on facebook where a lot of people are hanging out these days. you can follow me on twitter @howardkurtz where i try hard to be entertaining and informative and keep my job. "state of the union with candy crowley" begins in just a moment. romney hits the daily double. rocking both the main caucuses and a poll of top conservative activists, and the president tangles with the catholic hierarchy over birth control and health care coverage. white house chief of staff jacob lu, rick santorum and senator joe lieberman will join us soon. first, to hollywood's latest heartbreak, the death of singer whitney houston. ♪ and i will always love you didn't she almost have it all? whitney houston was beautiful and talented with music in her soul and her bloodline. she was the daughter of a gospel singer, cousin to dionne warw k warwick, aretha franklin was her godmother. she could a voice that could range five octaves and cross

over from r&b to pop. she skyrocketed in the '90s, grammys, emmys, number one hits, multimillions of albums sold, leading roles in blockbuster films like "the bodyguard" and income. but there was a tumultuous marriage and drug addiction. her star faded. >> the biggest devil is me. i'm either my best friend or my worst enemy. >> houston divorced and got clean, she said, and tried a comeback, releasing an album in 2009 and going on tour. but time and trouble had taken an obvious toll. ♪ ♪ i look to you >> whitney houston never got her comeback, but as the news swept over last night, music industry giants called in to cement the legacy of that voice. >> this is going to be one of these times where you're going to remember where you were when you heard the news. it's that significant. >> she had that voice that could just turn a story, a melody into

just magical, magical notes. >> there will never be another voice like that. >> people should not die young. >> scheduled to attend a pre-grammys party thrown by her mentor, clive davis, whitney houston was pronounced dead in her beverly hills hotel room. she was 48. a short life for a huge talent. ♪ didn't we almost have it all ♪ when love was all we had worth giving ♪ >> here with me in washington is hilary rosen, former chief executive officer of the recording industry association of america and our own larry king joins us by phone from los angeles. larry, let me start with you because i know and i believe you were at a party last night where they were expecting whitney houston to come sing. >> well, candy, this is the annual pre-grammy party.

it's thrown every year by clive davis, the man who found whitney houston and made her career, famed record executive who has been doing this for years. whitney houston's always his guest at this dinner. it's where i shared some time with her last year. and she was scheduled to be at the dinner last night. she died in the hotel where the dinner was held, the beverly hilton. her body was in the hotel throughout the entire proceedings. there was a time i thought when i went in that it was inappropriate. but the way tony bennett opened the proceedings, it made it like a musical tribute to her. it became a kind of sad yet festive evening. it was almost surreal. it was a mob scene. the mob scene was not only inside to the people invited but outside, thousands of people had come to the hotel from all around southern california just to stand outside. i don't think the body was removed and taken to the coroner

until well after the event. it was a long evening. i left at 12:00, and it was still going strong. that's all anybody was talking about, all the paparazzi, all the people online, the networks, the tabloid shows was the death of whitney houston at age 48. and the only palor i could give it was judy garland. judy garland top, down, up, back, career down, goes away, comes again. incredible entertainer. no voice like hers. and she also dies of drug problems. i assume that's the cause of this death, too. it's just sad. >> totally sad. larry, stick with me a little bit while i bring in our hilary rosen who, as you know, was the executive officer of the recording association of america. when you heard, hilary, what went through your mind? >> yeah. you know, what went through my mind was that i wished i was in l.a. at clive davis's party

where i had been so many years and first heard whitney houston sing when clive introduced her. you know, in a way, it was kind of fitting that this did happen this week because obviously, it's grammy week. the grammys tonight are going to be a big moment. it's not going to be all about whitn whitney, but there will be some whitney remembrances. and last year at clive's party, there was a lot of talk about whitney and that she seemed really unhealthy. that she acted erratically. and so in some respects, it's fitting that people came together last night to sort of say nice things about whitney because last year they were not saying nice things about whitney. i'm kind of glad she had that moment, that sort of music community wake for her where people were saying, remembering the amazing talent that she was. >> larry, to hilary's point, was there talk about -- i mean, i know that we assume it was drugs because she had drugs in her past. also the police say they didn't see any obvious signs that might

