dinner. not shockingly, he issued an apology. it took a little while. he did the nonapology apology first and then came around to the real apology. here's what he said. >> i might have tacos when i go home, i'm not quite sure yet. >> i am going to guess he did not have the tacos. apparently, he did not have the tacos and then apologized. the question this morning is, is that apology enough? we'll dig into what has been happening in that city of east haven, connecticut. concussion controversy in the nfl. we have been talking about concussions and then you heard the new york giants' players saying they target opposing team players if they have a history of concussions to try to take them out. back tracking on that. we'll examine what really happens on the field. "starting point" begins right now. that would be, thank you for teeing that up for me. that's right. will cain likes that. that is not my music. >> "baby i'm a star." >> thank you, all about this today. >> baby, i'm a star. >> i'm going to give roland so much more time today. come on, will, you need to do something. erica gonzalez editor in chief is saying what have i gotten myself into this morning? what is funny, now they don't put down where you're from. >> like cher or prince, i'm almost on a one-name basis with the american public. >> so, here's -- let me explain the music thing for everybody. you know, i have been a little dismissive of the music that i've had on the show. >> just a wee bit. >> it was terrible. we're working on it. we're building and growing. but when people on twitter start saying, seriously, you need help with your music. we need to do something. bring in your music. if you rn othe show, we will feature and highlight the music of our panelists or our guests. like senator john mccain was on yesterday. what is on his ipod? i think that is kind of cool. >> i really don't. i want to know what's on megan's? >> i bet he has an ipod and i bet he has interesting music. next time he's on, we're going to feature his music. excuse me, peanut m&ms for breakfast. circling the dream. you saw this picture of the governor jan brewer kind of having it out with president obama. we have the video, but there is a photo, as well. maybe one of you guys can grab a newspaper for me so we can show that in a little bit. she has her finger basically in the face of the president. the president arrived in phoenix on air force one and then they had this tense encounter. she said it was triggered by her book which was called "scorpions for breakfast" she said the president was disturbed by the meeting they had in the white house in the book and she said the president is thin skinned. listen. >> he, he changed the subject to my book "scorpions for breakfast" and was a little bit dis disenchanted, if you will, of how he was portrayed in the book. i believe when he was in the conversation i was in the middle of the sentence and he walked away. i wasn't angry at all. i felt a little bit threatened, if you will, and the attitude that he had because i was there to welcome him. >> i was there to welcome him. that's why i put my finger -- that was an interesting word. but you can tell by this photo kind of how intense this was. here's what the white house said. they issued a statement, no shocker there, as well. after their last meeting, a cordial discussion in the oval office, the governor inaccurately described the meeting in her book. the president looks forward to continuing and taking steps to help arizona's economy grow. i don't know if the reverend got the true story of what happened there from either side there. let's bring in our friend ron brownstein, who is not with us in person. >> in spirit. in washington and en route to florida. >> south beach. >> heading south. might hit south beach somewhere along the way. >> might hit south beach. >> he's going. >> he's like, but don't tell my boss it's south beach. who wants to start with the president and the arizona governor because what's really going on here? i mean -- >> publicity. >> no, that's not good publicity for anyone, is it? >> no, so ledad, the back story is the federal government is suing the state of arizona over its very tough immigration law and the state of arizona, virtually like every state is suing the federal government to block president obama's health care law. there is a lot of systemic conflict between the two sides that is kind of baked into this confrontation. if you look across the board, i recall writing about this a couple months ago, compared to the 1990s much more conflict between this administration and republican governors between bill clinton and the republican governors in the 1990s. the governors are being brought in to the intense conflicts we see in washington and that's the real back stories. these two leaders are really at odds over big issues and i think that is somewhat behind this kind of personal confrontation. >> but it wouldn't surprise me at all that the president did try to check her when it came to his book. this is not like the first time we heard him described as being thin skinned. >> bobby jindal has also said the same thing. >> when i ran in chicago and defend her a few months before i took over, we were the last paper. here's the most historic black newspaper in the country, the last paper to endorse them and the previous publisher. i would say a little issue between him and the then senator and from that point on through the election, we didn't get a single ad that ran in the newspaper because he said, make them pay for that. so, it's not like he's not thin skinned, so, yeah, he probably did check her. >> let's talk about florida, if we can. will cain. i love it when you call me, ma'am, even though it makes me feel old. let's throw it up on the graphic. >> thets the way of saying, don't do that again, man. >> look at this graphic, which is the likely gop voters primary choice for nominee. you can see mitt romney now at 36%. he has dropped from 43% and newt gingrich has 34% and santorum, if you look at him, he's sort of dropped a little bit, if you look over the last couple of days has kind of stayed flat. how worried should mitt romney be about these numbers? >> i think he should definitely be worried. florida is much tougher than he anticipated but the real story is we have seen newt gingrich crawl back a little bit. some