across syria today. syrian state television reports a terrorist explosion in one northern city. that will do it for me today. state of the union with candy crowley starts right now. romney has math. rick santorum has momentum. neither is inevitable. today -- >> it's pretty sad when all you have to do is math instead of trying to go out there and win it on substance. >> presidential candidate rick santorum on the rugged road to tampa. next, afghanistan's ambassador to the u.s. getting a grip on a come pli indicated on u.s. ambassador to afghanistan and former director of intelligence dennis player. then, the push to november.

anita dunn and former republican committee chairman ed gilespi. i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." rick santorum has a sharper edge to him. he understands he needs to change the dynamic. >> the problem is, the republicans in this country are thinking about putting somebody with the same positions as president up. if this is about tweedle dee and dweedl dumb, we will lose. >> santorum's real weakness is his plan economic illiteracy, inexcusable, the worst idea of any gop candidate. >> joining me now, former senator rick santorum. thanks so much for being with us. i want to start out by asking about the new ad that mitt

romney has up and running in illinois where you will next meet in puerto rico. he said, listen, you've never run a business and you've never run a state. and so how can you possibly be an executive? and both those things are true, are they not? >> well, i have never run a state, that's for sure. i have worked in business. i worked in -- with a small technology company for three years after i left the united states senate. >> this is sort of managing something. >> well, no, i was the number two guy at a small technology company and did in fact help manage and get this company off the ground and as a startup and it was a great experience and one that i learned a lot through that process. so that's not completely accurate. i'm oon on the board of a public company. i'm a lawyer and practiced law for a while. but the real issue is,

running -- running a business is not the same as being president of the united states. look at what governor romney did when he was governor of massachusetts. 47th out of 50 states in job creation. raising taxes about $758 million. imposing a huge government-run health care system with taxes and fines and fees and manned dates. that's a record that i understand he's running from. but it's the public record that really is at stake here and if governor romney thinks that is he the ceo of america and can run and manage the economy, he doesn't understand what conservatives believe in. we don't want someone in washington, d.c., to manage the economy. we want washington out of our lives, to reduce these mandates, get rid of romneycare which we call obamacare and do things to get this economy going by believing in the private sector. >> let me ask it to you this way. because you do have to manage a

very large executive branch. you are kind of the ceo of that. so when we look at illinois, you are ineligible for ten of the 69 delegates that are at stake on tuesday because you didn't file enough signatures. you're not going to be on the ballot in the district of columbia. you weren't on the ballot in virginia. not full slates in tennessee and ohio where you could have picked up more delegates. what does that say about your ability to manage if you can't get these process things done to run for president? >> that's pretty funny, candy. governor romney spent about $70 million, had huge amounts of resources, huge staff. you know, during the time that these delegates had to be filed for these states, i was driving around in a truck with a guy named chuck in iowa breathing through a wizzle stick and running a marathon. the amazing thing is, we're on as many states as we are given the resources that we had and the lack of af tension that we

had from the media and yet we devoted resources in december. when i was sitting at 2 and 3% in the national polls, i decided not to spend money in iowa. i decided to get on the ballots in all of these states, use the very scarce resources we had, not to put television ads to invest in iowa and we had to use volunteer efforts in a lot of states where they required petition signatures and we did an amazing job except for the small handful of states where we came up a little short in some delegates, we were able to get volunteers and organize a campaign. can you imagine -- think about what we've done in this campaign with the limited resources. we're now here. no one gave us a chance. we didn't have any of the resources that any of these other candidates had and yet because of our organizational ability, our ability to take limited resources and turn them into votes and winning ten states, that's amazing with the fact that we've been out spend

10 to 1 just in our campaign and with the super pac, more ten to one. the real question you should ask is why hasn't he been able to do anything to get this nomination even close to cemented away. >> but that's a political question as opposed to a -- that's a political question -- >> no, it's not. it's not a political question at all. no, i disagree with that. when you have resources and this amount of advantage, you can't imagine and deliver the mail that shows a real weakness in his ability to govern. >> let me ask you to this delegate race. if there comes a point that it is clear you cannot get 1,144 delegates before the end of the primary process, would you stay in to deny mitt romney, that nomination?

if he could still get it and -- >> first, candy, number one, our calculation of the delegate count is very different than what is out there. >> sure. this is just a hypothetical. >> we are undercounted. >> sure. >> i take it that you -- >> if you should get to a point where you no longer -- you look at it and your math says to you, i can't get enough delegates in this process, would you say, but i'm going to stay in and deny it to mitt romney and go for that brokered convention? >>. >> well, obviously we are in this to win. we're in it because we think we're the best candidate to take on president obama and we believe governor romney is not. he's uniquely disqualified on obamacare and bailouts and cap and trade and government control of your lives that there's very little difference in some of the big issues of the day and that's a great vulnerability.

