>> he made guilty pleasures. tonight the interview with connie chung, maury povich on life, love and politics. why should americans keep saying sorry? this is "piers morgan tonight." good evening. our big story tonight, with the louisiana primary just days away newt gingrich is on the attack, taking shots at president obama, mitt romney, rick santorum. even robert de niro. also connie chung and maury povich, a power couple with 75 years in the news business. they'll weigh in on everything from the gop to whitney houston and my worldwide exclusive with football legend joe namath. does he think new york has faith in tim tebow? >> he'll be happy here, he'll fit in well here and we're happy to have him. >> i'm really psyched up. i'm looking forward to next season. >> look what he did for the broncos last year. it might push sanchez to be tougher and get out there all the time. >> well, he's not going to be a quarterback. he's a wild card. >> they'll play him as a running back. >> i think it's dumb. >> i think you'll find joe namath doesn't disagree with that last gentleman but we'll find out. we begin with breaking news, the coroner's report on whitney houston's death has come in. the singer died of accidental drowning and that cocaine and heart disease were contributing factors. joining me now from los angeles, dr. drew pinsky. drew, what do you make of this report? i was reading the drugs that were found in whitney's body. cocaine, metabolites, marijuana, xanax, flexeril, a muscle relaxant, benadryl, an allergy medicine. anything massively surprising there? >> no, really not. actually what i was expecting was more in the pill category. i mean she did have some xanax and flexeril but that wasn't directly related to her death. it appears this was more of a stimulant death, although many people deny that she was using cocaine. in fact she clearly was. what cocaine will do is cause massive cardiac events like a sudden arrhythmia that causes the blood pressure to lower, the individual to go unconscious and in her case evidently she slipped into the water and drowned. >> her family has come out saying they're very saddened by this report. we can understand that. they were obviously hoping that it wouldn't show she had taken illegal drugs. i would say, look, i'm not an expert in this but when you and i have spoken before, this seems like a classic drug addict's death in many ways. >> oh, absolutely. this is just another addiction death. and, you know, i spoke to bobby brown's sister this evening and many of bobbi kristina's cousins and they believe everyone around her was aware she was in serious trouble. so all these denials appear to be empty. they don't seem to be anything truthful going on here. people are running for cover and trying to, you know, find ways to feel better about this. it's a very tragic, sad phenomenon. but the fact is she had failed treatment multiple times. she was treated last spring, back to work in the fall. that already was a recipe for disaster. everyone around her knew she was using alcohol. that is a massive relapse. it was just inevitable that she would get back to more serious drugs. >> and the final tipping point would seem to be based on what we have now read that the cocaine induced -- she had a cocaine hit very close to the moment of death. that she had a massive heart attack of some sort and then drowned? >> something like that. something like that. we actually don't know when the cocaine was consumed. the final report isn't out yet. all we know is there were cocaine metabolites. if you find the actual molecule of cocaine that had not been yet metabolized by the body, that means the consumption was probably within a few hours. but cocaine, particularly in somebody her age, can cause through various ways, basically increasing oxygen demand causing vessel constriction, increasing platelet. they have clot more fact in the heart and directly affecting the heart causing arrhythmias. so all of these things can have massive effects. low blood pressure, unconsciousness. if you're in a bathtub, well, that can lead to drowning. now again, i spoke to bobby brown's sister tonight, who had grave -- a lot of questions about why she was in a bathtub. this is a woman that hated bathtubs, particularly hotel bathtubs. we still have a lot of unanswered questions about why she was unattended and what people were thinking about what was going on in her life. >> it does seem pretty strange set of affairs given what the family was saying. in the end, drew, just a terrible tragedy. we lost one of the great entertainers in the world, another victim of addiction. >> that's exactly right. >> drew, thanks very much for joining me. we also have breaking news in the trayvon martin case. police chief bill lee says he's stepping down temporarily in the wake of trayvon. a rally in florida tonight drew close to 1,000 people. the teenager's parents demanded an arrest and conviction in the murder of their son. john zarrella is live for us there in sanford. john, a lot of anger, very understandable anger. how would you describe the mood? what do people expect to happen? is the guy that shot this young boy going to get arrested? >> reporter: well, we don't know if he'll get arrested or when he'll get arrested. we don't even know where he is, piers. clearly the message at this massive rally led by reverend al sharpton that came down, the message from these people was that anything short of the arrest of george zimmerman is not going to be good enough. the police chief stepping down today was not good enough. there was news out of tallahassee today that the governor and the attorney general have appointed a new prosecutor to look into this case, removing the prosecutor here in seminole county from the equation so there's more complete transparency. the crowd here saying that's not enough. again, the only thing these people will be satisfied with is the ultimate arrest of george zirmman. >> it does seem extraordinary that an arrest is not at least being seriously considered. this whole debate about the stand your ground law, that debate is raging ever more furiously. >> reporter: no doubting. part of what the governor announced today was after this investigation is over here that what he will then do immediately is appoint a task force that's going to look into among other things the stand your ground law. piers. >> well, that family wants justice and i hope they get it soon. john