polls showed that newt gingrich was in first place for a little while. roland and i had had a throw down on your channel because people should not underestimate newt gingrich. when all your logical inputs go in and you come up with there is no way newt gingrich can be president of the united states, by any rational analysis should be adopting newt gingrich. he's not the most conservative, he's not anti-establishment, despite your biggest wishes and he's not the most electable. when you keep coming up with the most despite logic, quit saying newt gingrich doesn't have a shot. he might just have a shot. >> we disagree, soledad, primarily because will tried to use a tim tebow comparison and i say newt keeps on winning, he only won one state. >> roland heard this for six months analysts went on espn said tim tebow was no good and he would not win this week, but he kept winning. newt gingrich's tangibles don't add up, but he's a player. >> i thought it was interesting that newt gingrich wasn't farther ahead with latino voters because he has a supposed plan, which is more of a delay approach where the other guy, romney, has a deny approach. >> let's play a little bit of that. you're talking specifically about immigration and the dream, well, kind of the dream act, right, everyone has their version of the dream act. the no dream act. okay, play. >> i'm not in favor of going around the country trying to round people up and put them in buses and take them across the border. >> if you go around this country and say, hi, would you like to legalize 11 million people who cross the border illegally? >> people can choose a college. the idea that we have to provide an in-state tuition break to people. i reject that. >> for half of the dream act. i'm not for the whole dream act. if you're in the united states, even if your parents brought you illegally, if you're here, the same right to sign up in the military. >> so, newt gingrich's position is not so far off from mitt romney's position on immigration. so, is the take away latinos don't care that much about election in florida or they support mitt romney because they support his immigration vision better? >> latinos in florida are concerned about the economy, as latinos across the country are. 11% unemployment rate. but the thing is, it's conditioned on the response to the dream act. so, latino voters are not going to support someone who says i have this great job growth plan but i will basically block students -- >> but mitt romney has that. >> which makes no sense with big capitale capitalists to support legalization. you have guys like michael bloomberg and rupert murdoch who are pushing for legalization and they think it will reinvigorate and mitt romney talking about opening doors. >> ron brownstein wanted to hop in on this conversation. go ahead, ron. >> there is a difference in their policy on the 11 million who are here illegally. romney has embraced, self-deportation to elevate what has been an idea by conservative think tanks called attrition through enforcement. you would make it so ownerous for people to work, they would leave. gingrich is talking about something different with community board that would allow people to stay. if you look inside your poll about florida, the internal trend is encouraging for romney because what you see is a reversion to the pattern that was working for him earlier in this race, which is essentially three words. divide and conqur. romney is doing better among the centrist groups, again, than gingrich is doing among the conservative groups. romney consolidated the center of the party behind him more than anyone consolidated the right of the party behind him. that change in south carolina, where gingrich got among 40% among groups like tea party supporters, noncollege republicans. if you look inside your poll, newt gingrich is still ahead among tea party supporters. he's still ahead emonth evangelical christians in florida only by relatively small amounts. romney's advantage is among the smaller groups. it's much bigger. that's the formula that worked for him before. that's what is giving him the slight advantage in florida. the groups that favor romney are much more favorable. south carolina was two-third evangelical. in '08 the florida electoral was 60% nonevangelical. >> you are teeing up tonight's debate that is hosted by cnn in the university of north florida in jacksonville that will happen at 8:00 p.m. the polling and then the debates come and they could change everything around. we have other stories making news before we get back to the self-deportation thing that i want to keep talking about. christine romans that has. >> good morning to you, soledad. an ohio-born student after being detained for three weeks. the 23-year-old was handed over to his father in damascus last night. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke signaling that a full economic recovery for the u.s. is still years away. the fed moving yesterday to keep short-term interest rates near zero until late 2014 to try to spur growth. president obama's post-state of the union tour of key battleground states continue today. stops in nevada and denver. a u.p.s. facility in las vegas where he'll talk about energy. lawyers for passenger and crew could slap the company behind that italian cruiseship disaster with a multi-billion dollar lawsuit. documents obtained by cnn show attorneys want $160,000 per passenger from miami-based carnival cruises. the parent company of the ship that ran aground off the italian coast. the seizure that put demi moore in the hospital earlier this week on nitrous oxide. the actress inhaled it trying to get a quick high from the gas. soledad. >> thank you very much. we're sitting here chatting about immigration reform. paying attention here. ahead this morning on "starting point," connecticut cops arrested over racial profiling charges. we told you a little bit about this story yesterday. we'll hear this morning from a priest who said he was a victim, as well. also the family of freed u.s. hostage is going to be united with jessica buchanan. we'll hear from a family friend who has spoken to that family. see how they're doing today. a big change at disney. it's a little bit hairy. we'll explain in today's get real. here's our song as we head into commercial break, this is erica gonzalez's ipod. it is beyonce. ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] purina one beyond. food for your cat or dog. when we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. 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? ♪ welcome back to "starting point," everybody. the american woman freed during that u.s. raid in somalia could be reunite would her father and her husband today. we are learning more about the elite commandos who carried out tuesday night's mission. including members of the s.e.a.l. team that killed osama bin laden, they killed nine suspected pirates and then escaped unharmed with the hostages. joining us by phone is don mier, the president of valley forge christian college and also a family friend of jessica buchanan. nice to talk to you. thanks for being with us. you had an opportunity to talk to the family. what have they been able to tell you? >> yes, of course, they are extremely excited just beyond words that she is safe and they'll be rejoining her soon and to go from not knowing and for her to be in captivity for so long and then instantly a message comes that she has been freed. it's just overwhelming and so exciting. >> has her dad had a chance to actually have a conversation with jessica and how is she holding up? i know there were some medical concerns. >> i know the family has been in touch with her. i'm not sure specifically of each one who has. and the word that has been shared with me is that her health is good. >> oh, thank goodness. that is good news. jessica was working in somalia, i believe, back in may of 2010. did she ever express to you or anybody, you know, her concerns about doing aid work? >> no. our familiarity with jessica, of course, took place while she was a student here she graduated in 2007, as you mentioned, and then that spring semester she was student teacher, a school in nairobi, kenya and there her love for africa really deepened. after she had been there for a couple of years, she met her husband and they then were involved with this agency that was involved in the efforts and so forth and took them into ken kenya. the last i had talked with her was about two years ago when she was here on campus. she has been back to the u.s. for her mother's passing and came through here with family and we visited together briefly. but our conversation didn't include details regarding what she was involved with here in somalia. >> she sounds like a young woman who is very passionate about her work. thanks, appreciate your time. straight ahead this morning. disney makes a big change at all of its theme parks. we'll tell you why we are saying get real, up next. can i help you? yeah, can i get a full-sized car? for full-sized cars, please listen to the following menu. for convertibles, press star one. i didn't catch that. to speak to a representative, please say representative now. representative. goodbye! you don't like automated customer service, and neither do we. that's why, unlike other cards, no matter when you call chase sapphire preferred, you immediately get a person not a prompt. chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. (phone ringing) chase sapphire preferred, this is julie in springfield. [ man ] you have one new message. [ mom ] hi scooter. this is mommy. the progresso chicken noodle you made is so good. the vegetables are cut nice and thick... you were always good at cutting your vegetables. and it's got tender white-meat chicken... the way i always made it for you. oh, one more thing honey... those pj's you like, the ones with the feet, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup. i do like willie nelson. don't you have anything fast on your ipod? >> just want to relax. >> no, they don't. that would be wrong. welcome back, everybody. that is will cain's ipod. we decided to do music of our panelists. roland stepped out for a minute. will cain, that was his choice. i do love willie nelson. doesn't he have a faster song. >> "whiskey river". >> cue that one up. it is time to get real and if it is good enough for aladdin's genie it is now good enough for all the male employees at disneyland and disney world, a ban that lasted six decades male workers will be permitted to grow beards. the ruling comes 12 years, yes, 12 years after a ban on mustaches was lifted. 12 years. but the lifting of the ban comes a little asterisk. all beards must be fresh, clean, neat and approachable. >> that's not subjective. >> well, i can help you with that. so, here's what works and here's what doesn't. george clooney, that is an acceptable beard and that is a handsome man. zaz, that is not acceptable beard. jake gyllenhaal, ryan gosling. >> something tells me it has more to do with than the beard. the handsome man has more to do. brad pitt, that is a handsome man, but not an acceptable beard according to the new disney rules. we say, good job, disney, getting real. still ahead this morning on "starting point" the east haven mayor is apologizing profusely after his nonapology apology for the taco comments he made when asked what he was doing for the latinos in his community. some say, yeah, that's not far enough. we'll talk about that straight ahead. the son of ray lahood has been detained in egypt. we'll tell you what's happening there. you're listening to music from erica gonzalez's ipod. >> it means, dare. >> be daring. >> also, nice beard. >> roland martin runs in, runs in. he wants me to say, handsome man and a nice beard. >> got it. on that, we go to commercial break. capital one's new cash rewards card gives you a 50% annual bonus! so you earn 50% more cash. according to research, everybody likes more cash. well, almost everybody... ♪ would you like 50% more cash? no! but it's more money. [ male announcer ] the new capital one cash rewards card. the card for people who want 50% more cash. what's in your wallet? woah! [ giggles ] [♪...] >> announcer: with nothing but his computer, an identity thief is able to use your information to open a bank account... in order to make your money his money. [whoosh, clang] you need lifelock-- the only identity protection company that now monitors bank accounts for takeover fraud. lifelock-- relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ? ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. hello. how come that music is not beyonce right now? we're working on this