have killed her. i'm wondering what the talk was last night, if any, about what caused the death. had people seen her recently? had she looked ill? >> well, that's a good question. my wife, the people who help my wife here get ready. that's the big to-do here in california, they help you get ready. you know, helping her get dressed, looking the way you should look at a party like this. with her the night before, they said she didn't look good at all. they thought she was disheveled and looking for trouble or in trouble. that's what they told her. and hilary's right. that's what the talk was. the talk was always about whitney houston. it was either how good she looks or how bad she looks, or why isn't she here? >> yeah. >> she surrounded the grammys. and by the way, tonight at the grammys they announced last night, they will do a tribute to her. and jennifer hudson will sing.

>> wow! that will be a moment. larry, listen, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to bring us what is always your unique perspective. and let me wrap up with you, hilary, and ask you to kind of put this in context for us. is this, you know, michael jackson? what is this in terms of so many of these sad stories we've seen? >> you know, obviously, drugs are insidious, but there's a special marriage, i think, between the pressure of celebrity and the escape of drugs. and when artists have that sort of unique gift that both makes them vulnerable but also makes people want a piece of them all the time. you know, when i first met whitney houston, she was, you know, in her 20s, and she was young and sweet and confident. you know, to sort of turn into the woman who just felt like she could never satisfy the world is a tragedy. but thank god we've got her music to keep going. >> we do. hilary rosen, thank you so much. after the break, white house

chief of staff jacob lu joins us to talk about the firestorm over the white house's new contraception policy. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it is meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses.

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joining me here in washington, white house chief of staff, jacob lew. thanks for joining us. >> good to be with you this morning. >> let us start out with what has roiled certainly some in the catholic community, i know has really set the white house off in trying to get things situated. and that is this idea that catholic universities, catholic hospitals, should have to pay for contraception for its employees as part of its health care plan. the white house comes back with a compromise and says, well, the health insurance companies will contact the women in these facilities and offer contraceptive services. and the women can accept or not accept. and the health care -- the health care provider, whatever, will pay nor it. is that where we are right now?

>> well, let me actually tell you where we are, candy. the president's had a consistent position throughout this. he has two principles that are very important. one is that all women have a right to all forms of preventative health care including contraception. secondly, in the greatest tradition of this country, we have to respect the religious liberties of people with very different views. i think where this policy has come out is that the initial announcement of a policy said it would take some time to work through the details because of the concern that arose, we speeded up the process. and on friday what the president announced was we think a very good resolution of the problem, it's gotten the support of a wide range of organizations from catholic charities and the catholic health association to planned parenthood. it respects both of these core principles, and we think it's a good solution. >> it did not win the support of the u.s. conference of catholic bishops which put out a statement on friday and said "today's proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal

governance of religious institutions and to threaten government coercion of religious people and groups to violate their most deeply held convictions." was there anything about this that made you think twice when it first went out? >> i have to say that the solution that we came up with puts no religious institution in the position. it either has to pay for or facilitate the provision of benefits they find objectionable. if the issue is should women have access to all forms of preventive care including contraception, we believe the answer to that is yes. >> can you say, though, with a straight face that the insurance company is going to pick up the cost of this? >> as somebody who has done budgets for a lot of years, usually when people say to me that something doesn't cost money, i ask them how? this is the exception to the rule. if you price two insurance plans, one of them with contraception, the other without, the plan without contraception costs more than the one with it. so this will not cost the