zarrella, thank you very much indeed. now to politics. newt gingrich, the former speaker, is kicking his flagging campaign into overdrive ahead of the louisiana primary on saturday and taking aim at front runner mitt romney. he joins me now. mr. speaker, how are you? >> i'm doing well, how are you? >> i'm going to come back to the campaign in just a moment. i do want to ask you about this increasingly controversial story involving the shooting of trayvon martin. it seems to be -- i wouldn't even say dividing america. america seems to be pretty well on the same page here. what has happened here is an outrage. what is your view? >> well, my view is that the local district attorney is doing exactly the right thing. he's taking it to the grand jury. i'm sure he's going to present the evidence and not just the 911 call but the previous 911 calls and the fact that the police have been dealing with this guy apparently for a year. i think that i have faith that the american system of justice will in fact work and that this is why you have a balance between the police and the district attorney. the district attorney has the ability to step in and say wait a second, let's look at this again. they're clearly doing that. the police chief himself has been suspended. i think that americans can recognize that while this is a tragedy, and it is a tragedy, that we are going to relentlessly seek justice and i think that's the right thing to do. >> isn't this stand your ground law a lot of nonsense, dangerous nonsense that's now being abused left, right and center by people who just want to shoot people? >> i think, piers, you just took an enormous jump. that's like cities that have rules that even if somebody breaks into your house you can't defend yourself. both extremes taken in the wrong direction are false. clearly you should have a right to defend yourself in your own home and clearly somebody should -- it should not be translating standing their own ground into pushing somebody else. and that's what's going to come down to the question here. the young man apparently was not following the person who's being investigated. apparently the man, the shooter, was following the young man. now that's not a stand your own ground, that's a chase the other person into their ground. i think you're going to find that the law as interpreted normally doesn't apply to this case. but again, you and i are talking, without hearing the grand jury evidence, without having listened to the various experts, without having reviewed the material, that's why i prefer -- let's let the district attorney move forward, let the grand jury reach a decision. if they decide to indict him, it will go to trial and i think we will all see that the system of justice will work. >> let's get back to the campaign. what people are saying is, look, newt gingrich cannot win the nomination. he's putting up a great fight. he's been dead and buried and rolled back and dead and buried and rolled back but right now it looks almost impossible that you can win. why are you staying in the race? and secondly, at what point politically does it become damaging to you to continue to stay in the race if the current rate of delegate gains and state wins by mitt romney continues at the pace that it's now happening? >> well, there are three answers. first, i'm staying in the race because i believe we ought to have a conservative who's serious, who's had national achievements and who doesn't write his policy on an etch-a-sketch and zigzag back and forth wildly. i've had a consistent, conservative policy going all the way back to barry goldwater in 1964 when i was a college student. i have been actively involved in the conservative movement. i stand for the same things year after year. i think the most recent comments by governor romney's communications director should worry every conservative in the country if they think you can shake the etch-a-sketch and end up with a brand new general election campaign which could be a total disaster in my judgment. second, we have 176,000 donors. people walk up to me every single day and beg me to stay in the race. every single event we go to, people thank me for having the courage to stay in the race. and third, there may be a morning governor romney has a majority of the delegates. that morning isn't here. given mistakes like this week, given the fact that when he did win illinois with less than a majority of the vote it was the lowest turnout in 70 years, i mean every republican who wants to beat obama should be worried by the fact the romney victories come by drowning them out with negative advertising. he will not be able to do this to obama and it makes me worry about what kind of a general election candidate he will be. >> let's take a short bleak and we'll come back and talk about robert de niro has branded you a hypocrite. i want to get your reaction. ♪ [ male announcer ] aggressive new styling. a more fuel-efficient turbocharged engine. and a completely redesigned interior. ♪ the new c-class with over 2,000 refinements. it's amazing...inside and out. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services. any way you want it. that's the way i need it. any way you want it. that's the way i need it. we just had ourselves a little "journey" moment there. yup. ♪ any way you want it ♪ that's the way you need it ♪ any way you want it ♪ you make me happy when skies are gray ♪ [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. ♪ how much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ] ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network. what i am so bothered about is the behavior of people like gingrich gingrich is just a hypocrite. you know, and that's a waste of energy for all of us. and he's -- he's said publicly the president shouldn't have to apologize to anybody. it's just nonsense. >> robert de niro taking a pot shot at newt gingrich today over the first lady joke that's been in the news this week. newt gingrich, how do you respond to the charge from hollywood's great actors, that you are a hypocrite? >> well, first of all, no matter what words go back and forth between us, callista and i were delighted to be at the kennedy center honors when he was honored. he is one of our greatest actors. i truly admire his professional work even if i don't like him in politics. he just took two things. this is a classic hollywood lack of logical thought. i said the president of the united