>> wow. wow. "starting point." come on, annunciate. in terms of pronunciation. good morning, welcome to "starting point." we have serious stuff to cover. brewer versus obama. the arizona governor and the president kind of go toe-to-toe on the tarmac. that's a video of their conversation blocked, of course, by the limo. it was, of course, by eyewitnesses accounts a tense exchange. we'll talk about what happened there. then the fight for florida. mitt romney, newt gingrich, dead heat in the polls. a big cnn debate tonight that could decide it all. look what's on the line in that state. remember we told you the story yesterday about the east haven, connecticut, mayor and talked about having tacos for

dinner. not shockingly, he issued an apology. it took a little while. he did the nonapology apology first and then came around to the real apology. here's what he said. >> i might have tacos when i go home, i'm not quite sure yet. >> i am going to guess he did not have the tacos. apparently, he did not have the tacos and then apologized. the question this morning is, is that apology enough? we'll dig into what has been happening in that city of east haven, connecticut. concussion controversy in the nfl. we have been talking about concussions and then you heard the new york giants' players saying they target opposing team players if they have a history of concussions to try to take them out. back tracking on that. we'll examine what really happens on the field. "starting point" begins right now. that would be, thank you for

teeing that up for me. that's right. will cain likes that. that is not my music. >> "baby i'm a star." >> thank you, all about this today. >> baby, i'm a star. >> i'm going to give roland so much more time today. come on, will, you need to do something. erica gonzalez editor in chief is saying what have i gotten myself into this morning? what is funny, now they don't put down where you're from. >> like cher or prince, i'm almost on a one-name basis with the american public. >> so, here's -- let me explain the music thing for everybody. you know, i have been a little dismissive of the music that i've had on the show. >> just a wee bit. >> it was terrible.

we're working on it. we're building and growing. but when people on twitter start saying, seriously, you need help with your music. we need to do something. bring in your music. if you rn othe show, we will feature and highlight the music of our panelists or our guests. like senator john mccain was on yesterday. what is on his ipod? i think that is kind of cool. >> i really don't. i want to know what's on megan's? >> i bet he has an ipod and i bet he has interesting music. next time he's on, we're going to feature his music. excuse me, peanut m&ms for breakfast. circling the dream. you saw this picture of the governor jan brewer kind of having it out with president obama. we have the video, but there is a photo, as well. maybe one of you guys can grab a newspaper for me so we can show that in a little bit. she has her finger basically in the face of the president. the president arrived in phoenix

on air force one and then they had this tense encounter. she said it was triggered by her book which was called "scorpions for breakfast" she said the president was disturbed by the meeting they had in the white house in the book and she said the president is thin skinned. listen. >> he, he changed the subject to my book "scorpions for breakfast" and was a little bit dis disenchanted, if you will, of how he was portrayed in the book. i believe when he was in the conversation i was in the middle of the sentence and he walked away. i wasn't angry at all. i felt a little bit threatened, if you will, and the attitude that he had because i was there to welcome him. >> i was there to welcome him. that's why i put my finger -- that was an interesting word. but you can tell by this photo kind of how intense this was. here's what the white house said. they issued a statement, no shocker there, as well.

after their last meeting, a cordial discussion in the oval office, the governor inaccurately described the meeting in her book. the president looks forward to continuing and taking steps to help arizona's economy grow. i don't know if the reverend got the true story of what happened there from either side there. let's bring in our friend ron brownstein, who is not with us in person. >> in spirit. in washington and en route to florida. >> south beach. >> heading south. might hit south beach somewhere along the way. >> might hit south beach. >> he's going. >> he's like, but don't tell my boss it's south beach. who wants to start with the president and the arizona governor because what's really going on here? i mean -- >> publicity. >> no, that's not good publicity for anyone, is it? >> no, so ledad, the back story is the federal government is suing the state of arizona over

its very tough immigration law and the state of arizona, virtually like every state is suing the federal government to block president obama's health care law. there is a lot of systemic conflict between the two sides that is kind of baked into this confrontation. if you look across the board, i recall writing about this a couple months ago, compared to the 1990s much more conflict between this administration and republican governors between bill clinton and the republican governors in the 1990s. the governors are being brought in to the intense conflicts we see in washington and that's the real back stories. these two leaders are really at odds over big issues and i think that is somewhat behind this kind of personal confrontation. >> but it wouldn't surprise me at all that the president did try to check her when it came to his book. this is not like the first time we heard him described as being thin skinned. >> bobby jindal has also said the same thing. >> when i ran in chicago and defend her a few months before i

took over, we were the last paper. here's the most historic black newspaper in the country, the last paper to endorse them and the previous publisher. i would say a little issue between him and the then senator and from that point on through the election, we didn't get a single ad that ran in the newspaper because he said, make them pay for that. so, it's not like he's not thin skinned, so, yeah, he probably did check her. >> let's talk about florida, if we can. will cain. i love it when you call me, ma'am, even though it makes me feel old. let's throw it up on the graphic. >> thets the way of saying, don't do that again, man. >> look at this graphic, which is the likely gop voters primary choice for nominee. you can see mitt romney now at 36%. he has dropped from 43% and newt gingrich has 34% and santorum, if you look at him, he's sort of dropped a little bit, if you look over the last couple of

days has kind of stayed flat. how worried should mitt romney be about these numbers? >> i think he should definitely be worried. florida is much tougher than he anticipated but the real story is we have seen newt gingrich crawl back a little bit. some polls showed that newt gingrich was in first place for a little while. roland and i had had a throw down on your channel because people should not underestimate newt gingrich. when all your logical inputs go in and you come up with there is no way newt gingrich can be president of the united states, by any rational analysis should be adopting newt gingrich. he's not the most conservative, he's not anti-establishment, despite your biggest wishes and he's not the most electable. when you keep coming up with the most despite logic, quit saying newt gingrich doesn't have a shot. he might just have a shot. >> we disagree, soledad, primarily because will tried to use a tim tebow comparison and i

say newt keeps on winning, he only won one state. >> roland heard this for six months analysts went on espn said tim tebow was no good and he would not win this week, but he kept winning. newt gingrich's tangibles don't add up, but he's a player. >> i thought it was interesting that newt gingrich wasn't farther ahead with latino voters because he has a supposed plan, which is more of a delay approach where the other guy, romney, has a deny approach. >> let's play a little bit of that. you're talking specifically about immigration and the dream, well, kind of the dream act, right, everyone has their version of the dream act. the no dream act. okay, play. >> i'm not in favor of going around the country trying to round people up and put them in buses and take them across the border. >> if you go around this country and say, hi, would you like to legalize 11 million people who

cross the border illegally? >> people can choose a college. the idea that we have to provide an in-state tuition break to people. i reject that. >> for half of the dream act. i'm not for the whole dream act. if you're in the united states, even if your parents brought you illegally, if you're here, the same right to sign up in the military. >> so, newt gingrich's position is not so far off from mitt romney's position on immigration. so, is the take away latinos don't care that much about election in florida or they support mitt romney because they support his immigration vision better? >> latinos in florida are concerned about the economy, as latinos across the country are. 11% unemployment rate. but the thing is, it's conditioned on the response to the dream act. so, latino voters are not going to support someone who says i have this great job growth plan but i will basically block students -- >> but mitt romney has that.

