attracting the attention of homeland security. wolf blitzer is off today, i'm candy crowley, and you're in "the situation room." right now they're pretearing to vote on a resolution. it strongly condemns the killing, gee mooning the assad regime call off sits forces and cease all violence. we'll bring the vote to you live when it happens. we have cnn journalists in syria right now documenting some of the awful violence. you'll see that as well, ahead. bus first to the battle for michigan, which holes its primary in just 12 days. it is home turn for mitt romney who grew up there and whose father was governor. the latest poll shows tide if not ahead of romney in michigan. that means we're likely in for a bitter fight. cnn's senior correspondent joe johns is in detroit for us. joe, what is the feeling there? what are you seeing? >> it's interesting. mitt romney rolled in today. he was met by a very warm and receptive crowd. he is really playing up, candy, the notion he is a native son of michigan, which is fascinating some some ways. as you know, mitt romney's father was certainly governor of this stay. mitt romney grew up here. he sort of got his dr the start of his life, if you will. on the other hand it was more than 40 years ago when mitt romney was leer in michigan, and so, you know, when you look at this thing and the totality of it, quite frankly, candidate, today was a situation where both campaigns rolled into the metropolitan detroit area. it was all about momentum today. >> the battle for the industrial heartland squaring off in michigan. it was pretty clear who he was talking about. >> working as a lobbyist and elected official is great, but in my view it's more important to also have private sector experience us. >> reporter: apparently a reference to rick santorum. who is slightly ahead in the race for this state, despite the fact that he, like romney, was opposed to the auto industry bailout that some say saved the state from economic disaster. >> the government should not be involved in bailouts, period. >> reporter: for the record, a poll shows it doesn't hurt candidates -- though general motors just reported its biggest profit ever. so if the gop isn't focused on the bailout, what is the nomination race in michigan all about anyway? santorum supporters says hi strong showing is partly about his appeal to blue collar voters and social conservatives, though romney supporters say the state's comeback is issue 1. >> just old-fashioned campaign talking about jobs. michigan's governor just endorsed mitt romney. even here in the state where he grew up. >> we have the right man here to help lead our country, but there's a special bonus. he was born and raised a michig michigan michigander. >> reporter: polls suggests the rate for delegate-rich ohio is very much shank up like the race for michigan. romney is expected to go to ohio tomorrow, santorum expected to stay here. >> that's a problem these days. so many states and not enough time or money. thank you, joe johns. we want to get more with on cnn chief political analyst gloria borger. michigan just would not be the place i would say here's where the santorum surge is going to come. >> it's so interesting. when you talk to people in the santorum campaign and say why is your candidate surging? they say people see him as a fighter, they like him more than mitt romney, and they understand his roots, not mitt romney's roots, but his roots. also don't forget he has a plan to zero out the tax rate for manufacturing. but there's something else here that's really important. that is the really conservative vote in this state and the evangelical vote in this state. take a look at this poll today. republicans were asked which candidates share my position. santorum, 37%, romney 23, gingrich 13, paul 12. so you see santorum really shares their positions. that in 1988, pat robertson had his strongest showing in the state of michigan. >> people don't tend to think of the republican part of michigan being so conservative, because it genuinely is a democratic state president yeah, but there are very conservative spots, and fiercely independent conservatives. if the rest of the world is thinks mitt romney, maybe they're thinking rick santorum. >> so that gets us to, suppose romney loses michigan. it's kind of -- it looks bad, but in reality, does it -- you know, is it that bad? >> it will look very bad. he has all broadband predicted he will win the state. father was the governor, et cetera, et cetera, but in this poll today, there is a bit of a silver lining for him on the. >> these primary voters, potentially primary voters were asked which republican candidate can beat barack obama, and again, you see this huge margin. romney 42, santorum 18, so voters thing electability is important. the overall poll says that santorum might win michigan, but they think romney is the most electable, so go figure that one out. >> you get into the voting booth and what's most important, right? >> right, and these people are saying they want someone who is electable, but they like where rick santorum is on the issues, and we've seen this tension in the republican primaries as we've gone through this whole race. >> quickly the autobailout. romney was against it, but so was santorum. >> i think it's an issue that quite frankly has been overstated. it is the republican primarily after all, and i think other issues will be more important. in this poll, 50% of the voters said it won't make a difference. senior political analyst gloria borger, thanks. >> sure. a white house effort at compromise on a birth control controversy is so far failed to end the debate. at issue a health reform man dade requiring employer insurance plans to cover contraceptives, and new poll numbers just in show half the public is not on the president's side. the cnn/orc survey out just this hour, say 44% approve of the policy, but 50% disapprove. that's even though vast majorities of americans are okay with birth control. asked if using it is wrong, 81% said no, including 77% of catholic also. now the standoff between church and state is caught up in partisan politics where else, up on capitol hill. brianna keilar joins us with more. brianna, what's the latest on this -- well, actually you're at the white house. sorry. what's going on? >> reporter: well, the white house feels like they've been able to make their case, candy, and president obama has been largely been able to win over what you might call middle of the road catholic leaders with this china to this contraceptive coverage policy, but now this is becoming a big partisan debate on capitol hill. you have republicans saying that the obama administration is infringing on religious freedom, democrats are saying that republicans are assaulting women's access to health care. welcome to the culture wars 2.0. 6 for crap ception, like the birth control pill, the morning-after pill, and intrauterine devices. the administration recently provided what it called an accommodation for religiously affiliated employers like cath ling churches and hospitals, so workers can receive contraceptive coverage directly from an insurer rather than their employer. >> now, obviously we're having some technical differenty with our piece right there, candidate i can tell you there was a hearing on the hill today. republicans had a number of religious leaders from various religions who said they still disagree with this policy even with the accommodation. you say democrats including nancy pelosi saying where are the women? they were wondering why a person that they wanted on that first panel that was all men was not allowed on. it would have been a georgetown university student speaking in favor of the policy. so overall, the obama administration has, as i pledgesed assuaged some of the middle of the road catholic leaders who i think some of the opposition caught them off-guard, but now this is becoming a very loud battle on capitol hill. you sort of see both sides really playing to their base. republicans see this as an opportunity to really target the president's signature health care reform law. you see democrats making this very much an issue of women's health. this is a debate that will continue. >> it will indeed. thank you so much, brianna keilar at the white house. he made less than most of his rivals, and gave less to charity. we are digging deeper into rick santorum's newly released tax returns. also the tweets attracting attention for the homeland security department. facebook posts, too. are your posts being watched? plus stephen colbert suddenly and seriously halts production of his show. we're looking at clues to why. that day, he bought life insurance. now there's no way i could send our boy to college without it. if there was one thing i could say to hank, it'd be "thank you." you're welcome. hey, hank. 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>> thanks, jack. see you in a bit. life after congress has been pretty profitable for rick santorum. he has released his tax returns showing a considerable jump in income since leaving the senate. dana bash is combing through the returns for us. what are you finding out? i think it's chief correspondent. >> thanks. the senator was $165,200. not a bad chunk of change, but not that much compared to how much he's made since he's left the senate. at with many departing senators, his defeat opened the door to financial opportunity. on the stump rick santorum sells himself as a candidate from coal mining country, champion of the working class. >> i'm not an oil man from texas. i'm the grandson of a coal miner. >> reporter: but these days he's hardly working class. four years of newly released tax returns show, since his 2006 defeat have the senate, he raked in a total of 3.6 million. he made nearly $670,000 in 2007, his first year in the private sector, and nearly doubled that by 2009, earning $1.1 million. still, santorum made far less than mitt romney and newt gingrich. in 2010, romney's income was $21.7 million, gingrich $3.1 million, santorum $930,000. most of santorum's income came from work for energy and health care interests, as well as media contracts, thanks to relationships build during his decade and a half in congress. romney's campaign says he cashed in as a washington insider. he describes it this way. >> it's a real great opportunity to give a whole bunch of different life experiences in the private sector, and i think that's made me a better candidate coming forward here for president. >> reporter: bigger paychecks allowed santorum to move his seven children into this big house he bought in suburban washington. but he tries to use the purchase to connect with millions affected by the housing crisis. >> that house has lost 40% of its value. so i had to do a lot of paying down of debt to keep my mortgages payments down and get my head from -- in a sense suffered what a lot of people did. >> with an tomorrow's fatter paychecks, heftiest tax bills. he paid $167,000 in federal taxes in 2007. $310,000 in 2009. his effective tax rate is between 25% and 28%. that's nearly twice the 14.5% romney paid on his income from investments. >> i do my own taxes. heck, romney paid half the tax rate that i did. maybe i should hire an accountant in the future. >> reporter: what about charity? santorum gave $81,000,500 over for you realize use, 2.2% of his income. far less than romney, slightly less than gingrich. to be sure, with seven children, santorum does have big expenses. >> two kids in college, and a child with a disability, and, you know, needing care. >> these tax returns were a long time coming. for more than a month he promised they were coming soon. santorum points out he released all his taxes since being defeated in the senate. that's more than his gop competitors, and you remember, candy, mitt romney released only two years ooze worth newt gingrich one year, ron paul hasn't released any at all, and doesn't intend to. >> i'll bet he won't. we saw santorum in your piece sort stuff give romney the perfectly legal tax rates that romney pate. is there anything in this that gives any of santorum's rivals something to chew on? >> it does play right into mitt romney's story line and the narrative it's creating. it does give him ammunition, why? because the kinds of things that he between, working for a health care interests, working for energy interests, those are jobs he got because of the connections he made when he was a senator, in the state of washington, by the way. he didn't go back to pennsylvania. he stayed in washington. >> as many of these do. listen, when you look at it, how much of these tax returns ever come into play? there's nothing illegal here. we heard first a flurry about mitt romney. it kind of went away -- >> i think -- you can correct me if i'm wrong, because you've covered so many campaigns, but i think it's because of the the focus on mitt romney and his wealth that really fueled releasing them earlier. usually it's later in the cycle. with mitt romney, no question it was a huge issue because of the fact his wealth is a big part of his persona. with rick santorum, maybe not so much. >> dana bash, thank you. the underwear bomber who tried to blow up an airliner on christmas day learned his fate today. how many years will he spend behind bars? that and a video presented in court today showing the damage he could have done. you'll see it next. and watch what you tweet. 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