outrageous types of questions, and then the next question from the reporter is why are you talking so much about social issues? >> isn't it fair for journalists to ask the senator about his own words. the situation in syria turns deadly for more correspondents trying to cover the violent uprising there. >> breaking news into cnn just minutes ago. word that the two western journalists, including an american, have been killed in syria. >> will the dangers there choke off the flow of news from syria? plus, the sniping has already started over the movie "game change" even before it airs on hbo. >> you can actually see russia from land here in alaska. >> my god. what have we done? >> it wasn't my fault. i wasn't properly prepped. >> are sarah palin's people justified in going ballistic? i'm howard kurtz, and this is "reliable sources." the campaign debate over rick santorum and the exit tent to which he should or should not be talking about religion and social issues has quickly morphed into a debate about the media's role in reporting on these hot button controversies and pundits on the left and the right wasted no time choosing sides. >> if rick santorum does secure the republican nomination, he will be portrayed as a pure tan witch hunter, as a fanatical religious guy, as a member of the inquisition. that's how the liberal media will tag santorum. >> people say the media keeps shifting the attention away from the economy to these crazy cultural questions that we thought were long ago put to bed. there he is. rick santorum. you could argue he is the frontrunner in the country right now for the nomination of the republican party pushing these issues sharp as nails. he wants a fight. >> santorum did pick a fight with the press. in a fox interview with sean handty. >> it's perfectly clear. this is -- let's be honest. this is standard fair. for them to continually distort, this is the kind of -- this is the kind of stuff that i think is actually one of the reasons we're doing well in the polls because people see it for what it is. >> let me ask you this. >> they see the national media trying to destroy conservatives. stroo trying to destroy conservatives? joining us now to bach about this latest chapter here in washington, david brodie, chief political krbt for "the christian" broadcasting network. margaret carlson, columnist for bloomberg news and washington editor of the week, and in new york an on-line column for the new york daily news. are the media being unfair -- >> the honest answer, howie, is yes and no. let's face it. okay. rick santorum spoke a long time for many years about these social issues, and so they have a right, they being the media, have a right to bring it all back up if he is running for president of the united states. i don't think there is -- there is a but to that, and that is that in the heartland of this country, when, for example, that whole big satan story we heard about, rick santorum's remarks on satan, what's the big deal? people know about good and evil and all of that, and within that media culture, that new york, washington corridor, they don't get it, and, therefore, it seems a little bit out of balance the way santorum sees it. >> you are saying we just heard santorum saying on fox news that the media wants to destroy conservatives. do you think mainstream journalists get up every morning thinking about that? >> well, i don't think it's that deliberate, but i think there is a culture that david was talking about. you know, religion seems to be the last front year in political journalism. folks on the left and the right in the media still don't know how to talk about religion and meaningful and efficient ways, so you get a lot of sort of weird discussions about religion and cultural and social issues on the campaign trail, but i have to say i've been with rick santorum at various campaign stops. i know him well. from the beginning of the campaign he didn't start talking about contraception. he started off talking about manufacturing and jobs and the social issues kind of came to him. that doesn't mean he hasn't courted it or exploited it, but he really is a chicken or the egg? i don't think he started this fight. >> at the same time i recall saying that santorum does spend -- he doesn't duck these questions. he seems to enjoy talking about his faith and things like that, and then he pivots and blames the press. it's awkward for mainstream journalists to talk about religion and religious issues. do you buy that? >> i think somewhat awkward. these are delicate, tender issues for many people, so it's hard to do it in the way we cover, you know, romney's speech on the economy. it just touches each of us, and everybody thinks they know. we are all experts on these subjects in a sense, but santorum, contrary to what he says, if he gets a question, he so relishes talking about gay marriage in so much detail. when the bishops and the catholic church and contraception came up, he dove in. he couldn't let it go. >> the former senator and in the republican primary by taking those positions. this came up on "meet the press" this morning where santorum repeated the answer we heard him give hannity earlier about, well, you guys in the press asked me about social issues and you asked me why i'm talking about social issues. here's how moderator david gregory responded that argument. >> you talk about this stuff every week. it's not just in this campaign. sir, in this campaign you talk about it, and i have gone back years where you have been in public life, and you have made this a centerpiece of your opinion life. in the notion that these are not worthy of kre kwe and scrutiny, it's not just about the press. >> your take? >> well, i mean, yeah, i got to tell you, there is some legitimate truth to that because, let's face it, what you were saying before about rick santorum is that he cannot answer these questions in 15 to 20 seconds, and the problem is that when santorum goes over the 45 second threshold, if you will, he is in trouble. the reason he is in trouble is because he wacks everything poetic, and he is able to pivot, and he is not able to pivot well enough, and it's a figure meant of his authenticity. >> is it also true to come back to the media that journalists play up issues