insurance companies money. it will not put religious institutions in a place where it will violate the principles. >> why is that? >> because the total cost of care for a person is higher without than it is with contraception. >> then why don't health insurance companies everywhere just offer free contraseptemberive services? >> i actually think there won't be as much resistance to this from insurance companies as people might think because of what i just said. if you look to examples in other states where it's worked, it's worked pretty much the way i've described. there is an issue here. the issue is do women have a right to contraception? we think yes. should religious institutions have their sensibilities protected? the answer is yes. you know, i am a person of faith. i care deeply that we're a country that respects faith and that respects people's right to have different views. this is a challenge to reconcile two important principles. and the president found a way to reconcile those. there are others who don't have the same objective, and they have to speak for themselves. >> as far as the white house is concerned, is this done? >> we think -- >> you've gone as far as you can go? >> we think we've put out a

solid plan. >> no compromising. >> we've put out the plan where the president wants to go. >> there is room for compromising? >> this is our plan. >> the payroll tax cut. we're coming up to the end of the month. how certain are you that congress is going to pass a year-long extension of those payroll tax cuts and the other things that come with it, the doc fix and the unemployment insurance? >> you know, i think that it's clear that the economy is doing much better, but it needs to have that additional push that comes from this payroll tax. we saw in december that it didn't work out so well to have a big, ugly fight over the payroll tax. we can avoid that. we have enough time for congress to get its work done. you know, we all care about having economic growth and having unemployment go down and employment go up. this payroll tax is important. there are -- this can be solved. congress needs to get its work done. >> and will it be solved? >> i believe it should get solved. and i know there are people working hard even this weekend trying to solve it. >> let me show you a recent abc

news poll about the president's handling of the federal budget deficit. and we will get to the budget which we know is coming out tomorrow in a bit. but i want to ask you, in general, this poll shows that 38% of americans approve of the way the president's handling the deficit. and 58% disapprove. why is that, do you think? >> you know, we've just come through one of the worst economic periods in modern history. when the president took office, we were losing jobs at a rate of 750,000 a month. we're now at a point where we're gaining jobs at a rate of 250,000 a month. so it's a swing of 1 million jobs -- >> this is about the deficit specifically. >> in order to get to the point where we are, it has required us to do things that you wouldn't have done under other circumstances. so the recovery act that did involve some spending, having federal programs that automatically kick in, revenues were down because economic growth was lower. we share the concerns of the american people that we need to focus on the deficit.

and we'll talk about the president's budget which does $4 trillion of deficit reduction in a fair, balanced way that asks everybody to do their fair share. so we have a plan. but it's not surprising to me that the american people are looking at the deficit today and saying ty'd like some action. yeah. we agree with them. >> let me, before we get to that -- and it will be after the break -- let me ask you about egypt. newt gingrich said in a recent speech that there are americans being held hostage in egypt. we do know americans are not being allowed to leave because the egyptian military government has said it may want to prosecute them. he compare it had to the iranian hostage crisis. what are you doing -- as far as the administration is concerned, is it all right for the egyptian government to be holding these americans inside the country? >> let's be clear. the situation in egypt is quite serious. we have made clear we're having conversations, general dempsey is there this weekend, that it's important to resolve this country to country. but to compare this to the iranian hostage crisis really does a disservice to those

americans in iran who truly were held hostage. this is a situation that can be resolved. there's time to resolve it. and our government is working very hard. >> are you close to getting them out of the country in. >> i don't want to speak to where things are going. but all efforts are being made. >> okay. coming up, more with white house chief of staff jacob lew. and later, rick santorum got a rousing reception at cpac but lost the conservative straw poll vote to mitt romney. we'll ask him why. lemon burst, hm, cherry orchard, blackberry harvest... my daughter's grabbing some yoplait. pina colada, orange creme. i can't imagine where she is... strawberry cheesecake. [ grocery store pa ] clean up in aisle eight. found her! [ female announcer ] yoplait original. 25 flavors for you to love. it is so good.

