says there's something to be said about being the underdog. >> one of the great gift that is i've had in my political career is that no one ever think that is i could ever win anything. [ laughter ] >> the gift of being underestimated is a wonderful gift. [ laughter ] >> and i think we might have seen a little bit of that last night. >> last night santorum's trifecta reshuffles the republican race. the question tonight is can he sustain it? dana bash is back in washington with us live tonight. dana, he's off to texas today to raise money. is that priority number one now that everybody's suddenly paying attention again? >> it is priority number one. and i just got off the phone, john, with the senior santorum source who said that on their web site today they raised twice as much -- excuse me, had twice as much traffic as they had after he won iowa and raised three times as much in donations on his web site as he did after iowa. he said they're not sure exactly how much that is yet, but it is a lot. so much that their web site actually crashed at one point today because of the traffic. and this is about dollars. santorum himself said on cnn this morning that just at midnight last night they raised about a quarter of a million dollars. what did he do today? he went to texas not just to campaign but primarily, i was told by a couple of his aides, to raise money because there were donors there who had money, they wanted to give it to him and wanted to see him face-to-face so that's where he went. >> dana, let's take a look ahead to the next contest. the next primaries, there's a caucus in maine this weekend. rick santorum, let's start there. any hope at all playing in maine? a lot of the voting is already done. or is he giving up? >> i have not heard the word "maine" pass the lips of anybody in santorum world. >> then we go to michigan and arizona. if you look at the endorsements, the organization, you would say advantage romney. your sources are saying look for santorum to focus much more in michigan. that's where mitt romney was born. his dad george george romney was the governor. why michigan? >> because it looks better for the santorum campaign than arizona. arizona is winner take all when it comes to the delegates, michigan is not. the demographics. they understand full well it is mitt romney's backyard, the fact his father was go. but they also believe that there are voters there who are potential santorum voters, blue-collar voters, reagan democrats, social conservatives who might be able to -- they might be able to get. >> stay with me one second because i'm going to switch maps. i'm going to go ahead now. we close out the month here. in the end you mention he's in michigan in part because it's about delegates. let's say for the sake of argument that ron paul gets the victory there. i'll get it. ron paul wins maine. then as we know michigan and arizona. for the sake of this conversation i'm going to give these to governor romney. we'll see if this one plays out. then we get to washington state on march 3rd, another caucus state. for the is sake of the hypothetical giving that to ron paul. but you say rick santorum wants to go there. >> he says they feel they can do quite well in washington state and expect to see him out there. i don't know how well he could do but that's another area where if they can get a couple of delegates it's very important than zero. >> very important republican base and social can i haves in washington state. this is -- if he looks at the subpoena tuesday map speaker gingrich's hoke state of georgia, he believes that's an advantage. i understand speaker gingrich is leading in oklahoma. but rick santorum likes oklahoma. is ohio another super tuesday target? >> yes. and north dakota another target and also tennessee. those are all targets for him because of the christian conservative population that he clearly did well last night in his trifecta. but also because again those are states that are not winner take all. those are states where he can try to come in there and get a few delegates to add to his roster which is absolutely critically important for him as he moves forward. the bottom line he said to me last night and he keeps saying that his reach is beyond the christian conservative base. we'll see if that happens. because as you well know, we didn't have good exit polls last night to really tell us exactly who voted. but if you look at the states that he won and the areas in those states where he won, it looks like that is still primarily what was driving his win. >> no question it was a lot of evangelicals and tea party last night. if he's going to win as the map expands to super tuesday he'll have to prove himself among blue-collar republicans as well. after last night it's no surprise, mitt romney today going after errafter rick santo in addition to newt gingrich. who went to washington as conservatives but ended up supporting billions in deficit spending and those pork barrel earmarks. here's what the massachusetts governor had to say a short time after landing in atlanta. >> senator santorum and speaker gingrich, they are the very republicans who acted like democrats. and when republicans act like democrats they lose. and newt gingrich's case he had to resign. and rick santorum's case he lost by the biggest margin of any senate incumbent since 1980. >> more aggressive governor romney today. turning to the white house, the house speaker john boehner slamming a rule that would require religious charities to provide birth control. he says it cannot and will not stand. three female senators backed the president accusing the republicans of launching "an aggressive and misleading campaign to deny this benefit to women." then the resurgent rick santorum coming off his big tuesday wins. >> a small group of people, just catholics in the united states of america. [ cheers and applause ] >> who were told, you have a right to healthcare. but you will have the healthcare that we tell you you have to give your people. [ audience boos ] >> whether it is against the teachings of your church or not. >> bring in our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. jess with all this up roar is the white house looking for a compromise? >> reporter: i've been on the phone all day, john. sources tell me the administration is working on a way to thread the needle so that women will get free contraception coverage but without forcing religious, especially catholic charities, hospitals, institutions, to pay for it. the truth is, the administration had never finalized their rule on this issue, but they sure botched the press announcement around it. it ignited this firestorm of criticism from the church. so now they're working backwards to figure out the right policy that will be sensitive to the church while giving women this coverage, john. >> and it is an incredibly delicate political balance. it's a big policy question, but it's a big political balance. how's it playing out? >> reporter: so according to a new ppri poll, a majority of americans, 55%, agree that employers should offer women free contraception coverage. but when it comes to this touchy question, should catholic or religious hospitals, universities, institutions, be required to offer contraception coverage, only 45% of catholic voters agree. that's the previous graphic we had up. so that's where the president finds his opposition. but a majority of women support the move, and almost 60% of young voters, ages 18 to 29, support the move. so women and youth very important constituencies for the president. it's a bit of a split move there. >> important politics and very important policy. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. jess, thanks. moving overseas now, snipers, mail bombs and constant shellings. activists say at least 60 people have died today alone in the bee sieged syrian city of homs. they say not even infants, hospital patients or doctors now are safe from these attacks. chris lawrence joins me now live. chris, one activist calls this a huge crime against humanity. you've been reporting the pentagon now drawing up contingency plans. how detailed are these plans? how serious is this? is the pentagon really thinking about military options or is this designed to presht regime? >> reporter: john, the plans are very serious but they're also very preliminary and would need the president to call for them and authorize them. two administration officials confirmed to us that these plans have quietly been in the works for a couple weeks now. military official looking at options. and what that means is, they look at the other military commitments in the region and then they see what assets are available, what sort of missions they might be able to accomplish, and perhaps most importantly, what would the risks be to those troops, those ships, those planes? these are very early preliminary options. normally a document like this wouldn't even get to the president's desk unless he specifically asked for it. and at that point they would flesh it out. >> and what does your reporting tell you as we're in this preliminary phase about the specific options that are being proposed and kicked around? >> reporter: there's been several options put forward. all of them have significant risks. humanitarian aid for one. one official said there's almost no way that without the syrian government's okay that you could deliver any sort of humanitarian aid without a sizeable military presence to guard those convoys and delivery systems. another option that's been talked about is arming some of the rebels or the opposition. the problem there is that russia is a serious ally of syria. and there are questions if the west heavily invests in arms to some of these opposition groups that russia doesn't step in on the other side then you're got a much more well-armed conflict. finally the least likely option is actual military strikes in syria. people have made comparisons to what we did in libya. but syria has 30 times the population density of libya. that means civilian casualty rates would be much higher. syria's army is five times the size of libya. it's got a much more robust air defense system, meaning those jets and those ships on offshore would be in much greater danger, john. >> all very difficult options being weighed by the pentagon. chris lawrence, thanks for your help reporting that. you may love your iphone but the wireless carriers? not so much. we'll explain a bit ahead. but first what will having john mccain on mitt romney's side mean in arizona? >> i hope it has some effect. but i do also think that endorsements are very much overrated. so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. since ameriprise financial was founded back in 1894, they've been committed to putting clients first. helping generations through tough times. good times. never taking a bailout. there when you need them. helping millions of americans over the centuries. the strength of a global financial leader. the heart of a one-to-one relationship. together for your future. ♪ together for your future. weight loss programs can be expensive. so to save some money, i just got the popular girls from the local middle school to follow me around. ew. seriously? so gross. ew. seriously? that is so gross. ew. seriously? dude that is so totally gross. so gross...i know. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. we've been watching the brutal crackdown in syria for months as it climbed into the thousands of casuals as the regime of bashar al assad tries to snuff out the opposition. with more bloodshed, more cries for outside help. >> we're not animals. we're human beings that are asking for help. we're asking for your help. they've been shelling us for four hours now. they're going to kill us all. up to millions. >> as we reported a few moments ago, cnn has learned the pentagon is compiling contingency plans for humanitarian assistance and possible military options but the u.s. ambassador to the united nations tells cnn in her words the aim is to resolve this through peaceful means. is there more the white house could and should do? arizona senator john mccain is the ranking republican on the armed services committee. senator, should the obama white house, the administration be doing more on a unilateral basis? >> i think we can do a lot more on a multinational basis, john. by the way, i think the time for "peaceful means" has long ago been exhausted, in awe all due respect to our ambassador to the u.n. we could do things by providing them with intelligence information, satellite information, information on the movements of the syrian armed forces, bashar al assad's arms forces. we could provide medical help. we could provide as the turks have said that they welcome any refugee into turkey and they'll make them safe. we should consider no movement zones. we can consider a wide range of options, including provision of weapons to the syrian national army. but the rebellion -- rebellious ones, the ones that are trying to overthrow assad. >> do you see any scenario that should be on the table that would put u.s. boots on the ground inside syria, whether they be covert operatives or outright military action? >> i do not at this time, john. i think that there's sufficient number of other nations personnel that probably would blend in better and also might do the work that needs to be done. but i think there's a lot of technical help that none of them have except us that we could be of great assistance. but no, i don't see american boots on the ground. but i do see looking for ways to provide them with any assistance possible. the estimates are 6,000 syrians have been killed. >> senator, i want to shift your attention to presidential politics. you were the republican nominee in the last cycle. you won florida. that essentially wrapped up the nomination. you got butmped up a few times after that but you were on the path of to the nomination. governor romney lost minnesota, missouri and colorado. what does the conservative base say to the man who many thought was the inevitably nominee? >> i think in florida the conservative base was very active in on behalf of mitt romney. i think this was really very small numbers of people that turned out. and i respect their views. but i don't believe that they are representative of the broad majority of republican voters. >> is it a problem, senator? is it a problem governor romney won minnesota four years ago. he went to that state and says i'm the conservative alternative to a guy named john mccain. he won colorado four years ago with a same message we need a conservative alternative to john mccain. you say not that many people turned out. is that the problem, governor romney is not exciting people? >> i think when most voters felt that it really didn't have any significant direct impact on the selection of the nominee it mattered. look, i'm not saying that mitt romney has a smooth and easy path. i lost 19 states when i was competing for and successfully for the nomination. and i'm sure that there'll be some bumps in the road. but i'm confident that in arizona that he will do well. and i'm sure that in michigan he will do well. and a number of these other states, ohio, and that he will be our nominee. but look, it's never easy, nor should it be easy. and i think he'll be a much better candidate against president obama once he emerges victorious, which i'm confident he will. >> what's your sense of what's happening? i think sometimes the grassroots, sometimes they follow the leaders if you will, institutional politicians, but sometimes they rebel against them. for example, governor pawlenty was with governor romney in minnesota and it meant zip forgive me. what will having john mccain on his side in arizona mean? >> probably zip. i hope it has some effect. but i do also think that endorsements are very much overrated. they give certain legitimacy to a candidate, but i'm not sure that they help make up a voter's mind. so i really believe that when you have one or two percent of the registered voters turning out that that's not a very good indicator. but i do congratulate senator santorum on his victory, and certainly the romney campaign knows we have a challenge. >> a challenge ahead for a man who knows that challenge quite well. john mccain, senator, appreciate your help tonight. once again, congress nears deadline precipice. deja vu over extending the payroll tax cut. senators in a standoff again. then the military looking to unleash this robo mule. ooul explain coming up. ice for you today ? we gave people right off the street a script and had them read it. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you knowledgeable customer service 24/7, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. brad needs car insurance, but, uh, brad doesn't want to spend too much. who's brad? this is brad. ahh! well, progressive has lots of discounts for a guy like brad. brad's intrigued. paid in full, safe driver, multi-car, going paperless -- all can help brad save a bunch. sign brad up. cool! jamie will ring you up. show brad the way. who's brad? oh, here we go again. discounts that everyone can use. now, that's progressive. call or click today. welcome back. here's kate bolduan with the latest news you need to know right now. hi there. same city. >> reporter: he's back. it's a good night when you're here. >> maybe for a decent stretch here. >> reporter: like 24 hours at looft? >> maybe 48. >> reporter: awesome. breaking news. john's in town. a little deja vu for you, congress has until the end of the month to extend the payroll tax cut. but there's no deal in sight and time is running out. sound familiar? republicans and democrats are accusing each other of standing in the way for a political reason ahead of the november election. and if they don't compromise your paycheck could be smaller starting march 1st. i'm definitely backing that for you. we may love our iphones but it's proving to be more of a burden for wireless carriers. as many of you know, apples iphone has heavily discounted, subsidized by the carriers but that is single-handedly eating away at a big chunk of their profit margins for verizon, at&t and sprint. we're talking anywhere from 3 to nearly 10% of their profits. that's pretty serious. and you've got to see this to believe it. you're looking at the ls 3. looks like a mule, maybe? yeah, it is. the defense department's research arm is developing this robo mule to carry heavy military equipment for troops. and get this. it will be able to interact with them like a trained animal. the producers have told knee downstairs it will carry up to 400 pounds. that's pretty major. >> can you guys play that just for two more seconds? here's my question. >> okay. >> so you're the enemy on the other side of the hill? hello. we need to quiet the engine maybe? >> reporter: that's the next version. that's the 2.0 version, john. you're asking too much. >> i guess maybe i am. a faster way to get through airport security. the tradeoff between convenience versus your privacy. and in about ten minutes, former gop presidential hopeful michele bachmann. what she's saying about senator santorum's insurgent her home state of minnesota. are you still sleeping? just wanted to check