like contraception and abortion because you are saying maybe we're a little out of sync with the rest of the country, but also these are divisive hot button issues, which means they make good copy. >> that's what it is. pure and simple. the social issues are being brought up because they play above the fold in the "new york times" and other place. >> let me come back to the cnn debate on tuesday night in mesa, arizona. moderator john king asked the question. got the answer. let's remind viewers of that exchange. we don't have it. okay. well, as you will recall, this was more than an hour into the debate, and john king said, you know, contraception has been in the news, and he asked the question, and santorum made the distinction between his personal views being opposed to birth control and saying he wouldn't do anything as president or as a lawmaker to impose on everyone else. and then later he took a shot at king. was it not fair for john king about something that had been in the news? >> it was fair, and i agree to some extent that rick santorum really does enjoy talking about these issues. they are his wheelhouse issues, but again, to remind viewers and voters out there, you know, the hhs mandate is what started this conversation. rick santorum did not start this conversation, and then you have the media latch on to the story and lawmakers latch on to the story from both sides, and all of the candidates at some point had to weigh in on this, and then it would come up in the debate and it was completely appropriate to the timing of the news cycle, and rick santorum, i thought, answered it fine. >> so if it's completely appropriate for king to ask, but nevertheless, santorum scores points by saying you people in the you know, liberal media are trying to drag me into this thick et, but he seems to enjoy being will. >> this is what somebody does when they want it both ways is to blame the media for bringing it up, and david makes a good point. you do get on the front page if the issues contraception and you don't always get there if it's, you know, the banking crisis. however, the media needs the predicate. it's not as if we raise it. rick santorum is a zealot. that is his main problem. >> in your view? >> in my view he can't help himself from going on and on and deeper and deeper, and at the end contraception is evil. he goes there. we don't. it depends how you define zealot. it has a negative conotation. >> he doesn't debate it. he just -- >> what's that? >> it does not -- it does not depend on how you define zealot. rick santorum is not a zealot. he has to be a christian and a conservative. that's it. end of story. there is no zealot about him. >> let me jump in here because i want to bring up something that involves you david brodie, and speaking of bashing -- the same cnn debate said in contrast to the issues that the republicans are being asked about, not once did anybody in the elite media ask why barack obama voted in favor of legalizing infanticide. let me play a clip about you asking obama about that in 2008. >> we're trying to understand it because there was some literature put out by the natural right to life committee, and they say they felt like you misrepresented your position on that bill. >> let me clarify this right now. >> i hate to say that people are lying, but here's a situation where folks are lying. >> it has to do with the bill in the illinois legislature. my point is you raised it. other news organizations raised it. was gingrich just wrong that the press gave obama a pass? >> no. i think the fact that i raise it, i don't know if i consider myself part of the elite media, first of all, but beyond that -- >> you were on cnn at the time? >> actually, cnn ran the whole clip. kudos there. >> you are saying by and large. >> by and large there was some sporadic reporting of it. remember, that came only because conservatives, especially pro life organizations, were bringing it up. so, you know, once again, back to that new york washington d.c. amtrak corridor, you know, that is not a topic of conversation. they're not reading the susan b. anthony list daily talking points every day, and that's the problem. >> let me turn briefly to mitt romney who was billed as a major economic speech, as you probably know by now. he gave it in a stadium called ford field. let's take a brief look at the news coverage of that address. >> major speech here today turned into a major photo op for the wrong reason. >> romney outlined his tax plan before an audience of 1,200 surrounded by 65,000 empty seats at detroit's ford field. >> here's a "new york times" headline for. look, it looked terrible. it was a blunder, but should that be what the media are focussing on as opposed awhat romney said in that address? >> michigan is coming up, and i think if, you know, mitt romney were poised better in michigan, then it wouldn't matter as much, but he is looking at some trouble in that state. with the primary coming up, i think, you know, i hate defending the liberal media, but i think it is relevant to look at the ethos around mitt romney and the support around mitt romney going into what is going to be an incredibly important state for him to win. >> in just two days. now, look, campaign optics matter, and this was an out and out blunder. the only bit of substance of the romney speech that actually got covered was when he said, not very wisely, my wife drives a couple of cadillacs. >> well, you know, that plays to romney, which he is not in touch with ordinary people. >> he broke the first rule of politics, which is always go to a room too small. let me just say, correct something, let me say that rick santorum speaks with zeal with these issues. >> perhaps linguistic choice. >> when we come back, abc's jake tapper challenge the white house over the prosecution of people who leak to journal is. did he cross the line into advocacy? 