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we are back with white house chief of staff, jacob lew. i want to put up for our viewers what we know about some of the things that are coming out in the president's budget plan tomorrow. and that is $350 billion in short-term job spending. $476 billion in infrastructure. $60 billion for schools and retaining teachers, first responders. we just got finished talked about the deficit. we saw the low approval numbers for the president dealing with the federal deficit. this looks like another stimulus plan. >> this is a budget that takes both the short and long-term view. i think that there's broad agreement from all of the commissions that were out doing work on the budget to most budget experts that over this next period of time, we still need to pay attention to sustaining economic growth and creating jobs. that's why it's so important to

pass the payroll tax before the end of february. it's why it's so important that we jump start our investment in infrastructure. >> but isn't this a stimulus wrapped into the budget? >> over the long term, there's $4 trillion of deficit reduction in this budget. it comes by adhering to the rules that were part of the budget agreement last year, which is $1 trillion of savings in the annual appropriations. it has another $1 trillion of savings that were part of the august debt agreement. and then there's $2 trillion of additional savings on top of that. this comes from very tough policies in almost every area, from mandatory programs to revenues. >> it also comes from more spending, some of this funding. >> the savings come from the tough decisions. the savings come from having a policy that's based on the principles that the president outlined in kansas and that he outlined in the state of the union. >> what's the toughest cut in the whole thing? >> there are a lot ranging from consolidating field offices and closing them down in places like the agriculture department to consolidating training programs. >> do you think that sounds like

a really tough gut, consolidating agriculture departments? >> i think when you look at a trillion dollars of savings over ten years, that's a ton. we have to make sure that as we make these reductions, we do it in a smart way. we cut some things and increase others. for example, while we're cutting the things we can do without, we're increasing what we put in over this period of time into research and development so we can build the economy of the future and make sure we have an economy that can last. >> do you think it looks like a stimulus plan? >> no, i think -- >> it's the same sorts of things you've certainly had. >> i think most americans understand that a crumbling infrastructure is not the way to build an economy that can last. we need to make sure that we have a manufacturing base in this country. we need to make sure that we have american workers with the skills for the jobs of the future. we need to make sure that we have an energy policy that will leave us in a place where we can generate our own energy and also not be dependent on -- and we also need to have a policy that's true to american values. and that means that everyone has to pay their fair share and have a fair shot.

>> i know we want to talk about the tax hikes in a second. but i want to read something harry reid, the democratic and the majority leader in the u.s. senate who said we do not need to bring a budget to the floor this year. it's done. we don't need to do it, talking about last year's two-year agreement in saying that, you know, so it's already done. this budget, i can assure you, and you know because you've been in this town for a long time, is going to be attacked as a political document. this is a budget that promises 2 million more jobs if it's passed. so that come september, the president can go out there and say, well, if they had only passed my budget, we'd have 2 million more jobs. but those darn republicans are standing in my way when, in fact, even the democratic leader in the senate says, you know what? we don't need a budget. >> let's be clear. what senator reid is talking about is a fairly narrow point. in order for the senate to do its annual work on appropriation bills, they need to pass a certain piece of legislation which sets a limit. they did that last year. that's what he's talking about. he's not saying that they

shouldn't pass a budget. but we also need to be honest. you can't pass a budget in the senate of the united states without 60 votes. and you can't get 60 votes without bipartisan support. >> and you need the house. >> unless republicans are willing to work with democrats in the senate, harry reid is not going to be able to get a budget passed. and i think he was reflecting the reality that that could be a challenge. but let's be clear. there's time and the desire to work together. you know, we've put a lot of things out there ranging from authority to reorganize the government so that we have a government that's for the 21st century, not the 19th and 20th century of home financing proposals so americans, republicans and democrats alike, can refinance homes that are under water. there's a lot we could and should do on a bipartisan basis this year. >> lastly, what's the economy going to look like in september? what will the unemployment rate be? >> you know, we've been very heartened by the economic news over the last two, three months. >> keep falling? >> unemployment has been falling. job growth is strong. >> do you think it will continue to fall and be lower in

september than it is now? >> i can't predict that each month will be as good as the last few, but we're headed in the right direction. the payroll tax needs to be extended on time without a lot of drama. that's why we need to do our business in a way that doesn't create the kind of uncertainty that did harm to the economy over the summer. >> white house chief of staff jacob lew, thanks for joining us. after the break, the pot boils over. thousands of civilian deaths as the violence in syria escalates and disturbing images make clear the syrian regime is digging in. white meat chicken. the way i always made it for you. one more thing.... those pj's you like, i bought you five new pairs. love you. did you see the hockey game last night? [ male announcer ] progresso. you gotta taste this soup.

