of almost like front-runnerish position. that was the 20th gop debate last night on cnn and really hit from all sides accused of being a big spender and accused of being a washington insider and accused of being a fake at which point he's like, i'm real, i'm real. some of the toughest attacks came from mitt romney. they literally yelled at each other. listen. >> while i was fighting to save the olympics, you were fighting to save the bridge to no where. >> just as torturous as -- >> they were kind of going at it. al stewart national press secretary for the santorum 2012 presidential campaign. nice to have you with us this morning. there were some comments from if you scan the headlines. some people said he did a great job in the debate and others said he was deep in the weeds of the debate. >> he outlined his record and also pointed out the fact that despite the distortions from other candidates, he never voted to raise taxes in washington and voted against the wasteful spending in washington and these are important things that rick was able to explain last night in the debate and also taking the lead in washington as the member of the gang to expose taxpayer scandals in washington. he is one of the people who has been referred to as the tea party guide before there even was a tea party. we wouldn't have a tea party if it wasn't for issues like obama care and the bailouts which is something mitt romney supports as well as newt gingrich. he is the true, consistent conservative that was up there on the stage last night. >> mitt romney really trying to attack him on that. at one point they were talking about, for example, title ten and also talked about, he used the words taking one for the team. i will play you some of the chunks from the debate and then i'll have you talk about it on the other side. >> i think i was making it clear while i have a personal more objection to it, i made it very clear in subsequent interviews that i don't support that. i've never supported it and on an individual basis, have voted against it. >> it was against the principals i believed in, but when you're part of the team, sometimes you take one for the team. >> let's talk about that comment. took one for the team. thinking that is an unfortunate way to put it, as if washington is all about two team s teams. do you think that was not a great way to portray that? >> in that particular instance he was referring to the no child left behind issue, while he did support it then, he has come to learn that federal government shouldn't have a role in our education. should not be left up to the federal government and in particular the state, as well. he believes education should be left to the local level and he is a strong supporter of that. governor romney went to great lengths last night to pick apart rick's record in congress. we would have had the same opportunity to do that with governor romney had he not lost his u.s. senate race back in 1994. what we can look at with governor romney is that he wrote the model for obama care, which is certainly not popular. he supported the wall street bailout and supported cap and trade and these are the cornerstone of the republican party in a conservative movement that they do not support. >> and, of course, your candidate santorum lost his race, as well. i know everybody likes to throw that back and forth, but that's reality of it. >> alice, this is will cain. one of the challenges that santorum had early in this primary season when he was off to the side was beyond the substance. he was having trouble connecting with the voters. he was coming off as unlikable, defensive as he kind of fought for time. are you worried last night he almost slipped back into that attitude? he seemed a little defensive last night. >> certainly when you're the frontrunner, you have the big target on your back and you have to defend your record, which he had the opportunity to do last night. several of the points he made last night, while he was in washington, he wasn't of washington. he fought against the wasteful spending. he was a leader in the balanced amendment fight. he was someone who fought against the wasteful spending and he was able to articulate that very well last night. any time you're the front-runner you'll be attacked from all sides and that was the case last night. he was prepared for that and made an articulate argument that he has the views and values that best reflect the conservative party and the conserve positiat people of this country. that's why he's leading nationally and michigan and ohio and certainly closing the gap in arizona and in important states like georgia, which is newt gingrich's own state. the people have taken a look at the record. they're not listening to the misrepresentations by the other candidates. they're actually looking at the records of these candidates and they see that rick santorum is consistent on the issues. >> may i stop you there for a second. because i want to go back to something that you said and i really want to counter it with what ron paul said last night when you talk about the true conservati conservative. this is ron paul's take on that. listen. >> it's a team sport. he has to go along to get along and that's the way the team plays. that's the problem with washington and that's what's been going on for so long. >> you know, ashleigh, i wanted to play the one where he talked about, john king asked ron paul, you have a new ad and it says that rick santorum is a fake. do you have that? will you play that for me? >> we have a new television ad that labels him a fake. why? >> because he's a fake. >> i'm real. >> congratulations. no, i find it really fascinating that when people are running for office they're really fiscally conservative. when they're in office, they do something different and then when they explain themselves they say, oh, i want to repeal that. >> that seemed to get a lot of traction, certainly with the audience last night. do you think that kind of attack is going to get a lot of attraction outside a bigger audience? >> it certainly isn't working for congressman mr. paul right now. you can throw words like that around on the debate stage and throw misrepresentations of the facts out there. when it comes to consistent conservatives when it comes to fiscal issues there is no one more consistent than rick santorum. he made that case last night. no amount of ads or rhetoric on the debate stage will change history and governor romney can't say that. he can get up there and say he has been fiscally responsible, but when we have issues like romney care that he