>> it's x factor this year because there's a game changer now in the santorum momentum that's happening reet now and cpac is a very dynamic place. if a person has a speech that takes over the place, it could change everything. i was at the straw poll, the florida straw poll about three months ago when herman cain won. and that surprised everybody. and that started his momentum going forward until the herman cain implosion occurred. and i think that right now rick santorum has a unique opportunity to gain unprecedented momentum because mitt romney has chosen not to connect with the conservative grass roots. the tea party -- right, so mitt romney is going to give a speech but he's also met with conservatives because of all those things that you say. he's kind of getting in to get a one-on-one message here sort of private meetings. and then, number two, rick soon santorum has to deliver a message that leverages off the momentum. how does he do that? >> well, this crowd yesterday when i mentioned it, if you just spoke it, clearly he has their heart. mitt romney is going to have to take the stage and show them if he's not one of them he sat least for them. there's a suspicion that he's not one of them. he's going to have to actually say something, take a position on entitlement reform. take a position on tax reform. his 59-point plan isn't selling people. the "wall street journal" has gone after his tax plan. he's revised his tax plan. he's going to have to say, you know what, i'm with paul ryan on this budget. he has come out for it. he needs to make it clear. he needs to show them he's willing to actually not just manage a decline as his op point ne -- opponents have painted him but fix tmess. >> here's what he said on fox news. >> i look at my report and describe my record as governor. some of these things bed hidden over time. people forget. i have a strong record on the issues that matter. i'm going to point that out when i gather with my friends at cpac. >> is that the strategy, point out the record as governor? that seems to have worked against him in the past. >> let me start with this. i think it's important to remember at the straw poll in florida that herman cain didn't have this huge rise because of herman cain. the rise came because perry fell apart. if you remember four years ago mitt romney at this convention and around the country was a conservative. so this is kind of an ebb and flow of this election cycle. mitt romney has a very conser conservative record. he will come to this event and connect with conservatives. one, everybody here is looking to create jobs. he's the one candidate that knows how jobs are created in the real world, not in the government setting. >> it's the one thing that he said that strikes me is governor, his record as governor. for the past six to seven months he's campaigned on his private sector experience. she he's shifting now to his gubernatorial record. if the economy is beginning to fix himself, he needs to pivot now and say look at all the things i did when i was an elected executive. >> you're talking about the issues here though but this group of people over the last three years has been attacked by the mainstream media, has been attacked by the organized left. the occupy movement was created to counter conservative grass-roots tea party type behavior. and mitt romney needs to figure out a way to say a to these people i appreciate what you've done for the last three years to change the topic, to fiscal responsibility and a return to the constitution. they've been attacked, they've been attacked. they're looking for somebody like scott walker who is willing to stand up against threats against their being. >> there's been so much -- time has been spent -- the 16 debates, right? it seems odd to me that you're saying well, now, we need to hear this. >> it's less about hearing a specific thing than it is feeling that the candidate is willing to march side by side with this grass roots group of people. it's less about an issue than it is about a connection with them. >> what about social issues? >> it's not just been 16 debates. it's been since 2007 when mitt romney arguably before that when he left the governorship of massachusetts that he's been running for president. i think there's a danger for him. all the pressure on him today is to appeal to this group. remember, he's going to have a general election and the folks who get really excited about coming to cpac cannot elect him alone. he's getting squeezed. right. he's having trouble with his conservative base and he needs to do work on that. at the same time, the president has started the general election campaign. independents and moderates will be important to mitt romney come -- if he wraps this nomination up. he's got two groups there squeezing him. >> let me ask you about social issues. i think i have a clip of republicans who have been really attacking the white house on some of these -- loose week was -- this week, social issue tuesday, basically, when all these things broke. i want to play a little clip. >> government shouldn't be telling he's institution what's to do and they certainly shouldn't be oh prosing them. >> this attack on religious freedom cannot and will not stand. >> this administration is assaulting the catholic church. people of faith across our nation, by forcing their pro-abortion agenda on religious hospitals, on charity, and on employees. >> they're all talking about this contraception issue. seems to me now the conversation has moved away from the economy, economy, economy because of that chart that really shows the economy with the slow improvement has shifted dramatically into social issues. how do we see that play out here at cpac? >> i think this is a huge issue that continues to show that this administration doesn't belief that the constitution and that personal freedoms and liberties matter. and they -- it's an assault on our free m dos. whether it's an barack obaobama help to buy something they may not want to be buy, and now enforcing the church to do something that is gins its own tenets, this shows an arrogance