and tonight at cpac the candidates connectg to the voters is a big issue and we'll watch and see how the candidates do. >> we'll watch it, too. >> take away is i support what cpac is as conservative as the republican party has become. we still have to put together a coalition to win the general election and the only one that's showing that he's able to do that so far is mitt romney. >> final two seconds go to you. >> the obama administration has managed to you night the republicans better than they've been able to unite themselves. can the candidates unite behind them. >> you know what that sound means. means. it's 9:00. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com good morning, everyone. lots going on this hour on this busy friday. we're going to start with breaking news about that controversy involving the white house and a policy involving birth control. we've just learned the obama administration could put out a compromise for catholics today. dan lothian is at the white

house. dan, what exactly are you hearing? >> reporter: that's right, i'm hearing that a compromise or an accommodation as they like to call it here, i'm hearing this from a senior administration official, will likely be announced today. we're trying to get more details but it will likely be some kind of a balance whereby women do have access to contraceptive coverage but on the other hand you will have these organizations, religious affiliated organizations will not have to directly provide that coverage. it's unclear whether this will be enough to ease the concerns of these religious organizations and others who really were looking for a reversal of this policy. what's clear though is there's been a lot of pressure on this white house over the last couple of weeks, not only from the catholics and other religious groups, but also from lawmakers up on capitol hill. republicans. the republican presidential hopefuls out on the campaign trail. yesterday we saw some prominent democrats also step up and join

the fray. we heard from senator john kerry who was calling for a compromise saying there should be some way to provide this coverage, the coverage that women need, but at the same time respect religious beliefs. it does appear again likely that the administration will be making some kind of announcement on this today and i'll tell you, it has been dogging this administration. yesterday two different events that the president had here at the white house he was asked by reporters to give some kind of comment on this controversy and he declined to do so but apparently now the white house will be addressing that today. >> okay. dan lothian at the white house. thanks so much. now let's talk about the republican road to the white house, shall we? a critical weigh station for those seeking the gop nomination. this is cpac, the conservative political action conference. it's the annual gathering of all the movers and shakers in the conservative movement. three of the four candidates are going to speak today trying to win conservative support in a race that right now is just too

close to call. rick santorum fresh off of three big victories this week, he's going to speak next hour. we're going to carry that live. then mitt romney is trying to regain his momentum. one source actually close to the campaign telling us he's going to deliver a, quote, major speech at about 12:55 eastern. then newt gingrich will speak just after 4:00 eastern time. cnn political editor paul steinhauser is live at cpac. paul, i understand the music may start in moments so you just let us know. we can always come back to you. rick santorum we mentioned speaking next hour. how does he keep his momentum going? >> kyra, here's what i've learned. the speakers are just getting started. day two of three days at cpac. this is the grand daddy. this is the super bowl. basically a political convention. all top conservative leaders, supporters, activists are here. what does santorum do? i spoke to a senior aid for the santorum campaign, he says he will concentrate more on

president obama than his rivalries. expect the former senator from pennsylvania to also criticize the white house, administration for going after and assaulting the liberty of americans. i think you'll hear a lot of tough talk from rick santorum. he is very popular among conservatives. the other thing he needs to do is the behind the closed door meetings. he needs to talk to top conservatives and top fundraisers to build his campaign from tuesday night, kyra. >> paul, now a source close to romney's campaign is saying he's going to deliver a, quote, major speech. what do you know about this? >> reporter: yeah, exactly. this is his attempt to core conservatives. i think tuesday night was a vivid image that he has trouble with those on the right. for what we hear, he may also highlight his record as massachusetts governor, his fiscal responsibility and his protection of religious freedoms. remember, kyra, four years ago mitt romney was the conservative alternative to senator john mccain and here at cpac he ended

his campaign and ended up winning that all important straw poll. very different four years later. >> paul steinhauser watching everything for us at cpac. you can stay with us for continuing coverage of today's cpac event. in just about 30 minutes we're also going to talk about hispanic voters and their impact on deciding the next president. also wolf blitzer joining me live to preview rick santorum's cpac speech today that we just talked about. that's probably going to happen 10:25 eastern time. we will bring that to you live. now to that crisis in syria. more people dying and the gun battles raging on in the streets. you can see the government forces shelling neighborhoods. pro-democracy activists say that innocent civilians continue to be slaughtered and because the regime continues to ban us from covering this story, we continue to count on citizen journalists

like this. >> this is one of the houses. look at the children. is this how the assad regime is supposed to treat our children? now you see what assad regime is doing to children. what is the u.n. going to do about this? what is the u.n. going to do about this? nothing. they're going to sit and discuss and see what they're going to do. they want to solve it peacefully with this murderer. they have been hitting us since 6:00 a.m. it's 2:00 p.m. now. we have over 100 bodies, over 200. we don't even know who they are. >> and syria's government is also giving its take. state tv calling these activists terrorists and that they bombed two buildings of security forces. cnn's ivan watson is in istan l istanbul, turkey, for us. ivan, tens of thousands of people took to the streets to

protest the regime. what's your take and what are you hearing? can bashar al-assad survive this? >> reporter: i think, you know, most of the analysts, activists that are participating in this think in the short term he will survive even though there are clearly armed elements now within this 11 month old protest movement that the government accuses of carrying out two bedly bombings in the second city of aleppo. for the time being the syrian military does enjoy a near monopoly of power. it has tanks, helicopters, planes, and cannons. it has shown the willingness to use them. it is killing to stay in power. but any analyst you talk to, anybody who knows syria also knows the majority of syrian society does not come from the small religious minority of bashar al-assad and his family.

that is the alawite religious minority. majority of sunni muslims. the majority of the people that i'm talking to, those soldiers who are defecting from the military, do tend to come from that sunni majority. anybody you talk to says in the long term the numbers are against bashar al-assad. he can kill and kill and kill but it keeps pushing people into the arms of the opposition and increasingly into the arms of an armed opposition. kyra? >> can we talk about the rebels and what do we know about how they are getting help, support, weapons? >> reporter: well, there is not a monolithic unified rebel army. it's a bit of a misnomer that the armed opposition, these defector soldiers, several thousand of them we understand, have called themselves the free syrian army because it seems much more like they're

independent selves much like the opposition protesters who operate on their own, some of them trying to protect the demonstrators, some of them carrying out some attacks. there are divisions within their leadership. i mean, i've been talking to guys who all claim to be leaders of the free syrian army and clearly hate each other. that's one of the big problems for the opposition. it's not united. there are opposition activists exiles here in istanbul. they snipe at each other. the diplomats and activists that deal with them sometimes are very frustrated. many with their lack of organization and efficacy. i think that comes down to, part of it, the fact that this is a country that's been ruled by a dictatorship for decades that does not have an experience of party politics, of organizing itself. also, when you stood up and said no to this president, often it ended up landing you in jail possibly being tortured. so this is all new for syrians right now, but they're in a

crucible of fire trying to figure out how to deal with this. just trying to figure out how to get medicine to their besieged citizens who are dying this week by the hundreds every day. >> ivan watson in istanbul, turkey, for us. ivan, thanks. back here in the states, he faces 52 counts of alleged sexual abuse involving young boys and neighbors have expressed fear for the school children that he can see from his back porch. so now prosecutors want former penn state coach jerry sandusky to stay inside during his house arrest. both sides will argue their motions during a hearing beginning next hour. jason carroll joins us live from bellfont, pennsylvania. you have new information that the defense will present to show that jerry sandusky's grandchildren want to see him? >> reporter: that's true, kyra. it has to do with what happened yesterday. apparently yesterday joe a.m. man dole la met with members of the attorney general's office. as you know, the attorney jerms

and prosecutors basically said, look, you want the conditions of the bail modified. his grandchildren want to see him, show us proof. yesterday during this meeting joe amen dole la presented this proof that he intends to show in court today. it's basically written testimony from five of jerry sandusky's children that will be presented. so that is the proof that he will be showing in court today. now either the judge can rule on some of this today or he can take it under advisement and rule on it later. >> all right. now neighbors have also complained about sandusky outside of his home. as we know, and we've talked about this since the very beginning, that he lives right next to a school. you can see the school playground from his back porch. he hasn't approached any of these kids though, right? >> not to our knowledge, but the complaints are there.