>> which makes no sense with big capitale capitalists to support legalization. you have guys like michael bloomberg and rupert murdoch who are pushing for legalization and they think it will reinvigorate and mitt romney talking about opening doors. >> ron brownstein wanted to hop in on this conversation. go ahead, ron. >> there is a difference in their policy on the 11 million who are here illegally. romney has embraced, self-deportation to elevate what has been an idea by conservative think tanks called attrition through enforcement. you would make it so ownerous for people to work, they would leave. gingrich is talking about something different with community board that would allow people to stay. if you look inside your poll about florida, the internal trend is encouraging for romney because what you see is a reversion to the pattern that

was working for him earlier in this race, which is essentially three words. divide and conqur. romney is doing better among the centrist groups, again, than gingrich is doing among the conservative groups. romney consolidated the center of the party behind him more than anyone consolidated the right of the party behind him. that change in south carolina, where gingrich got among 40% among groups like tea party supporters, noncollege republicans. if you look inside your poll, newt gingrich is still ahead among tea party supporters. he's still ahead emonth evangelical christians in florida only by relatively small amounts. romney's advantage is among the smaller groups. it's much bigger. that's the formula that worked for him before. that's what is giving him the slight advantage in florida. the groups that favor romney are much more favorable. south carolina was two-third evangelical. in '08 the florida electoral was 60% nonevangelical.

>> you are teeing up tonight's debate that is hosted by cnn in the university of north florida in jacksonville that will happen at 8:00 p.m. the polling and then the debates come and they could change everything around. we have other stories making news before we get back to the self-deportation thing that i want to keep talking about. christine romans that has. >> good morning to you, soledad. an ohio-born student after being detained for three weeks. the 23-year-old was handed over to his father in damascus last night. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke signaling that a full economic recovery for the u.s. is still years away. the fed moving yesterday to keep short-term interest rates near zero until late 2014 to try to spur growth. president obama's post-state of the union tour of key battleground states continue today. stops in nevada and denver. a u.p.s. facility in las vegas

where he'll talk about energy. lawyers for passenger and crew could slap the company behind that italian cruiseship disaster with a multi-billion dollar lawsuit. documents obtained by cnn show attorneys want $160,000 per passenger from miami-based carnival cruises. the parent company of the ship that ran aground off the italian coast. the seizure that put demi moore in the hospital earlier this week on nitrous oxide. the actress inhaled it trying to get a quick high from the gas. soledad. >> thank you very much. we're sitting here chatting about immigration reform. paying attention here. ahead this morning on "starting point," connecticut cops arrested over racial profiling charges. we told you a little bit about this story yesterday. we'll hear this morning from a priest who said he was a victim, as well. also the family of freed u.s. hostage is going to be united with jessica buchanan. we'll hear from a family friend who has spoken to that family.

see how they're doing today. a big change at disney. it's a little bit hairy. we'll explain in today's get real. here's our song as we head into commercial break, this is erica gonzalez's ipod. it is beyonce. ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] ♪[music plays] purina one beyond. food for your cat or dog.

when we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪

welcome back to "starting point," everybody. the american woman freed during that u.s. raid in somalia could be reunite would her father and her husband today. we are learning more about the elite commandos who carried out tuesday night's mission. including members of the s.e.a.l. team that killed osama bin laden, they killed nine suspected pirates and then escaped unharmed with the hostages. joining us by phone is don mier, the president of valley forge christian college and also a

family friend of jessica buchanan. nice to talk to you. thanks for being with us. you had an opportunity to talk to the family. what have they been able to tell you? >> yes, of course, they are extremely excited just beyond words that she is safe and they'll be rejoining her soon and to go from not knowing and for her to be in captivity for so long and then instantly a message comes that she has been freed. it's just overwhelming and so exciting. >> has her dad had a chance to actually have a conversation with jessica and how is she holding up? i know there were some medical concerns. >> i know the family has been in touch with her. i'm not sure specifically of each one who has. and the word that has been shared with me is that her health is good. >> oh, thank goodness. that is good news. jessica was working in somalia, i believe, back in may of 2010. did she ever express to you or

anybody, you know, her concerns about doing aid work? >> no. our familiarity with jessica, of course, took place while she was a student here she graduated in 2007, as you mentioned, and then that spring semester she was student teacher, a school in nairobi, kenya and there her love for africa really deepened. after she had been there for a couple of years, she met her husband and they then were involved with this agency that was involved in the efforts and so forth and took them into ken kenya. the last i had talked with her was about two years ago when she was here on campus. she has been back to the u.s. for her mother's passing and came through here with family and we visited together briefly. but our conversation didn't include details regarding what she was involved with here in somalia. >> she sounds like a young woman

who is very passionate about her work. thanks, appreciate your time. straight ahead this morning. disney makes a big change at all of its theme parks. we'll tell you why we are saying get real, up next. can i help you? yeah, can i get a full-sized car? for full-sized cars, please listen to the following menu. for convertibles, press star one. i didn't catch that. to speak to a representative, please say representative now. representative. goodbye! you don't like automated customer service, and neither do we. that's why, unlike other cards, no matter when you call chase sapphire preferred, you immediately get a person not a prompt. chase sapphire preferred. a card of a different color. (phone ringing) chase sapphire preferred, this is julie in springfield.

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i do like willie nelson. don't you have anything fast on your ipod? >> just want to relax.

>> no, they don't. that would be wrong. welcome back, everybody. that is will cain's ipod. we decided to do music of our panelists. roland stepped out for a minute. will cain, that was his choice. i do love willie nelson. doesn't he have a faster song. >> "whiskey river". >> cue that one up. it is time to get real and if it is good enough for aladdin's genie it is now good enough for all the male employees at disneyland and disney world, a ban that lasted six decades male workers will be permitted to grow beards. the ruling comes 12 years, yes, 12 years after a ban on mustaches was lifted. 12 years. but the lifting of the ban comes a little asterisk. all beards must be fresh, clean, neat and approachable. >> that's not subjective.

>> well, i can help you with that. so, here's what works and here's what doesn't. george clooney, that is an acceptable beard and that is a handsome man. zaz, that is not acceptable beard. jake gyllenhaal, ryan gosling. >> something tells me it has more to do with than the beard. the handsome man has more to do. brad pitt, that is a handsome man, but not an acceptable beard according to the new disney rules. we say, good job, disney, getting real. still ahead this morning on "starting point" the east haven mayor is apologizing profusely after his nonapology apology for the taco comments he made when asked what he was doing for the latinos in his community. some say, yeah, that's not far

enough. we'll talk about that straight ahead. the son of ray lahood has been detained in egypt. we'll tell you what's happening there. you're listening to music from erica gonzalez's ipod. >> it means, dare. >> be daring. >> also, nice beard. >> roland martin runs in, runs in. he wants me to say, handsome man and a nice beard. >> got it. on that, we go to commercial break. capital one's new cash rewards card

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lifelock-- relentlessly protecting your identity. call 1-800-lifelock or go to lifelock.com today. people with a machine. what ? customers didn't like it. so why do banks do it ? hello ? hello ?! if your bank doesn't let you talk to a real person 24/7, you need an ally. hello ?

ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. hello. how come that music is not beyonce right now? we're working on this. >> it's a work in progress. >> it's a work in progress. that's what i was going to try

to say. >> it's a half-baked cake. we have other stories making headlines this morning. right to christine romans who has a look at stories making news. >> good morning, soledad. a reward being offered to help track down a convicted murderer in mississippi. joseph osmund one of four prisoners granted a full pardon by former governor haley barbour. he didn't show at a court hearing challenging his pardon earlier this week. big changes expected to be unveiled at the pentagon today. defense secretary leon panetta is proposing a 30% expansion of its global network of drones and special operations basis. meantime the army and marines expected to say they're cutting troops. all part of president obama's plans to trim the defense budget by $500 billion. caught on camera in a close encounter with some demonstrators. watch as her security detail pushes her into the back seat of her car as she's surrounded by

protesters, she was at an event speaking at a restaurant and the prime minister was not hurt. a public memorial at penn state for former football coach joe paterno today. paterno who died of cancer on sunday was buried in a private service yesterday. outrage in north carolina after a convicted murderer wrote to his hometown newspaper describing a life of what he calls leisure behind bars. he was on death row for killing a 17-year-old girl also took shots at judicial officials calling them "self righteous clowns." the dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 all pointing to a higher open right now. markets closed higher yesterday after comments from the fed chief ben bernanke. the fed will keep interest rates very low through 2014 and the fed is open to more economic stimulus to help the economy recover more fully. but he did stop short of making any promises or announcing anything concrete. quick check of the weather and rob marciano joins us. good morning, rob.

