "papa was a rolling stone." the temptations last night, do you know what time i got in d.c. this morning? 3:15 a.m. you know what time i had to get up, 4:00 a.m. i was at carnegie hall for a tribute to motown. i was the host of it. that was the temptations along with dennis edwards from the temptations was performing. it was amazing. this is dionne warwick. this is off my blackberry. bebe winans, love him. >> this is one upping the name dropping. >> it's my show. me, there's dennis from the temptation. yes, it is one upping from the name dropping. later on the next hour i'll do my small children pictures as well. this is my favorite. boyz to men from philly. i literally wanted to call all of my girlfriends from high school and be like, na-na-na, i'm in a picture with boyz to men. if i fall asleep in the mid of the second hour, i know you'll understand. got lots to get to this morning including newsed a li headlines. >> good morning. the social worker in the josh powell home explosion case, she's speaking out. josh powell was supposed to have a supervised visit with his two little boys of the day of the fire that killed him and his sons but social worker elizabeth griffinhall tells abc powell grabtd the boys and loktds hcke out. >> i saw josh for just one second. his eyes caught mine. and he had a look in his eyes. just kind of sheepish and he just shrugged his shoulders at me like that. and then he slammed the door. and i thought that was an accident, that he didn't mean to lock me out. and so i knocked and i knocked and i rang the doorbell and i started yelling at, josh, let me in. >> powell's attorney has come forward to say the fire was intentional. police have classified the incident as a murder/suicide. authorities are also investigating the 2009 disappearance of powell's wife. later this morning, former penn state football coach jerry sandusky will be back in a pennsylvania courtroom. neighbors want the accused child sex offereder confined to inside his home. they're complaining he's been looking at school children in a playground near his house. sandusky's attorney plans to ask the court to do just the opposite and grant him more freedom while he's on bail. cnn has learned casino mogul sheldon adelson met with mitt romney last week in nevada. he's donated len milli$11 appro million to that super pac supporting gingrich. adelson assured mitt romney he will be behind mitt romney one had been% if he wins the gop nomination. the house is set to pass an insider trading ban in congress. lawmakers and staff members from making financial trades based on non-public information. critics say the bihouse bill doesn't go far enough because it doesn't create a vision to the political intelligence industry. it helps companies seek out private congressional information to sell to financial firms who are looking to profit from it. minding your business this morning. today greece, u.s. stock futures pointing to a lower open this morning. the greek government has a plan for stricter austerity measures but european union finance ministers say it may not be enough to secure the next bailout from the eu. the longer this deal remains unresolved the more volatility we will likely to see in the markets. the u.s. marine corps will not discipline an elite team of marines which posed with a photo of a flag that has a nazi like symbol on it. it was taken in 2010 in afghanistan. it just came to light after it was posted online. the corpser has advised the marines the symbol, is quote, not in keeping with our marine corps values. soledad? >> all right. thanks, christine. appreciate it. today could be a turning point for some gop candidates. we've got mitt romney speaking today. rick santorum is going to speak today. newt gingrich is going to speak today. we're at cpac. it's a chance to shore up the votes for the tea party which really has yet to rally around one candidate. republican congressman steve king is joining us now. member of the tea party. nice to have you here. you joined us before. let's talk a little bit about mitt romney. and even maybe rick santorum as well. what do they have to say in order to coalesce. coalesce is that woord we've usd a lot. >> at this point what haven't they said. >> that's what i said. >> in the last year for rick santorum. i don't know. i would see it as real opportunity to be on a stage where yoef got reacting conservatives and if they step out there and pour it out from their heart and if they can connect with this audience, sometimes you'll catch that tone when you give the speech of your life and if romney can do that, he can gain some momentum here. i listen to the applause last night when they announced the speeches this morning and it seemed to be relatively tepid for romney. a little bit more warm for gingrich. and very strong for rick santorum. >> a lot of that could be momentum coming off a big win. that was a surprise. >> that's what you either have to capitalize on or change. this going -- the straw poll in my mind today is going to be the reaction of the speeches of the speeches given. i can about predict for you what's going happen in the straw poll by the decibels today. one thing that is sitting here is the sitting on the hill speech. that presidential candidate that paints that picture of what the next level of america -- >> optimistic, hopeful, looking forward. do you think the negativity in the campaign, i think it was the state of florida that had the most negative ads, has that really hurt mitt romney as a front runner? >> it may have. and as we watch this, the presidential candidate saw this in iowa and held together all of the way through. as soon as candidate would reach the summit of the polls, they would be a game of king of hill. and everybody would pull them down. >> i thought that was kill the guy with the ball was the game they were playing which was literally pile on and take him out. >> yes. you grew up in flag country. same game. as they pulled each other down off that pedestal, tim pawlenty and then michele bachmann and rick perry and it went on and on, mitt romney kind of hung around the summit and never really claimed it until new hampshire which was his territory anyway, home team advantage. when they went to south carolina, then you saw the gingrich money torch mitt romney. then the -- >> you can't tell me all that doesn't hurt in the general election. i'ved that conversation before. everybody says, yep, but you know what, when you get to the general everybody will rally around the not president obama and this will bring republicans out. you cannot -- i just -- i have no grounding in believing this but i just feel in my gut if you do all of this negative campaigning and you look at the turnout numbers, they've gone like this, they're low. that has to have implication for republicans in the general. >> let me just remind people about when hillary clinton and barack obama were locked in to a tight primary -- high enthusiasm though. there was so much enthusiasm. >> but it was very negative. it was all of the things that you're describing in this republican primary -- >> but no high enthusiasm in this one. >> the difference was, i think, in that primary, it was -- the democrats had these two choices and they couldn't believe they had been given this in the democratic perspective, two diamonds. sophie's choice to decide between them. con sef tives judging from cpac are not that happy. they don't like the field. they don't like the choices. >> the dang orer -- >> a lot of relut tans. >> republicans will go vote against barack obama but you can't sustain enthusiasm in any campaign from a city