and it's almost this -- you've got president obama who is a lawyer and so he has decided that whatever the words of the constitution are don't matter to him, he will interpret it in a different way. and that i think is what is creating this frustration. >> you know there are democrats all over the country right now who is throwing things at the tv. the president doesn't care about the constitution. >> if you look at his own record, he has done everything to move against the constitution. you can't -- you cannot have obamacare and say that you respect somebody's liberties. >> i'm going to say again, roughly over two zillion people who would disagree with you. i have to get to our updated news coverage. christine romans is standing by with us. gentlemen, stick around. we'll continue our conversation. good morping. >> that's right. we're following the latest in syria this morning. the slaughter of syrian civilians escalating out of control today. again, another 25 deaths being reported overnight in syria's northern city of aleppo. antigovernment dissidents reporting government troops shelled the city of homs for the fifth straight day yesterday, killing 137 people, including women and 10 children. happening now, protests in greece. we're monitoring the live pictures from athens. demonstrators are angry over tough new bailout conditions. eurozone finance ministers want more cuts and austerity pledges for a new greece bailout. the trade unions called for a two-day strike to protest these austerity the measures. chairman of the house financial services committee is under investigation for possible insider trade violations. they're looking at suspicious trades on alabama congressman spencer bacchus disclosure forms. they oversee the u.s. banking and financial services industries. again, that is on "the washington post." witness in the lacrosse murder trial says he saw the defendant george hughley with his arms around the neck of than girlfriend yeardley love. that witness says love screamed help me. she managed to struggle free. more witnesses are expected to take the stand when the trial resumes today. a cancer drug may offer hope for alzheimer's. scientists say mega doses of a drug used to treat skin cancer erase alzheimer's disease in mice. researchers say the drug might now work on people. they hope to try it out on healthy humans in two months. minding your business. u.s. stock futures pointing to a lower open. optimism about a debt deal being reached in greece was erased when european leaders said they need more time to review the terms. all right. former congresswoman gabby giffords back in washington this morning. she will visit the oval office to witness president obama sign the final piece of legislation she sponsored. it's the ultralight aircraft smuggle and prevention act that gives law enforcement more to combat drug trafficking on borders. a former aide to giffords who was also injured in the january 2001 shooting now running for her old congressional seat. ron barber told cnn's piers morgan that giffords asked him to run. >> very hard to say no to congresswoman giffords. i've never said no to her in my life. but i did go away from that conversation and gave it considerable thought, looked at the pros and cons and finally i was able to say her to, congresswoman, i will do that. >> again, ron barber to piers morgan. soledad? >> wow, he looks good. shot twice. foodness. thanks, christine. back to our conversation with our panelists. so yesterday i think it was on "john king usa." rick santorum was a guest. talking about the contraception issue and women in combat. he said this. i want to play a little bit. >> i do have concerns about women in front line combat. i think that could be a very compromising situation where people naturally may do things that may not be in the interest of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved. >> where people normally -- naturally may t not do things that might not be in the interest of the mission because other types of emotions that are involved. who wants to jump into that one? what does that mean? >> well, i -- well -- you know, if you think people got upset with my characterization of the president on the constitution, i mean, you know that there are women around this country who are saying, what is he talking about? >> that's what i said. emotional? what does that mean? >> rick santorum and trying to convince conservatives not only are you conservative, which people agree he, is but you're elect i belie electable. every time you make a mistake like that oh. >> is that a mistake? >> to his credit, very few unforced errors. >> some of that is he has not had everybody staring at him. >> he needs to clarify what he meant. did he mean soldiers on the front lines wanting to protect the ladies on the front lines? >> no. >> i don't think there's an explanation for it. >> i have no idea what he meant. i mean, my best rational guess for what he meant is crickets in my head. i don't understand. >> i think it's pretty clear what he meant. >> what do you think he meant? i don't know. honestly. >> i think he meant there's not a place that he didn't think there was a place for women or the front line. >> because girls are emotional? >> emotional or whatever. but that is just false. it's just not true. you know, this -- again, this kind of feeds into the whole line that we're going to somehow divide americans. i mean, look, if there are men and women who are serving our country and admirableably and men and women equally can do the job and we ought to treat them as such. >> will be be an impact? >> i don't think they know rick santorum yet and he's con se tive and willing to talk about that when other people would rather talk about things like the economy. that's one of the things he's going to have to doer do here is define himself, what he does stand for. if he's going to be such a strong socially conservative candidate, what are those values that he's going to fight for first and foremost? >> that's a lot of tap dancing. you literallyibustered me. yes or no, is that a problem? >> i don't know what