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internet. through stepped-up u.s. intelligence efforts. this reconnaissance satellite image dated february 6th was posted by u.s. ambassador to syria, robert ford, on the embassy's facebook page. labels point to burning buildings, smoke, impact craters, syrian military and armored vehicles in the city of homs. other imagery declassified by the state department to help inform world view shows artillery movements toward homs, a city, by all accounts, under siege. >> you see these images coming from homs, syria's third largest city, a city that i visited last year. it was very prosperous. an economic hub. and now you're looking at apartment buildings being blown up by artillery shells, bodies in the streets, people can't go out of their homes even to collect the bodies. children, women killed. it's horrific. it's repulsive. >> diplomatic efforts stalled at the u.n., sanctions have had no noticeable effect on the regime

of al assad and the military is drawing up options the president did not request, nor is he expected to. now what? senator joe lieberman is next. er so now i can take the lead on a science adventure. advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator, working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. if you're still having difficulty breathing, take the lead. ask your doctor if including advair

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joining me now, senate homeland security and governmental affairs chairman, joe lieberman. thank you, senator. i want to talk syria. the arab ministers are meeting in cairo now. the saudi foreign minister, according to one of our reporters there, has accused the syrian government of a campaign of mass cleansing to enforce its own authority. and he has called on the arab league, on arab ministers, to tighten sanctions. and i want to quote this carefully. "and opening up channels of communication with the opposition to offer, quote, all kinds of help needed." is that a good sign? >> yeah, it's a good sign. it's a beginning, but there really needs to be more. before leaving, let me say that the activity, the proactivity of the arab league in this case as in libya is something very significant. the arab league was -- >> we have to have it. that's cover for anybody to do anything. >> that's right. and in previous situations, the arab league was much more

restrained and kind of self-protective. here they're putting themselves on the side of freedom and against dictatorship. and it does, as you say, give us the credibility that it's not just the west coming in, it's the arab league, the gulf countries, et cetera. but we've got to do more than just begin to talk to the opposition in syria because the reality on the ground is since the u.n. resolution was vetoed by russia and iran, the assad government has begun to kill its own people with increasing frequency. hundreds of incidents. i think it's time to try to help the brave syrian freedom fight ersz to carry out a fair fight. and i think it's time to give them help, medical help first, and then i'd give them training. i'd give them communications equipment. and then ultimately i'd give them weapons because -- >> from the u.s., are you talking, or in what -- who is the dispatcher? >> the coalition.

>> a la libya. >> exactly. since the russians and the chinese have vetoed u.n. action, we've got to form a coalition of the willing. and that will now include the arab league and the gulf countries and turkey. >> for people who -- listen, if you look at the polling now about what the u.s. did in libya, which was not to commit a single ground force, and to kind of take a back seat in the fly-overs, almost half of americans still didn't want us to do that. >> yeah. >> so we're talking about an environment where people just don't see a need for the u.s. to get involved. so describe to me, what is the strategic interest of the u.s. this getting involved enough to arm a friend -- arm the enemy of a friend of russia and china. >> yeah, no, it's a very important question. let me go back to libya quickly. we got involved in libya to stop a humanitarian disaster. and thanks to the courage of the freedom fighters in libya on the

