possible iranian nuclear weapon. i'm wolf blitzer and you're in "the situation room." he's made a fortune stoking conservative passions while poking and proding at liberals and rush limbaugh has seen his share of controversies but this time it's different. the outrage he sparked when he called a conception advocate a slut and a prostitute has snowballed, one after the other and major advertisers are pulling their ads from his radio show and there's no sign that the uproar is dying down. lisa sylvester is working the story. what's the latest on rush limbaugh and all his advertisers? >> reporter: hi, wolf, we're up to at least eight advertisers walking away from the show. today on his radio show, limbaugh apologized for his choice of words but does he seem concerned about losing those advertisers? the answer is, no. >> thank you. >> reporter: the reaction was swift and fierce, advertisers are pulling spots from the rush limbaugh show including quicken loans and the latest aol which says, quote, we've monitored the unfolding events and have determined that mr. limbaugh's comments are not in line with our values. part of the backlash he faces when he used these fighting words on his february 29th program. >> what does it say about the college co-ed, susan fluke who goes before a congressional committee and said essentially she must be paid to have sex. what does that make her? it makes her a slut, right? it makes her a prostitute. she wants to be paid to have sex. >> reporter: he appeared at a democratic congressional hearing arguing in favor of health care coverage for birth control, but limbaugh didn't back down and, instead, ratcheted it up his attack. >> ms. fluke and the rest of you feminatsis if we're going to payor your contraceptives, we want you to post the video on line so we can all watch. >> reporter: saturday, limbaugh issued a meteorology saying, quote, my choice of words was not the best. in an attempt to be humorous i created a national stir and i sincerely apologize for the insulting word choices. and he followed up today on his radio show. >> the apology was heart felt. it was sincere. >> reporter: but that hardly put the issue to rest when groups like the national organization for women are demanding clear channel which syndicates the radio show, pull him off the air altogether. terri o'neal says this is more than an insult against one pattern. she sees it as a broader pattern of comforts attacking women. >> rush's comments are part of a coordinated attack on women's access to birth control. that honestly, has wakened a sleeping giant. >> reporter: limbaugh is taking full aim at groups and accusing them of trying to silence him. he said inflammatory statements gengs sarah palin and other conservatives without being condemned. to the advertisers, this message. >> those advertisers who no longer want your business, fine. we'll replace them. it's simple, really. advertising is a business decision. not a social decision. only the leftists try to use extortion, pressure, threats, to silence aposing voices. we don't do that. >> reporter: appeared on the show "the view" not swayed by limbaugh's apologies. >> i don't think that a statement like this issued saying his choice of words was not the best, changes anything. >> right now, rush limbaugh still has the backing of clear channel and there is reportedly, a backlog of advertisers wanting to advertise on his show, wolf. >> we'll see how it washes out. lisa, thank you very much. let's get more now on the political ramifications of this rush limbaugh controversy. we have our chief political analyst, gloria borger. this is the last thing the republicans needed because they're having trouble getting women's' support? >> wolf, there's a new nbc news "wall street journal" poll that came out today. the question was about women's attitudes towards the republican party and if you see, 30 favorable. 44% unfavorable. that's not a gender gap right now. that's a gender gulch. this isn't just because of rush limbaugh. if you look back about what's going on in politics lately i think it's a combination of things. rick santorum out there on the cultural and social issues. you've had this issue of contraception which the republicans wanted to make into an issue of personal liberty, role of government. and it's been turned on its head now and that is becoming a problem for republicans who are doing very poorly, wolf, with suburban women. they were up for grabs and right now, they're looking at the republican party and saying -- i don't think so. >> let's talk about super tuesday, tomorrow, we have a brand new cnn orc poll and two of the most critical states. georgia, the largest delegate count tomorrow. likely republican voters tomorrow in georgia, newt gingrich, who some georgia, 47%. way ahead of mitt romney, 24%. santorum, 15% and 9% for ron paul in georgia. look at ohio right now. look at how close it is in ohio with this brand new cnn orc poll. romney and santorum both at 32%. gingrich at 14% and ron paul, 11%. it's a dead heat, gloria in ohio. >> it's a dead heat. very tight. a week ago santorum was ahead and now mitt romney seems to have the momentum and let's look at why. first of all there's the issue of momentum. mitt romney has had five wins in a row. after a while, electability argument makes itself and the inevitability argument come into play. catholics, of all things, mitt romney is up with catholics by six points. if you look back at the rick santorum campaign remember when he said the jfk speech on the separation between church and state made him want to throw up? he's since said that was not a good choice of words but, again, it's hurt santorum with catholic voters. and women, we talked about how republicans are having real problems with women. but among republicans, mitt romney consistently does well with female voters. this will all help him in the state of ohio. >> what does santorum need to do to pull it off? >> santorum can win in a whole bunch of ways. this is a tight race and it's close. here's where he's got the advantage digging deeper into our poll. the tea party voters up ten points. this is a group romney has consistently had trouble with. evangelical voters, again they like mitt romney and the conservative voters, up eight points with conservatives. very skeptical about mitt romney. and you cannot have a republican nominee who provided the basis for