>> good morning, christine. all the rain and storminess moving now into eastern louisiana and the florida pan handle. tornado watch in effect until noon central time and across the mouth of the mississippi, including new orleans. flash flood warning in effect until 9:00 a.m. and parts of atlanta, as well. this will make its way up the east coast. look at the rainfall across austin and record setter five inches and dallas flooding issues there all day long. they do need the rain. so, you kind of take the bad with the good in the case of drought situation. here comes the rain up towards the northeast starting out a little bit of snow in spots, especially upstate and northern vermont, but for the most part, this brings warm air with it. all rain across the i-95 corridor and temperatures well above the freezing mark in d.c. and new york city with a high temperature of 44 degrees and 38 degrees in chicago, little bit cooler there. new orleans, bermic hm and cleveland and dallas and cincinnati to a less extent if you're traveling. >> good information on the way

to the airport this morning. soledad? >> christine, thank you. the connecticut mayor is now apologizing for those taco comments that he made. we were telling you the story yesterday. stop giggling, roland martin. the fbi arrested some local police officers, allegedly, mistreating latinos and others, as well. they behaved like bullies with badges. they allegedly threatened and assaulted their detainees. joining us from new haven who was arrested by two of the indicting officers. a yale law school student and advocacy clinic which was a law clinic that was working with the church and mark joins our panel here a reporter with the "new haven register." father, i will begin with you, if i can. take us back to 2009 because i want to show a little clip of this videotape that you shot. i'll show it first and on the other side, explain to me what was happening. everybody watch.

>> what are you doing? >> you have a camera? why is that? >> i'm taking a video of what is going on here. >> so, you can see at this point, father, you see the police officer not too pleased that you were rolling video. why were you rolling video in the first place, what was going on? >> since june of 2008, we have come to my attention to parishioners that they were having very harsh experiences with these type of police department. and we, we wanted to begin to document these encounters of racial harassment. >> so, once you were taking that videotape, what happened to you after the police officer, we kind of see him coming around the front towards you. what happened next? >> he arrested me. i was handcuffed and led out of the store and charged with

disorderly conduct and interfering with a police officer. >> i know a lot of the reason that you were recording in the first place is that you were hoping to get a case that you could bring to the feds and that's really where we bring in dur mitt because he was working with this clinic through the yale law school. what did you find intrtsing about this case where you were working as an intern? >> we were hearing from these reports from father manship and we compiled them into a complaint that we sent to the department of justice civil rights division in march of 2009 and then that investigation has produced a preliminary findings letter last year and a scathing report in december of 2011 about what, what's been happening in east haven. this pattern and practice of ethnic profiling of latinos. >> mark, you are a reporter who has been covering this area. is that true, just many, many reports some of them confirmed and on videotape? >> well, i mean, it's definitely something that we've heard about

a lot and there's a lot of allegations and, you know, some, they definitely stop a lot of people. i mean, there was a department of justice letter that got sent a month or so ago that basically laid out, you know, the fact that latinos are stopped at a much higher percentage than their percentage of the population. >> we actually have a graphic of that. we can throw that up. roughly 10%. >> 10.3% of the population. >> and almost 90% of the population. >> it's grown very fast. i mean, 20 years ago, it was less than 1%. >> this is a perfect example of when people talk about a lot of folks want to focus on racial profiling. this is real. this is real, it happens to latinos and happens to african-americans and i absolutely endorse what father did when it came to videotaping. i remember in cases of the '80s

and '90s videotaping police officers, they don't like it. but the reality is when you can document what is happening, they don't want to have to fight that video camera. >> father, you were released after your arrest because you had the videotape that was pretty clear about what had happened, correct? >> yeah. the end, the charges were dismissed by the judge. >> now, we started this conversation talking about the mayor. let's kind of back track to that because the mayor made his comments about him having tacos for dinner when he was asked by a reporter, what are you doing for latinos because he was sort of saying there was an issue with latinos in the community and the police. what are you going to do, mr. mayor, just because i love running the sound bite, said this. >> what are you doing for the latino community today? >> i might have tacos when i go home, i'm not quite sure yet. >> there has been a segment of this community that has been impacted by the fbi arresting four officers over alleged discrimination and you tell me -- >> alleged discrimination -- >> and you tell me tonight your

priority is, i might go have tacos. >> that is a mad reporter. there was an apology. i want to play for you the mayor's apology. >> my sincerest appaologies go t to the east haven community in a particular, the latino community for the insensitive and off-color comment that i made. unfortunately, i let the stress of the situation get the best of me and inflamed what is already serious and an unfortunate situation. >> that's the nonapology apology from an elected official. mark, what happens to him, do you think? >> well, there's a lot of people are not at all happy. >> calling for his head, let's be real. >> people calling for his head and a lot of them not live in town or vote in town and some people who do live in town and vote in town want them, i mean, the democratic chairman has called for him to resign. but this is a republican mayor, so, while i'm sure he's upset,

he also has, you know, another view point in all this. >> well, we are watching this story to see how it all ends up because, of course, you have these four officers who have now been arrested and we'll see what happens to their case and we'll see if the mayor is able to survive his taco comments and his growing latino population town. all right. i want to say, thank you, mark, we appreciate you joining us. >> i should say that, you know, he seems to, there's some things that are coming out of his mouth that are a little bit more forward looking and he is talking about doing things to sort of heal and i think that would probably be a good thing. >> he's got a big job in front of him because at this point hispanics are not confident in his leadership and they can trust a cop. that undercuts the jobs of cops who want to -- >> we are out of town. yes, he has not helped. it will be interesting to watch. father, thank you.

still ahead this morning on "starting point." concussion controversy in the nfl. new york giants' players had the shocking admission. they say they're targeting opponents with histories of concussion. you're watching "starting point" as we dig into that. straight ahead. i do believe that the biggest gift we have is to converse with a work of art. the great computer age, we are losing in a certain way interaction with the real object. computer doesn't feel any pain. it doesn't feel any joy. it cannot soften. those things can only be -- art can communicate all of those things in a very quick and easy way. just look at them. look at the work of art. communicate with it. they're talking to you. just listen and answer. when bp made a commitment to the gulf,

we were determined to see it through. here's an update on the progress. we're paying for all spill related clean-up costs. bp findings supports independent scientists studying the gulf's environment. thousands of environmental samples have been tested and all beaches and waters are open. and the tourists are back. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp.

welcome back, everybody. it's a work in progress, as we said. welcome back, everybody. we were talking earlier about self-deportation. which, honestly, just sounds, it's a strange way of putting it. let's talk about what mitt romney. i think we have a clip of what mitt romney said about his hopes for self-deportation as an immigration strategy. >> you severely sanction employers who hire people who have not legal documentation and legal authorization to work here. on that basis, overtime, people will find it less attractive to be here if they can't find work here. some refer to that as self-deportation. >> i think you have to live in a world of swiss bank accounts and cayman island accounts and automatic $20 million a year of income with no work to have some fantasy this far from reality. >> do you think this is a

fantasy, erica gonzalez? >> it doesn't address the issue. you have families, undocumented parents with citizen children. a mixed status family. people are not going to extract themselves after investing so many years being part of communities, supporting the meat industry, meat packing industry in places like alabama where now the businessman have to search for workers after an ordinance was passed. so, the direction of republican party has taken to be punitive, punitive, punitive, that doesn't resonate -- >> will cain is shaking his head in disagreement. >> doesn't resonate with anything envisionary. >> erica's argument is an example of what we always hear. don't allow the perfect to be the enemy of the good. mitt romney's statement has been mocked on twitter and on television and largely through the prism of a lack of understanding. his policy action makes quite a bit of sense. shore up the border and make a

secure border and then within the country make rules to make it very hard for employers to hire illegal immigrants. what you'll create is a situation where illegal immigrants have a hard time getting employed and they won't have the economic benefits of living in this country. >> economically, pick a year for me, what is the worst year? >> we're in the midst of it? >> you don't think 2008 -- >> the last three or four years. >> you didn't see an outflow, you saw some. if you're talking about it, i think the estimates are 20 million people who are potentially in this country without documents or in the country illegally, you'll never get that from self-deportation. >> a small outflow. >> again, the argument, i don't need perfection for my argument to be good. the question is -- >> he says of his own argument. what? >> the question is, look, in an environment of a total lack of immigration policy from both the democrats and the republicans. by the way, be very clear, this is not a partisan issue. this is an issue that makes some sense. >> at the end of the day, you

have to confront the larger problem. we can say, oh, nibble at the edges and so a few will leave, but that's not the fundamental problem. it's so much larger. >> let's clamp down on the border and be punitive and crack down asand never anything in th other direction. even both bushes pushed a more comprehensive policy and more reasonable answers for dealing with immigration issues. >> why the poll numbers show what they show. >> we have to take a point. kyle williams is getting death threats for fumbling the team's ticket to the super bowl. isn't that sad? two giants' players say they planned to take him out because of his history of concussions. we'll take a closer look at that. this is u2. thank you, erica. >> it is uplifting. what a great way to start your morning.

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so i had to pick up some more things. good thing i've got the citi simplicity card. i don't get hit with a fee if i'm late with a payment... which is good because on this job, no! bigger! [ monica ] i may not be home for a while. [ male announcer ] the new citi simplicity card. no late fees. no penalty rate. no worries. welcome back, everybody. you're watching "starting point" this morning. they said they went after kyle williams on sunday because of his history. gentleman kwan williams said he knew. we knew he had four concussions. watching the game? that was our biggest thing, to take him out of the game. and then the receiver, devin thomas said he had a lot of concussions. we were just like, we've got to

put a hit on that guy. other giants players say there was no strategy to take williams out. linebacker michael bolle said concussions are a big deal. we didn't want to hurt anybody. roland martin is shaking his head. former nfl player and dr. sanjay gupta join me this morning. i hope i didn't pronounce the players' names wrong. let's start with you, if we can, jamal. which is it? we hear the players saying, yeah, we were going to target somebody because we knew he had concussions, we could take him out. oh, no, no, no, we're a fraternity of brothers. it's a gram. which is true? >> the truth is when you're talking about a football, it's the physicality of the sport number one. number two, you want to win. what's at stakes of the game? you're playing in an nfc championship for the chance to play in a super bowl, you're not trying to take somebody out, but if you hurt or injure a player who's a significant part of the other team, bravo. i'm on my way to the super bowl

to win. >> it sounds like you're saying yes. >> he's dancing. the answer is yes. >> i've never had a coach in my career who said, we're going to target this guy because of this, this, that or the other. now you're trying to hit somebody as hard as possible. you're trying to be as physical as possible. if you do remove a star player, playing that way, so be it. you have a better opportunity to win the football game. that's what it's all about. >> let me show you something, sanjay. this is from an nfl spokesman. there were no illegal heads to the head or neck against kyle williams on sunday. there was no conduct by the giants that would suggest an effort to injure kyle williams in any way. i think the key word here is illegal hits, right? >> reporter: yeah. i think everything in terms of the statements, in terms of the comments by the players, probably it's all true, and it's still reflective of this culture that i think you're getting at, soledad. maybe there wasn't a coordinated sort of approach by the giants. maybe there wasn't a specific illegal hit which could result in penalties and actually harm the team that's performing the

illegal hit, but clearly they had knowledge of this player's four countries concussions. they realized it was a weak spot and it was something at least maybe one or two of the players thought about and said in order for us to better win this game, that's an area we can target. however you want to sort of describe it, how coordinated it was by the team. probably wasn't. whether there was an illegal hit, probably not. but it's still to the point that we've been talking about all week. concussions aren't treated the same way as, for example, a knee injury. guy walks off with a knee injury and people literally pray for the person. the guy walks off with his head, he looks confused, they think he'll be out for a couple of play gs, he'll be back. >> because of concussions people are saying these comments are crazy. jamal, you know for a fact. the reason players will hide an ankle injury, shoulder injury, arm injury whrks they're in that pile guys are pulling and tugging and punching on it to get him out of the game. so i get the focus concussio

concussions, they are targeting that to get you out of the game. >> did you hide your injuries, jamal? >> the bottom line, there's a saying that goes around. you can't make the club in the tub. if you're a player who has a history of being injured, what are your chances of sustaining an nfl career? not likely. so it depends on the injury, the type of injury. you have to remember, before the emphasis on concussions turned to what it is now, it was all about, oh, you just got your bell rung. this is football. you hit somebody, oh, you're woozy, take a couple of plays, here's some smelling salt. you go back in the game. again, when you have the statements of guys saying, if you're one of those people who have re-occurring injuries, you're not going to be here. i blew out my knee twice. bye-bye nfl career. >> sanjay gupta, jamal, thank you. we've been discussing concussions all week. sanjay's new documentary is called "big hits broken dreams." it airs this sunday. still ahead on "starting point" this weekend, brewer versus obama. there was a tense exchange on the tarmac and both sides are

getting their sides of the story. was the governor disrespectful of the president? is the president a little bit thin skinned? >> let's get ready to rumble. the cnn debate tonight. the florida primary is on tuesday. gingrich, romney, neck in neck. state's up for grabs. alan graceman is going to join us in our next hour to talk about the stakes of that race. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle -- 8% every 10 years. wow. wow. but you can help fight muscle loss with exercise and ensure muscle health. i've got revigor. what's revigor? it's the amino acid metabolite, hmb to help rebuild muscle and strength naturally lost over time. [ female announcer ] ensure muscle health has revigor and protein to help protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. keeps you from getting soft. [ major nutrition ] ensure. nutrition in charge!

good morning. welcome, everybody. you're watching "starting point" this morning. airport greeting turns kind of testy between president obama and arizona's governor jan brewer. you can see behind the car they're kind of having it out right there. what triggered that tense confrontation in phoenix. it led to the governor saying this. >> i thought that he was very thin skinned. >> she was shaking her finger in his face. republicans will return to the stage tonight. mitt romney, newt gingrich running neck in neck in the state of florida. the cnn debate tonight could help decide a couple of things about who could have the

nomination. and nearly 12 years after his death j.f.k. jr.'s former assistant has written a new book. it has details. we're going to talk to the author of "fairy tail interrupted." airline flight delayed for hours because there was a cat in the cockpit. >> seriously? >> yes. yes. even more seriously, we're doing a story on it this morning. "starting point" begins right "starting point" begins right now. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com i love this album. we're going to go back to the rules. john joins us. he is a comedian and actor, political commentator, joins our crazy panel. the music -- >> i'm sorry.

>> we've got to back up a little. no one loves win marselis more than me. >> if his music makes roland martin go to sleep, we might be better off. >> we've asked our panelists to bring their music in. >> i was happy to get that call. >> here's the rules, people. wake up. it's like, hey, good morning. "starting point." we're happy to have you. >> i didn't know that. i gave the roots and john legends. >> a ballad or up tempo. >> up tempo. >> folks in the studio -- in the room there, just play my music. trust me, my stuff is fast. >> this is my show and i can't -- she says, your lyrics have some bad words on it. we can't play your stuff. >> no, it doesn't. >> how about my show, my music? >> i got gospel music. >> moving on. "starting point" this morning. wow. >> glad they didn't play the one i suggested. >> it was not -- have you seen this picture of governor brewer and the president? >> i have. >> she's literally here, roland

and i will reenact it. >> i'm the black guy. >> take this shot. here you go. >> that's eerie. >> that's what's happening. she's shaking her finger in the black guy, the president's face. so the question, of course, what exactly happened on the tarmac there. at one point as she's pointing her finger people said what was that confrontation about. she said the president was upset by something she wrote in her book which was called "scorpions for breakfast." she described a meeting that was less than friendly. she said to reporters she thought the president was thin skinned. here's what she said. >> he changed the subject to my book, "scorpions for breakfast," and was a little bit disenchanted, if you will, about how he was portrayed in the book. i believe that when we were in the conversation that i was in the middle of a sentence and he walked away. i wasn't angry at all. i felt a little bit threatened, if you will, in the attitude that he had because i was there

to welcome him. >> i wasn't angry at all. i felt threatened. >> i was threatened. >> i bet the president said, just make one more move, secret service will take you out. >> oh, my goodness. guess what the president and the white house said? they said this, after their last meeting a cordial discussion in the oval office, the governor inaccurately described the meeting in her book. the president looks forward to continuing -- that was a turn there. the president looks forward to continuing taking steps to help arizona's economy grow. >> parentheses, but you wave your finger in my face again. >> that's an interesting and strange thing. there is this whole -- well, i can already tell will's disagreeing with me. there have been so many moments, maybe i'm wrong, rudeness towards the position of the president. >> that's an interesting angle in this conversation. two interesting angles. one, ron brown steen mentioned it earlier. is this a symbolic nature of the

states and the government. >> that was a turn. >> i think the other interesting angle is what you're talking about, is there some lack of deference to authority. i'm not sure that's clear. >> you had the state of the union where -- >> you lie, will. you lye. >> i'm going to leave. >> number one, jan brewer is only working as governor on an out-patient basis. let's keep that in mind. number two, if you believe things jan brewer says, i have some headless bodies in the desert i want to sell you. her relationship with the truth has been sketchy for a while. this follows a pattern. even if obama came out and said something rude to her about her book, if you don't have the game to realize that a picture of you doing this to the president. >> that helps her. >> it helps both their bases. it helps her. >> she might just have the game, john. >> he did a great job of maintaining his composure in the face of a rude lunatic. >> let's bring in alan grace son. >> i'm okay with your music now. alan is a former florida

congressman. he is in orlando this morning. nice to see you, sir. what do you make of that? before we move on to another topic, the finger wagging in the face of the president. >> i agree with john. it's a sign that brewer's elevator does not go to the top floor. it's a sign of disrespect for the 67 million of us who voted for president obama. he is president obama and the other side can't seem to live with that. i think they should get over it. >> okay. >> he's president because we want the him to be president and that's it. >> at the same time you say i think her elevator doesn't go to the top floor. kind of a disrespectful way to refer to the governor. >> just a wee bit. >> there are millions of people who voted for her. i'm going point out -- >> she only has her job because obama took the governor out of that position. she should be thanking him. >> interesting point. >> let me ask you a couple of questions about what's going to happen in florida. can we throw up one of these graphics. when you break down over the last couple of days, this is the

sunday and then mon, tuesday, right? these are really close analysis of the last couple of days. you have newt gingrich at 38%. if you look closer to mon, tuesday it goes down, what is that, down nine points from monday to tuesday. then if you look at mitt romney at 32%, he has gone up 6 points. this is a micro view of what's happening in this race. how do you read this, sir? >> i think the big number one is the one that you didn't mention. a quarter of the florida vote is already in. it was in before the south carolina primary when all the polls showed that romney had a 15 point lead in florida. so because of absentee voting, voting by mail, governor romney is sitting on a 50,000 vote lead right now. it's not being counted in the polls. >> when you look at the poll that has florida -- romney in florida with latinos with a 49 to 23% lead, how critical -- are you surprised by that number how critical are latinos going to be in this race? >> i'm not surprised at all.

newt gingrich is somebody who's said publicly that he thinks english should be the only official language of the united states. if you go to the department of motor vehicles nobody is going to be able to help you if you speak spanish. all sorts of practical consequences to that that are inconvenient to a population of 30 million in this country. he's also said that spanish is a ghetto language. that's not going to go over well with the cubans in south florida. >> 61% of those polls say the economy and jobs is most important, only 27% say it's immigration as the top issue. so don't you also believe that mitt romney's focus on an economic message is playing stronger to those voters as opposed to comments by gingrich, english as the primary language, those kind of topics? >> no. honestly, i think it's a personality contest among the four remaining candidates. frankly, all of them are losing. >> no, no, no, but how can mitt romney be polling higher when it comes to latinos. they're saying clearly the economy and jobs is number one. there has to be a direct

correlation as opposed to gingrich's comments. >> well, i don't agree with that. i speak to people here about this sort of thing frequently. believe me, if someone comes out and says that spanish is a ghetto language, it doesn't matter what he puts on his website about his economic policy. >> let's not downplay the catholic factor as well with this. there are quite a few catholics who aren't really thrilled about gingrich joining the club and his personal life might come back to haunt him with this demographic for that reason. >> as much as it pains me to agree with the former congressman on anything, i think he's right. >> here we go. >> got you there. right back at ya. >> personalities play an outside role in this election. >> more than the economy? >> even roland's point about the economy carries weight. it's interesting about the poll. republican latino voters in florida, gingrich has a softer immigration stance than mitt romney. yet the majority of florida or the plurality of florida republican latinos support romney. the reason is, i have to agree

with the congressman graceon. gingrich comes off as antagonistic. >> what's interesting is that they both support an english only, right? >> they do. >> yet i've been hearing ads from both candidates in spanish. isn't that a contradiction right there, will cain? i'm going to pose that question to you. >> i mean, i guess, soledad. >> come on. >> come on. >> aaahhh. >> here. i'll answer that for will cain. yes, soledad, that is a complete contradiction. what a smart question, go ahead, will. >> listen to willie nelson. >> you were dancing on that answer. >> you're saying we only want -- we want people to have conversations in english. we want to do the government's work in english. yes, yes, the government's work in english. >> right. >> and conversations in the workplace in english, right? english only. yet if we want to get voters, we

don't mind using the language that they are comfortable with. >> i think you can say that this is the language we should push. this should be the predominant language. be a real list and say this is -- >> when it serves me i will do spanish because i'd like to get people to vote. >> aspirational. >> you can be delusional and also recognize reality. >> with that we turn to headlines, other stories making news. christine romans has those stories. >> the delusional or reality that is turning to christine? all right. >> reality. you're reality. >> good. thanks, soledad. let's begin this morning with a tense situation developing between the u.s. and egypt. several u.s. citizens have been barred from leaving the country. transportation secretary ray lahood's son is among them. the group was monitoring recent parliamentary elections there. ohio born student detained by syrian authorities three weeks ago has been reliesed now. according to his family 21-year-old boy was handed over to his father last night in

damascus. he's a dual american and syrian citizen. he was studying engineering at a private university in damascus. if you are waiting for a quick economic recovery, don't hold your breath. the federal reserve is announcing the economy will need help for years to come. rock bottom interest rates will remain in effect for another 18 months to spur growth. president obama is on a whirlwind tour to five battleground states. he's called for a 30% tax on people who make $1 million a year. he'll be in arizona and colorado today. he'll spend a night in detroit. a multi-billion lawsuit may be filed as early as today in miami. according to information obtained by cnn, that l will ask the parent company, carnival, for $160,000 per passenger. starting today the price you see is the price you pay to fly. new rules are taking effect in the airline industry.

for now on advertised fairs will have to include the total cost of traveling. and in air canada flight from halifax to toronto was delayed for four hours yesterday after a cat named ripples escaped from a carry on crate. he wound up hiding in a small panel in the plane's cockpit. everyone had to get off the plane while the maintenance worker struggled to rescue ripples. no word on if that's easier or harder than firefighters getting a cat from up the tree. >> that's so sad. imagine though. >> sorry cat. sort of like will cain's chest right now. >> will cain -- >> i know you're going to break. he closes right there. >> will cain did come in with his shirt buttoned down to his naval. >> he's getting ready for the florida primary. >> south beach. >> the acceptable debate of one to two buttons. roland martin has gone a full four buttons. >> heres what i say, tmi for both of y'all. >> do you always flirt like

this, soledad? >> is this flirting? if this is flirting, that's tragic. if this is flirting, i prefer chocolate and flowers just for the note. the east haven connecticut mayor now apologizing for those taco comments. >> taco? will. >> but is that enough is what we're talking about this morning. plus the executive assistant to john f. kennedy jr. she's the author of a new book which is called fairy tail interrupted. a memoir of life, love lost. gingrich got it wrong. he said he offered up witnesses to abc news claiming they would refute his ex-wife's story. not really. >> gingrich lied? >> and we're listening to will cain's ipod this morning and it's killing us. this is the rolling stones, "memory motel." "starting point" is back in a moment. ♪ ♪ [ todd ] hello? hello todd. just calling to let you know

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welcome back, everybody. you're watching starting point. our next guest was a close confidante to one of the most famous men in the world. she was an executive assistant to john f. kennedy jr. gatekeeper in personal matters and business matters during the last five years of his life. she's written "fairy tale interrupted." a memoir of love and loss. name is rosemarie terenzio. she joins our panel. i love this book. >> thank you. >> why not? you were his executive is assistant from '94 to '99.

he died in 1999. why all these years later do you write a book? >> i had done an interview in 2009 about john's charity, reaching up. there was sort of a renewed interest in, you know, what was it like? how did you get the job? so i was approached again, and i thought enough time had passed that people would be willing to hear my story and not their story. i didn't really want to tell their story or write a biography of john. >> a lot of your story -- >> my experience. my fairy tale interrupted. >> you often go back to how you come from very different worlds. >> yes. >> here you're this chick from the bronx who drops the "f" bomb all the way over this book. >> high five. >> and he is john f. kennedy jr. who comes with all of this history, clout. >> he dropped a few "f" bombs here, trust me. >> what was it like to work with him? >> amazing. nerve racking. you have all of these people who want access to this most famous

person. you have to accommodate the people who have access to him. >> sounds like he had a good sense of humor. >> he did. he loved to tease. he actually put gum in my hair once. >> nice. >> yeah. i swear. i had to go to the bathroom and cut. i used to pinch him. >> as somebody who really misses "george" magazine. i think that was way ahead of its time when you consider the era of obama and at least talks of being post partisan. "george" was ahead. >> i wrote a piece for the huffington post about how gingrich is still shaking it up. george clooney was one of our cover people. he's so politically acted and civic minded. >> a lot of this book is about george and the behind the scenes of how george came to be and how at times it seemed like it was very unlikely that "george" might come to be. >> yeah. now, i mean, even going back to the goer bush campaign, the hanging chad, it would have been so relevant, i think, today. >> you're also talking in the book about caroline and the

pressures of paparazzi. >> let me run a clip. page 179 you say this, j.f.k. jr. was dismissive of her complaints about being upset by the paparazzi and their attacking her saying, quote, it's no big deal. just don't pay attention to it. >> yes. >> was this a source of contention? >> you know what it was, i think a little bit of it was john not being able to protect her and feeling like -- you know, it was like kind of a guy thing where it's like, oh, like that's the worst thing that's ever going to happen to you. don't worry about it. >> he grew up with it. >> he grew up with it. it was new to her. >> it was. i think his thing was just do what i do. follow my lead and you'll be fine. >> right. >> but for women i think it's different. when you read in the paper, she was starting to kind of get used to it and kind of joke about t. she'd call me up and say, so am i fat, pregnant, or anorexic today, which one is it? >> it's monday, i must be having -- >> i can't have children. i'm pregnant. i'm fat. >> that would be the tabloids

for you. let me ask you a question -- >> for women that's a lot more. >> it cuts deep. >> yeah. >> i can say that from a little bit of personal experience. >> they don't say that about men. they don't say, he looks fat. >> oh, yes they do. >> i've got to ask you one last question because you write about you're in some ways the reason that caroline got on that plane because she was upset and you said, listen, the wedding, it's a family thing. af got to go. fight about it later. this is a wedding. >> i'll always regret that i had that conversation with her. i don't feel responsible for what happened, but i do -- you know, i do regret that i and he tried to convince her to go. >> rosemarie terenzio. the book is called "fairy tale interrupted." i love this book. >> thank you so much. >> my daughter is like, can i read it later? if you ignore all the "f" words. girl from the bronx frmgts you make it sound like a man mouth play. >> it is. it's just like that. >> sam jackson movie. >> straight ahead this morning.

thanks for being with us. ahead on "starting point", newt gingrich. remember he was defiantly slamming abc news and cnn too claiming to be the victim of an elite media he kind of got it wrong on the abc news part. you're watching "starting point." we'll tell you what happened coming up next.

♪ 6. okay, people, morning music. you want to wake up with this. this is kirk franklin. >> talking about tough economy, tough condition of the country. >> and smile anyway. we love you, cook franklin. we really do. >> take notes, will cain.

baby bear will cain. >> i'm going to give this to you. >> i have to defend will cain for bringing in willy nelson. >> it's not bad. >> i like high willie. what other kind of willie nelson is there? >> okay. i'm moving on. let's talk about newt gingrich if we can. it looks like he got his facts wrong. he was slamming cnn's john king. >> shocker. >> for starting the debate last week with a question about his ex-wife. he also criticized abc news for airing that interview with marry an, his ex-wife, right before the primary. he denied her claims for an open marriage. also insisted that they refused to interview several witnesses who could back his story. >> tonight after persistent questioning by our staff, the gingrich campaign concedes now speaker gingrich was wrong, both in his debate answer and in our interview yesterday. gingrich spokesman r.c. hammond who said the only people the

campaign offered to abc why his two daughters from his first marriage. >> so -- >> so the two daughters from marriage number one were saying that wife number two was lying about miss stress number two, wife number three? >> that's it. >> but i think the bigger issue is what senator john mccain said yesterday on air. this is the 19th debate. at some point it feels like the conversation is all about these high drama moments and people can say what -- it's about managing the impact of the moment of the debate versus let me actually -- you don't agree with me on that? >> no. >> why not? >> i think what the debates have shown us, we have gotten to see these candidates consistently and in different lights. think about it. if they're -- >> responding to sometimes craziness. >> if we didn't have 19 debates, trust me, rick perry would still be in this race. >> exactly. >> still be high in the polls. it was all based on what was happening on paper. the debates have exposed people for what they are. >> absolutely. >> the super pac era.

i'm used to watching these debates on c span 3 with 12 other people. >> when i talk to people in the audience, none of them say i felt like the economic policy was fleshed out. now i understand mr. romney's immigration proposal. it's always, oh, he looked like he lost. wasn't that an embarrassing moment when that person stumbled. to me, is that what you want the nation's voters voting on? >> they're not perfect. >> that's your position, it's not a perfect system. >> the more sunlight you shine on this process, the better. the more exposure you have to each one of these men. yes, sometimes the exposure is inaccurate, bad light, dumb question or dumb topic, but that being said, with 19 debates you're going to see some light in there as well. >> i have to say, soledad, it's on us. it's on the people who are sponsoring these debates to ask the real questions. you should have questions tonight about foreclosures. you should have questions tonight about real foreign policy. it's on us. we can't play the game and say it's somebody else. >> you know who i'd like to see

in the debate is this east haven mayor. i've been telling you this story ahead on "starting point" this morning. >> you've been roasting him this morning. >> i like this story. i wonder if he did -- what did you have for dinner? he's apologizing now for that taco remark that he made. >> in florida he'll have bagels. >> we'll talk about what's happening there. plus the breast implant health scare. the founder of the company that makes those implants is now under arrest. we'll tell you why. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment.

you know what's exciting, graduation. when i look up into my student's faces, i see pride. you know, i have done something worthwhile. when i earned my doctorate through university of phoenix, that pride, that was on my face. i am jocelyn taylor, i am committed to making a difference in peoples lives and i am a phoenix.

welcome back to "starting point", everybody. lots of stories to get to. let's go to christine romans. >> good morning. just in to cnn the labor department announcing unemployment claims for the most recent week rose about 21,000 to 377,000. that's how many people lining up for the very first time last week for unemployment benefits. a little worse than last week but, still, anything under 400,000 is seen as a positive for the economy and the labor market. financial markets pointing to a positive opening this

morning. dow, nasdaq, s&p 500 all higher. about an hour until the opening bells. frees hostages have arrived at a u.s. naval station in sicily, italy. that's according to a naval official. still no word whether buchanan's father and husband have arrived for their long awaited reunion. the founder of a french company at the center of a global breast implant health scare has been arrested. mas founded poly implant prosthesis. the products are not approved for the u.s. they're made from nonmedical grade silicone believed to be made for mattresses. the french government has said it would pay to remove the implants. more drones, less troops. the pentagon expected to announce major changes today. defense secretary leon panetta is proposing a 30% expansion of its global network of drones and special operations bases. meantime, the army and the marines are cutting troops. all part of the president's plan to trim the defense budget

by 1/2 trillion dollars in the decade. newt gingrich running neck in neck in florida. you're looking live at a tea party event the former speaker is holding in mount dor rampt that's tonight. it's tuesday. you can see it live on cnn at 8:00 eastern. former florida governor jeb bush will be there. >> i'm going down there right after the show this morning. >> see you there. >> where is charlie christ. >> doing commercial alls for his law firm. >> doing tv commercial alls. >> just curious. >> thank you, christine. we brought you this story. let's not talk about charlie christ. i want to talk about the mayor of east haven. >> that man's going to wake up, soledad, soledad, soledad. >> by him here. he was in our get real -- >> i had m and ms.

>> he's in our get real segment yesterday. he's now apologizing for these remarks. he made them to a reporter. he was discussing the arrest of four officers for alleged mistreatment of latinos and he said this. >> what are you doing for the latino community today? >> i might have tacos when i go home. i'm not quite sure. >> there has been a segment that has been impacted by the fbi arresting four officers over alleged discrimination and you tell me -- >> alleged discrimination. >> and you tell me today that your priority tonight is i might go have tacos. >> i really, really like that reporter. can we get that reporter? >> give him a standing ovation. >> the mayor. we're impressed. >> i'm the whitest guy you're ever going to have on this show, soledad. i get to call that guy gringo. i'm saying that for lorazza. >> he has apologized. here is what he said in his

presser. >> my sincerest apologies go out to the east haven community and in particular the latino community for the insensitive and off color comment that i made. unfortunately, i let the stress of the situation get the best of me and inflamed what is already serious and an unfortunate situation. >> before he did this apology though he actually first defended it and said that it was the reporter's problem. he shouldn't have asked the question. >> gotcha question. >> and then he actually said he was really, really tired and that that was the reason. >> he went the full gingrich on that one. my stress is too much. that's the sincerest apology. >> this is the sincere one which some of you, not me, i was very straight faced. you guys were laughing through. the mayor -- >> i'd like to say lociento to all you offended hispanicals. >> stop. wow. i was stressed. >> it's really interesting that the story has been the mayor, but the actual story is the

arrest of the four police officers who are now under arrest for harassing members of the community, small business men. they arrested a priest who we had on the show in the last hour because he was videotaping some of the harassment that was going on of some people in the community. you were talking earlier about the difference between racial profiling and harassment which i know is a long conversation. >> long conversation. dangerous one to get into in short blocks of television. we had mark zarats sk i who was a reporter for the east haven new hampshire. there's no defense that i can imagine for the new haven police department or the east haven police department harassing latinos. it seems clear from the video that that's what was going on, harassment. i think sometimes we use harassment and profiling interchangeably. of course, profiling is not a clean concept in and of itself, but i think when we demonize racial profiling carte blanche, you require a certain amount of lack of common sense. i think that's part of the conversation we have to have.

>> you've been racially profiled? >> no. >> everyone does. >> i'm probably being racially profiled right now. >> no. that's a serious question. i mean, when you've actually -- >> what do you mean by that? >> people making certain assumptions about me because what they see on tv, my race -- >> no. >> now let's talk about the government. whether or not the government should use racial profiling. i think it takes a huge amount of irrationality not to use statistics to say a vast amount of americans shall mexican americans. shouldn't we take that into account. >> when you have been racially profiled walking through a store, even if you are dressed up, that's not government. that actually happens in private businesses as well. what i'm saying is when you've had that experience, you don't necessarily say, i can quite understand because it is a fundamental problem when you've experienced it and you've done absolutely nothing wrong and somebody says, see a black guy driving. >> absolutely. you're absolutely right. what i said, it's not a clean process. it does have detrimental effects to innocent people, just like the arizona law.

i said the arizona law was wrong because it would have detrimental effects without the positive benefits. >> right. >> the point is you can have racial profiling that has positive benefits. have you to ask yourself is it outweighed by the negative effects. >> sort of the difference between racism and bigotry. if he was to say i hate latinos, itsest' a bigot. he has no hatred in his heart with this joke. it's institutionalized bigotry that lets him think this is okay. >> look at that. you got that in. >> i got time. >> i gave you a little time. we love our friends on twitter. i'm glad to hear you think you're racially profiled on my show. >> there you go. >> he's the whitest guy on the show. >> ahead this morning, ahead this morning, ahead this morning, we're going to talk about a surprising statistic about girls and concussions in sports. that's straight ahead with sanjay gupta. he's back to join us right after this. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation,

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this is cnn breaking news. 43 minutes in the hour. want to get to some breaking news weather wise. rob marciano has that. >> good morning, soledad.