for example, there was a complaint from one neighbor that they saw him out shoveling snow. they wondered about that. his attorney told me that he had permission from his probation officer to go out there and shovel the snow. there was another complaint from a neighbor who said that he saw jerry sandusky staring at one of the children from the playground. jerry sandusky says that from his account he remembers seeing a woman walking with a child. as soon as they made eye contact, he went back inside the house. i think, kyra, the bottom line is that the defense wants to loosen some of the restrictions on house arrest. he wants jerry sandusky to be able to see his grandchildren. he wants him to leave the house if he has legal counsel. the prosecution is saying, quote, that this is not a house party. that's their words. this is not a house party. they say this is a man who's facing some very serious allegations and if anything the conditions of house arrest should be even more restrictive rather than loosened up a bit. this is another point that will be discussed today during this hearing.

kyra? >> keep us posted, jason. thanks so much. a school bus in north carolina going up in flames. we're going to hear from the driver and how she got all of those kids out of that bus. and a child is forced to run in the snow, nearly naked. the full story and the video next. [ female announcer ] introducing coffee-mate natural bliss. made with only milk... cream... a touch of sugar... and pure natural flavors. coffee-mate natural bliss. from nestle. add your flavor naturally. how they'll live tomorrow. for more than 116 years,

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stories cross-country now. check out this terrifying video from charlotte, north carolina. a school bus goes up in flames and driver lindor richardson is

being called a hero because she got all six kids off the bus. she says all she was trying to do was keep everybody calm. >> you don't want to be hysterical and make them hysterical. yes, i was calm and it was calm. i feel like that's what aided in a safe delivery for the kids. >> go lindora. the model of this school bus has experienced fires before we're told. state officials and the bus maker are now investigating. in arizona an aide to retired congresswoman gabby giffords says he is going to run for her congressional seat. ron barber was also wounded in the january 2011 shooting that left giffords injured and six other people dead. and in omaha the girls basketball team was given a technical foul for wearing pink jerseys to support the make a wish foundation. league rules say only whiters yis are allowed. the opposing team complained.

got two free throws, scored and went on to win the game. you remember tiger mom, her nonnurturing tough strategies that created controversy. she's a downright kitten next to the eagle dad. if you haven't seen this video it's going to make you mad as hell or well up in tears. >> i want you to -- >> little boy is begging to put his clothes back on. he's 4 years old. he's being forced by his dad to run in the snow nearly naked. and the father defends all of this saying he's training his son to be strong. psychologist lacsu who says i love yous is for other people. it's so hard to understand the

cultural component. we see this and we see child abuse. it's hard to understand. >> yes. yes. thanks for having me, kyra, once again. when your producer called me yesterday i was hoping that we would be discussing some successful story about asian parenting. here we are again. yeah, when i saw that movie clip yesterday, actually, the one thing that i focus on was that little boy's face while he was crying to his father to pick him up because it was so cold while he was running in the snow. you know, i couldn't help but put myself in that little boy's situation because it happened to me when i was younger growing up in my family household. my heart was broken because of how innocent and how -- it was just a hard video to see.

it happens. >> well, let me ask you about this. we don't have to listen to it again because, quite frankly, it makes me sick to my stomach. if we could just look at the video again. as you watch this and you looked at his face and you were hearing him, what was it he said that was so gut wrenching to you? did your parents ever do anything this harsh? >> yes. well, what i understand of the little chinese that i know is that he was crying out to his father to pick him up because it was cold, but instead his father -- and i think i heard his mother's voice in the background, too, edging him on to keep running faster. and as you can see from the video, he was reaching out to his father to hold him. i'm pretty sure he was wondering why his father was making him do this.

>> were your parents that harsh, lac? why your parents that harsh? >> yes. there was an incident that i describe in my memoir i love yous are for white people where i was caught stealing money from my mother's piggy bank to play video game and as a result of my mistake my father stripped me butt naked and threw me out the house like butt naked. this little boy had some briefs on him. i was butt naked, kyra. i was going through puberty at the time so i was very self-conscious about my body, and he kicked me out the door, and that was a lesson that he taught me. it was like stealing is shameful and this is what you should feel when you steal something. you should feel ashamed. i'm going to leave out interethd make you feel shame so you will remember shame the next time you think about stealing again. >> you have been through this.

you are now a psychologist. let me ask you, when you see this video of this little boy, does this make you stronger in any way or does this only leave lifelong scars? >> the scars are still with me, kyra, mentally, emotionally. i have an issue with self-esteem. i have an issue with low self-confidence. i blame it on that incident that my father did to me when he kicked me out the house naked. it stays with you forever. you know, i was unfortunate enough to have someone talk to me about my mistakes verbally. instead, it was more of an action that my father did. he threw me out naked, butt naked, and all he said was, this is what shame should feel like. i'd rather have him sit me down and talk to me about, you know, why stealing is bad, understand

that little kids make mistakes and they can learn from them with proper and effective guidance, you know? i'd much prefer that but instead it was just something that he learned from his father. that's the thing, this little boy's father i'm pretty sure has learned these behaviors from his father. >> yeah. >> so actually i don't blame this father. i blame the generation and the culture in china that has taught these people. >> that this is even allowed. >> exactly. >> lac su, you've overcome so much. you're a psychologist in san diego. the folks that you meet with are very lucky to have you as a counselor, for sure. we don't know how long this little boy was in the snow, but, you know, 15 seconds is long enough in my eyes. >> is enough. >> yeah. >> exactly, kyra. >> thank you so much for your time this morning. appreciate it. >> can i say something real fast? there is successful stories about asian parenting on a blog called rice daddy. if you want to read about good

asian american parenting, please visit that blog site. >> point well made. rice daddy. thanks so much. rick santorum has some pretty strong views on women in combat. we're going to tell you what he said that might create a little controversy among the troops. and the fbi had a file on apple founder steve jobs. it reveals some pretty surprising details about his life. we've got that straight ahead. yoo-hoo. hello. it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. a farewell long awaited. goodnight, stuffy.