barack obama's health care plan. >> it's tied between santorum and romney in ohio. they close to polls tomorrow night at 7:30 p.m. eastern. it could be a long night before they finish counting all the ballots. thank you very much. right now romney and santorum are focusing in on ohio and the grand prize in tomorrow's super tuesday voting. our senior correspondent joe johns is in columbus. joe, what's the latest there? >> reporter: well, wolf, rick santorum just finished up an event here in the columbus area and he's headed to cleveland. he's really been trying to lower the expectations here in ohio, even as the polls show him in a dead heat with mitt romney. with his lead in the polls in ohio now looking more like a thing of the past, rick santorum was hammering home a few simple themes in the last day before super tuesday. the first theme was how badly he's been outspent by romney and his supporters. by santorum's estimate the ratio is something like 12-1. when you count the money of his campaign proper and the money from the pro romney super pac. >> i come to the people of ohio as a candidate who shouldn't be here. shouldn't be here if you looked at any political expert and you look at the money that's been spent, the air time that's been given. but we're here for a reason. because on experience, on principle, on values, on energy, and enthusiasm and grit. >> in a conference call santorum couldn't have been clearer on how he's framing the race. >> to suggest the david and goliath is probably a little bit of an understatement. >> but santorum was getting help from his friends. robocalls from conservatives were blanketing the state attacking romney for his stands on gay issues. >> when you vote tomorrow, please vote for social sanity and rick santorum, not for homosexuality and mitt romney. >> one of the main things the santorum campaign is hoping could bring romney down to size is an attack on his health care plan in massachusetts. polls show most registered voters in swing states don't like the president's health care plan and think the individual mandate in the plan is unconstitutional. so santorum has been pointing out the similarities between the president's plan and romneys plan in massachusetts. >> so not only did governor romney institute the first government-run health care system in this country with romney care. he instituted at a state level. but he recommended to president obama that he adopt romney care as the template for obama care and guess what? they did. >> romney, by the way, was pushing back and repeating his promise to repeal obama health care. >> our plan dealt with the 80% of the people in my state that didn't have insurance. obama care deals with 100% of the people. it takes over health care for everyone. it's not just about the uninsured. it's about all of health care. it doesn't make health care better. it makes health care worse. >> regardless of the outcome here in ohio, rick santorum appears to have a very full schedule, booked all the way through at least with end of the week, expected to go to kansas, missouri, alabama and mississippi, wolf. >> a week from tomorrow, alabama and mississippi, their contest is coming up. joe, thanks very, very much. an american jewish reporter murdered by terrorists and now we're learning baptized after his death by mormons. he was baptized by the mormons. the widow of daniel pearl is speaking out to cnn about the controversy. and this is close to launching a strike against iran's nuclear program. details and expert analysis and my personal take as well on president obama's meeting with the israeli prime minister. ♪ ♪ one, two, three, four ♪ you say ♪ flip it over and replay ♪ we'll make everything okay ♪ walk together the right way ♪ do, do, do, do but we couldn't simply repeat history. we had to create it. introducing the 2013 lexus gs, with leading-edge safety technology, like available blind spot monitor... 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[ female announcer ] yoplait. it is so greek. jack cafferty is here with the cafferty file. 4 in 10 americans say the u.s. economy is growing and that's up from 27% last april and only 3% in 2008. the flip side of this new usa today gallup poll is 46% say the economy is in a recession or a depression. but they survey definitely suggests that there's growing optimism about the state of the economy and it's reflected among both men and women, among all age groups, religions, regions of the country and political parties. politics plays a role here. democrats, nonwhites and shelf-described liberals are the most likely to say the economy is growing while republicans and conservatives are the least likely to see the glass as half full. what might be a sign of concern for president obama is about half of the independents say that we're in a recession or a depression. there are several factors causing concern for lots of americans when it comes to their personal economy. housing market -- that's the biggest asset for most of us. it's still in trouble. home prices recently fell to their lowest point in more than a decade. and then surging gas prices which affect almost everyone in one way or another. triple-a says gas prices hit a national average $3. 77 a gallon, and have risen for 27 straight days. some states almost at $4 a gallon and we're hearing five talked about. some economists worry gas prices could be the tipping point that brings on a new economic downturn but not today. here's the question -- in your personal economy improve something go to cnn.com/cafferty file and post on my blog on our situation room facebook page. hughes your economy, wolf? >> like everybody else, we're watching it very close which. we have to. the controversy that comes ten years after the gruesome murder of daniel pearl. we have details of the latest, brian? >> wolf, the mormon church has apologized recently for doing this kind of thing and mormon officials say they're getting to the bottom of it but daniel pearl's family after going through such intense pain after his death is angry that he's now part of the controversy. reading a statement confirms thats he was jewish. a decade later, murdered reporter daniel pearl, is caught up in the religious and brushfire. it's been discovered that pearl was baptized in june of last year. >> i'm shocked by the fact that, anybody would do something like this, really. >> reporter: i spoke with