which was yesterday. new national poll show that rick santorum is pulling away. up eight points from mitt romney can super tuesday getting closer. and then, saturday night live officially exhausts all the jeremy lin oh did you see this? very funny. "starting point" begins right now. ♪ where is my hairbrush? how do i sing along? thank you. i love this song. what can be better than starting your morning with her. welcome, everybody. let's get right to our panel. we've po tgot the actor and comn joining us. ron brownstein in person. editorial director of the "national journal." and will cain. >> was that familiarity or disappointment? >> with love. will cain who i always like to see sitting next to me.

>> good morning. >> we've got a lot to get to this morning. it was a tough week obviously with the death of whitney houston and really at the end of the week an opportunity to remember her and her legacy. she was laid to rest yesterday in westfield, new jersey. the private moment followed a service in newark, new jersey, on saturday. family, friends, and stars paying tribute. it was a beautiful service. it was whitney houston's own voice that ended the ceremony. ♪ so good-bye ♪ please don't cry ♪ we both know i'm not what you you need ♪ >> the service lasted four hours and it was interesting to talk to the baptist pastors who were there who said, listen, we want to make it very clear, this is a religious service. this is not a performance. this is not a concert.

this is a homegoing. reverend jesse jackson was there of course he is a president of the rainbow push coalition. we had a chance to talk to you a lot saturday on the air. tell me about the burial, though, sir. it was obviously a quiet family affair. how was that? >> i was not at the burial. let me say, first of all, we thank you for the extent and sensitivity of your coverage on this past saturday. we had a double -- soul train engineer, he left the train and first class passenger rather quickly, whitney left the train. so kind of a double wound. in the words of tyler perry, singer of r. kelley and bebe winans and kevin costner and clive davis, great celebration on this past saturday. >> a real challenge. i know they were trying to navigate between the privacy

wishes of the family and the fans who wanted to be part of it. that had to be a challenge. i know you talked to cissy since the funeral. how is she doing and how did she feel that the tribute went? >> very well. it was handled in such a way that is miraculous how the cameras were a half block away and how there was coverage on the inside but not the exhaust i kind of coverage. cissy is a strong woman of faith. she's been through a lot in her life. and i cannot help but think how great a singer cissy has been down through the years. i mean, whitney comes through a great lineage of singers, singing with aretha franklin, singing with elvis presley, watching her mother in the studio sing, you know. first music teacher, first music critic, first choir director. she came out of a great lineage. ing of, the environment.

aretha franklin, dionne warwick, all of the stuff was there for her to achieve greatness, and she did. >> i need to ask you about this dramatic moment. we were a distance away from the risers and we could see in the camera shots bobby brown leaving the church. what exactly happened? >> all you know is reverend sharpton and bishop jakes and i were talking and the service was being held up. apparently the ushers brought him in where they thought was an appropriate place for him to sit. then it was the place con fwfin for the immediate family. finally in the end he would not move because i think he belt embarrassed, they asked him to leave. i went out to the car and cissy and bobbi, they knew nothing about this. it was a logistic call conflict. cissy houston and bobby christina had nothing to go with this. he left embarrassed. his positive statement has been a good thing. he did not go off, as it were.

>> let me read a little bit of that statement me said, my children and i were seated by security, subsequently asked to move on three separate occasions. security then prevented me from seeing my daughter. in light of the events, i gave a kiss to the casket of my ex-wife and departed as i refused to create a scene. it was an unfortunate moment in a wonderful ceremony. what happens now? bobby kristen has hchristine. >> she left her grandmother who she needs very much, she has her father and friends and god to turn to. she has some huge challenges in front of her now but she certainly has an environment thats that support that she needs and all of us now are on alert in terms of being sensitive to what she must be dog going through. this is just the tenth day since her mother passed. the wound is very fresh. she has to come to grips with a

huge adjustment in her life. she requires, you know, i think, prayer, support, and to some exat any time extent, distance as well. >> a lot of people were talking about her from the pulpit and how they are going to care for her. i hope that happens. reverend jesse jackson, always nice to have you. got other headlines. alina cho is in for that. good morning. >> good morning to you. three skiers are dead after an avalanche at a resort in washington state. authorities say they fell about 1500 feet. a dozen skiers buried in snow had to dig themselves out. all of them at this point accounted for. the area was out of bounds for skiers. heavy snow fell in the area, too, about 19 inches in just the past 24 hours. a fourth skier was saved by an inflatable safety device that kept her from going under. new this morning. iran has cut off oil to the uk and france. it's in retaliation for all 27 eu countries putting sanctions

on iran's oil experts, starting in july. the u.s. says an attack on iran will be premature. this is u.n. inspectors are in iran today for another round of nuclear talks. an iaea report back in november warned that iran could be on its way to developing a nuclear weapon. iran insists its efforts are peaceful. a well-known arizona sheriff stepped down as co-chair of mitt romney's presidential campaign. sheriff paul resigned from the volunteer position after acknowledging he is gay and denying allegations that he threatened to have a former lover deported if he outed their relationship. he was also a republican congressional candidate in arizona and he says he intends to stay in that race. another human skeleton turned up in a wooded area on the eastern end of long island, new york. authorities are now trying to determine if the remains are connected to ten other sets of remains found on a remote beach

about 40 miles to the west. police suspect some of the victims are of a serial killer preying on prostitutes. minding your business, investors will keep an eye on greece and quarterly earnings from major retailer when those markets reopen tomorrow. and weatherwise, the south socked with a messy winter storm. just look at these pictures. tens of thousands losing power across the region. the snow, sleet, and rain also triggered some pile-ups across tennessee, north carolina,nd virginia. what a mess. soledad, back to you. >> gosh, doesn't look like that. thank you. lin sanity, that's a word we're sticking with now, because some have been bad. it is back on track. they lost to the hornets on friday, but he helped the knicks win over the dallas mavericks, defending champions. a racial slur said a couple of times is overshadowing some of that victory. espn employee was fired after

using an offensive slur on the headline on a mobile site and anchor is under fire after using the same word in his broadcast. it is so bad i'm not allowed to repeat it. i'm going tell people to go google it because espn and jeremy lin is worth understanding. i'm not going to say it. here's what espn said. we apologize, especially to mr. lin. his accomplishments are a source of great pride to asian-american community including the asian-american employees at espn. saturday night live kind of did a send-up of all the comments around jeremy lin. they weren't apologizing for their segment. here's what they did. listen. >> i mean, he's unstoppable. he's like that sign says, wednesday game, lin is the knicks good fortune. >> he's sweet, not sour. >> he turned kobe into kobe beef. >> kobe's like, hey, i ordered fried chicken. >> hey, hey, hey, hey.