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we've got some new details on that historic mortgage settlement that we talked about with you yesterday. christine romans has been

following all the details of that. why don't we talk about, i guess, more about who can benefit from this deal, christine, day later? >> it's not everyone. 11 million people are underwater on their loans. this is 1 million people they're hoping to help. these are non-fannie and freddie loans. these are loans owned by the servicer that aren't held by the government. you have to be underwater and in default. that's for the mortgage principal writedown or underwater and current on your loan. that means you've been paying all your bills. that's how you qualify for the refinancing part of the bill. for people who lost the house, they may be eligible -- lost the house because of shenanigans in the foreclosure process, they may be eligible for a cash payment of up to $2,000 kyra. >> how do you find out if you can actually cash in from this? >> we were asking the administration officials this because this is really key. a lot of people want to know. you need to go first -- the first place to go is the website that's been set up by the settlement folks.

www.nationalmortgagesettlement. com. that's where you go first. everything is laid out there, including the phone numbers of all the major servicers. i just called the bank of america line to see if it was up and running, and it is. it wasn't open for business yet when i called. it was connecting you to their national home retention part of the business. so the numbers are there. the phone numbers are there. there's a website that's been put together. there's still some information that will be coming together, but that's where you begin. i would say if you think you might qualify, contact your servicer right away. >> christine romans, appreciate it. steve jobs has an fbi file, and now it's being released to the public. alison kosik, it's pretty critical. >> yeah. look at this file. look at this doccier. it's 191 pains. clearly he was not a criminal. the fact is though some people, kyra, just didn't like him. they were very vocal about it. what the fbi did is interview

steve jobs, 30 of his frenz, his family, his co-workers. he was being considered for an appointed position on a presidential council. some of those who were interviewed called them deceptive, not truthful or of questionable moral character. you know what, he was also respected. look at what one person said, this was a visionary. charismatic individual who was at the same time shalt low and callous. that's a back-handed compliment i think. the person also said, you know what, he is strong willed, stubborn, hard working and driven and possesses integrity. as long as he gets his way. clearly, strong criticism was paired with those strong compliments but you know what, in the end he was recommended for the position by most of the people the fbi talked to. it says a lot about jobs as a businessman and ultimately that really was the biggest part of his legacy. kyra? >> still some details in there about drug use. >> yeah. so it does say that he experimented with lsd and

marijuana, but who didn't? it was the '60s and '70s, that's at least what the people the fbi interviewed said. later in life they said he barely drank. he became a vegetarian. he lived simply. he was heavily influenced by eastern religion. throughout his life he was known for a bit of arrogance. it reminds me of a funny story. he was being considered for this appointed position in washington, usually most people would think, gosh, that's an honor. guess what, when the fbi called to interview jobs, he made them wait three weeks. three weeks. he said he didn't even have an hour to talk. the fbi agent was so annoyed he put it in the report. kyra? >> goodness. i don't know about you, but i was definitely one that didn't experiment with any of that in that time. i think there's a lot of people that didn't. >> no, no, not me. >> get caught up. let's make that clear. okay. alison, thanks. >> i was just saying what people said in the report there. >> gotcha. all right. >> just reporting it. have you heard what rick

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oh, sweetheart! can i give you a hand? no, thanks, dad, i got it. okay. i'm going to go fix the lamp in your room. you don't have to be perfect

to be a perfect parent. there are thousands of children in foster care who will take you just as you are. take a look at the super bowl of conservative politics. i love you. the cpac, conservative political action conference. three republican presidential candidates will be speaking. rick santorum is going to start in less than an hour. we'll have that live for you. then mitt romney will begin at 12:55 eastern time. newt gingrich speaking a little later this afternoon at 4:10 eastern time. female emotions and combat. huh. rick santorum creating a bit of conversation among our women in uniform. here's what he told our cnn's john king. >> i do have concerns about women in front line combat. i think that can be a very compromising situation where

people naturally may do things that may not be in the interests of the mission because of other types of emotions that are involved. >> so, how's this going over at the pentagon? barbara starr, do tell. >> reporter: well, where does one start? i think perhaps mr. santorum will be explaining further what he exactly meant. in another interview he sort of begins to reference the notion that he worries. men in the military on the front lines will be too protective of women. look, here is the factual bottom line for women in the u.s. military, kyra. as you know, this country could not go to war without its military women volunteering to serve the nation. women have already been in combat. you know, more than 800 women wounded in the last decade 140 have lost their lives. this all came up because yesterday the pentagon, of course, opened a number of new jobs to women closer to what is thought of as traditional combat

even though in afghanistan, for example, combat is everywhere you look. so he's talking about that, but being too protective? i've got to tell you, in all my years of covering the military, protection of your fellow soldier, worrying about your fellow soldier, i've never seen it be gender specific. troops look out for each other. they look out for the soldier to the right, their soldier to the left. i've never seen it where it's been a case of worrying about the women too much. >> barbara, i'm curious. when he said this last night on john king's show, did you start to get e-mails or calls or any type of response? have you even had a chance to sort of check in with the various women in uniform that you know, key leaders, anybody? can you kind of get a sense or if this is going to pick up more momentum or not? >> reporter: well, i think that actually remains to be seen. you know, people will ask him about it. he'll have to explain what he meant. and people will have to, of course, come to their own decision about whether they agree with him or not. but, you know, there's a really

sensitive issue right now underlying women serving in the military, and combat is not it. you, i think, had it on your show the other day, kyra. the crisis for women in the military right now. the hard reality is the crisis of sexual assault in the military. women are much more likely to face sexual assault in the military right now than they are to face being shot, captured, or killed. this is a huge issue. it is something that defense secretary leon panetta has weighed in on. this is something men and women in the military are expressing a lot of concern about. so if there's any reaction, perhaps it's that mr. santorum was focused on one issue because of the news of the day when perhaps the real issue for women in the military right now is something else, indeed. >> point well mate. barbara, thanks so much. independent voters could swing this year's presidential election. in a couple of minutes we're going to hear why hispanic voters could make up the biggest block of independents.

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well, the grammys are sunday night and "showbiz tonight" host a.j. hammer is going to be watching. but, first, he's got a sneak preview. hey, a.j. >> hey, kyra. this is one of my favorite award shows because so much of the show is about the great musical performances we get to see. this year seems to be all about the combbacks. we have chris brown returning to the grammys three years after he lost control and assaulted rihanna on the night before they were supposed to appear on the show in 2009. both of them performing on sunday night. also thrilled that the beach boys are reuniting to perform on the show. the biggest story of the night, kyra, adele up for six grammy awards. the night marking a major combback for her as well. >> okay. now this is going to be her first stage performance since throat surgery, right? >> yeah. that's why it's really a big combback for her even though

she's a relatively new artist. she is happy to be singing anything. she sat down with anderson cooper for an interview that's going to air on ""60 minutes."" and they talked about the surgery and recovery. let's watch what adele said. >> you had to have surgery? >> yeah. i had laser surgery. >> what do they do. >> put a laser down your throat, cut off the polyp and laser it back together and fix it. >> to help her heel, she was ordered not to speak a word for much of november and december. >> that's god to be hard. >> it was hard. >> i sense you like to talk. >> yeah, i love talking. >> how did you communicate for five weeks. >> by pad. i had a notepad and i had an application on my phone. you talk the words into it and then it speaks to it. the great thing, i love to swear. most of you can't swear. i found this one app where you can swear. >> well, then i guess it's a good thing the grammys will be airing with a delay. now last year adele was certainly the biggest star in music. everybody's expecting her to do really well this year, kyra. she's the favorite for the

biggest awards of the night including album, record, and song of the year. some years there are upsets. don't think that's going to be the case this year. i think adele's taking it all home. >> love it. here i was thinking she took a vow of silence. probably a spiritual time. she was with the tibetan monks. she's excited she found a way to cuss. that's classic. a.j. will preview this. you can catch the special tomorrow afternoon 2:30 eastern right here on cnn. a handful of battleground states are going to decide this year's presidential election. hispanic voters are shaping up to be the voting block that could sway the outcome. we're talking about that straight ahead. i don't want healthy skin for a day.