level to federal level. you can't sustain passion against something. you've got to give them for something. >> sitting on the hill. >> that's the alternative. the problem is if the campaign continues to be so negative and it drives enthusiasm down, when they get into the general they'll go vote but they won't make phone calls to their independent friends, they won't go door to door to independent and moderate friends. they've got to sell their candidates. >> we were talking about a brokered convention. you're laughing at me. >> there's a long ways to get to a brokered convention. >> some people have said actually all you have to do is get to super tuesday. if it's not decided then, brokered convention. >> perfect political match-up. i think as politicians and those of white house watch we would love to see that. i went through a nominating convention to win the election for congress. and it was like the 15th round "rock "rocky" one. i said no, rematch. i literally said in the mic microphone, i don't want to do it. it would be exhilarating. we have four tests before super tuesday. if you look at the state of michigan, for example, a rust belt state, rick santorum has been speaking to them all along. >> mitt romney has an in, his father was the governor. >> that could be the clash of the titans before the super tuesday. >> here's what senator mccain had to say about a brokered convention. >> i found in the past that those who are losing candidates always predict a brokered convention. the fact is that mitt romney took a setback tuesday night. we know that. and we're going to reinvigorate and pursue the effort in the states that are actually picking delegates right away. but there's a lot of ups and downs in these campaigns. but i'm confident at the end of the day it will be overwhelmingly a victory for mitt romney. >> are you as confident as he is con confident? >> i don't think you can be c confident in this race as you have seen. >> there is a lot to be said at what senator mccain just said. everybody, depending on where you line up in this race, has different theory and strategy they they've want to put out to show that their person can win. if your person is not in the lead right now, then you talk about this brokered convention idea to try to create, you know, hope for people who are supporting another candidate. i think this is still mitt romney's election to win in the primary. and i think that what -- my suggestion to mitt romney to be would be is to continue to do what he's been doing. in the state of florida he was talking about the shining city on the hill. he's been talking about the future of america. he's been talking about job creation. he's been talking about things that people in america care about. >> it's worth remembering that mccain, he wrapped up the nomination pretty early. that's one of the reasons the republican party decided to change the rules this time around and to make sure the contest would last a little bit longer. i think michael steel said the other day when he was head of the rnc he wanted something like a brokered convention me wanted the delegate selection process to go on a little bit longer. we're kind of getting what the rnc wanted here, aren't we? >> we'll see. >> super tuesday. >> it all moves to super tuesday. can we play that johnny cash song again? ♪ i've been everywhere stilt ahead on "starting point," for the first time in three decades, nuclear plants cleared for construction. next guest though voted against it. it was a 4-1 vote. he was the one. he said it was a bad idea. we'll talk about why straight ahead. plus, a look inside steve jobs had an fbi file. they considered him to be a liar and a narcissist and that's just the tip of the iceberg. we'll take a look at his file ahead. this is from erick's play list. he's trying to make a comeback. this is a beautiful song. ella fitzgerald, "solitude." i am loving this greek yogurt. i like yoplait. it is yoplait. but you said it was greek. mmhmm. so is it greek or is it yoplait? exactly. okay... [ female announcer ] yoplait. it is so greek. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. ♪ i'm getting a little love this morning from my producer. she's -- yesterday, begging, nothing. but today, thank you, clearly. getting a little juice. that's mary j. blige, "real love." this is how i start my morning. that pays people, huh? helps the viewers join us. see, see? let's talk a little bit about nuclear power. for the first time in more than three decades a nuclear power plant has been cleared for construction. the plant is going to be in waynesboro, georgia. it is expected to be up and running by either 2016 or 2017. it was approved by a vote of 4-1. the lone vote against the project was commission chairman, gregory. so he joins us this morning. nice to see you. the 4-1 vote, you were the 1. why did you vote against it? >> good morning, soledad. as you said, this is really a historic moment for the nuclear regulatory commission. a lot of good hard work went into preparing this license and reviewing it at the agency. but in the end, i felt that it was very important that we had some kind of condition that could ensure before the plant operates that all of the things that we've learned from the fukashima daiichi accident would be be therefore the plant started. >> what specific things? i know when you discuss your vote you basically compared it to sort of a broker doing that sort of list of things you need before you do your house closing and you said you wouldn't go ahead and do the house closing before getting specific things on that list fixed. what specifics are you talking about? >> there's a number of lessons that we've learned from the fukashima accident. some is spent fuel and making improve ments to those structurs and the instrumentation. also things like improving how they staff the organization. so if you have an accident and, in particular, if you have an accident that could affect all of the units at that site and when these plants are built, this site will have four units which will be one of the largest sites in the united states. making sure you've accounted for all of people and you've accounted for them properly so that they're not pulled in many different directions and they can properly perform their emergency response functions. >> people for a long time have talked about a nuclear renaissance and then this 2009 study out of m.i.t. that i know you're familiar with talked about nuclear energy costing 14% more than gas to produce a unit of electricity. 30% more than coal. obviously i was in fukushima, i covered that story. what do you think the future of nuclear energy is in this country? >> it will be very interesting to see. i think this project and one that may follow along fairly soon, i think they will really be the important barometers for whatever there will be a lot more nuclear in this country. i think it's vitally important that these projects are built on time and on budget. and, of course, for our purposes as a regulator, most importantly, that they're built safely and that they can be operated safely. and so that's what our focus will be, is making sure that they do that and as we go forward we'll keep a visual eye on them. >> gregory jaczko is the chairman of the nuclear regulatory commission. thanks. >> thank you. still ahead on "starting point," crucial supreme court case in 1967 overturned the ban on interracial marriage. now there's a new documentary that's going to air on hbo that shares a story of the couple another the heart of the case, their loving couple. their daughter will join us up next. we'll talk about that. plus, two terrorist attacks this morning to tell you about in syria. violence and bloodshed really a tipping point there. we're going to bring you live developing details out of syria. you're watching "starting point." we're back on the other side. yeah, it's beneful healthy fiesta. gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? 