>> i thought we were having that kind of fun. dan, back me up. >> apologize to our viewers at home for our comments of bill gibson, they were linsensitive and politically incorrect. he has been fired. >> you know, i love that because i thought they really hit it right in terms of how people have been trying to navigate something that frankly is just racist. i you know, people are doing all of these apologieapologies. they are racist when they say what the guy from espn put in a headline. >> absolutely. >> look, you know, this is so unusual and so actually inspiring on so many different levels. people love the story op an underdog who was passed over by every team. all that harvard basketball tradition that he's in the nba. >> hey, hey, hey, hey, watch the harvard jokes. >> and dwroet have it clouded bethis thing -- what doesn't everyone go for the racially insensitive comments when they're trying to talk about this guy? there are so many other ways to go. >> this guy, interesting wrangle

on this story is race through and through because it's not about the racially incensensiti remark which the story has been plagued with, but it's also -- it brings up the conversation. when is it appropriate to root for race. we keep showing pictures of china town and i think i saw a restaurant called the hong kong express, full of asian people root forr jeremy lin. when is it okay to root for race? >> of course, it is about race. the story is -- >> part of it, sure. >> of course it is. we don't go around saying, oh, my god, a white golfer? that element is there. and it's so easy to talk about it without being racist or without using crude rumor. you're right, it's great for the asian american community. it's great for the u.s. sports community. we lost gary carter last week and this is making everybody happy. it's simple to cover this man's race without doing it. this scandal is inspiring in a way. i'm glad that these guys at espn.com made this racist headline to show how quickly the

community responds to anti-asian slurs. >> the headline said blank in the armor. i had this conversation with my nephew who is visiting today who is 14. he gasped. i was so happy that this kid -- 14, was like, wow, he knows it's completely inappropriate. >> the response of the population shows how far we've come in a short time wards the kind of humor. in a way it's showing racism and more or less an i.q. test for the public. >> it's important that his ethnic background is not the only part of the story why people have embraced him. there is the underdog story, there is someone who was passed over by everyone else, out-playing kobe on national tv, maybe not turning him into beef, but it's a big store rirks hard work, humble, contained within himself. >> and it's the knicks. and the knicks really need a good -- exactly right. they beat the world champion dallas mavericks.

the world champion dallas mavericks. >> jeremy lin, we love you. and the snl skit was fup any and made its point. >>rick santorum trading places with mitt romney in the polls, attacking president obama on his faith, social issues. we'll talk about that. and we'll talk about whether or not it's working in one of the most critical swing states. and georgia is on his mind. kind of has to be for newt gingrich. he is sweating a little bit about his home state, just like mitt romney is. or is it do or die there for him? get real this morning. pizza place tells parents, no pizza for you if your kids won't shut up. that's a good business getter. will's playing list is going to play us out to commercial break with the dixie chicks. >> world champion dallas mavericks, if i wasn't clear. >> dixie chicks "love it or leave it." >> i love it.

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nomination. and there's a new poll that is backing him up. according to gallop, 36% of registered republicans support santorum. 28% back mitt romney. a few days ago the two were in a statistically tie in the key swing state of ohio santorum is leading by seven points, 36-28. that's an 18-point jump from early january. democratic congressman jason of-. and republican congressman steve of ohio is joining us this morning. congressman, we will start with you. 18-point jump in your state of ohio. why is he surging? >> i think rick santorum is a great candidate. i think he would make a great president. i think mitt romney would as well. we have four good candidates in the republican primaries. as they say, so goes ohio, so goes the nation. it's pretty hard to win the presidency without carrying ohio and i think it's going to be very close. and i wouldn't really put money

on either one of them or any of these folks. it could go either way. >> does that contradict about what you said about having four good candidate it is there's not one person pulling ahead? maybe you have four average candidates? >> no, i think we've got four very good candidates. i think either four would be preferable to the current occupant of the white house on both issues, whether it's domestic issues or foreign affairs type issues. if you look at this economy and how it's dragged along and we still have over 8% in jobs and unemployment in this country, after passing the president's so-called economic stimulus package, spending over $800 billion and where are the jobs? and then his health care, the obamacare is dragging this country down. that's one of the main reasons small businesses aren't creating jobs right now. there's too much uncertainty in this economy. >> congressman, one of the things that i have seen certainly over the last couple of weeks really has been a shift on conversations about the economy to really conversations about social issues,

contraception has been a big topic, gay marriage has been a big topic. when it comes to senator santorum the role of women has been a big topic. good or bad for a general election campaign? >> we have pretty good experience with senator santorum here in pennsylvania. it was his focus on those type of issues, i think that did him in politically back in 2006. he took what i believe is the biggest loss any incumbent senator has taken in history with an 18-point defeat. so if he allows his campaign to go in that direction, i don't know if that helps him in the primary but it certainly going to be a liability in the general election. >> congressman, good morning. i want to ask you about one of the issues that are not only in the presidential race but in the house as well. the legislation that you are co-sponsoring in the house would allow not only religiously based employers but any employee to deny not only contraception but any service under health care review that they view is morally offensive. why is it necessary to go that

far? >> well, i think it's clearly been the tradition in this country and ought to remain that that businesses and churches get to follow the constitution and the constitution clearly states that people have the right to exercise their religion as they see fit. and this is a case -- this is, again, not about contraception but it's about religious freedom. this is a case where i would argue that the administration, obamacare in particular, and the way it's been interpreted by this administration, doesn't just step across a line, it is erases that line all together. >> so just to be clear, your view, any employer should be allowed to deny coverage of any service that they believe violates their moral code? >> it's not about denying coverage, it's about when people are providing health care for their employees or particularly -- >> insurance? >> in particularly, when you have religious catholic hospitals, for example, where it's a tenet of their faith that

one not have abortion-inducing drugs or sterilization or those type of things. why should we force religion to pay for those type of things. the president has tried to come up with a compromise but it hasn't compromised anything. it's really a wink and a nod and doesn't solve the problem. >> that sounds like a lengthy way of absing yes to ron brownstein's question. i want to give the final question to altmeyer. when you look at the unemployment rate in ohio. 8.1%. in lower than the national unemployment rate this 18.3%, as you both know. what do you think? how much is the economy going to play on super tuesday? >> i think the economy is going to play, in pennsylvania, in a very positive way for the future. we have assets with energy resources that put newss a unique position. ohio theirs some of that. when the candidates come into our region they're going to have to talk about the good thing we've done in the employment

market, why we're below the national averages and the decisions that have been made, very difficult decisions, to put news that decision. we we are at a different place than a lot of other states in the country. >> congressman altmire and congressman chabot. still ahead on "starting point," newt gingrich says each candidate should win his state. what happens if he loses georgia? our "get real" this morning is a pizza place telling parents get your agent together on your kids or we're going to kick them out. in fact, it's on the menu. that's a way to get clients. we're going to talk about that this morning. stay with us. st jobs across our country... ... scientists, technicians, engineers, machinists... ... adding nearly 400 billion dollars to our economy... we're at work providing power to almost a quarter of our homes and businesses... ... and giving us cleaner rides to work and school... and tomorrow, we could do even more. cleaner, domestic, abundant and creating jobs now.

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it's fun to watch ron brownstein rock out. he's -- >> nothing better than new year's eve with patti smith. every year. every year. >> yeah, uh-huh, uh-huh. all right. our "get real" this morning, children are to be seen and not heard. don't hear that a lot but it works its way into the latest story. grant central pizza in georgia, the owners are taking a stand against kids who are having melt downs. the menu offers pizza, pasta, calzones and a new disclaimer. we want to ensure that all diners have an enjoyable lunch or dinner with us. we respectfully ask that parents intend to their crying tots outside. this is in response to an incident in which a child apparently hit a customer in the

head with a toy. my children would never do that. oh. and also some reviews on yelp.com who complained about loud and unruly kids taking over the place. the customer said she dislikes the parents who allow it to happen enmore than the kids who have the melt downs. family restaurant, they just don't want kids to have meltdowns. >> it's good enough for church, good enough for pizza. i hope they go for airplanes next. >> how much kids do you have? >> first one due next month. >> so your world is about to change on this. >> i'm aware of that. i still support it. if churches can have a quiet room, so can restaurants. >> congratulations. >> you know what? listen. if you have a kid who is having a meltdown, someone having a strict rule is not helpful. >> it is true, you know, you are seeing more and more areas virtually very low rates of families with children. it's kind of almost like a separation out. i would have thought this would have been a rule in a restaurant in san francisco, perhaps right

here in manhattan. unusual place for that to be. >> when i had no kids i would get in line at starbucks, oh, those kids are badly behaved. now those are my children. >> i city think planes should have escape pods for screaming children. >> we can do better. >> i totally get that. at the same time, what's really more helpful is a waiter who comes over and tries to help you out. i get it. yes, eventually you do take your child outside to calm them down. two-minute window. >> no one is -- >> okay. a little bit -- nobody is happy in that. >> a little bit of difference in disagreeing and can you raise my child, waiter. it's america. you can have your wrong opinion if you want to. still ahead on "starting point," newt gingrich, is it george or bust? we'll talk about that. plus, god speed john glenn, 50 years since the first american orbited the earth. john glenn is going to join us live on "starting point." and had your shoes shined.