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[ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. white house spokeman was expressing the administration's condolences for the journalist killed this week in syria. we'll focus on that later in the program. when he took vigorous exception to his comments. >> how does that square with the fact that this administration has been so aggressively trying to stop aggressive journalism in the united states by using the espionage act to take whistle blowers to court? this seems to be a disconnect here. you want aggressive journalism afwraud. you p just don't want it in the united states. >> without address anything specific case, i think that there are issues here that involve highly sensitive classified information, and i think, you know, those are divulging that information is a serious issue, and it always has been. >> i like aggress i have journalist. jake tapper fits that. was he aggressively challenging the white house spokesman or pushing a point of view? >> i think probably a little of both. i mean, i think it's always commendable when any reporter challenges any white house administration right or left on perceived topography. regardless of the substance of that interrogation, i think jake tapper should be applauded for doing that. it's not an easy task. it's not easy to go up against a white house press secretary. that hard. he did. >> what do you think, margaret, about tapper drawing a contrast between the white house praising people who take risks overseas in reporting and allegedly opposing it at home because the administration has been aggressive in prosecuting leakers. >> there's been a shocking pursuit of leakers by this administration. >> why shocking? even though journalists love leaks, and i am no exception, but people who have been prosecuted, five such cases here, including a former cia official who leaked allegedly to the "new york times". they're leaking classified information, and that is against the law. >> but in the drake case, for instance, which the administration lost, i mean, they wrote about it in the new yorker at length, it was just that the white house did not like that they chose one domestic spying program over another and the degree to which they went after this good night was shocking to me and jake tapper is bringing up something that, in fact, we don't cover enough. >> jake tamer -- >> what the white house says and what the white house does are two completely different things. according to newt gingrich and others. about four months ago i interviewed newt gingrich, and he says he has never seen a wider gap in what an administration does and what it does than this administration. >> journalist are not neutral. we like to be slipped classified information, and we tend to get upset when they get prosecuted, but people take risks and potentially violating the law. let me circle back to one minute. we were talking during the break. you have interviewed the former senator. by contrast, mitt romney, who went on the sunday show again today on fox news, fox news sunday, he doesn't seem to be doing any sunday shows on any other networks. santorum gives all kinds of intufrz to all kinds of people, reporters on the trail. he may get himself in trouble, but you can't accuse him of being open with journalists. >> he is handled so much. that was surprising going back to the ford field situation that the romney campaign let that get out of hand. i mean, what was the romney campaign thinking? because they normally don't do that at all. >> have you interviewed mitt romney? >> this is interesting. a whole other show we should talk about that. i have not. i think there is obviously a key break-away that they don't want to deal with. the evangelicals and social issues. another topic. >> the last campaign spent 45 minutes with him totally open. he is in a complete cacoon this time. >> thanks very much for joining us. the second part of the reliable sources. >> covering the violation in syria. the depths of two more reporters there keep the rest of the world from knowing exactly what's going on. plus, sarah palin's team tries to discredit the movie "game change" in advance. the coming storm over julianne moore's role. bill maher is giving a million bucks to a pro-obama super pac. moisturizing lotion. y the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] only from aveeno. immerse yourself in all over relief with alka seltzer plus. it's specially formulated to speed relief to every inch of you. liquidate your flu symptoms with alka seltzer plus. liquidate your flu symptoms fore! no matter what small business you are in, managing expenses seems to... get in the way. not anymore. ink, the small business card from chase introduces jot an on-the-go expense app made exclusively for ink customers. custom categorize your expenses anywhere. save time and get back to what you love. the latest innovation. only for ink customers. learn more at chase.com/ink as the media has struggled to cover the escalating violence in syria, cooper spoke to one journalist in that war-torn country, maria of london's "sunday times." >> the regime in syria claims that they're not attacking svrls and there is no armed conflict, there is no war inside syria, that they're basically just going after terrorist gangs. >> it's a complete and utter lie that they are only going after terrorists. there are rockets and tank shells anti-aircraft being fired in a parallel line into the city. the shelling city of cold, starving civilians. >> next day came the tragic news. >> the war of two western journal iists including an american have been killed in syria. the american is marie volvin who reported from syria for us, actually, just hours ago, and frenchman remy. >> the two journalists were in this media center this morning when it was attacked by a rocket apparently fired by government forces and destroyed. >> you couldn't be part of the foreign media world and travel to these places and not know who she was. she was a legend in her own right, and eye pioneer. >> has the assad regime become too dangerous for western reporters? joining us from beirut, clarissa, foreign correspondent for cbs news. cnn's beirut correspondent arwa damon. >> let's start by talking for just a moment about maria volvin? >> why would should take such risks in syria? >> she was without a doubt one of the most brave and one of the most brilliant journalists doing the work that we do. every conflict zone you visited maria volvin was one of the ones that was always there ahead of the story. she was very committed to getting the message out. she knew better than most reporters al