supported, that he was creator of in massachusetts which was the model for obama care, that's not fiscally responsible. the wall street bailout, that's not fiscally responsible. he is saying one thing and his record reflects something different. what rick santorum says today is reflective of what he has done in the past. >> he says i regret having voted for that. i wanted to take one for the team and some of what he says is actually saying, i did it against what i believe because there was sort of another agenda there, that's what he said last night in the debate. >> when he got to washington and saw the waste, fraud and abuse that was going on with members of congress, he has taken on the position and firmly opposed two earmarks and supports the moratorium on earmarks. that is something that he took going to washington and seeing the waste, fraud and abuse that went on. >> he talked about that in the debate last night. he talked about specific earmarks he supported. i will agree to disagree with you on that one this morning. always glad to have you back. thank you for being with us this morning, we appreciate it. some other headlines this morning and christine romans has that for us. >> good morning to you, soledad. >> michigan's favorite son candidate mitt romney getting an endorsement from "detroit free press." but the editors also say romney seems to have lost his "collaborative spirit and needs to get it back." gas prices rising 3 cents in just the past 24 hours. good morning, if you're waking up to higher gas prices, again. the national average for a gallon of gas is $3.61 a gallon this morning. gas prices have been rising for the past 16 days. they could go up to $4 or $5 a gallon by summer. that means fill up now. president obama will talk gas prices and energy policy, as well, at the university of miami this afternoon. he is expected to tout steps including oil and gas expansion here. but under pressure from environmentalists he did not approve the keystone pipeline plan which would have given the u.s. cheaper access to canada's oil, although it wouldn't affect gas prices for several more years. minding your business this morning, u.s. markets poised for a higher open and strong economic data out of europe pushing u.s. stock futures higher and stock futures up about 20 points right now. u.s. and north korean officials meeting today for the first time since kim jong-il. u.s. envoy in beijing to find out whether north korea is ready to shut down its nuclear program. before his death, former leader king jong-il discussed ending that program in exchange for food assistance from united states. some severe weather to tell you about. check this out, winds so strong that kids at a bus stop couldn't stand up in colorado. 88-mile-per-hour wind gusts in boulder and also tipping trucks, toppling trees. heavy rains also triggering mudslides in the west. one home hanging on the edge of a river in washington state. look at that, 24 hours of heavy rain and so far no reports of anyone hurt. scary moments for fliers. a united flight arriving from chicago sliding off the runway and skidding to a stop at greater rochester international airport in new york. this happened around midnight and it was reportedly snowing at the time. the airport says all 45 passengers were brought into the terminal and no one was hurt. but certainly some scary moments. routine flight and then you're skidding. >> every time i hear those stories, it scares me a little bit. christine, thank you for the update. >> you're welcome. 20 days of nonstop shelling in syria. a day after two western journalists were killed in homes. suggesting that syria is deliberately targeting those journalists and other journalists, as well, many of whom were injured. the government is denying responsibility for the death. the u.s. military is now considering a worse-case scenario, if, in fact, assad's regime falls and serious chemical weapons are left unguarded, what will happen. barbara starr is at the pentagon. we set it up with two things we need to talk about. intracepted communications that make it seem as if western journalists are being targeted in that shelling in syria certainly after the death of the two western journalists and then also the chemical weapons supply, what is going to happen to them? will you start with me? >> reports about all this and a lot of concern of what has happened and is the syrian regime actually specifically targeting journalists? by all accounts, they knew where that media center was in homes to some extent and did they go after it, in particular? very disturbing, very concerning. a lot of news organizations considering what they can reasonably do now to continue to tell the story and communicate what is going on in syria. you still see, of course, these citizen journalists inside the country getting their information out via social media. getting it out any way that they can, soledad. >> let's talk about the chemical weapon supplies. what is the concern there? what is the planning on that? >> right. the pentagon, you know, hopes that it is very much in lock step with the white house. everyone looking for a diplomatic solution to get assad out of power and end all of this violence. but it could get a lot worse. syria has one of the world's largest chemical weapons programs and multiple sites across the country. the pentagon has done some preliminary planning and come up with a scenario that nobody wants to see happen. it could take tens of thousands of u.s. troops, boots on the ground to guard syria's chemical weapons site. if the regime falls and sites are left unguarded, there are al qaeda opportunity in the country and potential for hezbollah moving in and trying to get his hands on some of that material. all nightmare scenarios. very concerning. look, the pentagon always talks about how it needs thousands of troops for almost anything it wants to do. nobody is, everyone is hoping this doesn't happen. but it is a nightmare scenario out there that they certainly are considering. they may have to plan for. soledad. >> thanks very much, barbara, appreciate that update. still ahead on "starting point" the college lacrosse player that is convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend. some people say the jury let him off easy. we'll talk about that. a weight loss drug that was rejected two years ago now has been approved by a federal panel. the first prescription drug to treat obesity in 13 years. is it safe? lawmaker is attacking a girlfriend. a radical organization that promotes abortions. it's the focus of our get real this morning and we leave you with will cain's playlist. dixie chicks. >> it makes me manley. ♪ dave, i've downloaded a virus. yeah. ♪ dave, where are we on the new laptop? it's so slow! i'm calling dave. [ telephone rings ] [ sighs ] i need a new i.t. guy. [ male announcer ] in a small business, technology is all you. staples easy tech experts are here to help. you must be... ...dave. [ male announcer ] with everything from new computers, to set-ups, to tune-ups. stapes. that was easy. and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. [ woman ] lower cholesterol. [ man 2 ] yummy. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste and whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. welcome back, everybody. the jury is recommending 26 years for former university of virginia lacrosse player. george huguely was convicted of second degree murder. yeardley love died in may of 2010. huguely was found not gauilty o the most serious charge. he showed no emotion and kept his head down when the sentence was announced, as well. good morning, thanks for talking with us. i appreciate it. it took them just about nine hours to come to a conclusion and really seemed to hinge on, was this planned, was this premeditated or was this something that was kind of an act of passion? were you surprised by this verdict? >> i wasn't terribly surprised. i didn't think the jurors would find him guilty and to find george huguely guilty of first degree murder, he intended to kill yeardley love when he kicked down that door in may of 2010. they did not decide that happened but they did find malice and malice is a component of second degree murder. i must say this was a disappointment to huguely's attorneys and his family. they were hoping the jury would convict of manslaughter, which carries a much lesser penalty. >> the prosecutor, i was surprised to see, became very emotional in this trial. i haven't covered a ton of trials, but i certainly haven't seen someone near tears as a prosecutor. what do you think the implications of that could be? >> you know, that was very interesting, i must say i haven't seen that either. the way this courtroom is set up, the prosecutor's back is to us as he's giving his closing argument. when he started crying, we weren't really sure we could hear it. everyone was kind of like, was he crying? i believe dave chapman cried at the beginning and at the end. that is unusual and that has to have an effect on a jury. >> what was huguely's response not just when the verdict came down, but later when it came to the sentencing phase. i know people said he didn't show a lot of emotion. what was it like in the courtroom? >> no. you know, it was very tense and everyone was straining to hear. the acoustics are not terribly great in this building. he did not show a lot of emotion. he came in during the entire sentencing phase. he came in with his head down and he did cry a little bit during his own defense attorney's closing argument. at the end of i saw him wiping some tears but for the most part head down and that's pretty much as he took the verdict, as well. really no emotion. >> yeardley's mother and sister testified in the sentencing phase and just heartbreaking and to some degree you can't have paid any attention to this case and not think always about, wow, just college kids. i mean, just a tremendous tragedy for this girl's family. >> yeah, you know, it's a tremendous tragedy for both families. one has lost a daughter and one has lost a son. you had to be a rock not to be moved when you heard yeardley love's mother and sister testifying. the loss of yeardley and the impact that had on their lives. christmas now is just awful. it's just awful. you have good days and you have bad days and then some of yeardley's friends will come over and i expect to see yeardley with them and they're not year. lexie, her sister, said she would give anything to see her sister's face one more time. the most moving passage when sharon love said, she worries because every day she's afraid she's losing little pieces of yeardley as time moves on. she forgets things and how disturbing that is for her. >> that's such a sad thing. michael christian, thank you. still ahead, latinos are the fastest growing voting bloc in the united states. will latinos be picking the next u.s. president. state lawmaker is attacking the girl scouts and radical organization and an arm of planned parenthood and our get real right after this short break. stay with us. you know, you can't get too much common. that is a handsome man. >> it's the music. the content. >> the content, blah, blah, blah. i have sat with him on a plane and he is a handsome man. stop, will cain. our focus is, i can see you rolling your eyes. our focus is this republican indiana state representative. his name is bob morris. yes, bob, we are talking to you this morning. in a letter he wrote to his fellow representatives, the girl scouts are radicalized organization that promote abortion and homosexuality. today he's standing by those comments. the girl scout are encouraged to look up to role models and to the role models on the list only three have a background. he said that after doing his research, a small amount of web research, as he likes to say, he realized quickly that girl scouts has become a tactical arm of planned parenthood. the upshot, he is refusing to sign the resolution that honors the girl scouts on their 100th anniversary. he says his daughters who are girl scouts are going to quit the girl scouts and join the american heritage group and the girl scouts of northern indiana michigan says they have no relationship with planned parenthood. then there was the indiana house speaker, brian bosma, also republican, starting to distance himself he ordered like hundreds of cases of girl scout cookies and eating them all day and handing them out to the journalists who were visiting. he was here to do the people's work. when it came time for the house to adjourn all the female lawmaker who was a girl scout stand up and it was virtually every lawmaker. the letter to his fellow representatives is worth, it worth reading and googling and grabbing. >> the gold standard against girl scout cookies. >> girls trying to do something for the last 100 years. i knew there was something behind those thin mints getting delivered. you know, this is what gives, honestly, this is what gives lawmakers a bad name. the fact that this becomes something that becomes something. >> an issue of importance. >> insanity. >> little bit of web research. >> there's this thing called google that i discovered last night. yes, bob, all abou