ground and the help we gave them and the air cover we gave them, they succeeded in overthrowing gadhafi. the truth is, our strategic interest in syria is even greater. if we can help the syrian -- >> but so is the risk, is it not? the risk of involvement? >> i think we can limit the risk. i would never put american troops on the ground. i don't think any of the other countries want their troops on the ground. the fact is, the syrian people are forming exactly the same kinds of militias that the libyan people formed that ultimately, with our help, brought down gadhafi. if assad falls in syria, it is a great moral and democratic victory for the people of syria, but it is also a tremendous strategic defeat for iran which is our enemy. >> is iran going to allow that? it just seems like with libya, everybody was against libya. he was just a sort of a live wire in the middle east. and here now you have syria

which has power in the middle east, which has friends in the middle east. don't you just light the fuse if the u.s. in any way gets involved in this? >> i think that our strategic interest in assisting the people of syria overthrow assad is actually greater than our interest in what we did in libya. we went into libya for humanitarian moral reasons. we did the right thing. we're always better when we do that. we did it with a lot of assistance from the arab world and from our allies in europe. iran is the greatest threat to security in the middle east and in the world today. the biggest state sponsor of terrorism. its only ally -- iran's only ally in the arab world is syria. if assad is thrown over by his own people, it will be a tremendous strategic setback for iran and a great victory for the rest of the people in the middle east and for us as well because obviously iran is our sworn enemy. >> any expectation at all? because i've seen nothing from the administration that says they seem eager, willing or even

considering helping to arm, under any umbrella, helping to arm syrian rebels? >> well, the encouraging news is that the pentagon is putting together plans to make that happen if the president decides to order it. but, you know, we always use the phrase in regard to iran, every option is on the table. in this case i would say, with regard to syria, america ought to take the position that every option is on the table exception doing nothing. because doing nothing means hundreds of more syrians are killed. and it means that iran, which continues to give assad the weapons with which he's killing his own people, will achieve a strategic victory over us and over the rest of the countries in the middle east who are their enemies. i think it's time for the administration to act. the good news is we're going to have allies with us, turkey, the arab league and gulf countries and i think a lot of europeans as well. >> i've got 15 seconds. yes or no. we all know you voted republican

in the last presidential election for your friend, john mccain. could you see your way clear to vote for a republican this time? >> it's possible but i think what i'm most likely to do, since i'm not running for re-election and enjoying not being in elected politics is to stay out of this one and vote like most people, privately. >> privately. i'll check in with you a little later, a couple months. thanks so much. >> thanks, candy. >> for your period of tiexperti. later, more on the death of whitney houston. a haunting rendition of one of her top hits. rick santorum over conservative credentials and front-runner status. >> the lesson we've learned is we will no longer abandon and apologize for policies and principles that made this country great for a hollow victory in november. calories or less per serving and are now weight watchers-endorsed. try green giant frozen vegetables with sauce.

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> joining me know, republican presidential candidate rick santorum who is aout in california where my best guess is, you're collecting some money out there. so thank you for joining us at the very early hour, i know. you know, you had a great first of the week with that sweep of three states. and not such a great saturday. i found it surprising that in

cpac, this collection of basically your base that has fueled your campaign, a collection of conservative groups, had a straw poll, and they voted for mitt romney. 38-31%. what happened? >> well, you know, those straw polls and cpac, for years ron paul has won those because he just trucks in a lot of people, pays for their ticket, and they come in and vote and then they leave. you know, we didn't do that. we don't do that. i don't try to rig straw polls. >> do you -- >> i know that there were some -- >> do you think governor romney rigged it? >> -- unhappiness at the announcement. the romney campaign and how many tickets they've bought, we've heard all sorts of things. but you know what? those straw polls, in my mind, you know, they were important last year when we weren't voting, but states are voting right now. we had a great week where you had thousands of people voting. tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands voting. and we defeated governor romney by 30 points in the state of