states should not apologize to our enemies while they are killing young americans. now that's a very specific reference to a very specific situation. the commander in chief owes it to the troops under his command to stand with them. and i thought the president made a tremendous mistake during the killings in afghanistan, but here were people who were killing young americans and he's apologizing to them. that has nothing to do with requesting that robert de niro who the white house itself said, said that he said the wrong things. took three perfectly fine women and compared them to michelle obama in a way that basically talked about white first ladies. i made two points. first, it was really the wrong thing for him to say and the white house apparently has agreed. and second, this campaign isn't about first ladies. i'm not running against michelle obama. i'm not running -- and i think that ann romney and karen santorum and callista gingrich are perfectly fine as potential first ladies. i happen to have a preference for callista, but the point is this is about michelle's husband. this is about the president of the united states. i'm running to be president of the united states. i and i just thought that de niro's quote was in bad taste. if it had been a conservative talk radio show host who said exactly the same thing but reversed the racial reference, the left would have exploded with rage. but of course if it's one of their own and after all it's only attacking republicans, that's perfectly appropriate because anybody on the left, as bill maher has proven, can say anything they want to about anyone and still give a million dollars and after all who are we to judge those on the left who are so morally superior that their use of language is always correct. >> but isn't there slight danger of you being over pious here, mr. speaker? >> i'm not being pious. >> he was basically coming out with what i would call a reverse racism joke. the reason i say you may be a little too serious about this, ann romney was on my show last night and she made a point of saying i actually found it funny. i didn't find it offensive. i think america is getting way too politically correct. and you seem to be leading this charge, mr. speaker. now, i know you quite well now. you have a great sense of humor. did you really feel offended by robert de niro or was it just a chance to whack a democrat? >> i really think the use of racism by democrats is just as bad as the use of racism by republicans and i really think it's wrong to use racial references like that, period. i think -- you know, as i said, just try saying exactly the same phrase but reverse the reference. imagine that somebody had said in the funniest possible way in 2008 that america wasn't ready for a black first lady, you'd have had an explosion of outrage. >> hang on, hang on. this is the whole point, though. the whole point of de niro's comment, his joke, was precisely because many people were saying that kind of thing very seriously about michelle obama. so he was flipping the racial -- >> oh, okay. so flipping it -- i just want to make clear here, piers. flipping it is always okay because it's the left flipping it. so when the left says things, it's always okay. one of the things i'm controversial is i'm happy to stand toe to toe with the left. when they want to engage in cultural fights, i'm happy to. do you want to explain bill maher the same way? >> i actually think -- it's interesting you mention him because he wrote a very good piece in "the new york times" today precisely about america's collective humor. i thought he was completely wrong with the language he used about sarah palin in the same way rush limbaugh was totally wrong with his language. but i just wonder when you first heard what robert de niro said, whether you really were offended, because i'm not sure you would have been. >> i really do think that it's occasionally okay for conservatives to stand up and say we don't like being smeared, and i really do think the language he was using is typical. look, i get it. i understand where you're coming from. it was not a gigantic thing. it was a very specific one-time thing. the white house itself agreed his language was inappropriate. that's what they said. so maybe you have an argument with the white house over this, because they said he was inappropriate. but i just think it's interesting that if you try to have some level of policing of the left's language, suddenly you're lacking a sense of humor. come on, you know me too well, that's baloney. i just said i like de niro, i think he's a great actor. i'd much rather have a conversation with him some day about the wonderful things he's done than be involved in this long distance baloney. but his reference to me as a hypocrite took totally out of context something which was very serious, which is a commander in chief apologizing to people who were killing young americans. >> let's move to rick santorum, because -- if rick santorum wasn't there, if he was to stand aside, do you think you'd have a better shot at mitt romney? everyone is saying that to him about you, but the same applies to you, isn't it? >> it applies both ways. but i also think to some extent we've actually, i think, split romney's attention. he has always had an ability to drown us with negative advertising. you'll remember i was actually in first place until we got drowned first in iowa. then i came back and was in first place after winning south carolina and then they spent $20 million in three weeks in florida to redrown me. that was the process in which rick emerged because he was the guy running fourth and romney wasn't paying any attention to him. rick then got a really good bounce and ran, i think, a very positive campaign for a while. now he's suffering a similar kind of challenge. the question is whether or not between us ron paul and rick and i can get enough votes to stop romney from having an absolute majority. if he -- romney's challenge is simple. if he does not get an absolute majority having run for six years, putting in $40 million of his own money, outraised us in the super pac, if he doesn't have a majority, we're moving toward an open convention and then it's anybody's game. if he does get the majority, he'll be the republican nominee and have won it in a very, very hard contest. >> critics of that position would say the last thing the republicans need is to get to the convention and have o