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[ engine revving ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. ♪ home was an airport lounge and an ipad ♪ ♪ made sure his credit score did not go bad ♪ ♪ with a free-credit-score-dot-com ♪ ♪ app that he had ♪ downloaded it in the himalayas ♪ ♪ while meditating like a true playa ♪ ♪ now when he's surfing down in chile'a ♪ ♪ he can see when his score is in danger ♪ ♪ if you're a mobile type on the go ♪ ♪ i suggest you take a tip from my bro ♪ ♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. welcome back, efb. it was a seminole movement in the civil rights movement. the date was june 12th, 1967. the u.s. supreme court decision in loving versus the state of virginia. they overturned the ban on interracial marriage in 16 states. there's a new documentary on hbo. it tells a story of richard and mildred luffing. >> we were married on the 2nd day of june, and the police came after us the 14th of july. >> it was 2:00 a.m. and i saw this light. i woke up and there was the policemen standing beside the bed. they told us to get up. we was under arrest. >> peggy loving fortune is the daughter of richard and mildred. she joins us this morning. it's nice to see you. i should mention you are sitting next to phillip hirschcuff who represented your parents, he was a lawyer. i know you were only 8 years old at the time the supreme court made this decision, but tell me how your parents -- how it played a role in your life. was it something that was important to your parents? did they talk about it all the time with you as a child? >> no, they didn't talk about it all the time. mostly my mom talked about it after my father's death. we would go back and get the 10 by 13 pictures that "life magazine" took about us and talk about the good times that we had. she didn't really talk about the struggle. those pictures meant a lot to her. >> you're very private people. was it something that they felt that they had to do? i think in a lot of ways it was a surprise that such a quiet couple would suddenly be in the headlines on something that the entire country and then the world was watching. >> well, it's my understanding they wanted to be private anyway, but then they also had to be private because of something that they were doing that wasn't legal, i guess you could say. >> so, phillip, you were two years out of law school when you and attorney bernard cohen presented oral arguments to the supreme court. what was that like? >> well, it was exciting. you expect it to be exciting, particularly that particular court with the great nine justices that did so much for our society. >> you know what's interesting is my parents, in the same year, 1958, were actually asked by the aclu to be the couple that would test the ban on interracial marriage. my dad and mom declined because i think like your parents, peggy. they were very private. they didn't want to derail their lives to be part of something like that. they lived in the state of maryland where interracial marriage was also illegal. did your parents ever talk, peggy, about regrets about the case or did they feel very proud about the changes that they ultimately were able to bring to the country? >> they were very proud. i know my mom realized that, you know, if they won the case they would help other people as well and, sure enough, they won and it was overturned 16 states. very proud. and they really wanted to win because they wanted to go home. they were banned from the state of virginia for 25 years. they wanted to go home so they pushed forward. >> so ultimately there's video and clips and sort of, i think, high eight film that's in this new documentary that's going to air on hbo. would your parents be excited by that or do you think that they, as private people, would sort of hate that idea in. >> i know my parents probably wouldn't do it, but it's a story that i think needs to get out there for not only the united states of america to know but the whole world to know that what our forefathers had to go through in order for the world to be like it is today. >> to this day, phillip, the aclu points to this case as one of their huge victories. do you think enough people sort of study and understand this case? whenever i give a talk about this case a lot of the college students i talk to have no idea what i'm talking about. >> well, it's one of many cases, the building block to get our society a great deal better than it has been in the past. it was an important case for constitutional reasons to recognize family reasons. now it's a very important case for gay marriages and to recognize the right of all people to be able to marry free of interference from the state. >> phillip and peggy loving for tu talking to us. it's a great documentary that will air on hbo. the late steve jobs, a liar, a narcissist? that's what it says in his fbi file and that is not all. we're going to talk about what is in that file straight ahead. plus we've been talking with congressman connie mack. his beautiful wife as he tells me. she, of course, is another member of congress in florida. representative mary bona mack is going to join us up next. off her play list. she likes the doobie brothers. you might have better taste than your ma'am. you might have better choice of music. >> yes, dear. ♪ ♪ for their clients' futures. never taking a bailout. hey, good morning, everybody. our "starting point" this morning is live from the conservative political action conference, cpac which is here in washington, d.c. it's a very big day for the candidates. all of them will be taking the stage. arguably it could be most critical for mitt romney. he's got to shine. syria is also what we're talking about this morning. violent tipping point. shell for a fifth straight day. no signs of relief. there are calls for help around the world growing louder and louder. also this morning looking inside steve jobs' fbi file. he's described in this file as a liar and a narcissist and that is not all. "starting point" begins right "starting point" begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com ♪ street lights >> congresswoman, you are so far two for two. your husband has had a couple of slow songs. welcome back, everybody. you're listening to mary mack's play list. journey. "don't stop believing." connie mack is joining her. i said california before, but it's your wife that represents the state of california. congressman alan west is joining us. nice to have you all. let's get right into it. today is the big day for the candidates because they're going to get up here and speak. it was interesting to hear, who was saying it earlier on our panel, this is sort of the straw poll. the enthusiasm from the speech is the straw poll before the straw poll. do you agree with that? >> yeah, i do. it will be interesting to see since ron paul is not going to be hear speaking if that enthusiasm will be here. normally he wins these cpac straw polls. this is a great opportunity for each one of these candidates to make their case at this great gathering. i think it's the largest that we've had in quite some time. >> what's going on with the tea party, i think we have a graphic of this, tea party in iowa, win for santorum, 29%, new hampshire, romney, 41%. south