missouri, almost 30 points in minnesota. and in a state where no one -- in the most recent poll the day before the election had us down 14 in colorado. and our people turned out. we different pay them to turn out. they turned out because they were excited about our campaign and we were able to defeat him in colorado. and we feel very good going into michigan and arizona. we're going to compete obviously heavily in michigan, we're going to compete in arizona. and we think this is a two-person race right now, and we're just focused on making sure that folks know we're the best alternative to barack obama, and we have the best chance of beating him. >> before i leave this straw poll, we should noted that romney also won the maine caucuses where i know you didn't compete heavily or at all. >> right. >> you mentioned twice that you didn't pay for votes in these caucuses. so i have to go back to, do you have any -- someone clearly is telling you that they think mitt romney's team, at least, paid for folks to go and vote for him at the straw poll, and that's what you're saying? >> that's -- that's -- that's

standard procedure at all of these straw polls. that campaigns who want to win go out and recruited people and provide free tickets for them to come and vote. there's nothing wrong with that. i mean, that's absolutely a strategy. we just don't think that's a good use of our resources. but governor romney obviously, you know, may have a different idea. look. the best use of our resources is to go to michigan -- well, actually, we're going to be in washington state on monday. that's a super tuesday state. we're going to be in idaho on tuesday. we're going to be in north dakota talking about energy and the importance of the keystone pipeline, the importance of that oil up there and what we can do to reduce the price of domestic fuels here in this country so we can be more energy independent and then we're going to michigan to speak at the detroit economic club and lay out our plan and how we're going to get manufacturing going in this country so we can create opportunities for everybody in the country from the bottom up, from the very poor to those already enjoying success in america.

we want everybody to enjoy success. >> let me take a trip down memory lane with you and play a 2006 ad that you ran in what was ultimately a losing battle to keep your senate seat. let me play it just a second. >> to get things done, you've got to work together. i teamed up with joe lieberman to make college more affordable for low-income families and barbara boxer and i wrote a law protecting open space. i'm even workinghillary clinton to limit inappropriate content in video games. >> i want to play that from a meeting at cpac where you assured them you would not move back to the center were you to become president of the united states. where is the rick santorum that paired up with lieberman, boxer and clinton? you just won't be there if he becomes president? >> well, a lot of the things i was just talking about, i mean, protecting kids on the internet is conservative.

hillary clinton came on our side on that. and the things i worked with joe lieberman, the same thing. these are things that we worked on that we could find bipartisan accommodations. open space was a very important issue in suburban philadelphia as it is out here in california. and this was an opportunity for -- to really work with local communities who wanted to preserve that space, particularly in urban areas. so, again, these are not big-government programs. this is actually working with local communities, working with libraries, working with parents groups, to make sure that children aren't exposed to inappropriate material on the internet and in schools. this is, again, consistent with the values that i hold. >> okay. and let me play you another that came from the same era, this 2006 campaign. >> in the newspaper, they say the real problem with rick santorum is he's too liberal.

they didn't like my legislation call are for a raise in the minimum wage. the white house probably called me a lot of things. >> so if you should get to the white house, would you entertain raising the minimum wage? would you continue to protect and raise funds for amtrak? >> well, on the issue of the minimum wage, if you go back and look at my record, i voted against the minimum wage increase many, many times. but when the minimum wage gets to the point where it truly needs to be raised because it's now -- you know, i think the number historically is below 7% of the work force is now being paid the minimum wage. i do support a minimum wage. i do not support what governor romney has suggested, which is indexing the minimum wage. that is a very bad idea. that will lead to wage inflation. but when the minimum wage drops, as the economy improves and inflation eventually creeps up, to set a basic minimum wage at the federal level i have supported throughout my political career, yes. but i don't support anything in the minimum wage that would be an inflater of wages.