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checking stories cross-country now. a surprise witness will take the stand in the murder trial of a virginia lacrosse player. george huguely is accused of beating his girlfriend. a driver in bakersfield, california, thankful to be alive after a chunk of metal from a big rig crashed through his windshield. she walked away with minor injuries. just a month ago another driver survived a similar accident on the same road. here's a sweet treat. just in time for valentine's day. a red velvet cupcake topped with an 8 karat diamond ring. it's on sale at a pennsylvania

bakery. the price tag, 55,000 bucks. form eer florida governor j bush says hispanic voters will decide this year's presidential election. charles garcia says bush is right on the money. garcia writes about it for cnn.com opinion page. how do you know that bush is right on the money, charlie? >> it's interesting. i reached out to jeb. i said, send me the backup data. i would like to see it. he didn't have any. it was political intuition. we reached out to the cnn library and the research team and the u.s. census bureau. after a week they came up with this. all 800 pages. >> you got through all 800 pages? >> well, the funny thing is when i send it to jeb he's a policy guru. he'll read this stuff. yeah, it's 800 pages. it really shows that. if you go to the cnn.com piece, we hyper linked eight pages and charts which basically

summarizes all of this into eight pages. see, i'm driving members to the cnn.com website. >> and then we have the visuals, it all makes sense. let me ask you then, issues or parties? what's more important to latino voters? >> the most important thing to the voters are issues and the candidate. they don't really go as a block. and as you will see in all this data, one of the important things is there are 15 swing states and those states are going to determine the election. so let's take one of those. if we go to north carolina where you have now in the last election obama only won it by 14,000 votes. it went from red to blue state. well, there was 68,000 registered latino voters. 84% of them voted. now it's doubled. now it's 130,000. so if north carolina again is going to be close, as they expect it is, then latino votes are going to be the margin of

victory. this's 13 other states just like north carolina that you wouldn't expect a lot of hispanics to be there. indiana, ohio, new hampshire. >> so is there a piece of kryptonite? is there that one issue that's between obama and, you know, someone else that has got everybody -- the latino community sitting back going, okay, i'm waiting to see this? >> kyra, that's an awesome question. the reason is the kryptonite is immigration. both parties, if you look at obama in 2008, april, his approval rating was way up there, 85. it's dropped like a rock to 49 because he promised immigration reform. he didn't deliver in the first year, the second, or the third. in the meantime he's deported 1.2 million hispanics. you have 15,000 kids sitting as wards of the state and he's been hammered in the media. the republicans aren't doing any better. romney who's the presumed front-runner, he's polling at 22% because he surrounded himself with people like this

guy chris kubak, he's secretary of state of kansas who's helped write these really restrictive laws in alabama, arizona, and he's perceived by the latino community as diablo. >> the devil? >> yeah. i can see the negative commercials and he's polling so low and there's really an easy solution. the easy solution for both parties is to say, look, what we need is border security, right? and we also need something rational to deal with the 10 million illegal immigrants that are contributing in this country. they are a net gain, but we've got to figure out what to do and do it and get it out of the way. >> stay tuned. >> then go to the things that really matter. >> charlie, thanks. >> you're welcome. >> cnn.com/opinion to read charlie's entire piece. ahead, the voice of apple's iphone now inspiring horror flicks. we'll explain.

some stories we're working on for you later on today. president obama signs the ultra light aircraft smuggling prevention act targeting drug smugglers. the secretary to have navy announcing the next combat ship and 45 minutes after that, we'll hear if a judge will let john hinckley r jr. have longer unsupervised visits to his mother's home. he has been in a psychiatric hospital. we're finding other developments. let's check in with jim acosta. >> i'm at cpac in washington

which is shaping up to be a santorum-romney smackdown. we'll be talking about that in a few moments. >> this time, demonstrators are holding protesters all across syria despite the threat of attack. the theme of today's protest, russia is killing our children. i'll have more on that in about 15 minutes. >> thanks so much. plus, michael basen will be here. i'm going to ask him if anyone or anything at cpac is resognating with him or his listeners. ize. improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula goes beyond 24-hour moisture. it's clinically proven to improve your skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. for healthy, beautiful skin that lasts. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] daily moisturizing lotion. and for healthy hair every day, try new pure renewal hair care, with balancing seaweed extract. only from aveeno.

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until the end of the quarter to think about your money... ♪ that right now, you want to know where you are, and where you'd like to be. we know you'd like to see the same information your advisor does so you can get a deeper understanding of what's going on with your portfolio. we know all this because we asked you, and what we heard helped us create pnc wealth insight, a smarter way to work with your pnc advisor, so you can make better decisions and live achievement. why? i thought jill was your soul mate. no, no it's her dad. the general's your soul mate? dude what? no, no, no. he's, he's on my back about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry. e-trade's got a totally new investing dashboard. everything is on one page, your investments, quotes, research... it's like the buffet last night. whatever helps you understand man. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him. [ male announcer ] try the new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade.

jerry sandusky just arriving at court in belafonte, pennsylvania. he facing 52 counts of alleged sexual abuse. prosecutors want him to stay in doors during his house arrest. there's concern he's been out on his back porch. neighbors say this, keeping an eye on the kids in the playground next to his house. both sides will be arguinging whether he should stay inside or not. lakers and celtics, classic rivalry. jeff? >> and this week in particular, it speaks the how big this is. first, you have the lakers and

kobe bryant moved past shaquille o'neill on the all time scoring list. paul pierce passed larry byrd on the scoring list. last night, lakers down one. kobe, no, but bynum, the tip in to put the lakers on top and he gets the smooch from mike brown. valentine's day early. celtics last chance. it's paul pierce. no, the follow blocked by gasol. good-bye ocho cinco. tmz reports he plans to change his name back to chad johnson. i think -- he doesn't want his wife to have the last name. golf. without the l in pebble beach. the pro-am. you like seeing the pros like tiger woods team up with other pros like tony romo.

here's tiger. who's a scratch golfer. the beautiful birdie put. four under for the day. here's the best shot of the day. ken duke. his approach on 16. it bounces on the green, the best part, watch him celebrate or hide your eyes, here it comes. oh, my goodness. >> oh, no, he didn't. >> come on. ouch. >> he's going to have to live with that one for a while. >> amazing shot though. a new kind of horror movie using iphones. >> sweet dreams. >> you know we have a love hate relationship with high-tech when our phones start killing us. >> go to hell, you stupid phone. >> you first. you stupid little idiot. >> and the most bloodthirsty of them all is apple's virtual personal assistant.

>> does anybody have a knife? >> siri, are you capable of murder? >> no comment. >> siri has spawned mini horror flicks on youtube. >> continue driving straight. >> straight? >> and psycho siri. psycho siri creeps around the house firing an ak 47. and dropping grenades. the creator of the movie gets blown away by siri early on. >> why does the phone know my name? my budget was zero dollars. >> budding film maker andrew mcmurray asked his brother to star in the mini movie shot in seven hours. >> i always thought it would be scary if a piece of technology turned on you.