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♪ >> gun n' roses are from where? >> l.a. >> gun n' roses, will's -- >> not my country. >> not your play list, it's not willie nelson? >> yeah. >> i want to see her on her play list one of these days, mister. alina cho. >> it's not all country? >> i know, stunning, right? >> soledad, thank you very much. topping our news, syrian forces are shelling the city of homs. the rebel leader says it's an orphan revolution without the foreign support shown in other countries. the u.s. joint chiefs chairmen say it's talking about arming the opposition. in the 11 months since the uprising nearly 9,000 people have been killed. mission to cairo, senator

john mccain read leading congressional delegation to try to resolve the case of 19 american workers facing criminal charges. the charges are part of egypt's crack down on nongovernmental organizations. among the americans is sam lahood, son of u.s. transportation secretary ray lahood. mccain is meeting with the military leaders and accused americans. their trial is set to begin february 26th. eurozone finance minister is expected to approve a second bailout package for greece today after months of economic turmoil. greece continues to walk a financial tightrope. officials are hoping the deal will help the country restructure debts and put it on a more stable financial footing. johnson & johnson recalling the entire u.s. supply of infant tylenol because of a design flaw. the company got complaints from consumers who had trouble figures out how to use the dosing syringe include with the product. it involved some 575,000 bottles of grape flavored pain reliever

and fever reducer for infapts which just returned to store shelves twee months ago after an earlier recall. the company says no one has been hurt using the product. good news for fans of the colbert report if comedy central show is expected to resume prukz today. it abruptly shut down last week after stephen colbert's mother reportedly became ill. colbert tweeted this message, telling fans he was grateful and touched by their concern. eve sewe've seen a lot of t over the past week but this may be the best whitney houston tribute ever. take a look. ♪ i want to dance with somebody ♪ ♪ i want to feel the heat with somebody ♪ >> oh, yeah, that's right, 90-year-old grandmother dancing her heart out to the youtube video to a whitney houston song "i want to dance with somebody." her grandson says his grandma jean is legally blind and she's doing it to honor whitney. good for her. 90 years old smep looks great. all right. soledad? i know.

leaves you kind of speechless, doesn't it? it's cute. come on. >> so cute. what i love about it, she's in great shape. honestly, i wish my mom could move like that, at that age, she's -- >> enthusiastic, too. >> yes. >> something. >> but look. >> she wants to dance with somebody. >> all right. i need to turn now to political stories. santorum surge is what we're talking about politically. it actually shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. look at these poll numbers, new national gal lum tracking poll. it's newt gingrich in third place. going to bring in vince haley, campaign manager for newt gingrich. thank you for talking with us. would you guys throw that graphic back up again. not is newt gingrich in third place, 23 points behind rick santorum. how worried are you about these numbers? >> we have seen dra mat tick swings. 2012 is the year of the long

campaign, designed that bebe the rnc and because we have governor romney in the race trying to win the nomination of a conservative party and he's not very much of a conservative and he's spending millions and millions of dollars. so that is -- we see the central narrative of this race is that the voters don't want mitt romney. and they're looking for others. rick santorum now is having his surge and he's going to get his scrutiny in the media. >> is the central narrative of the race that the voter s do want newt gingrich? he talked a lot about a southern strategy and is looking forward to super tuesday xhr, which is l 13 days away. it's a distance away. is that still a mistake? >> no, we're working on having a strong showing on super tuesday. just keep in mind, even after super tuesday, 65% of the delegates are still up for grabs in is going to be a long campaign. gingrich has staying power. the reason he has staying power is he's the only candidate in this race who has achieved big change in washington.

in 2012, very important election in our lifetime we're going to need big change to get america back on the right track. gingrich in the '90s under his leadership. 11 million americans back to work. we reformed welfare. we cut taxes. 2% unemployment. it was big change and the american people liked it. he's got a plan today for doing that as well. today he's in oklahoma. he's going to be talking about energy. americans have few opportunities to see the failure of their government every day and they see the failure of their government every day when they go to the gas stations and rising prices. that is not a failure. doesn't have to be that way. gingrich has a strong program of getting our country's energy supplies back. >> i fear you are heading for filibustering for me. i'm going to stop you there. you mentioned oklahoma, one of the super tuesday states. alaska, georgia, idaho, massachusetts, north dakota, ohio, vermont, tennessee, wyoming. it's in there but again, it's not until march. >> two weeks. vince, can i ask you?

>> sure. >> if all four candidates stay in the race all of the way through, how will you put the odds that you will get to the convention without anyone have the majority of the delegates and would that be a good thing or bad thing for the party? >> i don't think it will be a bad thing. the good thing for the party is that people are talking about conservative solutions. that will be a good thing. certainly if one of the candidates breaks through and can paint a compelling picture of what it requires to change this spraigs administratiadmini america back to work, that will be great. i don't know if i can put odds on it but after super tuesday there will be a lot of the four candidates with lots of delicat delicates. it will continue. >> when newt gingrich talks about compromising with the clinton administration to help fix the economy in the 'points, isn't it fair to point out in large measure that was achieved by raising taxes on the highest income earners? >> no. >> under bill clinton, yes. >> not under newt gingrich. gingrich passed the largest

capital gains tax cut in history. that was the key moment to incentivize economic growth in the '90s. millions and millions of jobs created. i'm not sure what you're talking about when you talk about raising taxes under gingrich's leadership. >> i'm going to ask you a question about what gingrich said yesterday. could we play that sound bite, please? >> romney loses michigan, i lose georgia, you have a bad week in candidacy for any of us. i was home campaigning the last two days precisely to say to my friends back home, georgia really matters, you cannot take this for granted. >> georgia really matters. a what if he loses georgia? >> he also said if he would get out of the race if he loses georgia, he said, no. he clearly said it would be a weakened answer as it would be if romney lost michigan. >> why stay in the race? >> look, we have seen this race go up and down.

again, people have -- each candidate is going to have their scrutiny. and we've seen dramatic changes in the polls. i think gingrich has tremendous staying power. he's got bold solutions for the country to get the country working again. i think over time that message will get out. especially over energy. maybe this is filibustering. we need a dramatically better -- >> i can feel this getting into the filibustering. it's nice to have you. thanks. we appreciate your time. still ahead this morning on "starting point," john glenn is going to join us live, 50 years after he became the first american to orbit the earth. also, a new disney movie taking us to mars. we're going to talk to the man behind the movie which is called "john carter." also did "toy story" and "finding nemo." this is will's song again. one song.

welcome back. it was 50 years ago today that john glenn was the first american to orbit earth. >> the red light is on.