and that's the real difference between the two. as far as amtrak funding, look, i represented pennsylvania. that ad was run in philadelphia. that's an important piece of -- >> important amtrak place. >> economic viability -- yeah, the economic viability of that very busy and congested corridor. what i've said is that, you know, look, we need to look at all things in government. amtrak would be one. i'm convinced now that amtrak is something that should not be funded by the federal level. we're at a very different time now in the economy of this country and the budget deficits, and amtrak funding would be one of those things that's just going to have to go. >> and yet mitt romney is criticized by you and others when he says, listen, i did what was best for my state when i went -- you know, signed health care into law for my state. it was not a federal thing. you know, i will repeal obama care, but you all hit him, and he was representing his state at the time. what's the difference here? >> well, i think there's a big

difference between funding a program that's been funded like amtrak. you know, look. i make the argument as i have funding amtrak which is a passenger rail service is in many respects line funding a highway system. you know, that provides interstate transportation between the states and something the federal government does and it's in the constitution to do so. it's very different than having the government mandate that you buy health insurance or that government create a right, as we've seen just this week, when the government creates a right to health insurance, they create the right to be able to tell you how to exercise the provision of that insurance. and we saw with the catholic church. that's a very different thing than a transportation program. there are certainly legitimate arguments whether we should fund amtrak or not. but that is a very different thing, a fundamental takeover of a sector of the economy. >> senator santorum, i've got to leave it there. thanks for joining us this morning. >> thank you, candy.

and now, on this week's campaign trail, a look at the tunes selected by the candidates to accompany their comings and goings on the stage. we have our own theories on what the candidates want you to learn from their picks. in general, republicans go heavy on the country. in both parties, any song with the words "america, usa, main street or working man" goes to the head of the queue. and if someone could come up with a song about middle-income tax payers, candidates would arm whes wrestle for the rights. first up mitt romney and his jam "born free." snow free like a rivering raging ♪ ♪ strong as the wind i'm facing ♪ >> mitt's musical message, kid rock said i could use this song. i am edgier than you think. now, rick santorum shakes hands to the tune toby keith's "made in america." ♪ he's got the red white and blue flying high on the farm ♪

♪ semper fi tattooed on his left arm ♪ >> i support american manufacturing, and i want to give a special shout-out to farmland, iowa and the midwest, i'm looking at you. and listening up at a gingrich event, you will hear brooks & dunn's "only in america." ♪ staring at the faces in her rearview mirror ♪ ♪ looking at the promise of the promised land ♪ >> this says, well, not much. gingrich really wanted to play "eye of the tiger" but the author sued him. and then ron paul had a song written just for him. ♪ ron paul! ♪ ♪ we're not gonna give up the fight ♪ ♪ ron paul! ♪ ♪ start a revolution >> this is a song that screams "i don't play by the rules and it doesn't matter what the song says because i don't need a song to keep my crowd purpomped."

if you live in arizona, michigan, washington or one of the super tuesday states, they'll be playing at a town near you in the coming weeks. up next, a check of the top stories and the latest on the death of singer whitney houston. 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. mmm. same great taste with an added "way to go, me" feeling. splenda® essentials™. get more out of what you put in.

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now time for a check of

today's top stories. thousands of protesters gathered outside parliament in athens, greece, as lawmakers debated austerity measures. later today greece's parliament will vote on measures to pave the way for a $172 billion bailout deal. the deal would mean a 20% cut in the minimum wage as well as higher taxes. greece's prime minister warns a rejection of the deal would leave the country bankrupt and out of the eurozone. an israeli air strike in northern gaza killed one person and injured two others. the israeli military says the strike was in response to attacks. in cairo, egypt, arab league members called on the u.n. security council to send a joint peacekeeping mission to syria. last week they called for assad to step aside. tonight's grammy awards will pay tribute to whitney houston.

an official tells cnn the tone is being changed a bit to reflect on the singer's memory. among those participating in the tribute will be singer and academy award winner jennifer hudson. up next for our viewers here in the united states, fareed zakaria gps. but we will leave you with a haunting rendition of whitney houston's hit "how will i know?" ♪ there's a boy i know ♪ he's the one i dream of ♪ looks into my eyes ♪ takes me to the clouds above ♪ mm-hmm ♪ ooh i lose control ♪ can't seem to get enough ♪ uh-huh ♪ when i wake from dreaming ♪ tell me is it really love ♪ ooh how will i know ♪ don't trust your feelings ♪ how will i know