>> i overheard you saying something about selling me. >> i'd like you to meet hall. he's 44 years older than you, but i think you're going to like him. >> if you insist. >> open the pod bay doors. >> i'm sorry, dave, i'm afraid i can't do that. >> in 1968, 2001 a space odyssey starred a murderous computer. >> i know that you and frank were planning to disconnect me and i'm afraid that's something i cannot allow to happen. >> four decades later, we've shrunk the technology and our monsters are now mobile. siri, do you have blood on your keyboard? >> this blood bank looks pretty close to you. >> you killed it? >> no. i forgot to plug it in last night. >> siri may be a serial killer, but at least she has the decency to clean up after. >> i found five funeral homes

nearby. where would you like me to send your body? die, die, die. thanks for joining us, a lot going on. let's start with the white house and the policy involving birth control. it's upset a lot of catholics. we've learned the obama administration could actually put out a compromise today. dan lothian is at the white house. what are you hearing? >> the white house isn't using the term compromise. they like to call it accommodation, but in fact, it appears that the white house will be announcing a new policy today and cnn has learned that this morning, the white house held a conference call with religious activists in which they detail some aspects of this new plan. basically, it boils down to the fact that insurance companies will pick up the cost for and provide contraceptive services to those who are seekinging it and the religious organizations or affiliating organizations

will not have to deal with that. will not pay for it. will not have to cover this. so that's a big key. that has been the concern of these religious affiliated organizations, universities, other schools did not want to pay for something that they believe went against their religious beliefs. now, one of these catholic activists who took part in this call told cnn they were quote encouraged by the compromise, but wondered why it took the administration so long to reach this compromise. as you've been pointing out and others, the administration has been under intense pressure over the last couple of weeks not only from catholic groups, but other religious organizations from republicans on capitol hill and the campaign trail. yesterday, we saw prominent democrats step up, calling for a compromise. we heard that from senator john kerry, saying there should be a balance. a way to provide women with if health care needs they have, but

at the same time, respecting religious beliefs. pushing for this compromise and now, it appears the white house does have something they'll be rolling out later today. unclear whether or not president obama will be stepping before the mikes. whether this will be in some sort of paper form, but an announcement expected today. >> all right. we'll follow it. now, the republican road to the white house and a critical weigh station. this is c parks pack. live pictures. the annual gathering of movers and shakers and three of the four candidates are going to speak today trying to win that conservative support in the race that right now, is too close to call. rick santorum fresh off three be big victories this week, he's going to speak later this hour. we're going to carry that live. mitt romney is trying to regain his momentum. one source close to the campaign telling us he's going to give a quote major speech at 12:55 eastern. then newt gingrich will speak after this.

about 4:00 eastern time. we're going to take a closer lock at what candidates need to say. wolf blitzer is in our washington bureau, jim acosta is at the conference. ron bonnjean. let's focus on santorum. what do you expect him to say? >> i expect him to really try to explain why he would be a better president of the united states than the current president of the united states, president obama. i think he's going to focus in a lot on why he disagrees with the president on so many issues. he's going to try to dif wrennuation where he stands. there will p some effort on his part to show why he is a better republican conservative than newt gingrich or mitt romney. ron paul is basically not even attending the cpac conference. i spoke with him yesterday. he's not even here. i don't think there's going to be much attention on ron paul from rick santorum right now.

probably will be some specific differences that he'll underscore between himself and gingrich, but i think most of the speech will focus some real red meat as to why he thinks the president should not get a second term and why he should be a republican nominee. >> after his three big primary wins on tuesday, more than a million bucks poured in donation wise. but that's still so small compared to mitt romney. what do you think? can he survive this way? >> he didn't have much money in iowa and he won in iowa. he worked really hard and after florida, nevada, a lot of people were assuming that it was almost toast for rick santorum, but then again this week, he had three stunning wins. a clean sweep on tuesday including in colorado, which the mitt romney folks thought they would win. pretty decisively. he did amazingly well there four years ago, so you've got to give rick santorum a lot of credit. he's not giving up. not dropping out even when newt gingrich was doing really,

really well after south carolina. there was an enormous amount of pressure on rick santorum to drop out like rick perry did or michele bachmann did or herman cain did, there was a lot of pressure on him to do so. he didn't and he's done really well. he's in it. i suspect all four of these candidates are going to stay this this race for some time. this could go on and on and on. >> and something else that's going on and on and on, republicans looking for a romney alternative. we've talked so much about that. is he it? >> he might be. newt gingrich's numbers have gone down lately. he did well in the southern states, south carolina as we all know. really not done well in other states, but he expects to do well on super tuesday, march 6th. there will be about a dozen contests. he's really assuming he's going to do well so he'll be able to continue after march 6th. later this month, this saturday,

tomorrow, we've got the main caucuses. either romney will do well or ron paul. ron paul has spent om time in maine, so we'll see what happens tomorrow night in maine. they've been doing these for almost two weeks, but it wraps up tomorrow and then later in the month at the end of the month, arizona and michigan. everybody assumes romney will do well. he did well there four years ago. they assume he'll do well in michigan. his father was the governor there. he was born there. probably do well there. but rick santorum in michigan, if he surprises, if he surprises mitt romney in michigan and if me were to do in michigan what he did in colorado, that would be a huge, huge upset and a major development. >> we'll see you in a little bit when rick santorum starts speaking. let's focus on romney and gingrich. jim, you're at cpac. what are we expecting in romney's so-called speech? >> well, i think it's safe to

say rick santorum probably ought to watch his back coming into cpac. he's going to be speaking here in just a few moments because mitt romney is going right after the former pennsylvania senator. just consider the e-mail sent out this morning to reporters covering this campaign. it has a banner at the top that says rick went to washington and never came back. this has been a steady message come frg the romney campaign over the last several days going after his spending record in washington. going after his support of congressional earmarks. pet projects. rick santorum has defended those earmarks. he did yesterday down in the speech in oklahoma and i expect he will do so again today. he'll probably defend that. going after rick santorum's spending record, the pressure is on mitt romney at this point. and i think they know that. after what happened on tuesday night, this was something they didn't expect, and they have to

try to get some sort of momentum back, but that means going after senator santorum. that is why the former pennsylvania senator said yesterday in oklahoma, he feels like romney's attack dogs are coming after them and of course, they are. >> and gingrich hasn't had reason to celebrate since south carolina. needs to regain his footing. what's his strategy at c parks and beyond? >> these sort sorts of events are really newt gingrich's bread and butter. he thrives on this kind of audience. when there's a loud conservative crowd, that works for newt gingrich and i think he'll tap into that today. just in the way we heard from mike huckabee. he was speaking to this crowd a few moments ago and it's interesting to listen to huckabee because he was sort of addressing some of the conservative angst over mitt romney, telling this crowd, mirror, mirror on the wall,

who's the most conservative of them all? i asked him, are you concerned about the way this race is shaping up and how these candidates aren't breaking through? he said i think any will do a better job than barack obama. there's a lot of conservative red meat today and i imagine newt gingrich will be bringing plenty of it later on this afternoon. >> cpac is talking debt, taxes and religion, but conservatives also want to have fun. senator mitch mcconnell says so. >> i always love coming to cpac. and you probably know why. conservatives are just simply more fun. than liberals. now, there's a reason for that, by the way. it's because we're always right. >> ron is a republican strategist, mitch mcconnell says it's fun, but erick erickson

blogs that in his seventh trip to cpac, the crowd is the least excited he's seen. why would that be? >> i think it's because we don't have a coalesing figure yet in the race. they want to see someone step it up and to get the support they need that a candidate needs to take on barack obama and they feel like they have yet to see that. that's why there's a lot of pressure on rick santorum and mitt romney to deliver today. republicans want to see them fired up. they want to see who has the right stuff to take on president obama. right now, people think it's probably going to be mitt romney, but they want to be convinced of that and this is the time for romney to do that. >> well, santorum though coming up this hour. everybody's talking about his thre three-state sweep. is he the guy that can jazz it up tr? >> he certainly will jazz up the crowd. no question about that. and he's going to remind voters why he was so successful in those states.

