and sharp and sudden turnaround by the obama administration. the white house now says it's tweaking the health care reform provision that sparked a sudden confrontation between church and state as well as republicans and democrats. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is here in "the situation room" watching all of this unfold. it was pretty dramatic what happened. >> it was, and all of this caught the white house off-guard. there's no sign that the uproar is dying down. the president plays cleanup. >> they will not have to pay foror provide contraceptive services, but women who work at these institutions will have access to free contraceptive services just like other women. a law that requires prepreventive care will not discriminate against women. >> the catholic health association says this resolution protects the conscience rights of catholic institutions. e.j. dionne who helped kick up the firestorm now writes president obama did today what he should have done at the very beginning. he honored the fact that religious groups, including the catholic church, had legitimate religious liberty claims, but the solution is stirring more outrage. >> it expresses an animus against the catholic church and other religions. i think they made it worse quite frankly. they raised our expectations, just put some salt in the wounds. >> according to the administration, the new rule tikes the employer out of the equation, so women who work for religious institutions will still get contraception for free, but now their insurance company will have to provide it directly to the women at no charge. that way the objecting institutions aren't paying for birth control. >> the administration insists this was none of this was about politics but angry catholics disagree. >> we are now told we have to provide for abortion-inducing drugs to some employee if she decides she wants it, and that we have to pay for it? >> reporter: a big concern for some catholic organizations is some operation their own health insurance policies, and this would compel more allowances they didn't have before. the administration is aware of this concern and says they're going to work with religious groups to figure out how to resolve that question. >> think probe acknowledge -- >> they know they botched this one and hope this cleanup will be enough to p ultimate it to respect. >> wee see if it is. the fight at the front of the race is right here in washington, d.c. today with the three top candidates all speaking at cpac. we're going to be heying from newt gingrich. he'll be introduced by his wife, and let's get the latest on the battle between mitt romney and rick santorum. he's over at c pack. what happened so far today? rick santorum came to the conversation ready to rumble with mitt romney. take the stand uprue tease from foster fvm rvm iess. >> a bartender says hi, mid. hi, mitt. >> reporter: santorum's hard-nosed speech in the health care plan. >> the fact the stepchild of obama care. the person in mike galanos who built the largest government-run health care system in the united states. >> when we call up with santorum working the cpac crowd, he defended the tough tone. you don't think it was over the top? >> look, it is obamacare at the state left. and that's -- he still continuing to afternoon for it. the a topdown government cross. >> among the conservatives milling around, a few voters may be breaking santorum's way. why not mitt romney? >> i will end up if i have to with him, but i don't trust him. >> i know conservatism, because i have lived conservatism. >> reporter: with you romney had a speech tailor made, and he worked in a swipe at santorum's record. >> let me tell you, any politician that tries to convince you they hated washington so much they just couldn't leave, well, that's the same politician who will try to sell you a bridge to nowhere. >> he got a boost from ann coulter. >> you can't call him dumb, you can't call him crazy. you can call him square. that seems to be what a lot of right-wingers don't like. >> that's better than what she said last year. >> ron, kris christie, romney will be -- >> foster friess was just as unpredictable, saying the former pennsylvania senator is now recovering from his days supporting earmarks. >> i think rick is in the recovery program. >> reporter: how many steps is that program? >> i think it's 12 steps. >> reporter: which step is he on? >> he's pretty well through it, because he's realized the abuse earmarks have had. >> there were other unscripted moments. rockne said he was, quote, severely conservative. that was not in his prepared remarks. and you haven't heed much of newt gingrich. he will be on the stage shortly. hi mission, wolf? get back in the conversation. >> he will be introduced by hi wife callista. you've been on the campaign trail with newt gingrich. how unusual is this we'll be hear from callista gingrich as well? >> reporter: that's a very good point, wolf. we do not hear very much from her. she does speak at some of these events, but not very often. one reason is they know inside the gingrich campaign that there are many conservatives uncomfortable with the way the gingrichs came to be married, but perhaps today -- i haven't been able to confirm this, but perhaps we'll see more of her moving forward. there are some inside the gingrich camp who have advocated for this for a long timeisms jim acosta, thanks very much. we'll check back after the speeches. let's dig deeper. joining us in our strategy session, ron brownstein is a senior political analyst for cnn, and also editorial director at "the national journal." and paul begala, and mary matley, she of course is a cnn contributor. what do you make of callista gingrich, mary, deciding she's going to introduce her husband at this very important meeting in washington today? >> i think it's significant, and i think it's good there's no doubt the spouses can be and have been a great asset on the road. she clearly has the ear of her husband. by all reports she's a preferred adviser. we no whoa her knows she's brilliant, fun and interesting, articulate, a good conservative, so i think it's a very good thing. >> what do you think, paul? >> i think mary is right. i've never met mrs. gingrich, but she's taken a lot of slings and arrows, a a lot of the spouses have. but i think it's a good thing for the reasons that mary states. certainly mrs. obama is a great asset to the president, mrs. romney is enormous asset. i don't want to see anybody attacking spouses. >> and mrs. ron paul, she shows up. >> they can offer a testimony, a perspective that no one else can. having said that, it's newt gingrich who has to find a way to create a rationale for his candidacy going forward. this is the principal alternative to romney. >> it's true, a tracking poll, a gallup puts out. what does he need to do? >> he needs to get back on the track that let him to be the leader of the abms, the anybody butt mitts, and you never say never. now he's challenging to -- for the full-spectrum conservatism. in a more positive way. he has to get on santorum's track and prove he could do it ultimately better than santorum. >> i interviewed santorum, he certainly has gotten major momentum out of that trifecta, that sweep he had this week. >> he hayes, and he's at his best when hi's critiquing romney's health care plan. he did it in the debate and he carved romney up. but he had no answer. with santorum, i would quibble alternates. i would not say romney-care is the step child, but the mother of obamacare. it came first. >> ron, you know this t. one of the great issues he says that republicans and conservatives have is what they call obamacare, the health care reform law. if romney is the candidate, they lose that playing card, if you will. >> because romney says he can till play it. romney's speech was pretty well received, but in other ways, the day -- >> callista is about to introduce her husband right now. let's listen in. >> thank you. thanks, dave. what a great gathering this is. i'm so happy to be with you here at cpac. newt and i have a wonderful partnership with dave vossie and citizen united. together we have produced seven documentary films on conservative values, principles and personalities. several of these documentaries being shown here at cpac. let me just take a moment to thank all of you who have been so supportive to us. when we decided to run, we knew there would be tough stories from the media. as well as hurtful attacks from some of our opponents. what we didn't know was how kind so many americans would be to up. i want to thank everyone who has