>> god speed, john glenn. five, four, three, two, one, zero. >> roger. the clock is operating. we're under way. follow that clear? roger, we're programming. we're all okay. it won't be long about here. stand by for 20 seconds. >> roger. >> two, one. roger. back up clock. >> roger. i love see that. i could see that 1,000 times. the flight lasted 4 hours, 55 minutes, 23 seconds. senator john glenn joins us this morning in columbus, ohio. it's nice to see you again, sir. thanks for talking with us. will you do me a favor and take us back to that moment we just got to see. this flight had been scuttled like ten times over a month

because of various issues. so the moment it was about to happen, what was going through your mind? >> well, you know, trained very hard for that flight. you had a number of things you were doing. you weren't just sitting there contemplating things in general. you were very busy, reading the gauges, read that information back to the block house to check with their instrumentation. so it was a very busy time period. we trained for that. we ran simulation after simulation to where you could hardly believe that we really -- i was really getting up there. finally of the 11th scheduled date, actually. >> so then, tell me about while you were orbiting, i read that you saw this thing outside your window that you relayed back, i believe, as fireflies. what happened when you said that? what was that like? >> that was something we couldn't train for and then didn't anticipate at all. at first light of sun rise i saw just like millions of them. they were about the luminous glowing color of fireflies

except they were a steady light. they didn't blink on and off like a fire ply. i used that to describe them anyway. and we found out later that what they were were particles from the heat exchange. we found that out on scott carpenter's flight, on the next flight. as far as the glow luminous color, white light acts that way from the sun and the atmosphere and the spacecraft coming back from the earth. i don't know if we ever have figure thad that one out quite . it was startling. it wasn't a problem, just something we hadn't anticipated. >> it would be like on that flight, things you hadn't anticipated on the bad side. the automatic control system, something else you hadn't anticipated. at the end of the first or bid there was trouble with that and you had to take manual control. >> yeah. >> what was going through your mind? were you afraid? did you -- were you nervous? >> well, that was something we hadn't anticipated also. it was planned to do almost all of the first two orbits on

automatic control where i wouldn't control at all. and then to take over manually one axis at a time, roll, pitch, or yaw, and see whether you can control each one of those and finally whether you can control by looking outside and control the spacecraft. these were some of the things we didn't really know or hadn't done at that time. and as it was, one of the little thrusters stuck and was wasting fuel. so i cut that off and went to manual control. right then was able to control it okay. and keep the attitude that i was supposed to have in orbit. but that was the first thing that went wrong. there was another one right at the end of the flight where there's an indication the heat shield might be loose and the latches had pulled. those radio signals had already gone down to the ground. we left the retropack on to help hold that heat shield in place and it worked okay. burned off the retropact and that made for a spectacular re-entry. >> a big old fireball. i remember the film of that is

incredible. quick final question for you. does it feel like it's been a long time, 50 years, or do you look up at those pictures and say, god, it feels like yesterday? >> it seems to me like about a week or two ago, soledad, because i -- i guess i've recalled it quite often over the past 50 years and that kept it fresh. it was such an impressive thing at the time that is indellably imprinted on my memory and i can recall those days very, very well. >> congratulations on the 50th anniversary. i could listen to him talk about that forever. imagine manually working on your roll and your pitch and your yaw from a space shuttle. >> he went back on the shut. >> of course, right. that was amazing. still ahead -- >> the right stuff. still ahead on "starting point," it was "avatar" before avatar was cool. civil war vet transported to mars and found a princess. a man who has directed this new

film from pixar is going to join us this morning. and also, a new way to get a quick caffeine buzz but they investigating caffeine i'll hears. really, coffee is not good enough anymore? >> pretty good delivery vehicle. >> that's ahead. stay with us. what's this? [ male announcer ] quaker oatmeal squares have 46 grams of whole grains... mmmm. ...and a touch of sweetness. you'll be delighted to discover how good they taste. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares on facebook.

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netany ♪ ron is coming out strong today musically speaking. wow, the lonely boys from the black keys. >> garage bands today. >> you missed that segment where i had to apologize to the band and take that back. i love them now. moving on, there is a new action adventure film hero in town in march. his name is john carter. the movie is based on a novel by edgar rice borrows about a civil war veteran transported to mars. >> get on. >> we did not cause this! but this very night, we will end it!

>> that looks so good. that looks so good. the man behind the movie is andrew stanton, academy award winning director. was it hard to go from animation to real people? i would think real people are more annoying to direct. >> well, some some of that might be true. but i never left animation. two of the characters are fully animated, so it was really like making an animated picture plus a live action picture. it was double the duty. >> i read you have been working on this since 2007. is that true? >> yes. >> do you like this better? do you see yourself moving into live action? going into animation? >> i have every right to go -- >> or staying in animation. >> i had every right to go home screaming in the middle of how hard this movie was. it was so daunting.

instead of shooting it all in front of green screen, we went everywhere we could look like that looked mars. >> don't you think george lucas wishes he had done that? >> the minute i saw it when i was 12 years old, i thought i was really there. i wanted it not to be fantasy, i wanted to be historical. what was it really like, even though it was fiction. >> for most people, "tar zan" is his most famous creation. how did john carter compare? >> it's a stranger in a strange land that finds sort of a secondary purpose. but after that, in carter, it's truly discovering an entire different society that has parallels to ours with lots of different conflicts, and it's really about falling in love. he is chasing for the most beautiful woman in the universe. >> they are always the most beautiful women. >> and he is probably the most handsome guy in the universe. >> of course. it's a movie.

let's play a clip. >> tars tarkas. captain john carter. virginia. >> virginia. virginia. >> no. my name is john carter. i'm from virginia. >> is it hard to make these interactions seem very human? or is it easier to do it in an animated film? that's what makes animated films work. >> they are both incredibly difficult. when you're in full animation, it's completely with what you can conjure in your head with a couple of things you may decide with the animator. i thought it was a luxury, i had the best actor in the world, willem dafoe, and i didn't have to make anything up.

when we animated it, i just said, do what willem does. >> let me ask you about steve jobs. you worked with him at pixar. what lessons did you take from him? it sounds like he was so picky and driving for perfection all the time. >> he was. but he also had tremendous respect for if you could do something he couldn't. he wanted to protect it. and that's what he did with pixar. he was our firewall. we were like free range chickens. he allowed us to make movies the way we wanted to without all the influences you would expect a movie studio to have. and the most important thing he ever said, it's our job to know what other people want before they do. and that's why we always trusted our gut and didn't worry about the demographics or the audience or anything. >> it's nice to have you. thanks for being with us. >> thank you so much. >> if you want to put any of us in a movie, we're all free. call our agents. straight ahead this morning on "starting point," senator john mccain says we should arm the syrian rebels. we'll talk to an expert who says

that idea is not a wise one. also, details about whitney houston's funeral. we'll talk to a family friend and the only television producer allowed inside the service. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. that's a big accomplishment to me. i don't know how much money i need. but i know that whatever i have that's what i'm going to live within. ♪ ♪

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good morning. welcome, everybody. our "starting point" this morning is this story. guy falls more than 1,000 feet, buried in the snow, as an avalanche buries three veteran skiers. also, whitney houston has now been laid to rest. we'll talk to close family friends this morning. and also a television producer who was invited to the service. also a little bit more about bobby brown and why he walked out of that service as well. plus, an arizona sheriff who is running for congress is also a former romney campaign co-chair and says he's gay and denies that he's threatened to deport his former lover. the story is a bit of a mess. we'll talk about that fallout. we'll hear from both sides. "starting point" begins

right now. ♪ come as you are ♪ as you were ♪ as i want you to be >> that's john's song this morning, nirvana. >> it's curt cobane's 45th birthday today. >> wow. we all feel a little bit older this morning. kristin has joined our panel. nice to have you joining us. >> nice to be here. >> will cain is with us. and as i mentioned, it's john's music we are listening to. let's start this morning by talking a little bit about whitney houston on "starting point." her journey home ending on sunday with a private burial. it took place in new jersey. she was laid to rest next to her father at a secemetery in westfield, new jersey. the service on saturday ended with whitney houston's greatest hit. listen. ♪ so goodbye ♪ please don't cry