i think that social conservatives like him already. i don't think there's a lot of work he has to do there. but he's just going to keep the momentum going by taking it to president obama during his speech. at least that's what we've been told he's going to say. mitt romney is going to really take it after rick santorum and i think that's probably a smart strategy at the same time though, he's going to have to remind voters why he's a conservative. that's going to be huge for him. everyone knows he can negative campaign, but it's going to be key that he says i'm a conservative and here's why. >> final question. what is it about santorum that is resognating with voters right now the way it is? >> well, there is a collection of events that have happened. you have this contraceptive decision on catholics that have come out of the white house that really fueled right into santorum's social conservatives. in addition, he showed up in states that other candidates didn't like missouri and

minnesota and really got a lot of media coverage off of it when the others didn't really care about it because it didn't matter. now is the time for santorum to take advantage of that and figure out a strategy in going into these other states where they have plurality of delegates to amass those. >> stay with us. rick santorum scheduled to speak 10:25 eastern time. we will bring it to you live. ye. 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! a little bird told me about a band...

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a live picture of cpac. less than 20 minutes away, presidential candidate rick santorum is going to address the crowd. later in the day, newt gingrich, mitt romney, they will speak as well. santorum's comments about women in combat could alienate him from some voters. he's also said things that upset the black and gay communities. newt gingrich, same thing.

he called obama the best food stamp president. then there's mitt romney's super wealth. as a joke. >> mitt romney trying very hard to connect with voters. people say he's not connecting, that he seems he's too affluent. in his campaign, mitt romney has started talking about his father's humble beginnings as a carpenter. yeah. he said i'll never forget the day my dad started building our fourth beach house. good times. >> yes, i know, we laugh, but for those who support president obama, there is a feeling that these wealthy, conservative white guys just cannot connect. in fact, michael baisden -- >> it's great to be able to speak in an honest way. we know it's crazy and i think they're using the crazyness to

fund raise. when you say crazy things like outl outlawing contraception, not taxing rich, white people, to me, that is crazy and if you say crazy enough things, we know the people will start donating because some people are crazy. >> is there anything going on at cpac? as you can see, this is dominating coverage this week. with candidates or issues, that it's resognating with you and your listeners? >> of course not. let's be real here. of course not. they're there to pander to their con sti constituents. to the far right or whatever conservative republicans and i understand that. it's a part of the game. you try to fire them up so they will come out and vote and so you can fund raise. i need by listeners to understand and all the people who are watching, not to get tricked into this. this is all about fund raising. this is february. another six, seven, eight months until we get to the election. you know how many more things we're going to have like the church thing?

we're going to have a lot more cases like that and people need to stay focused on what's important. what happened to the job conversation? did that get thrown out the window? now we're going to switch to contraception. nobody's worried about gays anymore. that's no longer an issue. so now, we have to come up with contraception and i know rick santorum's going to be on soon. what man is in his mind in 2012 is going to outlaw contraception? that man will never get elected. the republicans are in a tail spin and they're desperate and let's stand by and watch the show because that's what it is. >> you still believe in president obama? >> absolutely. >> why? >> because he's start. that's the one thing we need in this country. he's been very cool, very calculating, very smart about the way he's presented things an i think he's been patient and he's learning on the job. you've been doing this for how many years? many. my job, 20 years and i'm still learning.

he's been on the job for three months. i want to say this to my white family, latinos. it's almost like we're living in an alternative yeen verse. we're fighting together, bowling together, ladies and gentlemen, so it's as if they're living in an alternative universe. we're together and they're trying to separate us, which is what we don't want to happen. >> there's been so much criticism against president obama. look at the state of the economy. all the people out of work. there are a lot of people coming forward saying you know, i voted for him, i was supporting him, but even though i'm not thrilled about the republicans, i'm going to go republican because of the disappointment i feel with regard to president obama. what do you say to those folks still on the fence, but they're kind of going the alternative route? >> did you see beverly hills cop? >> of course. >> don't fall for the banana in the tail pipe. give this man time. jobs coming back. all these numbers, we can go on

and on. we know who the best man for the job is. most people have probably decided who they're going to vote on and they need these crazy issues to change our minds. it's always something that is crazy. so i'll say it again. they're crazy and deranged, ladies and gtlemen. >> and you know, we have to get to rick santorum, but i've got to get the plug in because i'm a big sister and have been for almost 20 years. >> and thank you for that. >> thank you. this is an incredible organization. >> we're here today in atlanta, please come down if you want to participate. the sheraton on 165 courtland. i traveled around the country to 70 cities to promote and donated half a million dollars of my own money. we have to invest in these children. we're responsible for our children and i love working with african-american fraternities and big brothers and big sisters along with all the other

organizations. >> we need more presidential candidates. >> please, we need more people to run. thank you. >> great to see you. stay with us. rick santorum scheduled to speak in about five minutes. we will bring that to you live. >> work out a reform government. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves.

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contraception compromise. we will take that live when he steps up to the mike. well, they're making their pitches to the base. three of the manl gop presidential candidates addressing the cpac convention today. wolf blitzer, let's talk about the expectations. we're expecting rick santorum to accept up any minute now. >> santorum goes first, then around 12:55, romney. around 4:10, newt gingrich goes third. this is an important conservative gathering here in washington. one interesting note, we're also hearing that callista gingrich will introduce her husband later today just before he speaks. she doesn't often do that, so we'll be anxious to hear what she has to say, so that would be interesting if we hear from her. we've heard ann romney. i don't know if she's going to be doing that, but we will soon be, i think we'll be hearing from callista today, so we'll

take that live as well. all of these speeches are important because this is a critical moment. we've had a whole bumpbl of them. romney has won, newt gingrich has won. rick santorum has won. ron paul still has not won a contest. he could tomorrow in maine. he's done some campaigning up there. a lot of independent republicans, moderates might like what he has to say. this race is going to continue. this is an important speech for all three of these republicans who will be addressing cpac today because this is the base of the party there and they're going to have to show these guys and gals there why they would be the best republican presidential nominee. >> we've talked so much about rick santorum. his momentum. everybody's looking to conservative, to the speech coming up. at the same time, mitt romney and this quote unquote major

speech that a source close to the campaign says he's going to give, trying to build build up hype. it's becoming tense between these two as santorum is picking up momentum. romney wants to be right up there in front. >> yes. this is important speech for mitt romney because a lot of these conservatives, the establishment republicans pretty much in his corner, but he really hasn't energized a lot of the conservatives who are going to be at the cpac meeting today. he wants to go out and stress his conservative values, his conservative positions on the social issues also on the economic issues. so, this is an important speech for him to do so. the irony is four years ago, when he spoke at cpac, he was the darling of cpac and was seen as the conservative alternative to the establishment republican who got the republican nomination. that would be senator john mccain. four years ago, he was the

conservative alternative and now, he's got work to do to reassure these alternatives that he says what he says he is. the conservative alternative to the president of the united states. but this is a r very, very important speech for romney later today as i think is scheduled for around 12:55. if we hear from santorum now, we'll hear from the president of the united states, 12:10 or 12:15, then mitt romney a little later in the hour. so a lot going on today. >> we're going to hear from them all. we're going to take a quick break. wolf, we'll keep talking as we watch these live pictures, waiting for rick santorum to step up to the mike. stay with us. no calorie sweeteners. this bowl of strawberries is loaded with vitamin c. and now, b vitamins to boot. coffee doesn't have fiber. unless you want it to. splenda® essentials™ are the first and only line of sweeteners with a small boost of fiber, or antioxidants, or b vitamins in every packet.