a tornado warning for plaque mans parish. those are two towns you may know from the oil spill where there was a lot of activity as far as staging apparatus. there are some people down there. certainly a big port and fishing village there. a lot of heavy storms been moving through the new orleans area with flash flooding there as well. the tornado watch itself is in effect until noontime, central time, as this line of strong storms continues to move its way down i-10 towards bill lucksy, pensacola. it will be heading up towards the northeast. it will bring rain. snow. for the most part it's bringing with it warm air and across southeast louisiana it's bringing the threat for tornadoes. >> hopefully we'll keep watching that and they'll get through that without much damage at all. thank you, rob. all this week we've been talking to dr. sanjay gupta about the dangers of concussions about playing football. girls who play sports are just at much at risk as football

players. what sports are we talking about when we're talking about girls playing sports and getting concussions. >> soccer is the big one that comes to mind, basketball, volleyball. there's lots of sports that can cause concussions. the headline, i think, is surprising for a lot of people. girls actually have a higher incidence rate of concussions as compared to boys as far as sports-related concussions go. it's pretty remarkable. i think so much attention on fblg, but i think in general if you look at that headline again, girls have been playing sports more now over the last couple of years. number of girls playing high school sports has gone up. they have a higher rate of concussion. they're probably more susceptible to concussions. the same sport, for example, boys and girls soccer, girls 68% more likely to develop concussions. girls and boys basketball, girls three times more likely to develop concussion sns. >> why more likely? >> they may be more susceptible. the brains may be a little bit more -- smaller heads. the brains may be moving more around in the head. may be more of an anatomical and

physiological thing than anything else. we know football is still the sport that has the highest rate of concussions. overall not exactly sure why, but girls simply -- people have not paid attention to girls and concussions. their rates may, in fact, be higher. >> what are they doing about that, sanjay? if you're talking about soccer, you can't make a helmet better or put pads on or make rules about that that would stop head butting. what do you do? >> the thing i found most interesting is that if you really parsed at it and looked at the number of hits that players take like, for example, in soccer, you're heading the ball over and over again. the ball and you're trying to head it into the net or head it to another player, the average player will do that about 1300 times a season. the vags majority of those hits to the head coming in practice, soledad. the average hit is about 20 gs of force to the head. the question becomes, as a parent, i'm a father of three daughters, if the vast majority of that is occurring in practice, at what point do you say they understand that concept

of how to head a ball, do they need to be doing it hundreds and hundreds of times. you can reduce the number of hits in practice. games are harder. players going up for a ball, trying to head t. sometimes their heads collide. >> you've got to imagine. >> outlaw it. >> roland's suggesting you outlaw heading the ball in soccer. >> you can. in college baseball for a long time they had aluminum bats, the pros they had wood. you can say we're not going to do this in a practice. >> that will be a challenge for anybody who's going to go on to play soccer at a higher level. if they can't learn to head the ball. >> boys as well as girls? >> i think it will benefit both. you're trying to save somebody's life, you make some tough decisions. >> sanjay, thank you for that. interesting. i should mention you're going to have randy chastain. >> sanjay gupta, md, saturday and sunday mornings.

the documentary called "big hits broken dreams." it's sunday night 8:00 p.m. eastern. >> my nieces and nephews play golf all day. ain't going to have concussion problems. i'm trying to keep them safe. >> wrap them in cotton balls. >> drama club kids. hamlet, all fake violence. the girls are cooler. >> this morning on "starting point" the english only debate. should english be the official language of the united states? our reveal is up next. you're watching "starting point."

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♪ ♪ two-stef. ♪ she was storming through the house that day ♪ >> you've come to dancing in the studio only three weeks into the show. >> we're doing the la became ba tomorrow. >> you're watching "starting point." that was roland martin dancing to will cain's ipod. >> i learned something at texas a and m. >> that's my finishing point. >> "end point." let's turn and talk about our

reveal. this is something that grabbed headlines this week. should the official language in this country be english? there are two gop candidates who think so. listen. >> i think it is essential to have a central language that we expect people to learn and be able to communicate with each other. >> english is the language of this nation. people need to learn english to be able to be successful, to get great jobs. >> those things are true, but that is not the actual question, which was should english be the official language of our nation? >> yeah. >> this is something that has been tried before. in fact, our second president, john adams, proposed making english the unifying language as well. his idea was rejected by the other founding fathers. the rest of the group believed that having a single language was undemocratic and was a threat to individual liberty. that theme has carried on. america has never had an official language to this day even though many people have attempt today have english as its official language. >> it never will. this is a great campaign trick.

i love newt gingrich, believe me. >> the disclaimer. then comes the but. >> every comedian loves gingrich. everyone. >> thank you. i was rooting for michele bachmann. i was rooting for herman cain. i was praying for rick perry. i love gingrich. i'll campaign door to door. he doesn't mean it. ronald regan granted amnesty to undom umted people. that made him popular. gingrich is saying this to get votes but at the same time he's going to be losing the latino vote with the well-documented slurs he said. no one's going to say in a free society you have to mandate a language. it goes against everything liberty stands from. >> try this one. we will be a majority minority generation in this country. newt, how will you like it if the decision is, hey, let's make spanish the official language of the united states? >> if you had a prayer in school that there is only one god. suddenly we don't want school. it comes down to my side.

i don't think newt or mitt mean it. >> a lot of what they say is it's easier to get a job. it must be easier to -- >> of course it is. >> when my grandmother, never actually to her death spoke english. cuban. lived in union city, new jersey. >> you're right that it's easier. if we're talking about freedom, you can't mandate that. >> will cain, you're being silent on this. >> this is not one of my top issues. i think we have all agreed at this table that if everyone was proficient in the predominant language of the country you'd have a country that got along better on several levels. fighting for english as the official language of the united states is not near reforming entitlements. >> you are such a spinner. rarely do you spin. that's why we like you on this show. >> please. >> when you do what you have said, you have not answered the question. >> i'm not passionate about this issue. >> this is not my issue, i have no comment. you're welcome to say that.

don't give me the long wipedup. >> i have no comment. >> our "end point" is up next with our panel. we're back in a moment. thank you for your honesty. >> is this the ending? >> yes, merciful god, it is. one-on-one guidance to help me choose my investments. not just with my savings plan here at work. they help me with all of my financial goals. looking good, irene. thanks to fidelity, i can stay on top of my financial future, huh? good one. why, thank you. whether it's saving for retirement, college, or anything else, contact a fidelity investment professional today.

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♪ right my way ♪ baby, baby, baby, right my way ♪ >> ultra view lot, that's john's ipod. >> the 20th edition of rock my baby. >> notice i didn't get anything that i like played today from my ipod. nothing. zero. >> sam cook tomorrow. >> calling my agent after the show. it is time for "end point" where we wrap up our take on the day. we're going to make you start, john. >> because i'm the new guy. i'm nervous. >> the stakes are high. >> i want to say to all my beloved conservative friends in

arizona. i love jan brewer. i like that we have a governor who thinks that ruanda is j.j.'s sister on "good times." i went to a party with barry gold water, nothing but love, when you see people having a boycott of their state. take a look at your governor with the president. look at how she welcomes visitors. i think she's bad for tourists in the state. i know plenty of republicans, i've had plenty write to me. >> they're going to continue with that. >> with embarrassment. >> stop right there. will cain? >> criticize my political opinions, no problem. i learned this this morning, john can attest to it because i watched his face when you talked about his music. criticize a man's music and it makes him oddly defensive. >> that's right. >> you peered into his soul and judged him wanting. >> that is so sad. vulnerable today. >> willie nelson, i have the majority of america on my side. >> we love willie nelson. >> you have all the marijuana