♪ we both know i'm not what you need ♪ ♪ and i >> that's such a beautiful song. such a beautiful song. that service which we covered live for four hours on saturday afternoon was so beautiful. but you really at the end when they played her, you know, her song, that was the theme from "the bodyguard" you have listened to all of these other tremendous vocalists singing, you realization how her voice was the gift. >> and how her gift to us transcended the later tragedies of her life. i was in los angeles all week, and i was amaze the -- amazed at the cynicism. i think millions of americans felt they knew whitney houston better than they know their own coverage. and we have more americans dying of prescription drug overdoses every year that die in car accidents. there are so many reasons this is relevant for all of us,

because the navel gazing and the fact that we are we addicted to watching addicts and seeing someone going in a downward spiral. was funeral was all about her life and her joy. and good for chris christie as well for standing up if that are and saying we're not going to judge someone based on the lowest part of their life. >> we have one cnn producer joining us. is she -- oh, she's going to come in the studio. are you there? typical producers are going to come in on her own time when he's ready. just kidding. she is one of the cnn producers. we had numerous producers helping us out on the story, and she was one of the very few to be able to go inside the church. while the service was going, she was helping all of us on the outside. where we were physically kept, which was actually quite a distance from the church. probably 100 yards or more. and the family had been very aggressive about, you know, wanting to sort of draw that line. they didn't want a lot of fans. they didn't want a lot of cameras certainly, which you can totally understand. but at the same time, they also, you know, people were very

interested in what was happening in her life. come on in ray lynn. just ignore the cameras. come and sit. we wanted to chat with you a little bit about how the service went. >> sure. >> have a chair. >> thank you. >> you had a ticket. >> yes, i did. >> and you invited to go into the service. it seemed from the outside it was the most amazing thing. i thought the tone they struck was remarkable. what was it like to be inside? >> it was like i said three hours of great church on a saturday morning, which most people would say church on a saturday morning, no thank you. but if you go to church like where i go to, at a baptist church, it's the greatest thing because you're singing, you're clapping, you're rejoicing. and it's exactly what was going on. >> were people upset? it seemed so joyful at times. sometimes people were literally at the podium and telling jokes and people would laugh. >> it was needed. i didn't know kevin costner was so funny, but that comeadic relief was needed so many times.

and for the three hour ceremony -- >> three hours and 45 minutes. >> it was a concert. and it wasn't until they hoisted the casket up that i said, ok, this is a funeral now. >> your brother is a baptist preacher, right? >> yes. >> there were so many pastors who said to me, let's set this straight. this is worship. this is not a concert. this is not a performance. this is church. and this is really a going home service. >> right. and it was. it was truly that. and i think when tyler perry spoke, a lot of people screamed afterwards, that i was like, preach, preach, tyler. because you didn't know that version of him. but you can tell that everyone who was in that service were church-goers. >> and knew her personally. >> that's right. >> it wasn't someone talking very generically. what happened with the bobby brown thing? he has a statement of course about what happened. and you were in the church. >> i was. >> what happened? >> so bobby brown comes in with three other people, which are the same three people we see outside in that video. comes in. >> was it nine people? >> i never saw nine people.

>> ok. >> came inside the church. he comes in, looks at the casket and comes straight up the aisle for all of us to see him. i was in about row 15 through 20. and it looked a little bit of a show in the sense that, well, if you just want to come and see the body that, should have happened at the funeral home. no one came to come see the casket. and he walked up in front of the aisle. when i saw him, he looked so broken down i thought, he is moving somewhere else because he is a mess and he doesn't want us all looking at him. and a lot of people moved their seats because there was a little dance because some people would come in with security. governor christie had a large security team. these were people who needed to have people in place. vivica fox. i saw lots of people move their seats around. so to say he was, you know, told you must move, that just wasn't the case. a lot of people moved around. >> he also took great exception to the word entourage was used.

he said these were my children. they travelled 12 hours to get to this service. and the story that was coming out was a little wrong. >> i agree. and i understand about the word "entourage." but at the same time, if there is this rift between the houstons and the brown family, you can't imagine him issuing a statement while her body is still there at the funeral made that any better. >> he did say this. actually, i think we have it on tape because he did go on to perform with new edition that evening and here's what he said. >> i want to give blessings to my ex-wife, whitney houston. i love you. i want to give a lot of blessings to my kids. my fiancee. my brothers. and all of you. >> it was such a sad thing to happen at a funeral. i mean, on all sides. i thought for him, for the

family, just for everybody. >> i think it was so hard especially for cissy houston. you can imagine, walking behind your daughter's casket, and maybe for a long time now you have been trying to help her get through this problem. and to know that maybe you saw that day coming, that must be really hard. >> that's the worst part. children dying before their parents. >> oh, gosh. i cannot imagine. she was really stoic i thought. and dion warrick as well. she was kind of the coefficient of the service, and she really did a beautiful job i thought. >> for those of us who were fans of whitney's singing voice had hoped one day she would go on to record some great gospels like aretha did after her pop career ended. two of her best albums are gospel. and we were hoping to see whitney houston continue touring post pop vocal. it was a poignant ending. i think like elvis, if she had lived longer, it would have been

great to see that other career. >> thank you for helping us out over the weekend and the week before as well. >> thank you. we have other headlines making news. alina has that. good morning. three skiers are dead after an avalanche at a resort in washington state. authorities say they fell about 1,500 feet. a dozen skiers buried in snow had to dig themselves out. all of them accounted for now. the area was out of bounds for skiers. heavy snow fell in the area about 19 inches in the past 24 hours. a fourth skier was saved by an inflatable safety device that kept her from going under. new this morning, iran has cut off oil to the uk and france in retaliation for all 27 eu countries putting sanctions on iran's oil exports starting in july. u.n. inspectors are in iran today for another round of nuclear talks. the iaea report back in november warned that iran could be on its way to developing a nuclear weapon.

iran insists the efforts are peaceful. an out of control prison riot leaves 44 inmates dead. it happened in northern mexico. a brawl broke out between members of two warring drug cartels and then went wild with some prisoners even setting fire to a mattress. officials fear the riot could have been cover for an escape. minding your business now, u.s. markets are closed for presidents' day today. investors will however keep an eye on greece and quarterly earnings from major retailers when the markets reopen tomorrow. got a serious caffeine fix? right now you can literally inhale it. but maybe not for long. the fda is investigating the safety of a caffeine inhaler called aeroshot. it's about the size of a chap stick and gives you a buzz with just a couple of breaths. but u.s. senator chuck schumer fears that kids could get hooked and cause health problems. the manufacturer says the product is safe and that you can use it up to three times a day. >> huh.

weird. >> there you have it. i can't imagine. i'm just a coffee drinker, so i know you don't really -- >> yeah. it's the whole process of -- mmm. weird. alina, thank you. still ahead this morning on "starting point," senator john mccain says the syrian rebels need to be armed. but an expert on the arab spring says that's not a good idea and that syria is not libya. also a gay arizona sheriff that is running for congress is outed and his quit the romney campaign. he is also denying charges that he tried to kick a former lover out of the country. we'll tell you both sides of this story. and does it pay to go to school? a new principal's plan to sweeten the deal, and we're talking cash money for kids. year watching "starting point." we'll be back in a moment. i'm robert shapiro. over a million people have discovered how easy it is to use legalzoom for important legal documents.