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wolf, we're looking at live pictures from cpac. we are waiting for rick santorum to address the crowd. we know he's close because his

big money backer there, foster friess at the mike. somebody who has definitely kept this candidate in the game, wolf. >> he's a very, very rich guy who lives in colorado and he's given millions and millions of dollar to that pro rick santorum super pac. he can give unlimited amounts of money to the super pacs and foster friess has done that. he's been to rick santorum with sheldon adelson has been to mitt romney, the owner of the venetian hotel in las vegas. they give millions and millions of dahl lors. they can do negative attack ads. the only thing they can't do is directly coordinate with the candidate or candidate's official campaign, but you see he's not shy about going out there and making the case for rick santorum. he really loves the guy and he was there the other night in missouri when rick santorum was speaking after he had the clean sweep in missouri and minnesota

and colorado. foster fre foster friess was stand right next to santorum. so i assume he's going to be giving the pro santorum super pack more money to stay in this contest and that is totally legal and what a lot of these candidates have. these enormously wealthy guys who are contributing huge amounts of money to these super pacs. >> and jim acosta is there. what's the buzz there on the floor? waiting for rick santorum to talk. obviously, he's been our headlines because of his big three-state sweep. but mitt romney also expected to make this quote unquote major speech. gingrich going to be talking 4:00 p.m. eastern time. who are conservatives there right now talking about when you look at these three candidates about to speak? >> right now, they're talking

about rick santorum. wolf just mentioned this, but foster friess was just speaking a few moments ago and the crowd just sort of burst into laughter when he told a joke. a conservative and moderate walk into a bar and the bartender goes, hi, mitt. that just gives you a sense as to how fiery this is going to be today and this really is shaping up as a romney-santorum smackdown. there is a lot of pressure on mitt romney today because you know, no question about it. the conversation that is being had at the cpac conference is whether or not mitt romney is now a viable conservative republican candidate for the white house and that is why a lot of people in this crowd today are taking a hard look at rick santorum. he'll be talking in just a few moments. >> as jim acosta said, the romney-santor romney-santorum smackdown. let's listen in.

>> thank you. thank you. thank you very much. thank you. you're eating into my time. thank you. thank you. this is not the von trapp family and we're not going to sing. but it's great to be here at cpac. another thing, i will not be tell any jokes. i think foster cornered the market on that, but thank you so much for that wonderful reception for not just me, but for most of my family that is here. first, the folks that are walking in with me today and walking this journey with me. are here with me today because this is who i am. and they are here with me. i want to introduce most of you probably have seen them before,

but this is my wife, karen. the rock of which i stand upon. sarah maria, patrick, daniel, liais liaiselizaveta beth, peter and . and of course, the one that we just, that is not here with us, but is home and recuperating just well and doing amazingly well thanks to all of your prayers, our little girl, bella. i came here back in right after the 2008 election. i've been coming to a lot of cpac b conventions over the years and after that election, i made this statement. i said conservative did not fail our country. conservatives failed c

conservatism. that's what i believed then and that we lost heart. we listened to the voices who said that we had to abandon our principles and our values to get things done, to win. but we hear those same voices today that we have to learn our lesson. that we should no longer -- that we need to compromise. do what's politically reasonable and go out and push someone forward who can win. well, i think we have learned our lesson and the lesson we've learned is that we will no longer abandon and apologize for the policies and principles that made this country great for a hollow victory in november.

the other thing we should recognize, as conservatives and tea party folks, that we are not just wings of the republican party, we are the republican party. i've been here before. we know each other. we've worked together in the vineyards and taken on the tough battles of this country. i know you and you know me and that's important because we've worked together. some say experience is a bad thing on this election. i don't think so. i think knowing the people who are the conservative leaders, knowing the people who have worked in the vineyards for decades, knowing the people who bring the ideas and the breath and the wellspring of ideas to conservatism is important because as are richard vigry

says policies are personnel. knowing the people to surround yourself with. those voices we've listened to in the past were all people we brought in who told us, no, we can't stand by those principles. ladies and gentlemen, as president of the united states, we will surround ourselves in this administration with people who share our values, who are committed to the principles that made this country great, leaders of the conservative movement. we know there's a lot of excitement here because this election is about very, very big things. this is not just about jobs although it is about jobs. and we also need to do something about jobs in this country and we've put forward an economic plan that "the wall street journal" calls supply side economics for the working man. why? because we care to make sure

that every american has the opportunity to rise that the ladder goes down, not just to those who might be voting for s us. but yes, the very poor. the people in this country who have been suffering and left behi behind. we want to create an opportunity for all of them. blue collar americans, to rise in society and we put together a plan that reinvigorates the base of our economy, that creates opportunities for people to be able to rise again in america and that's important. it's important that we tacking this huge debt we have in our country. a dead that is crushing america and our children, an immoral debt. i've put forward another plan and in every year, we will spend less money than the year before. year after year after year until the budget is balanced. no more cuts in the rate of growth.

we know it's about big things though. really big things. more than just the economy. it's about foundational principles and we've seen that played out here in the last few weeks. every speak i've given from the 381 town hall meetings i did in iowa, i talked about founding principles. this campaign is going to be about a vision. this campaign's going to be about who we are as americans because in essence, that's what's at stake. this is the most important election in your lifetime. it's an election about what kind of country you're going to leave to the next generation. are we going to be a country that believes as our founders did? that our rights don't come from the government, they come from a much higher authority.

well, there are those in our country and the oval office who believe that's not the case. they believe that rights do come from the government and they have gone around convincing the american public that they can give you rights. the most important one they've been able to shove down the throats of the american public is the right to health care. the right to health care in obamacare. and we see what happens when government gives you rights. when government gives you rights, government can take away those rights. when government gives you rights, government can coerce you into doing things in exercising the right that they gave you. i've been traveling around this country talking about how obamacare will crush economic freedom. will make people dependent upon government for the most important things. their very lives.

and as a result, government will own you. because you will have to pay tribute to washington. in order to get the care you need for your children. one of the reasons i'm in this race. in fact, a major reason i'm in this race is because i think obamacare is a game changer for america. margaret thatcher said she was never able to accomplish what reagan accomplished. she said the reason is british national health care system, once people have that dependsy, they are really never free again. ladies and gentlemen, we've seen this play out on the stage in the last few weeks. we've seen the president of the united states not only tell you what insurance coverage you should have, how much you're going to pay, how much you'll be fined if you don't, but he's now

telling the catholic church that they are forced to pay for things. that are against their basic tenants and teachings. against their first amendment right. now, interesting enough, here's what they're forcing them to do. in an insurance policy, they're forcing them to pay for something that costs just a few dollars. is that what insurance is for? the foundational idea that we have the government telling you that you have to pay for everything. as a business. things that are r not really things that you need insurance for. and still forcing on something that is not a critical economic need. when you have an economic distress with which you would need insurance, but forcing them even the more to do it for minor expenses. ladies and gentlemen, this is the kind of coercion that we can expect. it's not about contraception.