pearl's widow, maryann, via skype, from her home in spain. >> if you had honest intention the least you would do is contact can family and explain what is going on and why you would want to do that and seek their approval. i think that would be the normal course of things. so the fact that the church didn't find it necessary to do these kinds of things and to be respectful, really, to his parents, i think, is a problem. >> reporter: researcher helen ratky, a former mormon, who discovered this and she calls this one of the most appalling cases she's come across. >> i'm incensed that this was done secretly and behind the backs of danielle's widow and his parents. >> reporter: contacted by cnn, daniel pearl's parents issued a statement saying they appreciate the good intentions but danny did not choose to be baptized nor did his family consent to the uncalled for ritual. this comes after recent discoveries that jooish victims of the holocaust were given mormon baptisms by proxy. the mormon officials say the baptisms are against their policy and it's distressing when someone willfully violates the rules and say mormons are only supposed to request post post hugh house but he do it because they believe people need to be baptized as mormons to get into heaven. at tend, a captivating image, their 9 and a half year old son, adam, who never saw his father, sat down with his mother sfwhee what do you say to adam about the whole concept of the tolerance that religions have for each other? >> i'm a buddhist and i have very strong feelings that, you know, the world would be a much better place if people could choose their religion. >> maryann pearl says she has a lot of faith and trust in her son and wants him to make his own choice about religion when the time is right. wolf? >> brian, do they know who baptized daniel pearl? will they punish that person? >> we pressed them and the officials said they don't know who did it but on punishment they said when they find out who does it they will deny their basis in the database. over the weekend, a letter was read to mormon congregations worldwide, basically telling people to stop this. and saying that the corrective action will be taken if they don't stop it, including denying them access to family and church privileges. >> brian, thanks as usual. the iran nuclear issue taking center stage and president obama meets with benjamin netanyahu over at the white house. last time they met there were some tense words in front of the television cameras. did it happen again today? and i'll talk to two of the world's leading experts in the region about whether or not strikes own iran are imminent. stay with us. you're in "the situation room." [ male announcer ] the cadillac cts sport sedan was designed with near-perfect weight balance from front to back... and back to front. ♪ giving you exceptional control from left to right... and right to left. ♪ the cadillac cts. ♪ we don't just make luxury cars. we make cadillacs. iran's nuclear program at the top of the agenda at the white house. a meeting between the president of the united states and theously prime minister, benjamin netanyahu. they want to stop iran from developing a nuclear weapon but netanyahu emphasized that israel is in control of its own security. >> we do believe that there is still a window that allows for a diplomatic resolution to this issue, but ultimately the iranians regime has to make a decision to move n that direction. a decision that they have not made thus far. and as i emphasized, even as we will continue on the diplomatic front, we'll continue to tighten pressure when it comes to sanctions, i reserve all options and my policy here is not going to be one of containment. my policy is prevention of iran obtaining nuclear weapons. >> i think that above and beyond that, are two long-standing principles of american policy you reiterated yesterday in your speech. that they must must have the ability, always, to defend itself by itself, against any threat. and that when it comes to israel's security, israel has the sovereign right to make its own decisions. i believe that's why you appreciate, mr. president, that israel must reserve the right to defend itself. and after all, that's the very purpose of the jewish state, to restore to the jewish people control over our destiny. and that's why my supreme responsibility as prime minister of israel, is to ensure that israel remains the master of its fate. >> all right, let's dig deeper with two men who have written extensively about this. we have a national correspondent for the "the atlantic" magazine and we have the contributor to the "new york times" sunday magazine. ronan, first to you, if they're serious about doing this, why are they talking about this public by so much right now? you'd think they'd want to keep things quiet and just do it. >> well, in israel, wolf, you need to differentiate and decide between a conspiracy and just regular sloppiness. you go for the second one. israelis usually talk too much and sometimes, not very obedient and disciplined so israelis talk but there's another point. i think israel is trying to create an alibi so they can say we have declared publicly that if the world will not take a more stand vis-a-vis iran, if the world is not able to stop the iranian nuclear project, that we, as we heard prime minister benjamin netanyahu, we'll decide our own destiny and we'll strike. israel, by saying this, by outing this, israel is trying to created a sort of legitimacy or at least, as pointed out by minister of defense, barack. >> and my own sense and jeffrey let me bring you into this conversation. abased on past experience, in 2007 when the israelis bombed a syrian nuclear reactor no one talked about it and no one knew the syrians had a nuclear reactor and same thing in 1981 when they bombed the i are can you nuclear bomb. they are trying to put pressure on the u.s. to get this military option under way as opposed to the israelis themselves. you met with the president, what's yours? >> well, i mean, that explanation is highly plausible. and let's not forget that this is not the equivalent of the iraq operation or the syria operation. this is a very, very complicated mission. and not only that, it's a mission against a country that's also america's premiere adversary in the middle east and so the israelis understand full well they could be drawing fire on