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the opposition says that syrian forces are shelling homes for a 17th straight day. nearly two dozen people were killed over the weekend alone.

meantime, protests in syria are reaching damascus. hundreds of people taking to the streets. mostly middle class neighborhood. protesting near the presidential palace. rebel leaders say the uprising is orphan revolution without any foreign help. senator john mccain who has decades of foreign policy experience made another call to arm the opposition, saying on sunday this. i believe there are ways to get weapons to the opposition without direct united states involvement. the iranians and the russians are providing bashar assad with weapons. people that are being massacred deserve to have the ability to defend themselves, end quote. u.s. joint chiefs chairman says it is premature to be arming syrian rebels. robin wright covered the area for a long time as a reporter. she knows it well. it's nice to have you. great to see you again. let's start with what senator john mccain has said, who has tons of experience on this front. also, lindsey graham as well.

basically, saying the same thing, arm the rebels. good idea or bad idea? >> it's a bad idea. >> why? >> first of all, the opposition is divided into three different parts. you have the free syrian army which is a group of defectors estimated to be between 10,000 and 25,000. then there is the syrian national council, a group of exiles based overseas. and a third group of internal very loosely affiliated local coordinating committees who are trying to keep track of what's going on on the ground, coordinate protests and so forth. but they all are not coordinating with each other. there's no plan. and when you talk about getting involved in somebody else's conflict, whether directly or indirectly, there has to be a sense of what comes next. and that's one of the real serious gaps in this crisis. everyone agrees that has become a level of crimes against humanity. the question is, what can you actually do about it that's going to make an impact? >> and what's been done is this nonbinding resolution that's been passed, which basically endorses a plan for the syrian

president to step down. but i think nonbinding is the critical part of that. what is the point of that? what is the next step that actually is a real next step? >> the problem is the russians and the chinese from vetoed a resolution at the united nations that would actually put some teeth or meaning into international action. the russians and the chinese are very afraid of setting the precedents of doing again what the international community did in libya. and that's really not a viable solution for syria. it's a very different kind of society. lots of different stakes, different kind of leadership, different allies. it gets much more complicated. and that's the problem. what do you? and i think one of the things the international community or the west, the arabs, the united states have to begin with is trying to work with the opposition in terms of saying, work together, come up with a plan, coordinate together so there's a sense of what the alternative is to the current regime. >> so, robin, if the opposition were united, would you be in favor of arming them?

is this just a question of if these guys get their act together, then they are worthy of getting guns from the west? >> i'm not sure it's guns from the west. i think the bigger players are really those in the region, whether it's the turks. the prime minister there has been very involved in talking about whether setting up a humanitarian corridor or giving rerefuge who are crossing the border, the syrian national army, the syrian national council, the saudi arabian leadership, which has led the way in crafting an arab solution or alternative plan that would see president assad step down, hand over power to the vice president and call for national elections. there needs to be some more kind of step-by-step approach rather than leaping into the issue of arming the rebels. >> let me ask you a question about egypt, because senator mccain is visiting egypt and we know that americans are being held there who were working with the pro democracy ngos. i want to play you a little bit

about what he said about egypt. >> i am not a negotiator, but i think it's important that i and the other senators in the delegation explain to the egyptian leadership that this is a serious situation, has serious implications for our relationship. >> there's a trial date that has been set. and it's soon. it's next sunday. no one is really using the word "hostage" but is that an appropriate word right now? >> we are getting there. it's really a staggering development. this has been the united states' closest ally in the arab world for 30 years. we have channelled over $30 billion to the egyptians just in military aid. and they are jeopardizing $1.3 billion today. the fact is, president obama has twice called the field marshall who is effectively head of state, head of the military ruling egypt today. secretary of state clinton, the defense secretary, right across the board, the united states has tried to say to the egyptians, this really is unacceptable. this has never happened in the

history of u.s. aid to democratic programs around the world. and to have it happen in egypt makes it all the more astounding. >> robin wright for us this morning. nice to see you. thanks for the information on this front. we appreciate it. >> thank you. still ahead this morning, a principal paying kids to show up for school? is this the right approach or the wrong approach? steve perry thinks it's wrong. we'll talk to him up next. and then taking the puns down the racial road. espn is firing a staffer after this offensive headline about jeremy lin. this morning, lin responds. we'll talk about that as "starting point" continues. stay with us. [ horn honks ]

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welcome back, everybody. a high school in cincinnati is paying its students to come to class. the school's principal says it's an effort to get kids off the streets and into the classroom. >> this is a community program, so if there are students that's out here that's just hanging out on the streets, we want to encourage them to come to school. >> students who are on time every day get visa gift cards. seniors can earn up to $25 a week. underclassmen get $10. and each time a student gets paid, the school puts $5 into a savings account which they can get when they graduate. is cash for going to class a good idea? steve perry is live with us. no music today, steve? what's with that, in be one? >> i had no requests for that. maybe the producers are sleepily. >> i'm going to be nicer to you today. some people think that when we

fight we are arguing. good idea or bad idea? >> it's a bad idea. number one, because it's not sustainable and two because it doesn't work. one of the biggest study done by roland frey is inconclusive. what he found in a later paper is that there are five characteristics that do make for successful schools, and none of them are paying kids. >> you know, sometimes when they do a spin on that, when they pay kids to read books, right, a certain numbers of dollars per book, or there's a study in chicago where they paid kids -- it improved tapdance. attendance. maybe not test scores. but what is wrong with that? i think middle class kids get paid sometimes in cash and sometimes in you get to go to ballet class or drive mom's car. why is this bad morally? >> that's not payment. and you can say whether it's moral -- i don't know if it's a moral issue as much as the fact is here is a school that is purported to have a 14% graduation rate. nobody in that school this be

paid. not the kids, not the staff, not anyone. one of the reasons that school is failing is because it's failing to engage the children. you see throughout the country in urban areas and rural areas schools in which the children are being encouraged to participate because they have i expectations put upon them and nothing substitutes for that. >> but that's a good long-term thing, right? creating a compelling academic experience is a great long-term strategy. but short-term, you don't think paying is a good idea? >> no, no. steve, i have to say, i'm with soledad. isn't this is a -- >> i'm not sure how i feel about it yet actually. >> isn't this just an effort to create for kids who are in a more difficult environment the kinds of incentives that kids in middle class families have? i mean -- >> absolutely not. absolutely not. in fact, what it is, it's another gimmick that shows that we don't understand how to fix schools. and there is no such thing as a short-term fix for a long-term

problem. one way or another we have to invest in the solutions, and the solutions are to close failed schools, put people in place who can run effective schools and create the kind of academic experience that middle class families have. the reason why middle class kids want to go to those schools is because there were no gimmicks put in place. >> so do you think this is just a short cut by a failing school and it's the principal trying to get some headlines and people saying, yeah, he's trying to do something interesting? >> i don't know that it's about him getting headlines. but i do know this is not going to work. when we look at some of the other models, even my good friend jeffrey canada or someone like michelle reed, they did some of this down in d.c., or the kip schools. many tout them as they give money. but they participate in a more compelling academic experience so that if at the end of the road you have all of these other incentives like frequent teacher feedback, high dosage tutoring, and on and on, then on top of

that you say, oh, by the way, we're going to give you pencils for doing well on this examination, we're going to give you privileges because you're a senior and you have earned them. it's part of a greater context. that's what school is about. we have to realize that kids are kids. they're not stupid. simply because they are poor it doesn't mean they are money hungry. our children are more sophisticated than that. what you give them is hard core expectations and a deep dose of love, and i promise you'll get them to come to school. >> i feel like saying amen, pastor perry. nice to see you, steve. appreciate that. i can't believe people think we argue. steve and i are like this, really. ahead this morning on "starting point," a strange scandal unfolding in arizona. this is such an odd story. it involves a sheriff who's gay who has now stepped down from working on mitt romney's campaign. he has an ex-boyfriend who is accusing him of using his power as a sheriff to try to get him deported. complicated. also, obamas meet the cosby show. "saturday night live's" hilarious sendup. we'll show you some of that

straight ahead. ♪ ( whirring and crackling sounds ) man: assembly lines that fix themselves. the most innovative companies are doing things they never could before, by building on the cisco intelligent network.