reached out. you have made our lives richer, and their campaigns stronger. >> because i know newt better than most, i'm pleased to introduce him today. i'd like to share a few things about him that you may be surprised to hear. first newt is an enthusiastic and committed golfer. it's true. he gets in and out of more sand traps than anyone i have ever seen. newt golfs the way he does everything, with enthusiasm and determination. he's willing to learn, and he never gives up. newt loves books. qualify books in every corner of our home. newt also has an entire library on his kindle. i may be the most grateful person in america for this invention. newt is also very supportive. when i sing at the basilica of the national shrine or play my french horn with the city of fairfax band, he is right there listening. i am personally grateful for his wisdom in not trying to sing as a candidate. he knows his limitations. . finally we have had some great family moments over the last several months as kathy, jackie, their husbands, and our grandchildren maggie and robert, have joined us on the campaign trail. newt is very committed to our grandchildren and to the future of our country. we believe with all our hearts that america is the last bastion of freedom. we believe that our current path puts the future of our great nation in jeopardy. and we believe both solutions and fareless leadership are necessary to rebuild the america we love. please welcome my husband, and the next president of the united states, newt gingrich. thank you callista. what she didn't tell you, by the way, is i'm a very bad golfer. she just wouldn't say it. i have to thank dave, who has been such a great friend and partner with us on so many project. also, as a personal note, thank you ralph halo, and cpac recognizing tony, who is such a great friend. and i want to thank the new 2012 volunteers who have been working and made such a different. we are a people-based campaign, and our volunteers are really important. i've spoken at cpac many times. cpac was founded to challenge the republican establishment. the fact is when ronald reagan came here in 1974 and gave his famous speech on bold colors, no pale pastels that was a decade in from reagan's first great national speech for barry goldwater, a time for choosing. when prayingen campaigned in 1980, you could see the gap between the republican establishment and the conservative movement. reagan campaigned on lower taxes, less regulation, praised people who created jobs. the establishment called it voodoo economics. the gop establishment has a single word they use with contempt for conservative ideas. they say they're unrealistic. so creating 16 million jobs until reagan, unrealistic. ending the soviet union, unrealistic, and faith witlessly wrote a brilliant piece recently, pointing out the fact she and i were in as conservatives against the republican establishment over the very question of whether or not we should have an anti-soviet campaign, a 1994 contract with america, unrealistic. the house republican majority of 1994, which by the way was elected by the largest one-party increase in american history, 9 million voters, unrealistic. cutting taxes with the unployment drops, unrealistic. four years of a balanced budget, unrealistic. managing the diskaysh did you changing the trajectory remembers real and take on the left t that is why the republican establishment, whether it's in 1996, or in 2008 can't win a presidential campaign, because they don't have the toughness, they don't have the commitment, and they don't have the philosophy necessary to build a majority in this country. chronny capitalism is as bad as chronny capitalism in wall street and they better clean up the congress if they expect to be reelected. now cpac actually represents a 50-years struggle which goes bass to the movement in 1962. the tea party versus the republican establishment is in many ways the same fight. this has been going on for a half century. at the core of it is very simple. the conservative movement, which it offers bold solutions to rally millions of americans, not just republicans, millions of americans, democrats, independents, people never involved in politics before, this enit wins decisively. 1980, 1984, 1994 are examples of that. what i want to talk about today are gold solutions, and i want to contrast it with the timidity that comes from managing the decay. two examples. we won't the second world war from december 7th, 1941 to august 1945. i want you to lock this into your heads as an example of what america can do when you unleash the american people. in 44 months, three year and eight months we defeat nazi germany and japan. recently it took 23 years to add a fifth runway to the airport. when people say you can't control the border by january 1, 2014, they're describing the america that can't. that's the establishment's america. tide up in bureaucracy, tide up in red tape, tied up in incompetence, tied up in interest groups. let me be very clear. all of you have seen the washington establishment and the wall street establishment pile on top of me. all of you have seen them say things that were profoundly false. there's a good reason they're doing it. this campaign is a mortal threat to their grip on the establishment, because we intent to change washington, not accommodate it. so let's take something that should make us all optimistic. there is a world that works. most if not all of it is in the private sector. how many of you have engone online to check a package at u.p.s. or fedex. raise year hands oecht to drive this home. this is not a theory. it's a practical reality that we have the technology that enables us to track between -- we track 24 million packages a day while they're moving and we allow you to find out where they are for free. now here's the world that fails. the federal government today cannot find 11 million illegal immigrants, even if they're sitting still. now, i have a simple proposal. we send a package to everyone who is here illegally. when it's delivered, we pull it up on a computer. we know where they are. let el me say to my friends in the media, that was hyperbole and we don't need a fact check. now, i'm going to give you a series of solutions that are big enough. we have lots of bickering, lots of arguments about this and that, virtually no discussing of what does it take to take the most complicated society in the world and move it back to being the most successful, most prosperous, safest and freest country in the world. i'm going to try to set a stage for that. we have tons of details at newt.org. you'll see an immense amount of material, but the standard here is to have st. louis big enough, and the principle is to sun leash the american people to rebuild the america we love. let me star with jobs. if i am the nominee with your help, i will ask the entire republican tickets to campaign with me on the pledge that when the congress comes in it will station in session and by january 20th, it will have repealed obama care. it will very well repealed dodd/frank. it would have repealed sarbanes-oxley. all three of those are job killing bills which centralize bureaucracy and increase the corruption of the political system. all three should be repealed and held at the desk until i am sworn in that afternoon on the very first day, we should sign the repeal of all three. that's a reasonable start. two hours after the inaugural address -- that was junior the or deserve. we haven't gotten around to serious work here. two hours afc, i will begin signing presidential orders, all having been published by october 1st. the very first executive order will abolish all of the white house czars as of that moment. we will sign that day an executive order which as of that moment approves of the canadian pipeline to houston, period. >> my message to prime minister harper and the canadian government is simple. you do not need the give the american people a few months. when we bead president obama, you can start buying equipment, because we will approve it on january 20th. there will be an executive order to move the state department to put the embassy in jerusalem as of that day, period. we will that day reinstate ronald reagan's mexico city policy -- no money for abortion overseas, period. and we will have an executive order to repeat every act of religious bigotry by the obama administration, period. my goal, with your help is that by the time president obama lands in chicago, we will have repudiated at least 40% of his government on the opening day. america works when americans are working. the theme will be a paycheck president versus a food stamp president. i believe we will win that fight by a huge margin. oy worked with president reagan. i worked with president clinton. in those four years we got down to 4.2% unemployment. how do you do it? really serious change. i have only one measurements, so i want the establishment to understand up front. this is not about fairness, this is about maximizing economic grout to put americans back to work and create the most dynamic economy on the planet and rebuild or manufacturing base so we pull away from china and become once again the dominant country on the planet in economic turfs. first, you eliminate the capital gains tax, so zero capital gains for all investments in the united states. second, you go to 100% expensing so all new equipment at every level -- farmer, factory, doctor, business -- all of it gets written off in one year. the goal is to make the american system the most modern, the most productive in the world. you also, if you're going to modernize the equipment, you want to modernize the workforce. unemployment compensation should be changed so that in order to get unemployment compensation, you sign you had for a business-led training program, so we are modernizing our workforce. never again should we pay someone 99 weeks for doing nothing. in 99 weeks you can earn an associate degree. i nine, think about the total waste of human capability, when you teach people to stay at home for 99 weeks. it's fundamentally wrong, and the violation of the declaration of independence commitment that we have the right to pursue happiness. if we're serious about manufacturing, we have to eliminate the environmental protection agent, which is a job-killing agency. we should replace it with a brand-new environmental solutions agency made up of new people and the number one requirement should be common sense. they should have to take into account economics. the idea that the highest gas prices we've had, they are looking at a regulation that would raise the price of gasoline 25 cents a gasoline tells you how utterly totally irrational epa is today. not try to reform it, because the people have been self-selected to be radicals who are antibusiness, antilocal control and seek to dictate to america. we also need a 21st century administration, whose job is simple -- be in the laboratory, understand the science, and accelerate getting it to the patient, so we save as many lives as possible and in the process we create hundreds of thousands of new jobs dominating the new market and world health care. we need a 12.5 corporate tax rate. that's the irish tax rate. it brings home $700 billion in profits that are locked up overseas, it enables or companies to compete and at 12.5%, general electric will actually pay taxes. we should abolish the death tax permanently, because it's an immoral tax. you know, when governor romney released his taxes, the liberals were shocked. he was only paying 15%. their answer was to raise his taxes. i'm a conservative. i believe our goal should be to get your taxes down to 15%. how do you do that? we have in my plan something we got from hong kong care of steve forbes. hong kong has had for years a two-track system. you can keep the current code, all the red tape, all the deductions, all the forms, or you fill in one page, here's how much i earned, here's how many dependants, here's 15%. here's what i want to stay to the establishment. they'll say this is not revenue neutral. they're right. this is called a tax cut. i have a simple principle. i want you to understand this. this will become a huge argument. i worked and helped balance -- the only four years in your lifetime. when people say gingrich is being irresponsible -- we'll get a federal budget balanced, but my intention is to shrink spending down to the level of revenue, not to raise revenue up to the level of obama spending. this is a fight we had in 1984 whether we put in the no tax increase platform, which i worked with jack kemp, trent lost, against, by the way, the establishment. our principle was simple. we are not the tax collectors for the welfare state. we are notice -- so liberals can give it away. we are in fact interested in a tax code that creates jobs, that maximizes freedom, that gives you a chance to take care of your family, your neighborhood, your charities, your church or synagogue, and that's a fundamentally different model than the establishment model. we will not tax the american people for barack obama's credit card. how do you get to a balanced budget then? you reformed government, and you use american energy. social security is safe for a generation. a huge increase in revenue and big decline in cost. you take people off food stamps, off medication off unemployment, off welfare, you put them to work paying taxes, the government gets more revenue without a tax increase, the government spends less. it's the first big step to balance the budget. but let's talk about cutting spending. this is what i mean by bold proposals which promptly will be labeled as unrealistic. we should replace the civil service system and regulations with a new model of modern management using systems like lean 6 sigma and we should be prepared to save $500 billion a year and increase the economy by at least $2 trillion by the soimpl act of having the government cease to be incompetent, inefficient and a hindrance to the future american system. we should look at cutting spending by looking at every single agency, and we should start by abolishes the abolished department of energy, which has been a total failure since it was founded. american express, mastercard, visa to cutting out fraud, we can save $60 to $110 billion in medicare and medicaid alone by going to modern systems that work. that's almost a trillion a decade just in that one zone. we should apply the tenth amendment. i'm delighted that governor perry has agreed to head up a project for a contract this fall and for a bill in january a tenth amendment implementation to return power back home. we also have things on energy -- i believe that we have an obligation to open up the american system to produce the maximum amount of oil and gas for three reasons. keep the 500 or 600 billion at home strengthens our economy. if we maximize production, our goal should be to get babb to $2 gasoline to prove that the free market works in a practical way that affects your life. this isn't pie in the sky. this is pure supply and demand. when you realize that north dakota alone has 25 times as much energy as the u.s. geological survey thought eight years ago, 25 times as much, and we're not allowed to look at alaska where we own area -- i mean, obama han as anti-american energy president and every american pays the price every time they go to a gas station. i have a very simple aspirin pill. we want to ensure that no future president ever again bows to a saudi king, period. we need to move towards a personal associate security savings account for young americans while taking social security off budget for senior citizens and need to make sure that no politician ever lies to our senior citizens by threatening to keep checks from them, because the trust fund is there, even if there's no trust in barack obama. we need a complete audit of the federal reserve to find out every single decision. we deserve to know who got our money and why. if bernanke has not resigned by the day i'm sworn in, i will ask the congress to pass a law ending his term, and we need a commission on gold and solid currency, much like the one ronald reagan had in 1982. i'm delighted that -- to serve at the chairman. let me close on two big topics that are very, very important. first, this administration is waging war on religion, but so are the courts. this is why we need a movement that's bigger than just beating obama. we need a movement that understands we're going to change the congress, the white house, the bureaucracies and where necessary the courts. we need to understand how real this is. this country was founded by people who came here in order to avoid religious persecution, a very basis of this country was religious liberty. our core document says we are endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights, appeared barack obama seeks to cross across those, and i frankly don't -- this is a man who is deeply committed, if he wins reelection, he will wage war on the catholic church the morning after, we cannot trust him, and we should make sure the country knows who he really is. i want you to understand what a real bold solution approach is, go to newt.org, there's a 54-page paper that we put together over a nine-year period that outlines how to rebalance the yew dishary and reestablish the right of the people to protect themselves against dicta torial judges who are rewriting the constitution rather than enforcing the constitution. it's a very serious topic. finally. this is an administration which lies about who our enemies are, refuses to tell the truth about what threatens us, is blind to the dangers we are running, seeks to weaken radically our defense system, has crippled our intelligence system, and is making a series of decisions around the world that are stunning in their misunderstanding of the nature of reality. today we have americans held hostage in egypt. today we have the person who helped us find bin laden has been arrested by the pakistani government. what more do you need to know? they didn't say this is terrific, you helped find the most wanted terrorist. they said this is terrible, how could you help the americans? we need a profound national debate about our entire policy and it needs to start by telling the truth about radical islamists who seek to kill us. this is going to be a big choice, big decision election. i think while i'm seeking the republican nomination, it has to be an american campaign. we want to say to every american, if you favor paychecks over food stamps, come join us no matter what your background, no matter where you live, we want to be with you in creating a work oriented jobs economy. we want to say to every american, if you believe that honesty about our enemies strengthen our defense and competence in our capabilities is vital to our survive, come join us. we don't care what you once did. we need every american who wants to defend america to come together for this campaign. finally we need to say to every american, if you believe in the declaration of independence, if you believe in the constitution, and you believe in the federalist papers, then we want you to be with us. we understand others will be with sal olynn can i, barack obama, and radicalism, but everybody believes we are end endowed by a creator, that we have the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. we want you to come from every background in every community in the country. i need your help. i hope you will go to newt.org, i hope you will sign up. we are running a people campaign. we don't have the scale of money that some of our competitors do, but we do have a plan. we a conservative dream team. j.c. watts, kelly ann conway, oliver north, a tremendous team, but in the end, we need you. if we can be together, and if we need to add more names, feel free to go to newt.org and add more names. this is the year to reset this country? a decisive bold way. we need to teach the establishment a lesson. we are determined to rebuild america, not to manage its decay. with your help, that is what we will do. thank you, good luck, and god bless you. all right. there he is, newt gingrich, presidential candidate, spent more than 30 minutes outlines a series of initiatives he would undertake. key wo are if. ron brownstein, you listened to every word. he took the high road, if you will. he didn't go after any hi challengers. >> early on, he said we've had almost no discernible debate going forward. it's all been backward-looking about his record -- but the speech today i thought was a bit of a state of the union. it went through a list of proposals without identifying one where we draws the line with romney. reagan picked the panama cavernal. gingrich has to find a play to draw the line in the sand. he didn't quite do that today, though he obviously has some raw material. >> i'm sure i undercounted. i counted 17, none of them small, completely wretch civil service, completely eliminate a host of taxes. so good for imhad, he's clearly trying to be the candidate of ideas. i think rob has a point. he still has to draw a central distinction i think with mitt romney. i think rick santorum did that. i'm not in the room, about you it seemed a little fat. newt is a really good speaker. he knows every ereasonable news zone for the right, and it didn't seem he hit them, but it could be because i wasn't there. >> mary, mission accomplished? >> i disagree with my esteemed colleagues, he didn't need to dwing himself from romney. he needed to do what made him the biggest challenger to the romney. between the two of them, they course corrected on his other degrading the campaign concept. when callista talked about kind this is, that cleans up the whining about the process that was so off-putting. but that was newt by think. none of those ideas were new. they added up to a clear articulation of a conservative contrast to obama. he's not really talking to you, paul, or even you, brian. he's talking to that room. he did more than what mitt needed to do with this group. >> stand by for a moment. we have much more to discuss, including a new statement from the united states conference of catholic bishops reacting to the decision today. stand by for that. also rick santorum ducks down on a controversial remark about women in combat. my interview with rick santorum. that's coming up as well. [ male announcer ] this was how my day began. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ all right. there's some encouraging word for the white house. reaction from the nation's catholic bishops, the united states conference the catholic bishops reacting to the president's initiative, the compromise proposal for resolving the issue of catholic institutions paying for health care for contraceptions, other sensitive issues. in a statement just released. the cardinal-designate timothy dolan saying they want to continue a dialogue with the white house. the past three weeks have witnessed a remarkable unity from, word about the erosion of religious freedom. but then goss on to say, today's decision to revise how individuals obtain services that are moshly objectionable is a first step in the right direction. we hope to work with the administration to guarantee that americans' conscience and our religious freedom of nor harmed by these regulations. ron, this has to be encouraging to the president and to the democrats? >> probably ben than they could have hoped for. the fact is the most religiously observant catholics are pretty solidly republican. those who are less observant tend to lean towards democrats. if you want to get to the swing voter at the center, catholics sort of intermittently observant, some call them easter catholics have to be it. it may give them some hope they're on the right stage. >> mary, what's your reaction when the hear what the nation's catholic bishops just said? >> well, cardinal deciding nate dolan is the epitome of a diplomat. first step doesn't mean last step for me my guess, but no matter. this pandora's box has been opened. obama does not want a conversation about obamacare. that's where the cardinal designate started, with erosion of freedom, intrusion of government. they do not like the church in any way to be imposed upon. it's a pandora's box. this shuts it down for today, but doesn't shut it down for the election. i think the administration will have to do more to placate a newly animated constituency. >> it isn't opening it for the white house. they've got to be encouraged by this moderate statement? >> i think this is probably more than they hoped for. what they did get was a very strong endorsement from the catholic health organization. is the people who are actually running these health institutions will be affected in the catholic church have endorsed the compromise position, because they say it protects religious liberty, doesn't force religious institutions to do something against their conscience, but expands health care for women. so i'm highly encouraged. i think the white house -- this was an unforced error from -- >> from cardinal-designate dolan, we reserve judgment on the details until we have them. so at least there's going to be a dilock to make sure that make they can get on the same page. >> there's legitimate concern for the white house, but there is another side to the ledger, which is that you have republicans. mid romney talked about completely defunding planned parenthood, this continues to put republicans in a play where it may be toucher to reach those voters. >> good work all around. like a corp merger between terrorists. brian todd is following an alarming new alliance. brian, what groups are joining together? >> wolf, one group has launched some of the biggest attacks on american interests. the other has recruited some militants from the heartland. that's the partnership that has officials worried. dax russ terrorists, there are concer concerns, al shabab, a group fighting chaotic control. its leader has now pledged the formal 'liegian. intelligence sources tell cnn they expected this, the concern -- >> that al shabab, this group that's now joined al qaeda has a direct recruiting network operating in the united states, where re crueltiers on american streets doesn't have this type of capability. many from the minneapolis area have gone missing in recent years, believed by u.s. officials to have been recruited by al shabab to fight in somalia. some have been killed. when we investigated those recruiting cases, we spoke with a minneapolis activist who lost his nephew. do you know about their methods? do they come in and talk to these young men inside the mosque? outside? do they call them on cell phones? i mean, do they kidnap them? >> they kidnap in the sense of mental kidnapping, not physically, but they play a role of a meant ore. >> reporter: while some have been arrested. peter king says al shabab still has recruiters operating in minneapolis as well as boston, seattle, san diego, washington, columbus. experts say the group also has supporters in toronto. there are two concerns. that al shabab might simply get its supporters already in those cities to attack or -- >> we have a group that's recruited from places like minneapolis, and brought these young men to somalia, where they have been trained by extremists in terrorist trayen camps in militant tactics, become more militarized, and now with that u.s. passports they can reenter the united states and go wherever. >> reporter: and experts say al shabab has a strong motive. it's recently covered military setbacks in somalia, pushed from the capital. it's suffered drone strikes. annual ises saysal shabab leaders blame the u.s. for all of that. >> it could also partner with another affiliate that's launched recent attempts. >> officials are worried that it might deepen its cooperation with al qaeda in the arabian peninsula. you remember that's the and the plot to send bombs on cargo planes bound for the u.s. in 2010, both of those plots, of course were foiled, about you that group does have some dangerous capability. >> brian todd, thank you. happening now, rick santorum is not backing down from a startling comment that he made that his critics say insulted women. wait until you hear what the republican presidential candidate is now saying about women serving in combat. also my full interview with rick santorum. that's straight ahead. plus venting frustration over endless carnage at the hands of the syrian government. this hour robert ford shares inside information about the brutal crackdown. and team obama releases the campaign's play list with the musical choices rock voters or surprise them? well to well cub our views. rick santorum could potentially be hurting his chances. heads's under greater scrutiny after the three contest sweep on tuesday. a remark he made right here on cnn about women serving in the u.s. military in combat rolls has stirred up controversy. listen to what he told john king last night about the prospect of female troops serving closer to the front lines. >> i think that could be a very compromising situation where people naturally, you know may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved. i think that's probably -- it already happens with the camaraderie of men in combat, but i think it would be even more unique if women were in combat. i think that's probably not in the interests of men, women or the mission. joining us now republican presidential candidate rick santorum. lots of reaction, senator santorum, to what you told our own john king on your opposition to women serving in combat units. a very angry responsibilities from one veteran whories this -- it's impossible to put into words how infuriating that is to me. as someone who has served twice in iraq with women who were already serving ably in combat, even though the pentagon didn't officially recognize that up until now. what's wrong with women serving in combat? >> well, there's lots of things wrong. there's lots of roles women can play, in fact roles that are very dangerous. where someone is injured and has to be brought back, that's one example. the other example is simply the emotions of men in dealing with women in combat and not focusing po templeal on the mission, in protecting -- the natural instinct to protect someone who's a female. these are all reasons that armies throughout the world. look at the israeli arm, which is an army that has a lot of women in it, and a lots of women in very important positions, but not in combat. there's a reason for that. we have to look at mission effectiveness. we can't look at other reasons why people may or may not want to be in combat. >> israeli army, by the way, doesn't allow women to serve in combat units, but they do allow gays to serve openly in the israeli military. i know you oppose gays serving in the military as well. is that right? >> yes, i have taken that position. because those are jobs that require them to be on the front lines and could be in dang -- their lives could be on the line as well. >> obviously my position is the same position as this administration, so i don't know why they're upset with me. this has been the position of the military from the beginning of our country. so i don't know why the anger is necessarily focused on me. >> the military brass is thinking of formally changing the position. >> it's one thing to have that happen, another thing to actually have a stated policy to put women in that role. >> mitt romney spoke at cpac. he didn't mention you or newt gingrich by name, but it was over who he was talking about. listen to this. >> leadership as a chief executive isn't about getting a big out of conference or giving a great speech. i happen to be the only candidate in this race, republican or democrat, who has never worked a day in washington. i don't have olds scores to settle or decades of cloakroom deals i have to defend. >> he's clearly referring to you and newt gingrich basically suggesting you guys are washington insiders, he is not. >> well, that's sort of the new tactic. i'm sure they poll tested this one. >> a very strong conservative. so they can't really attack him from the right, so we've got to use some other tool to try to tear him down, and maybe experience in the job that they're actually running for would be a good place to go. i don't think that works. the fact of the matter is your experience in doing the job that you're running for is actually probably a pretty good thing. and having the ability to be able to see and learn lessons, as i have had, from how things are -- were mishandled in washington for many years is actually pretty good experience to see how to do it the other way. >> you and arlen specter probably got a billion in earmarks for various projects in pennsylvania. do you want to respond to that accusation that they make against you? >> yeah, well, i'm sure senator specter got more than i did, because he was on the appropriations committee, but i believed at the time that congress has a specific authority to spend money, and sometimes the congress and the president disagree on how that money is spent. one of the things i did, for example, when i was in the house, i fought for the b-22 osprey, which now is the indispensable platform for our marines in combat right now, air platform. under the bush administration, bush i, they were going to eliminate that, but many of us fought for that platform to go forward. the predator drone program, there's a whole bunch of things that congress and the president disagree on, and sometimes congress steps up and says no, mr. president, you will spend the money this way. i don't think that's necessarily wrong. in fact i think that's our duty to do so. when that happened, just like jim demint, who earmarked for many, many year, the leader of the reform, we realized that that needed to be changed, and we called for the end of earmarks. >> the president announced a new initiative to try to get over the initiative. catholic institutions, like university, hospitals, charities. he says this new formula should be acceptable, then said this. listen to what he said. >> when you're a teacher or a small businesswoman or a nurse or a janitor, no woman's health should depend on who she is or where she works or how much money she makes. every woman should be in control of the decision that affect her own health, period. this basic principle is already the law in 28 states across the country. >> do you have any problem with that? >> i do, a serious problem with it. this is the federal government using the power of coercion to force an employer to pay for things that are morally objectionable to that employer. you know, wolf, we're not talking about a $10,000 procedure here. we're talking about something that is an inexpensive medical, you know, drug, and the idea that somehow the government even has to insure this, period, the government has to force people to even course this for the if i were is a complete -- make a mockery out of the issue of insurance. insurance is there to prevent you from, you know, from expenses that in fact are -- would be threatening to your financial stability. this is not going to threaten anybody's financial and for the govern to is simply rubbing salt in an already tough wurcht. this is a president trying to impose his values, rolling over religious liberty, and in the case of the archdiocese, rolling over the freedom of speech. this is a clear indication that the president has a war on free adopt, the war on freedom, because he thinks he knows best what people so have and shouldn't have. and hashed outrage everybody of faith and no faith. >> senator, thank you very much. >> my pleasure, wolf. thank you. the santorum campaign says it's raking in donations, a lot since the former senator's wins in colorado, minnesota and missouri on tuesday. a spokesman tweeting just a little while ago, today is the third consecutive million dollar day. that's what -- just tweeted -- was tweeted by the santorum campaign. the republican presidential race clearly heating up again tomorrow night when we get the results of the mainest caucuses. with a special edition of "the situation room." that's followed by complete live coverage. stand by for more of the controversy over the birth control coverage issue, and whether president obama's compromise is making everyone or no one happy. plus i'll ask the u.s. ambassador to syria about scary experiences, whether members of the bashar al assad regime actually wanted to kill him and other u.s. diplomats in damascus before they fled. a preview of the songs that will be playing when president obama hits the campaign trail. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] offering four distinct driving modes and lexus' dynamic handling, the next generation of lexus will not be contained. the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. ♪ on december 21st, polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space, which would render retirement planning unnecessary. but say the sun rises on december 22nd and you still need to retire, td ameritrade's investment consultants can help you build a plan that fits your life. we'll even throw in up to $600 when you open a new account or roll over an old 401(k). so who's in control now, mayans? home protector plus, from liberty mutual insurance, where the costs to both repair your home and replace your possessions are covered. and we don't just cut a check for the depreciated value -- we can actually replace your stuff with an exact or near match. plus, if your home is unfit to live in after an incident, we pay for you to stay somewhere else while it's being repaired. home protector plus, from liberty mutual insurance. because you never know what lies around the corner. to get a free quote, call... visit a local office, or go to libertymutual.com today. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? the united states ambassador to syria says he's watching the crisis on the ground with horror and revulsion, only days after leaving the country and shutting down the u.s. embassy in damascus. joining us from paris, the united states ambassador robert ford. mr. ambassador, thanks very much for coming in. you're in paris, because i had to leave damascus. why did you have to leave? >> well, wolf, thank you for having me on this afternoon. we have to leave syria basically because we faced security threats to our embass that were putting in danger the lives of our embassy staff, syrian and american, and putting at risk of lives of syrians who worked close to the embassy with there to be another large car bomb as we have seen in damascus. did you think elements of the syrian regime wanted to kill you? >> um, i don't know who's been responsible for the car bombs in places like damascus and -- we frankly it doesn't matter so much to you who's done it as much as in terms of the safety of the embassy having measures put in place to protect us. unfortunately the syrian government did not do the necessary, so we closed the embass after several weeks of ultimately unfruitful discussions with the syrian authorities. >> i take it this was your decision, you were fearful for the lives of other diplomats and embassy personnel, including local syrians who were working for the embassy, and you were fearful of your own life. is that right? >> the decision is made by the president, wolf. i made a recommendation to the department of state in terms of the safety and security of the embassy facilities and its employees. it's a decision that frankly i am sorry we had to take, but ultimately the risk to our staff was too great. >> what was it like evacuating? >> it was a very heart thing to do, wolf. i've been in the state department for 27 years, and i believe strongly in the value of having an embassy, even in countries that are going through different times, it's important to explain to people what the americansing this about the problems. it's important to understand what is going on in a country like syria. it's important to have a embassy to have american citizens who have been arrested or have medical problems. we had thousands of americans living in syria. it's a very hard thing to say farewell to loyal and dedicated syrian employees of the american embassy and absolutely wrenching to take down the american flag just before we drove out of the embassy. absolutely wrenching. we've seen the horrific accounts of what's going on on the ground, but they really don't let us get in there as journalists. you were there. describe the situation in a nutshell. >> if it's all right. what i would just say for syrians living in syria right now, the people we talk to every day, there was a huge amount of fear, fear about what the future held. they know the violence is contemplating. they nose it's getting worse. big battles just 20 minutes from downtown damascus. we could heard hear it. it's quite amazing. then you see these images coming from homs, syria's third largest city, a city i visited last year. it was very prosperous. the economic hub, and now you're looking at apartment buildings being blown up by artillery shells, bodies in the streets, people can't go out of their homes even to collect the bodies, children, women killed. it's just horrific. it's repulsive. at the same time you have that, that contemplation of violence going on, the economy is in terrible difficulty, factories are closing, companies are closing. people are losing their jobs. prices in the market for food are soaring. in the capital city of damascus, they were suffering 6, 7 hours a day of electricity cuts. i would call it the syrian equivalent of chicago. electricity off 12, 14 hours a day and you couldn't find gasoline in the stations. they were all shut. you couldn't go to the airport, because you might not be able to find any taxis to get to where you're going, because the taxis couldn't get gasoline. this is syria's second largest stilled. so the economy is having a terrible time and getting worse, and the violence is getting worse. so there's a sense of fear and foreboding across syria. you posted on your facebook page last night a picture, a satellite image of homs. we're showing it to our viewers right now, weaponry being brought in, used against -- armed have iing decided to post this image. >> wolf, in short, i find it completely disengenius for defenders of the bashar al asaid regime we know who's shells homs. it is not the armed opposition groups. it's the government. that's why i wanted that picture put on the facebook account. there is the artillery and that's what's firing at homs right now. the armed opposition has rifles machine guns, even a few rocket-propelled grenades, but it doesn't have artillery. only one side has artillery, the kind of artillery that we're looking at the films and bringing down whole apartment buildings. hundreds of people have been killed in the city of homs just in the last couple days. it's absolutely horrifying. the international community cannot stay silent about this. >> i gra el completely. here's the question -- it looks to me as a longtime observer of the middle east, what bashar al assad and his regime are doing similar to what his father did in hama, and there were obviously at the time, and you know this better than i do, maybe 10,000, 20,000, 30,000 innocent people simply slaughtered when they leveled virtually that town of hama. is that what's going on right now in homs? i told them the world had changed, that with satellite television, with the internet, with cell phones even, there was no way they could do what the father did and destroy a city without the world really being witness to it. as a result now we fast-forward to 2012, the world can see what the syrian government is doing, and the syrian government as a result is growing more and more isolated. lost weekend at the united nations security council representatives of governments from four different continents all agreed that what the syrian government is doing is wrong, and had not russia and china used their vetoes, the two countries that voted against it had veto power, that resolution would have passed. it was a 13-2 vote. the chinese and the russians were very much outnumbered, but they veto authority. >> is it time for the international criminal court to serve papers, accusing bashar al assad of war crimes? >> certainly, wolf, we think that the syrian officials responsible for the deaths of syrian civilians, they need to be held accountable. how that is done i think first and foremost goes to the syrian people themselves, because they are the ones who need to determine how to manage their country's affairs as a peaceful political transition, one day goes forward. i don't want to speak for the syrian people, but i do think that official must ultimately be held accountability. >> robert ford is not in syria right now, but is a very, very courageous career foreign service officer in the united states diplomat. mr. ambassador, thanks for everything you have done in syria, we appreciate your effort. >> thank you, wolf. it was nice to be with you. a fellow graduate of the john hopkins university school of advanced international studies here in washington. my alma mater. we keep hearing about the violence in homs. now concerns about brutality in another syrian city. our ivan watson is standing by to join us with those details. and the soundtrack of president obama's reelection campaign. you may hear the songs that made the cut. [ beep ] [ mom ] scooter? the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. it's got tender white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. did today's protest twin blasts rocked the government cities in aleppo. let's go to ivan watson. he as standing by in istanbul. now the focus is also on aleppo. what's the latest? >> reporter: that's right, syrian state news agency reporting, wolf, this was the work of twin suicide bombers hitting the headquarters of two branches of state security in aleppo. that's the second largest city in syria, the commercial capital, a city largely been spared the violence that is quite literally tearing apart towns across syria as we speak. in many of the opposition areas. there were protests throughout the day on friday. this has been a weekly ritual that opposition activists have been doing. the theme of the protests is russia is killing or children. many of these opposition activists blaming russia for giving the syrian regime the diplomatic cover to increase its attacks on syrian activists, particularly in that besieged city of homs where hundreds of people have died this week alone. there any chance, ivan at all of any diplomatic solution? boy, that's the question that many are asking. many diplomat have conceded that bilateral pressure on bashar al assad haven't worked, that the arab league hasn't worked, that the united nations hasn't worked. the turks i've been talking to are talking about trying to avoid foreign military intervention, trying to say you can't have the dictatorship continue, but try to do some third way of bringing -- additional reply wall diplomatic economic sanctions against syria, one prominent to the prime minister here wrote in a newspaper wrote that it was time to increase support to the syrian opposition who are being hosted in istanbul and camps along the border with syria. we know there are plans under way for some kind of international grouping of friends of syria, probably to take place in tunik, the capital of tunisia. even with a new road map that would leave a lot of time for the military to continue killing civilians. >> they seem to be dying by the hundreds. thanks very much, ivan. we'll stay in close touch. tomorrow night you'll be able to gain a better understanding of how residents are suffering in syria through their remarkable voices and disturbing images detailing the crackdown in homs, cnn saturday night, this special report at 10:30 p.m. eastern. president obama's new compromise on birth control coverage may not stop lawsuits against his policies from playing out. we're looking at the controversy and getting the react from catholic bishops. see if you like the songs on president obama's campaign playlist. a closer look at president obama's attempt to defuse a political time bomb. even if they worked for religious organizations, this comes after days of angry backlash. many catholic and evangelicals are against any requirement for contraceptive coverage. the administration coverage for women who work for employers with religious ties. >> the result will be that religious organizations wouldn't have to pay for these services and no religious institution will have to provide these service directly. let me repeat, these employer will not have to pay for our provide contraceptive services. >> the obama camp has been concerned this controversy might hurt the president's support in several key battleground states. mary snow is looking at the new compromise. what are you finding out? >> wolf. one of the people that president obama briefed was new york archbishop timothy dolan. in a statement the archbishop says he sees initial opportunities, but still has concerns, but legally groups like the aclu say there's not already a big difference to what's already provided. new york archbishop timothy dolan speaking for u.s. catholic bishops calls the administration's revisions a, quote, first step in the right direction, but says we reserve judgment on the details until we have them. earlier this week, the archbishop called on the federal government to reverse what he called choking man daze. the federal government should do what it's traditional done since july 4th, 1776, which is back out from intruding in the internal life of a church. >> reporter: in states like new york, religious institutions all right include contraception in their policies. one example -- fordham university, which is catholic, doesn't provide birth control to students, but says the insurance policies to students and teachers does cover contraception. that's because of a 2002 new york state law. a spokesman for the new york state catholic conference says contraception is included under protest at institutions such as hospitals and universities. new york says american civil liberties union attorney louise melling is one of the 28 states with rules about contraception coverage. she says the difference could come down to a co-pay about the coverage. >> what this is about is saying all insurance companies as part of the new health care plan for new insurance will have to be provides coverage for contracepti contraception. this is a federal law, and it doesn't have a co-pay. >> reporter: but one group that's already filed three lawsuits in federal court gej the administration's pollicis there's a big difference. the states have broader religious exemptions that is the obama administration has announced. there's also multiple ways for organizations to opt out such as byself insures or not providing prescription drug coverage to begin with. >> reporter: here in new york some catholic institutions have been able to work around the insurance mandate by provides their own insurance plans. one of the concerns among catholic organizations is that the administration's compromise didn't doesn't at where theself insured plans would continue to be exempt under these new rules. wolf? >> lots to dissect and understand. thanks, mary, thanks very much. just how badly did the white house handle this firestorm and what's the latest? will president obama feel any ripple effects out there on the campaign trail? our own james carville is standing by to join us in "the situation room," next. an obama compromise and a santorum stumble. much to talk with with james carville. thanks very much, james. bottom line, how badly did the white house handled this w40e8 catholic issue with birth control, the contraceptives, president came out today to try to fix it. >> actually thank god, the reports that the vice president and bill daly when he was there tried to say, look, this is going to happen, but i think this is going to blow over pretty quickly. 98% of catholic women use berth control and i don't think it's going to be as big as terri schiavo, but probably if it's neutral we'll forget about it in a month, but it might help them a bit. it looks like they're trying to reach a compromise with most people. >> although they want more details, cardinal timothy dolan saying today's decision to revise how individuals obtain service that are morally objectable is a first step in the right direction, so the white house has to be encouraged by that, but it does have the effect of energizing that conservative base of the republican party and sort of amplifying their argument that this is a president with a war on religion. >> rick santorum really is committed -- i call him an anti-contraception activist. you know, he's certainly going to appeal to people of that persuasion, but i think by and large people really support contracepti contraception. i think they saw the president trying to be reasonable and compromise on this. i don't think that immediate an immediate term effect of this will be very much. if anything, like i say, i would likely see that it actually helps him slightly on the margins more than it hurts him. >> let's talk about rick santorum. he had a dramatic three-state sweet in the gallup daily tracking poll, ahead of newt gingrich. how real of a threat does he represent? >> you know, i've always maintained and continue to maintain, the only person in this feel that has a chance to beat mitt romney is mitt romney. that was a bad night for him, but he has races coming up. i was looking at the cpac thing today. the conservatives just don't like mitt romney, and he has a problem closing the deal. i think a lot of these wins that has been are as much about romney as the opposition. i know the race with bobby casey in which he beat santorum by 18 points, that they can go back and crush him like they crushed newt gingrich. hour, every time they do that, they probably take a bit out of their hide, too. so we'll see what happens. the real threat here is to romney. i think gingrich or santorum or herman cain, rick perry, any of these conservatives are looking for anything other than mitt romney. >> james carville, thanks very much. wolf, thank you, man. a quick break. much more news after this. our science teacher helped us build it. ♪ now i'm a geologist at chevron, and i get to help science teachers. it has four servo motors and a wireless microcontroller. over the last three years we've put nearly 100 million dollars into american education. that's thousands of kids learning to love science. ♪ isn't that cool? and that's pretty cool. ♪ a big victory in the war on drugs. lisa sylvester's monitoring that and some of the other top stories in the situation room right now. what do you have, lisa? >> reporter: wolf, well, a huge raid in mexico may put a big dent in the supply of methamphetamine in the united states. mexican troops seized 15 tons of pure meth at a ranch near guadalahara. drug experts say it could have supplied 13 million doses and it was worth more than $4 billion. it is believed to be the largest seizure ever in mexico. >> atlanta police say they have identified and issued arrest warrants for two of the three men seen beating gay man in this ultraviolet video. wow, that's hard to watch. brandon white heard slurs during the attack. the fbi is investigating whether it is a hate crime. atlanta police have offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. white was not hurt seriously. wolf? >> thanks now very much, lisa. hackers have allegedly just hit the cia. it's the latest in a string of powerful government nerve centers that the notorious group anonymous claims to be targeting. brian todd has been all over these stories in recent weeks. what's the latest as far as the cia is concerned? >> reporter: the latest is that the cia web site you can't access it right now. we've been trying get on the cia's web site. >> it's open to the public. >> reporter: you have to specify. this is not very likely not the internal cia computers. their internal server's probably not being affected by this. this is the cia's external web site that's available to the public, has general information for the public about the cia. this group anonymous has claimed in the past to have disrupted this web site. the department of justice's web site. the u.s. senate's web site. what it does is, it kind of loads servers around the world to make requests of this site and essentially floods it with requests and it gets so many requests for access that it gets overwhelmed. when you try to get on it you're basically told it can't come up. so people now have tweeted, people affiliated with this group anonymous have tweeted claiming credit for this disruption. tango down. they're bragging on the twittersphere or whatever they call it that this has happened. the cia says it's looking into it. >> brian, thanks very much. a whole new world out there. coming up, music to president obama's ears. we've got his campaign's play list and we'll play it for you. for a limited time, passages malibu will be giving away free copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. what a campaign play list can tell you about a candidate. why some are unhappy with the president's new tunes. let's bring back lisa. she has more on this story. lisa? >> reporter: wolf, the obama campaign released its official list of campaign songs. this is the music that's used at rallies to really get the crowd going. the president's campaign office told us this afternoon that this is just a beginning list, that there will be more songs added. even still there are some who were a little surprised at what didn't make the first cut. >>. ♪ i'm so in love with you >> reporter: president obama pumping up this crowd of supporters at the apollo theater. >> ♪ whatever you want to do >> reporter: al green's "let's stay together" is a favorite of the obama campaign to play at campaign stops. the president's official campaign list features motown classics including aretha franklin and earth, wind and fire but also new groups like arcade fire to appeal to a younger crowd. jennifer hudson's "love you i do" makes the cut. ♪ i love you i do >> reporter: and so does -- reo speedwagon's "roll with the changes." the music that a campaign plays during a rally says a lot. from the chairman of the music industry association of america. >> candidates like music. need music. it adds another dimension to the image they're trying to project. music matches all of those moments in people's lives. so it's appropriate for a candidate to think about it that way, too. >> reporter: not everyone is pleased with mr. obama's play list. hispanic and african-american groups are asking where's the latino music? where's the hiphop? 29 songs and not a single rap song. there's only one ricky martin song in english. ♪ the best thing about me is you ♪ >> we're very surprised to see this. it's i think an example of silos. i know there's other parts of the campaign that are very focused on the latino vote. obviously those folks didn't get to talk to the play list people. >> reporter: the other campaigns have yet to release an official play list but they too have their go-to music. "born free" by kid rock has become a theme song for mitt romney along with toby keith's "american why." gingrich likes "only in america". >> reporter: university of wisconsin professor eric caspar and william shining wrote the book on campaign music. they say campaign music is really a form of free advertising. >> every time these songs are played on the radio we tend to associate them with that candidate. now we just don't hear for instance al green's "let's stay together" we hear it and we think president obama and he's got this message of unity that he wants for us. >> reporter: so what was the worst campaign song ever picked? well, according to the professors it's ross perot's 1992 use of the patsy cline song "crazy." >> reporter: best campaign song? bill clinton's campaign used "don't stop" by fleetwood mac. now campaign song selection can backfire. in 2000 tom petty did not like it that president george w. bush used his song "i won't