carolina, gingrich, 45%. florida, romney, 41%, nevada as well, 47%. is the tea party all over the map and within the tea party there's no coalescing around a candidate? >> i think when you look at the tea party, it's much like steve mcqueen's movie, "the blob." they're different state to state. there is no centralized organization and structure to it. each organization in its respective state or even north florida down to south florida can differ. i think that's an interesting part of it. the candidates have to appeal to all of those different facets. >> your husband clearly has said and has been defending mitt romney all morning. do you have a dog in the fight? are you also a romney supporter? >> i am a huge romney supporter. >> so what what do you think he has to say in the speech? it seems like there has to be an emotional connection to the audience or maybe he won't win the straw poll which would really be problematic down the road. >> i think the number one issue without a doubt for all of us is he is ate the one to beat obama. i think today should be a unifying message, that we're all in this together. that the one over arching issue is taking out this administration. i think mitt should deliver and can deliver that speech very well to talk about whether you're unifying the tea party or non-tea party republicans. california and floridians, it's all the same thing. i think mitt can un phi the party and look at how we're going to take out obama. that should be the speech. >> he's focusing on earmarks when he tries to attack santorum. so i have two questions out of that. one, is there a risk to the attack? as we were talking about earlier, kill the guy with the ball i think was the metaphor. somebody gets to the top of the hill, everybody else pummels that person. >> dodge ball. >> is that your metaphor? >> yeah, dodge ball. >> number one, is there a risk in going negative? now it's santorum's turn to have a target on his back. mitt romney is going to pour tons of dollars into trying to take rick santorum out? is there a risk to that? >> first of all, i don't know how we've gotten to the point where any time you describe a difference between you and your candidate that that is somehow a negative attack. >> oh, come on. you don't think this has been a negative attack? >> i think the voters, they so want to understand who the candidates are and maybe one of the explanations about how the -- in iowa, south carolina, new hampshire, florida, different candidates are winning the tea party or the conservative movement is because these messages continue to flow as congressman west said, the blob. they continue to flow. i don't think -- >> you seriously cannot tell me that you don't think this has been a negative campaign where you have these colleagues calling each other a liar? >> absolutely. that's different. >> google. google campaign and negative and come up with 50 more words. >> that's different than talking about a record that is different. >> agree. >> absolutely. coming out and saying this person is a liar, the most untrue candidate, those things, that should not be part of this dialogue. pointing out differences between candidates is important. it's how the public, it's how the voters have the opportunity to decide between different candidates. and if you think that one candidate is going to run ads saying this other candidate is just like me, that's not going to happen. >> we couldn't even do that. >> it wouldn't fly for you also. >> it would be an interesting race as well. i get it. i'm not a politician, but i'm not completely naive in how it works. it has been incredibly negative. you also have seen tied to that negativity, it looks like a slide for mitt romney along support for independents. i want to play a little bit of what rick santorum said in response to sort of the piling on about earmarks that he's gotten from the romney camp. >> at the time when i was supporting them, so was governor romney and so was just about everybody else. that was something that i think we all saw the error of our ways and have changed our position. >> is the earmark thing going to stick, do you think? >> well, i think as you look at how we're moving in congress right now, as a matter of fact, we're going to bring a highway bill up to the house floor that for the first time i think in quite some years has no earmarks. so i think that that is a delineator if we're talking about having fiscal responsibility, restore it who are and becoming good stewards of the american taxpayer dollar. i think it's important to bring up, but most important these candidates have to start talking about the contrast of their vision to the vision of the president right now and the direction that they want to see this country go in. i think there has been a semblance of a food fight that we have to move away from. let's talk about the issues. let's talk about the things that are important. one thing that none of the candidates talked about when they were down in florida was the fact that we have a chinese made oil rig that is now 66 miles off the coast of florida that's going to be doing drilling in the deep water horizon. this is something that mr. salazar has provided technical advice and guidance to, yet we have the president who won't allow the keystone xl pipeline coming from canada. that's a great contrast that they should have been able to connect with the voters in florida on that they kind of missed because they were getting into this food fight. that's what i'd like to see them do. >> can i ask you a personal question now that we're on national tv you have to say yes. you represent the state of california. you represent the state of florida. that requires you to go back to your home districts for a large amount of time and meet with your constituents. you're running for the senate. so if you, in fact, win your senate race for the state of florida you'll be on a different senate schedule than your wife who's a congresswoman in the state of california. how do the logistics work out on that? >> it's -- go ahead. i defer to him often. >> i was just saying, it works how all marriages work. i understand my place and my role and bh it comes to our calendar, yes, dear. >> and she rolls her eyes. >> he's trying to get away with this nonsense. it's not true. we've done the math. i think we spend more time together than our colleagues do and their wives or spouses are in the district or even in washington because you're always coming and going. it seems to work out well. we understand the business and what we're going through so, i don't know, it works pretty well. >> yeah. the point is that on weekends she goes to california, i go back to florida. we've been doing this for four years. it actually works out pretty well, and like she said, because we're working here in washington we get to see each other more than most members of congress get to see their spouse. it works out pretty well. >> i thought traveling a lot helped keep my marriage alive. i'm kidding. >> same here, 22 years in the military. it works out. >> interesting. take a short break. we're going to take a break to listen to our other headlines and christine romans has a look at those headlines. >> good morning, soledad. just in to cnn right now, an obama administration source tells us a decision on the contraceptive controversy. a compromise of some sort will happen, quote, likely today. this as two senators have introduced a bill that would reverse the obama administration's requirement for religiously affiliated employers to provide birth control coverage to their female workers. vice president biden says