he said. >> yes, it's a problem. >> it's going to be a problem of rick santorum because of independent voters. ahead on "starting point," we're talking about jerry sandusky, apparently some say he's been watching school children from his porch. his neighbors now say they want him confined indoors. sandusky wants more freedom. there's a hearing today. it all goes to court. also, a photo of marines posing in afghanistan with a nazi like flag. talk about how the marine corps is handling that controversy today. our "get real" this morning. girls high school basketball team wears pink uniforms to support a children's charity. the other team cries foul if refs step in and they lose. we'll take a look at that story this morning. and now from my play list, ait ait anita baker "sweet love." she sounds amazing to this day. everybody, listen. vacations are always wasn'ta good ideaa ♪ priceline negoti - - no time. out quickly. you're miles from your destination. you'll need a hotel tonight we don't have time to bid you don't have to bid. at priceline you can choose from thousands of hotels on sale every day. save yourself... some money i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. hold up partner. prilosec can take days to work. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement. welcome back. have you seen this, nancy pelosi declaring war on steve then kpht and the super pac? i'm going to play a little bit of it for you and then we'll talk about it on the other side. >> join me in stopping colbert and creating a new politics, free of special interest money. the first step is passing the disclose act. >> she goes on to talk about -- it just goes on. you can see it online. it's funny. it's kind of strange, right, because we're in the news yesterday we were talking about the president and the super pac and, of course, he's been against super pac money, but sort of said, stealing a line from newt gingrich when we head the head of the dnc on, that actually everybody has got to be, you know, unilaterally armed other wise somebody loses. i find the whole thing very strange. what do you think? >> yeah, i find the whole thing very strange. >> you can't copy my own words. >> i just saw this yesterday. it was very light hearted. >> it's hilarious. >> to her credit, everybody is talking about the disclose act on tv because of this ad. >> you have to find these opportunities to breakthrough and what better way to embrace what stephen colbert is doing and use humor. it does point out this division in the democratic party where on the one hand democrats say they are trying to close this loophole but yet on the other hand the obama campaign is very aggressively now supporting super pacs. >> is this going to be an issue in the election, do you think? >> first of all, i think it was a huge win for colbert. >> of course. he could win. he could beat -- >> he might be running up in the polls. >> if it goes to a brokered convention. >> you know. >> that's right. >> maybe i'll endorse him. i don't know. >> i think what it does though is it really creates a problem for the democrats. so you've got the president who says, you know, speaks out against all the super pacs. we're not -- and then all of a sudden he's telling awe of his people to go to the super pacs. >> don't you think a lot of people would say if everybody is arming then you've got to arm. >> it might be because -- that might be the because. but when the president has spent so much time saying that we can't do this, special interest, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad. and now his own words is bad and he's going do it. so he's welcome to do it. >> we always have in election cycles campaign finance discussions. >> right. >> the donors. voters don't care about campaign finance. they never have cared about campaign finance. they don't care about mccain-feingold or super pacs. >> i'm done talking about it. >> reporters care about it. voters care about unemployment. >> i'm never discussing it again, sir. gentlemen, never. done. ahead this morning on "starting point," the social worker in that really disturbing case that we were talking about earlier in the week, josh powell, now speaking out for the first time. you're going to hear what she experienced. she's the woman who dropped those boys off. they went right into the house and the next thing she saw was the house explode. then petty in pink, high school basketball game. these girls, they're wearing these uniforms baz they're trying to raise money for a children's charity. they end up getting punished for it. it's our "get real" straight ahead. and this is his play list. ho is this? the okerville river rider? >> you said take the top songs. mix it up a little bit. >> i like it. i'm not criticizing. just trying to pronounce it right. okerville river. >> got it. >> here it is. ♪ ♪ see? that's a black crowes' "hard to handle." that would be erick erickson doing better than yesterday. see oh. >> there you go. my wife would be proud. the girls basketball team at burke high school in omaha, nebraska, decided to do a really nice thing last monday night. they wore pink uniforms to raise money for the make a wish foundation. after the second quarter though the opposing team's athletic director pointed out a state rule. all home teams must wear white. so then the referees had to choice but to slap the burke bulldogs leading at the time with a technical foul. and their opponents picked up two, you know, kind of easy cheap points. burke went on to lose the game. the good news in this, of course, they raised $2600 for the make a wish foundation and also, i believe, the good news is other team karma, will come back and bite you. you do that, i i believe. ahead this morning on "starting point," a marine sniper team posing in front of what looks took a nazi symbol. the military says they won't be punished. two of the biggest players in the tea party will join us live. congressman steve king and congressman allen west will be back. from congressman west's play list, what do you think he likes? 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