♪ way on down south ♪ londontown ♪ thumbs up. wow. just a good musical selection today. that is dire strait, "sultans of swing." how long has it been since i heard that? all right. headlines to get to. alina cho has that. >> good morning. dismissing a threat from the north. south korea conducted live fire military drills near the disputed sea border with north korea. pyongyang had promised to respond if the south went ahead with that. the drills were held in the same area of the yellow sea that was the target of an attack in 2010 that killed four people. another human skeleton has turned up in a wooded area on

the eastern end of long island, new york. authorities are now trying to determine if the remains are connected to 10 other sets of remains that were found on a remote beach about 40 miles to the west. police suspect at least some are victims of a serial killer preying on prostitutes. the south sopped with a messy winter storm. tens of thousands losing power across the region. snow, sleet, and rain also triggered pileups across tennessee, north carolina, and virginia. celebrating the golden anniversary of america's first orbit of earth. exactly 50 years ago today, astronaut john glenn made the historic johnsurney around our planet, paving the way for the first moon landing just seven years later. glenn talked about his groundbreaking voyage earlier in the show with soledad. >> does it feel like it's been a long time, 50 years, or do you look at those pictures and say, god, it feels like yesterday? >> it seems to me like about a week or two ago, soledad,

because i guess i am recalled it quite often over the past 50 years and that's kept it fresh. but it was such an impressive thing at the time that it's indelibly imprinted on my memory. >> feels like a week ago, huh? glenn's flight revived the nasa program, setting the u.s. on a path to cold war victory. an aspen get away for first lady michelle obama and the kids. mrs. obama is treating daughters sasha and malia to a private ski trip in colorado. the first lady's spokesperson says all personal expenses are being paid for by the obamas. they are staying with friends who own a chain of ski resorts in the area. and it's must-see tv maybe not for the gop but the democrats may like this. instead of "the cosby show" it was "the obama show" on "saturday night live." watch.

>> i also hereby veto the rice cakes that michelle said were healthier. i think one of the children must have made it. >> they even got the wardrobe right for michelle obama. >> maya rudolf is hilarious. she always nails it. thank you. this morning, a story that is just really strange. i'll preface it with that. it gained headlines -- this is a sheriff gained headlines for a very tough stance on illegal immigration. he is also the co-chair of mitt romney's arizona campaign committee. his name is sheriff paul babu and he is now stepping down from the mitt romney job and coming out after allegations were published last week in a newspaper in phoenix. those allegations claim that the sheriff had threatened to deport an ex-boyfriend if he, the sheriff, revealed their relationship. now the sheriff babeu says he is

gay. he denies he tried to have his ex-boyfriend deported. he is running for congress and will stay in the race and says all of these accusations are an attempt to hurt his political career. this is just so complicated. but miguel marquez is in florence, arizona. i tried to give the nuts and bolts. it's a little bit unbelievable, isn't it? >> reporter: soledad it is one of those stories that if it didn't happen, you would never, ever believe it is true. we talked to jose, the man at the center of this controversy last night. and he told us in completely explicit terms that he is here legally. that he was a volunteer for the sheriff for several years. and in some ways this is a love story that just went bad. he says he fell in love with babeu, but babeu did not fall in love with him, and that's when things started to go bad. jose had run some websites for babeu. babeu claimed he hacked into his twitter account. jose says that's just not true.

and then the lawyers started in. and that's when things really started to heat up. the new times reporter who broke this story described to cnn last night how it is that the threat of deportation came about. >> the evidence comes from the attorney who received those threats from paul babeu's attorney as they were discussing this document they wanted jose to sign. and she made it clear that her client wasn't interested in doing that. that's when they started raising questions about his visa, saying that it had expired, saying that he wasn't in the country legally. >> now, specifically what that lawyer claims is that the lawyer for mr. babeu, a guy named chris derose, called her up and said, i understand he is on an expired student visa. jose says that is absolutely not true. babeu denies ever threatening deportation or having his lawyer threaten deportation.

coming up in the hours ahead, we're going to have a lot more with that interview with jose himself so you guys can see for yourself. >> wow. this is sort of like the definition of a hot mess, isn't it? really. let me ask you a couple of questions. we know that the sheriff has stepped down from the romney campaign, yes? >> yes. he has indeed. and he says that the romney campaign never asked him to step down. that he called them on his own volition, stepped back from that so as not to bring any concern to them or any dark clouds to the romney campaign here in arizona. but he's going to continue to run for congress here in the fourth district. and that's really what he's trying to save now. >> wow. well, i tell you, you're right. the way you started, you wouldn't believe it if you didn't -- if it weren't actually true. and now it's involving lawyers, it must be true. miguel marquez with that update. still ahead on "starting point," rick santorum is taking a lead in the polls.

he's been targeting president obama. his tactics changing as he tackles faith and social issues in a must carry state. plus, it was sort of -- i don't think it was even a pun. it was just a racial slur, and it made it right into a jeremy lin headline, completely inappropriate. now jeremy lin is responding. we'll tell you what he had to say. you're watching "starting point." we're back in a moment. when you have diabetes... your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's new glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes. [ male announcer ] new glucerna hunger smart. in the works package, we change the oil we change the filter... tire rotation, suspension, we make suspension checks... what we have here is the multi-point inspection. every time a vehicle comes into a ford dealership you'll be presented with one of these. we check the belts, hoses... brakes. tires and the pressures... battery, all your fluids... exhaust system, transmission...

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a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪ welcome back, everybody. new national gallup poll to share with you. rick santorum riding high with 21 points from a month ago. he now has an eight-point lead over mitt romney. we have the national communications director for rick santorum with us this morning. let's walk through some of these numbers.

if you see rick santorum at 36%, back in january he was at 15%. mitt romney at 28%. and it's newt gingrich who is at 13%. explain to me why this surge. i think it's fair to call it a surge. >> i don't know that i can put one specific thing on it. but i do know this. i think it's important to note that i feel like voters can relate to rick santorum. and almost as importantly if not more importantly, i think rick santorum can relate to the voter. i think we have seen that over the span of this campaign. it started in iowa. and of course the three-state victory in missouri, minnesota, and colorado were also very important. but it just shows an overall understanding that rick santorum is able to relate to people and explain to them how great we are as a country, and what made america great. but he also explains how we have fallen off that greatness to some degree, and then he just kind of wraps it in with how he can make the country great again. i think people are looking for that vision. and someone to articulate a message of hope that we can be a

great country again and rick santorum is that person. >> so when we look at the numbers -- let's throw up this next poll, which is republicans choice for nominee, and we look at women only, it's really mitt romney. that surge actually doesn't translate to women. so that relating doesn't seem to actually include relating to women. what do you think is the issue with that? i had a hard time getting an answer from the press secretary al stewart the other day, so i'll try again. why the gap with women? >> well, i wouldn't -- i mean, some polling might indicate that at this point. but we've still got a ways to go very far the actual votes are cast. and i think when they realize rick santorum -- i mean, they see him as a politician to some degree. they see him as a presidential candidate. but they haven't really gotten a chance to see him as a father. and they got a brief snippet of that when he had to cancel some campaign events to run home to be with his daughter. and they haven't really got a chance to meet karen santorum yet. and i think as we begin to unfold that in the weeks ahead and people see who he is as a

person and as a dad and as a husband, that will help women understand who he is as well. but also the things he's been able to do over his career to fight for withomen and give the the rights to work from home and extended maternity leave. the more they learn about rick santorum the more they'll like him, and you'll see that surge then. it's taken a long time. we didn't have the money of some campaigns or the high profile nature of some campaigns, but we sent a messenger out with a good message, and it's taken a little longer, but of course now it seems like he has done very well. and is resonating with a large majority of the country. and we feel like women will be in that group soon enough. it's just going to take some time for them to get to know him. >> i'll just correct you, i don't think those numbers show resonating with a large majority of the country. i don't think the polls are showing that. but on saturday, this is what rick santorum had to say about president obama. listen. >> it's not about your jobs. it's about some phony ideal,

some phony theology. not a theology based on the bible, a different theology, but no less a theology. >> what's that mean? he's talking about president obama not about jobs, about a phony ideal. not a theology based on the bible, a different theology. well, what do you mean? >> right. well, i think rick has been very clear and probably the only candidate in this race who has actually defended the president's christianity and his only personal beliefs. what rick was talking about was the president's ideology has turned into a theology of sorts, and he was talking about -- you didn't play the clip before that but he was talking about the energy crisis in this country. skyrocketing gas prices across the nation. people are upset and people are angry. but what drives that is a refusal by this president to adequately address energy problems. and instead focusing on green energy and -- >> right. but what he said was -- i hear you.

all right. i'm just going to stop you so we can run over this last part because i really want to understand this. the words he actually said, was not a theology based on the bible. he didn't say a theology based on the gas pump. he said not a theology based on the bible. what does that mean? >> i think he was clear about that. he went on several sunday shows after that and talked about that in subsequent interviews and there were rewrites and write throughs in all of the stories across the country about that. he wasn't questioning the president's personal beliefs. he can separate the president's personal beliefs with his public policy. and that's what he was talking about. was that theology, and that ideology, he has as relates to energy is not good for the country. i don't think anyone can argue that seeing the increase in gas prices and the crippling effect that has on families across this nation. and that's what he was talking about. and you saw in the crowd the people in the crowd got it. the journalists were the ones that were confused. the crowd got it. they applauded. >> well, our job is to ask the questions again and again. i hear you. >> he is willing to take on the

president one-on-one and he's not going to shy away from that battle. and i think that's what people want, someone to fight for them and can articulate for them to a president who has succumb to the environmental extremists. >> one last question. do you think -- there are many people who have said looking at the poll numbers that in fact rick santorum could take michigan. if that's true, do you think mitt romney should drop out of the race? >> oh no. we have never been about calling for people to drop out of the race. this is a long process. and michigan is an important state. but it's not the only state. we'll fight for every vote we can, of course. but it's romney's home state. and he's planted a flag there, and he's done commercials talking about how he's grown up there. so it's clear he thinks that that state is important to him. he has even claimed he is going to win michigan. so the pressure is squarely on mitt romney at this point. we are going around this country trying to win every vote we can, every congressional district we can, and show that rick santorum is the right person to take on president obama. and we think that when you put up a conservative against the president, that's going to be

the difference we need to make. >> nice to have you. thank you for talking with us. we appreciate it. my apologies for the noise behind you. it sounds so loud to me, so it must be really loud for you. >> it's a working newsroom here. >> shoot, this is a working newsroom too. we're a little more quiet when our guests are on the set. we appreciate your time. >> thank you. still ahead on "starting point," linsanity's ugly side. we'll talk about that straight ahead. you're watching "starting point." we're back in just a moment. ♪

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another win this sunday for jeremy lin and the new york knicks. it's now like jeremy and the rest of the team, and those other guys. headline writers having a lot of fun and sometimes really stretching a lot with lin's name, using puns of course. there are some examples that you're looking at right there over the last week. but there's been a couple of incidents as well that caused a lot of controversy. on sunday, an espn employee was fired for posting a headline

with a racial slur. an anchor suspended for using the same slur on the air. and the network is also investigatori investigating a similar slur used on the air. this is "the new york post" today. lin-phomania. who comes up with this headline? is this racist? no. is it stupid? kind of. yes. will cain is trying to formulate. >> it's sort of clever. >> way short of clever. >> but 10 years ago, i don't think you would have seen this kind of outcry, and i think it shows some positive signs for our culture that racism is now a very public i.q. test. >> espn quickly apologized for the headline that is actually so bad that we are not allowed -- literally, i am not allowed to tell you what that headline is. you can google it. but they wrote this in their apology.

we apologize, especially to mr. lin. his accomplishments are a source of great pride to the asian american community, really everybody, including the asian american employees at espn. >> yes. >> you don't even know what to say. >> political correctness, will. >> am i going to attack political correctness? i think jeremy lin's appearance on the national stage raises so many questions. last week there was a headline in "the new york post" that said amasian. it raises questions. when can you root for someone -- >> you fail john's public i.q. test when you use a racial slur. full stop. >> of course, race is a factor. but this is a line that sports journalists will have to walk now very tastefully with their attempts to be kind of clever. >> don't use a racial slur. which is what jeremy lin. espn has apologized. there's no -- i don't think it was on purpose or whatever.

and at the same time, they have apologized. so for my end, i don't care anymore. i have learned to forgive and get on, and i don't think that was intentional or hopefully not. >> this is not to defend the espn headline. the point is this. if you have a public i.q. test and you know so clearly where the public correctness lines are, why don't you guys publish a sheet for us? >> we don't have time. >> a new book idea. write it. i'd appreciate it. >> i like the fact that seeing so many americans get easily outraged over a slur against asians. i think it shows how far we've come. >> i think we get so outraged because we are looking for something to be outranged about. [ dentist ] as jill's dentist, i know her gums are a foundation of her healthy smile. that's why i recommend crest pro-health clinical gum protection. it helps eliminate plaque at the gum line, helping prevent gingivitis. it's even clinically proven to help reverse it in just 4 weeks. crest pro-health clinical gum protection.

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♪ i'll be somewhere down in texas ♪ ♪ if you're looking for me . >> who is this?

>> george strait. i'll be somewhere down in texas. >> i'm going to be an honorary texan by the end of this show. let's get right to our "end point." will cain, do you want to start me off? >> i want to go back to the story with steve perry about paying kids for going to school. whether or not it's a good program or not, we have ceased to progress in our education system. i think it's good to allow schools to experiment. it may not work. it may work. let them try some things out, experiment. >> i will agree with you on that. on that one point only. john? >> sunday, campaign 2012 will be over. and mitt romney will never have to wear that l.l. bean dad jeans costume again. which i am happy for. i'm not going to judge bobby brown, but will judge whoever gives bobby brown a brand-new reality show in the next three weeks. and it's worth reminding rick santorum and his campaign that jesus never once condemned birth control or gay people, never fought for tax