the white house is willing to seek a suitable compromise but that hasn't stopped a catholic network ewtn from filing a lawsuit to block this measure. a republican member is under investigation for possible insider trading violations. washington post reports investigators are looking into some suspicious trades on alabama congressman spencer bachus's trades. cnn has a call in and no response. a prosecution witness in the uva lacrosse murder trial said he saw defendant george huguely with the arms around the neck of yardly love a few months before she was beaten to death. she screamed, help me before she managed to struggle fee. the trial continues today. desperate times for the u.s. postal service. they're running out of cash. postal officials say they lost $3.3 billion in the final quarter of 2011 and they expect to be insolvent by october unless congress authorizes cuts in facilities and employees. minding your business this morning, u.s. stocks are pointing to a lower stock this morning. european up onleaders say the austerity plan proposed by the greek government, it might not be enough to secure the next installment bailout money. a cancer drug may offer hope for alzheimer's. scientists say megadoses of bexaratine, a drug used to treat skin cancer, it erased alzheimer's disease in mice. researchers say the drug might not work on people, but they hope to try it out on healthy humans within two months. questionable moral character, illegal drug user. some of the characterizations you'll find in the fbi newly released steve jobs file. they compiled the 1991 file when jobs was being considered for an appointment in the bush administration. one more tidbit from the file. jobs high school grade point average was 2.65 on a 4.0 scale. think about that. the file can be read in its entirety on the fbi website, soledad. >> oh, that gives hope to millions of students around the globe, doesn't it. >> sure does. >> 2.65 and you can go on to become steve jobs. >> only in america. >> only in america. that's correct. still ahead on "starting point", five days of shelling. no signs of it stopping. we're going to talk about the crisis in syria which is growing louder by the minute. we are live with the latest developments on that story straight ahead. republicans say president obama flip flopped on the super pac issues, but the president's side says, no, we're helping small donors. we're going to be joined by a member of the obama campaign straight ahead to explain that. and this is no regular flash mob. it's delta flight attendants busting loose. i love this. hilarious. all over the country. we'll explain why straight ahead. we're back after this commercial break. montgomery and abigail higgins had... ...a tree that bore the most rare and magical fruit. which provided for their every financial need. and then, in one blinding blink of an eye, their tree had given its last. but with their raymond james financial advisor, they had prepared for even the unthinkable. and they danced. see what a raymond james advisor can do for you. welcome back, everybody. we begin with violence that's escalating in syria. another 25 deaths to report in syria's northern city of aleppo. 137 people killed yesterday in homs. ivan watson is live from istanbul, turkey, with us. there's a little bit of a delay. ivan, what's the latest? >> reporter: good morning, soledad. the violence spread to syria's second city of ileppo with at least two major explosions shaking that city outside of two headquarters of different wings of the security services there. syrian state tv reporting at least 25 people were killed, more than 100 wound the in what the syrian government is describing as terrorist attacks. now aleppo was a city that's largely been spared the violence that is destroying other cities and towns across syria. we've spoken with members of the defector soldier movement that's fighting against the syrian government that calls itself the free syrian army. getting conflicting accounts from them, soledad, as to whether any of the members were in the presence of these security officers when the bombs went off. they are denying responsibility for the explosions. meanwhile, the assault on that beleague gered besieged city of homs where hundreds of civilians have been killed over the course of the last week, that continues. residents telling us that rockets were lobbed into the city at dawn and continued throughout the day. doctors, activists making em passioned desperate appeals for help from the international community. something to put a stop to the violence there. meanwhile, we're hearing from diplomats and different governments around the world about plans for some kind of friends of syria international meeting perhaps to be held within two weeks to try to come up with some kind of roadmap to try to deal with this escalating increasingly deadly crisis which has claimed the lives of more than 6,000 people over the last ten months. soledad. >> goodness. looking at these pictures, ivan, while you're talking. been showing the damage to the city of homs, that's remarkable. thank you for the update. gabrielle giffords house seat is up for grab at this point. her wounded aid is planning on taking her place. we'll talk about his chances straight ahead. apple is ready to unveil the next generation ipad. going to happen next month. makes sense sips i just got the ipad 2. you're watching "starting point." we're back after this break. ♪ [ deep beetle exhaust ] ♪ [ door creaking ] [ dog whimpers ] ♪ ♪ get up offa that thing ♪ and dance till you feel better ♪ ♪ get up offa that thing ♪ and dance till you -- sing it now ♪ [ dog barks ] [ deep beetle exhaust, dog barks ] ♪ you feel good [ male announcer ] back. and better than ever. the all-new beetle. 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[ male announcer ] michelin knows it's better for xerox to help manage their finance processing. so they can focus on keeping the world moving. with xerox, you're ready for real business. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food. switch to citracal maximum plus d. it's the only calcium supplement that can be taken with or without food. that's why my doctor recommends citracal maximum. it's all about absorption. today my journey continuesmmends across the golden state, where everyone has been unbelievably nice. mornin'. i guess i'm helping them save hundreds on car insurance. it probably also doesn't hurt that i'm a world-famous advertising icon. cheers! i mean, who wouldn't want a piece of that? geico. ah... fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent oh dear... or more on car insurance. ♪ i like to make myself belief this planet earth turns slowly ♪ >> i like this. owl city. fire flies. when we went to break, connie mack had tom petty from the great state of florida. nice pace. everybody learns as you go. always. he's a politician. come on. come on. let's talk a little bit about where we go after cpac. first of all, do you think cpac really decides or defines anything? and what happens next after cpac? >> it will be a defining cpac. i think what we've heard from everybody is that the candidates now have an opportunity to connect with the tea party and with the voters and this is the place to do it. >> if they can do it it could be defining. >> this is what they all have to try to do. everyone of the candidates has to connect to the tea party movement and to people who say, look, we're tired of big government. we don't want a little bit less of government, we want to control the size and scope of government and bring it back to what the founders had envisioned. this is the opportunity to make that case. >> let me play a little bit earlier it was steve king joining us, congressman steve king was with us. let's play a little chunk of what he said in our last hour. >> so as they pulled each other down off that bed distal, tim pawlet at this, michele bachmann, it went on and on, mitt romney hung around at the summit and never claimed it until new hampshire, which was his territory anyway, home team advantage. when they went to south carolina, then you saw the gingrich money torch mitt romney. >> so he's talking about the negative ads and sort of the kill the man with the ball sort of theory. how damaging do you think this is short term, eric, and then long term? >> i think short term there's an enthusiasm gap that we see play out in every county with increased turnout he has lost with the exception of new hampshire. the base is fractured. there's a lot on the line at cpac probably more than any other cpac in recent memory. if they don't connect here today, that's going to be a big headline. if they do connect here, that's going to be a big headline, particularly for mitt romney. moving forward into the general election, if you have a base of people still licking wounds, bitter at how their guy was defeated by another guy through negative advertising or whatnot, they're going to vote against barack obama, but will they go door to door? will they give money? will they make phone calls? will the general election campaign be as negative as the primary? >> it is worth pointing out that romney, he has some serious strengths in this campaign. his financial, organizational. he's been a slow and steady candidate the whole way through. every time one of these challengers rises up in the polls, the polls are very, very sensitive to negative information about these guys. >> he has many more self-inflicted wounds than the other candidates, that's for sure. >> he's been through this before. he's been through it with bachmann, perry, cain, gingrich. i don't see how santorum is going to end up any differently. >> the issue for mitt romney ultimately, i'm not a fan of his, but ultimately -- >> you said every time. we got it. we got it. congressman mack, we got it. >> if you go back to 2008, the moment mitt romney began to be vetted by the press, suddenly mike huk ka by arose and then it was over. he's never really gone through the one-on-one vetting process the other candidates have. in this political season we've been looking for the alternative to mitt romney. suddenly the spotlight is on him in a way it has never been. it started in florida with you. for a guy who's a great turn around artist i've been thinking in the last month why isn't he turning around his campaign. jerry sandusky is back in court this morning because his neighbors say he needs to be confined indoors. he's arguing for more freedom in the court. this just into cnn, there could be a compromise on the table in this contraception controversy we've been talking about. the white house announced that moments ago that they'll work with religious groups. we'll see cattily what those details of that detail could be and the obama campaign's response coming up. first though, a track. ryan. finally, ryan. we've been ignoring you all morning. >> i was starting to worry that my taste was so bad. >> people get personally nervous about that. arcade fire, ready to start. ♪ to get on my bike and ride up in the mountains really brings peace. in my drug and alcohol use, it was the opposite. i got into it pretty young. by the time i was 15 i was using pretty serious drugs. when i got sober i lost my group of friends because they were still out drinking and using. i got into boxing, triathlon, climbing, i had a new group of friends. i had completely redefined myself. i thought, how can i give this to other people? 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aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive. welcome back to "starting point", everybody. time to get to the headlines. christine roam maps has those. >> good morning, soledad. this morning an attorney for jerry sandusky will ask a judge for greater freedom while he's out on bail. neighbors want the accused child sex offender confined to the inside of his home. they're complaining that from his deck he can look out and watch school children in a playground that is adjacent to his house. the army in mexico makes a huge drug bust seizing more than 15 tons of methamphetamine. authorities raided a laboratory hidden in a remote area. soldiers also found materials used to make the drug. former congresswoman gabby giffords is back in washington this morning. she will visit the oval office to witness president obama sign being the final piece of legislation she sponsored. it's called the ultra light aircraft smuggling prevention act. it gives law enforcement more authority to combat drug trafficking on borders. a former aid who was injured in that 2011 shooting, he is running for her seat. he said giffords asked him to run. >> very hard to say no to congresswoman giffords. i've never said no to her in our life as we've worked together over the last five years. i did go away from that conversation and gave it considerable thought and looked at the pros and cons and finally i was able to say to her, congresswoman, i will do that. watching your mown this morning, u.s. stock futures down across the board right now. investors feeling concerned about greece and whether it can secure more bailout money from the european union. the longer these bailout negotiations take the longer the volatility we're likely to see. ipad 3 rumors, the digital blog, all things d says apple will announce the next generation ipad next month, potentially at the south by southwest conference. it's rumored to have a better display, processor, graphics. it's also rumored to have a better camera. lots of rumors. and something that a lot of customers have been asking for. $310 million, that's the jackpot for tomorrow's power ball drawing. it's the fifth highest prize in the game's history. if one winner chooses the lump sum it'll be worth more than $193 million. if our office pool turns out, we each get 4 million a piece. tearing up the terminals. delta employees get their dance on in a series of flash mobs. workers in atlanta, new york, detroit all got in on the fun. take a look. ♪ ♪ put your troubles aside and start leaving ♪ ♪ >> that's cool. that's really cool. you can't do that on a plane. airport work, soledad. >> no, you can. you can. you know, i like that they put the good dancers in the front of the that was smart because the bad dancers should be hidden in the back. that's a good thing. you know what i love about that, too, is that usually when we're talking about flight attendants, service on airlines, it's some terrible story about some conflict with somebody and now like this is just cute. >> alec baldwin was nowhere around i'm told. >> yes. yes. but we've moved away from that story. we've moved on to this story. that's a good thing. christine, thank you. new this hour, a source is telling cnn that the obama administration is going to announce a compromise on the contraception controversy. the announcement is expected likely today we're told. president obama has been criticized for this ruling on contraception. the president certainly has been under fire here at cpac full of conservatives, so no surprise in that. listen to what senate minority leader mitch mcconnell had to say. >> the president's job is to unite the country, not divide it. his job is to bridge differences, not aggravate them. to encourage success, not condemn it. and honor and embrace the free exercise of religion. the conversation moved on to talk about religious freedom. so here to talk about the other side, we have stephanie cutter, she is the obama deputy campaign imagine gmanager. she's in chicago. can you give me some details on this story? here's a little bit of what we know which i mentioned to everybody. likely announce an attempt to accommodate the religious groups that we have been hearing from who in many cases are very, very angry. what's the plan as you know it so far? >> well, first of all, good morning. you know, the president made clear when we announced the contraception rule to ensure that all women could get access to contraception with no out of pocket costs that he wanted to work with everybody to ensure that we could meet the goal of ensuring that women get access to this important preventive care with no out of pocket costs in a way that respects religious believes. 28 states are already doing this. looking at how those states accommodate religious institution, not churches because they're already exempt from this, but looking at how different institution, catholic universities and hospitals are already dealing with this on a state level has been very important to the president. we want to find a way to accommodate all of these institutions so the ultimate goal is met. >> but that seems to be the rub, right? that seems to be the rub, forgive me for tripping over you there. the access part of it and the no out of pocket costs, right? that seems to be where the line's going to be. is it possible, in fact, to make everyone happy in a compromise? >> well, i think that it is possible because it's already happening, soledad. it's happening in 28 states. it's happening in the state of massachusetts. when governor romney was governor there women had access and continued to have access to contraception at all institutions. the exclusion there is the same exclusion that the federal requirement includes. a number of other states don't have any religious exclusion so there is a way to find common ground here, and ultimately reach the goal. remember, the goal here is to ensure women, regardless of where they work, get access to contraception to keep them healthy with no out of pocket costs. we think we can meet that goal. >> so i would imagine that some of the goal, too, is to move the conversation certainly in a political forum at a very important time in an electoral season away from religious freedom, which is really what everybody's talking about and kind of get this off the table because it's gotten a lot of publicity in a bad way. first i want to play for you a little bit of what some of the people here at cpac have been saying and then i want to talk about what some of the democrats themselves have been saying about this contraception ruling. let's listen to that. >> government shouldn't be telling these institutions what to do and they certainly shouldn't be oppressing them. >> this attack on religious freedom cannot and will not stand. >> this administration is assaulting the catholic church and people of faith across our nation by forcing their pro-abortion agenda on religious hospitals, on charities, and on employees. >> okay. here's a list of the democrats in the senate who have asked the president also to reconsider. senator carper, bill nelson, claire mccass kill, senator bob casey. would the president say, yeah, what he has done was a mistake and he's backing away from it or would you spin that away? >> first of all, i want to address some of the comments i heard at cpac. i'm assumesing those are the comments i heard. this is not abortion. this is birth control. this is the pill which women have been taking for generations. it is not controversion y'all. 99% of all women have taken it. 98% of catholic women have taken it. the debate on it is over. the debate is how we ensure women aren't locked out of this important preventive care because of cost. $600 a year does lock too many women out. as far as the democratic members that you mentioned who are asking the president to take a look at how we can accommodate some of these concerns, the president agrees. he agreed when we announced this rule, that's why we gave these institutions an additional 1.5 years before anything goes into place so we can talk to them and figure out how we can figure out a way to meet the goal. the goal is to ensure that women get this access and we think we can do that and respect their believes. >> last question for you and i want to ask about super pacs. you've said the entire purpose of the president's decision to embrace priorities u.s.a., which is the president's super pac, the super pac that supports president obama, you said the entire purpose was to protect the priorities of small donors. that seems contradictory to me. can you explain that? >> well, i think it's a little different. it's to ensure that the voices of small donors don't get washed out as a result of citizens united. after citizens united we saw a huge wave of money, special interest money, corporate money, wealthy individual's money going to the republican super pacs. just look at mitt romney's super pac. tens of millions of dollars from under 200 people. that's a stark difference from what's happening for the president's campaign. more than a million people on average giving less than $250. so we want to make sure that those voices don't get washed out in this debate. we want to ensure that we can not go into this election unilaterally disarmed and we can protect the priorities not just of small donors but of the progress that we've made of this country. we're not going to go into an election where a half billion is committed for one singular purpose, to defeat the president of the united states. we're going to go in fighting to ensure that we can protect the progress that we've made. >> stephanie cutter is the obama deputy campaign manager. nice to have you with us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. still ahead this morning a "starting point", the victim of a vicious beating. have you seen this videotape? young man, they caught it on surveillance camera being beaten by a gang shouting anti-guy slurs. this young man said he wasn't even planning to go to the police until the video became public and now brandon white is demanding justice. we're going to talk to him live up next. then rick santorum apparently not that comfortable with females on the front lines of combat. we'll play what he said about that. i'm not sure we fully understand it. then we'll ask the question, is this going to be risky when it comes to women voters. those stories ahead. stay with us. african-americans tend to be consumers of technology and not really creators of technology. >> so what's it like? >> reporter: she created a program in silicon valley called an accelerator to bring more african-american entrepreneurs into the high tech field. >> for it to be successful to me, founders have to get investment. >> reporter: eight people living in a house for the summer each trying to launch a successful dot com business. >> there were highs. >> i was just on cloud 9. >> and there were lows. >> i'm nervous. i haven't been nervous all night and i'm nervous. >> reporter: the accelerator was a success. two of the eight projects got funding. today angela lives in silicon valley. she re-located in the fall with her three daughters. she's set to launch the next installment of her excaccelerao on february 20th. this one features seven new entrepreneurs, including two women, one white, and one latina. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. we brought this story to you yesterday. the young man brutally attacked for being gay is speaking out. we wanted to check in with him. i have to show you this videotape, but i want to warn you, as we told you yesterday, it's hard to watch. you'll see here 20-year-old brandon white walks out of a store and look at that, he's just attacked. this is taking place in atlanta. it turns out brandon says he wasn't even going to report the attack until the tape made it online and he said he was embarrassed and humiliated. ultimately he decided that he was encouraged to come forward. brandon white joins us this morning. brandon, thanks for being with us. i've seen this tape a bunch of times. it is so hard for me to watch. is it hard for you to watch it as well? >> yeah. when i first seen it, it was very hard to watch but, you know, as you keep watching it, you keep watching it and you see how they don't have any feelings for anybody so it was hard but now i'm dealing with it. >> okay. so then take me back a little bit. you walk out of the store. did you have any idea that these guys were waiting outside that store to basically jump and pummel you? >> no, i didn't. i was actually on the phone. i was calling my grand mom because i needed to ask her some questions. and i come out the store and, bam, there it was. i had no clue it was coming. >> what were they saying to you? i know they were screaming things that were anti-gay. what were they saying? >> those are things that i wouldn't want to repeat, especially out loud where other people can hear it. they were very harmful words. they hurt my feelings as well. >> so then i was surprised -- i fully understand that. that makes a lot of sense to not go ahead and repeat them, but i was surprised to hear that you felt like you shouldn't go forward after being hammered for 30 seconds or more, that the first thing you didn't do was, you know, to run to the cops. why not? >> you know, as i've been telling everyone, everybody handles situations different and i handled my situation different than other people. you know, i let it blow over. but once it hit viral, once it hit the news, you know, you want to have your tell i don't remember story. you want to voice what happened. you want to have your say. you don't want to keep quiet. you want to let people know how it happened and possibly find out why it happened. >> how are you doing now? i mean, it looked like such a brutal beating. you look like at least externally you're doing okay. how are you doing both on the inside and on the outside? >> you know, i'm doing much better, i really am. but now as the case is come willing toward where they're coming up with arrests, you know, now is the mental part. how do i deal with it from the mental part? so that's why i -- >> how are you going to deal with it from the mental part? what do you do? >> me and my therapist are working through it. she's helping me deal with it where i can understand it. >> there are a lot of people today who are saying you are incredibly brave. it's a gang. it looked like they were trying to kill you. do you feel like you're brave or something else? >> you know, i really don't want to say i was brave, but i do feel like i was a stand-up person because i came forward. after everything happened, i came forward. i decided to talk about the situation bass, as i say, i want to see other people that have had this happen to them, i want to see them come forward as well. we shouldn't have to hide who we are just to please other people. >> brandon white, we're going to watch this case, of course. thanks for talking with us. >> thank you for having me. >> you bet. still ahead this morning on "starting point", we're going to talk about rick santorum's comments. he talked about women on the front lines of combat. is that in step with how female voters feel? we'll talk about that on the other side of this break. 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[ female announcer ] yoplait original. 25 flavors for you to love. it is so good. ♪ all right. now this, people, is music. marvin sap, shout unto god. this is how i like to start my morning. >> serious radio -- >> i need to move into a music show and forget about all of this political stuff, blah blah blah on politics. rick santorum has the momentum coming into cpac. he'll be speaking later. he also has a target on his back, from your guy, mitt romney, certainly he's going to be targeting his biggest rivalries right now. i want to play a little bit about what santorum has to say about the military and contraception. >> that has nothing to do with the right of a woman, this has to do with the right of the church not to spend the resources in a way that's inconsistent with their faith. >> i do have concerns about women in front line combat. i think that can be a very compromising situation where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interests of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved. >> okay. so i never know what he says about other types of emotions. let's skip that for a minute and go to the first part. on contraception, clearly as soon as this ruling came out conservatives were all over it and really pointing to, i guess, interference by the white house in religious freedom. now it looks like it's going to change. >> i mean, if the white house -- if this compromise is something that's politically acceptable and sort of tones down the rhetoric on the white, it will be a victory for obama, but this issue of contraception and relitigating women in the army, that's deadly in a general election for a republican candidate. there's already a gender gap. >> do you think the contraception issue -- >> i think what the obama administration did by forcing its position on the church will be a huge issue. >> churches are exempt. it's the church organizations and institutions, like hospitals, schools. >> it's unconstitutional. they know it. this is a pattern by this administration. that is going to hurt obama in his re-election more than anything is this overreach into all of our lives. >> unless there's a compromise, which it looks like they're trying to get to. let me ask about the second thing that rick santorum said about -- >> emotions. >> i've got to read it. types of emotions that are involved. people may not do something in the best interest of the mission because of other types of emotions are involved. i'm not even sure what that means. now that could be deadly in a general election. >> absolutely. >> i mean, that's -- if you're sitting here at cpac and you're trying to figure out who's the guy that's going to beat barack obama, you're going to be scratching your head saying do i actually want to spend the general election defending rick santorum's -- >> fighting over these issues instead of jobs. >> we'll talk about it in our "end point" coming up. be right back. stay with us. what we have here is the multi-point inspection. every time a vehicle comes into a ford dealership you'll be presented with one of these. we check the belts, hoses... brakes. tires and the pressures... battery, all your fluids... exhaust system, transmission... we inspect your air filter... it gets done,it gets done quickly and it gets done correctly. the works. oil change, tire rotation and more: $29.95 or less after rebate - at your ford dealer. you're a doctor... you're a car doctor. maybe a car doctor... the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ time for end point. it's how we wrap up the show. congressman, i'm going to let you start. what's your big take away for the morning? >> big take away is that the