it's about economic liberty. it's about freedom of speech. it's about freedom of religion. it's about government control of your lives and it's got to stop. and this isn't the only place that president obama's tried to control your lives. of course, one of the favorite things of the left is to use your sentimentality, your proper understanding and belief that we are stewards of this earth. and that we have responsibility to hand off a beautiful earth to the next generation. and so, they use that and they've used it in the past to

try to scare you into supporting radical ideas on the environment. they tried it with this idea, this politicalization of science called manmade global warming and president obama you may remember, tried to pass cap and trade and tried to get control, not only of the health care system, but of the energy industry. the manufacturing industry. another two big sectors of this economy. and using this facade of manmade global warming. i stood up and fought against those things. why? because they will destroy the very foundation of prosperity in our country. you look at any country in the world and you look at their energy consumption, the cost of energy and their quality of life. their standard of living. the more energy consumption, the higher the standard of living. that's the bottom line. we need an america if we're

going to fuel a great and vibrant economy, we need affordable energy and this administration has gone out and not only has attacked us with cap and trade and global warming, but now that has been thrown on the dust bin of history, now, they're going after hydro fracking. i come from pennsylvania. we're doing a little bit of that in pennsylvania, thank god. and -- and guess what? of course now that we're doing hydro fracking near the population centers, the bogeyman comes out. look at what it's going to do to you. you know how many wells have been hydro fracked in the united states? oh, about 7 or 800,000. where's been all the noise? ladies and gentlemen, they scare you to intimidate you to trust them and to give them more power. we need someone who's willing to go out on these big issues of

the day and draw contrasts. we're not going to win this election, ladies and gentlemen, because the republican candidate has the most money to beat up their opponent and win the election. we're not going to win this election with over a lopsided money advantages. we won't have one in the fall. president obama will have more money whoever our nominee is. so just think about what it's going to take. it's going to take ideas, vision, contrast, a record of accomplishment that can go up against the failed policies of barack obama. that's the winner. well, let's just take a look at that in the republican field. who has the boldest contrasts?

who has the record that they can run on? who has the bold plans to turn this economy around? and to support the very institutions of our country that provide the foundation of our country, faith and family? who has that strong track record and that contrast? okay. i guess i can quit now since you're all convinced of that, but let's look at it. on the issue of obamacare, who has the record of supporting health savings accounts and tort reform and bottom up consumer-driven health care for 20 years and who has supported the stepchild of obamacare, the

person in massachusetts who built the largest government-run health care system in the united states? someone who would simply give that issue away in the fall. give the issue away of government control of your health. who would be the better person to go at the obama administration on trying to control the energy and the manufacturing sector of our economy and try to dictate to you what lights to turn on and what cars to drive? would it be someone that bought into manmade global warming and imposed the first carbon cap in a state of massachusetts, the first state to do so in the country? would it be someone who would take on the other big issue of government control of our economy, which is the government control of the financial services sector? we see a lot of, everybody up on stage at the debates complaining about dodd frank.

but two of the three candidates supported the wall street bailout. which was the pred successor of which dodd frank was based on. so who would provide the clear contrast of believing in the conservative vision of bottom up, free people, free markets. not government dependsy, government control. ladies and gentlemen, we're not going to win with money. we're going to win with contrasts. we're going to win with ideas. we're going to win by making barack obama and his failed policies the issue in this race. we won in 2010 because conservatives rallied. they were excited.

about the contrasts. they were excited about the candidates who were put forth in that election. that's why we won. we always talk about how are we going to get the moderates? why would an undecides voter vote for the candidate of a party who the party's not excited about? we need conservatives now to rally for a conservative to go into november to excite the conservative base. to pull with that excitement moderate voters and to defeat barack obama in the fall. i close, i just say this. when i restarted our speech, i referred to where our rights came from. and of course, that's in our

declaration of independence. i know a lot of folks like to focus on the constitution. the constitution is obviously the operator's manual for mesh. it is the how of america and it's essential that we return our government to the constraints of that constitution. but, the why of america, who we are, is in the declaration. and these words we hold these truths to be self-evident that all american are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights. that's who we are. a country that was built on the idea that rights come to us from god and that the government's job, the one thing the government's job is to do is to protect those rights so you can form families and churches and community organizations, civic groups, hospitals, schools and build a great and just society from the bottom up. that's the conservative vision for america. that's who we are.

at the end of that declaration, there was a phrase. and these signers signed this declaration with this pledge, they pledged their live, their foreigns and their sacred honor. no one is asking you today to go out and pledge your life. although thank god men and women step forward every single day and put the uniform on of the military and do so. and i -- and i am not asking for your fortune. although if you go to ricksantorum.com, piece of that fortune would be very helpful. but i am asking for your honor, to put your honor on the line.

honor is a term that's not used very often in america anymore. but is exactly what's at stake. because this is our watch. we are stewards of a great inheritance. and it is our responsibility to sheppard that inheritance and to make it a greater and richer one r for the next generation and if we fail to do that, then we have failed our duty and our honor. as americans. this is your opportunity. many generations come and go in america and live in many respects in consequential times. you are blessed to live in a time when america needs you. you are -- please, walk out of this gathering, choose to

candidate that you believe is the right person to lead this country. not just to victory, but to the changes that are necessary for that victory to be one that you can say i have done my duty. i have kept my honor. thank you and god bless. >> gop presidential candidate rick santorum, the first of all the candidates who will speak at cpac today. the conservative convention. all the movers and shakers within the conservative circle. wolf blitzer was listening to this as well. wolf, did he deliver? >> well, he really wanted to dif fer where he stands on these issues as opposed to mitt romney. mostly making the case that he would be a better republican presidential nominee that mitt romney. didn't really focus on ron paul or newt gingrich all that much at all. he was just really trying to say forget about mitt romney. i'm your guy. i'm the real conservative in

this race. i didn't go along with global warming on those issues. if you want health care to be an issue, the president's health care reform law, you can't trust mitt romney because he helped create the president's health care reform law. you take that issue off the table. this was a don't give that issue away, he kept saying. he was trying to tell these conservatives at the cpac conference go with me, don't go with romney and obviously, he went after the president himself, but mostly, it was designed to reassure them that he would be a better conservative candidate. >> mitt romney, now at 12:55 eastern time followed by newt gingrich at 4:00 p.m. eastern time. both speaking there at cpac, wolf. in addition, the president of the united states now announcing at 12:15, he's going to come out with a statement from the white house as well. so we are going to hear from every contender in this battle from the house. >> except for ron paul. he decided not to attend the

cpac conference. >> appreciate it so much. we will be following both romney and we -- okay, all right. we got another minute before we kick off the next hour there of cnn news room. forgive me for that. okay, so why don't we talk about mitt romney coming up at 12:55 eastern time. he has said this is a so-called major speech. that's a quote from a source close to the campaign. is this because rick santorum has gained so much momentum with that three-state sweep that he feels he needs to build a little more extra hype around this speech he's going to make? >> the answer is yes. he's really got to deliver to these conservatives and let's see if it's only a positive message, here's why i should be the republican presidential nominee. here's where i stand on the domestic issues, social issues, national security issues. let's see if he simply focuses on that or does what rick santorum did, trying to dif renchuate himself. products of washington,

washington insiders, i never lived in washington, d.c. i'm an outsider. i'm a business guy. i can really turn things around and be a much better candidate. i suspect we're going to see a little bit of both. >> thanks so much and thanks for rolling with me. we are now going to take a quick break and coming up, don lemon. we'll be right back. sories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates.