health plans, not so much. that is until catholic leaders and some commentators began sounding off. catholics and christians all across america are fired up over president obama s approval of new regulations that require insurance plans of religious organizations to provide contraseptive coverage. why did it take news outlets a couple of weeks to catch up with the catholic protests? a former white house intern for president kennedy says she was his mistress 50 years ago. did he realize that you were a virgin? i think he did because he kept asking me if i was all right and i was all right. but she confirmed the affair nine years ago. was her book really worth an nbc primetime interview? plus are we ll look at the coverage of the sad and unexpected death of whitney houston. i m howard kurtz, and this is reliable sources. we re going to begin with the tragic death at the age of 48 of singer whitney houston, and joining us on the line from los angeles is cnn s larry
chicago pols. joining me is perry bacon jr., political editor at the grio.com and msnbc contributor and bill press, nationally syndicated radio host and author of the obama hate machine, the lies, distortion and personal attacks on the president and who is behind them. great to have you both with us tonight. thanks, reverend al. perry, republicans just can t let it go, right? this clint eastwood ad i m talking about. they just can t let it go. yes, al. i think at some point the republicans have to concede the president has had some successes. for three years they basically argued everything he s done has been wrong. i think in some way, they have to make a different argument and say here are president obama s values and here is how they are different. it s not working in the light of gm, the unemployment rate, the stimulus going down, osama bin
age i have say long friend. long time. i m thrilled to be here. nice to have you. will cain is here as well. we all know will cain. back again. got lots to talk about this morning. our starting point though is rick santorum waking up a big winner this morning as he swept all three states last night. strong victories in missouri and in minnesota. and a nail baiter win in the state of colorado. santorum says it is not just a victory for him but for the party overall. tonight was not just a victory for us. tonight was a victory for the voices of our party, conservatives and tea party people who are out there every single day in the vineyards building the conservative movement in this country, building the base of the republican party, and building a voice for freedom in this land. thank you. ron brownstein is the editorial director at the national journal and he will join our panel this morning. he has gotten so much better as a candidate, not ron brownstein, but rick
the romney care was obviously, you know, not a good situation. romney has been missing in action. he hasn t done a damn thing. it s my honor, real honor and privilege to endorse mitt romney. i ve gotten mitt is tough, he s smart, he s sharp, he s not going to allow bad things to continue to happen. to this country that we all love. so governor romney, go out and get em, you can do it. well, he must have won him over because that s not what donald trump was saying last year. welcome back to morning joe. jon meacham, steve rattner still with us, and joining the table the host of the bill press show and syndicated columnist bill press, the author of the obama hate machine.
candidates who are awkward in a sort of nixonian way. i m not talking about any ethics or values here. everyone needs to calm down on the internet right now. but as far as just to relating to people, they re both a bit awkward. i m not sure that s fair. i think they re both obama is probably most comfortable lecturing at the kennedy school. romney is probably most comfortable offering a power point in a board room. and what you had with bill clinton whom you had on the show is a man who could do both. he could lecture and he could connect, and that s probably why he s the greatest living politician and neither one of these two guys is anywhere near that. is this the obama hate machine at work? did you hear them? they called him awkward. oh, whatever. i would never accuse joe scarborough as being part of the obama hate machine, no. but i think what you ve all missed in that endorsement of trump is the awkwardness of mitt romney and ann romney standing