what i'm hearing is that we want a conservative nominee, that the establishment is trying to push a moderate like they did in 1976 against ronald reagan, like they did in 1996 with bob dole and what they did with john mccain. i think conservatives would like an opportunity to nominate a conservative and that's an opportunity. >> is that a yes, that you would stay in it to force a brokered convention, rather than your winning through the primary process is over? >>. >> well, the hypothetical presumes this. that governor romney cannot get there. if he can't get there with the huge advantage that he has, that tells you something about his support within the republican base, which is vitally important to be energyized and the likelihood that he will be successful, for him not being

able to be successful, he's not going to have those overwhelming advantages in the ee lx. and if he can't win a state, that would tell you that would not object the strongest candidate. >> i'm not sure i got a totally direct answer to that so i want to move you to something that's been on your website that's gotten a lot of buzz and your position on pornography and one of the things you say in promising a tougher crackdown on pornography is, quote, the obama department of justice seems to favor important nothing graph officers over children and family. do you honestly believe there are people in the department of justice who favor important nothing gra officers over children and families? >> you have to look at the proof under the prosecution. under the bush administration, important nothing graph officers were prosecuted much more

rigorously than the obama administration. you draw your conclusion. the administration has not put a -- >> what is your conclusion? >> they have not put a priority on prosecuting these cases and in doing so they are exposing children to a tremendous amount of harm and that to me says they are putting the unenforcement of this law and putting children at risk as a result of that. >> i want to play for our listeners something that you said at a rally last night. this was in mt. vernon, illinois, talking about the president. >> we need a president that's going to go out and -- presidential nominee is going to go out and draw a clear contrast between president obama and his failed policies here at home and, of course, his failed policies where he he's been the weak horse, the appeaser in chief around the world with

evil. >> where is there an instance for that, for our listeners, where do you think that the president has been an appeaser with evil. >> iran. nuclear iran. and he has repeatedly sided with the government of iran. in the green revolution in 2009 when people were pleading on the streets, asking president obama to help overthrow this nuclear weapon that is killing our men and women in uniforms with improvised explosive devices, american troops through the sur row gates and terrorist organize sgragss and yet we have an opportunity to overthrow and side with the persian people. >> there's new sanctions coming up, he's gathered world opinion. isn't that better than going in with troops or whatever, what is it you're suggesting he should have been doing?

>> well, first off, he should have been siding himself with the weapon that is spreading terror around the world and did not do that and here he says i'm going impose tough sanctions after he denied that and tried to stop those sanctions from going into place. only his own party got him in the senate and house got him kicking and screaming and got him to impose these sanctions. what has he done then? there will be no negotiations with the iranian until they stop processing nuclear material. what did the president do? heoverstepped those things. he ignored that precondition and has been negotiating directly with iran as iran is buying time. this is exactly what the iranian want him to do. this is the weak horse in this region and the israeli people, benjamin netanyahu came here and

said, time is up. we need your help. the very next day he started negotiating with iran without precondition and allowing them the opportunity to continue to develop their nuclear weapons. into is weakness. >> senator santorum, i always wish there was more time. but thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you, candy. afghan president hamid karzai says there are two demons in his country right now. the u.s. and the taliban. but his words aren't doing any good to help ease an angry public. ture. whew. i love my pooch. oh no! my homemade sushi... turned p-ushi! use estimated 53 mpg to find a gluten-free alternative. look, this means i'm a chef. [ male announcer ] be a winner with the all-new prius c from toyota. ♪ 8% every 10 years.age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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by 10 1/2 years of the u.s. in afghanistan and the accidental burning of korans north of kabul. afghan president hamid karzai met with leon panetta on wednesday and said he was at the end of his rope with the united states. in a statement, karzai wrote, afghanistan is ready right now to take all security responsibilities completely to speed up this process authorities should be given to afghans. but the u.s. is not on the same page. >> we need to stick to the strategy that we've laid out for the future. the campaign, as i've pointed out before, has made significant progress. >> it's an apply generals in trouble. eklil hakimi is next. whew. i love my pooch. oh no! my homemade sushi... turned p-ushi! use estimated 53 mpg to find a gluten-free alternative.

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eklil hakimi. let me ask you a question. do you believe that afghanistan is a better place now than before the u.s. came? >> well, if you compare afghanistan today from ten years ago, a lot of things have happened. from the support that we receive from our international allies, including the united states of america and the taxpayers' money that was invested in afghanistan. from economic growth to education, health, participation of women in different walks of society, our national forces and infrastructure projects and also the rule that we play as an active member within the national community, all that happened within ten years time.

having said that, we have been suffering for the last 30 years after the invasion of the soviet union. so a lot of things happened but i'm not saying everything happened perfectly but we have a lot of challenges and we have a long way ahead of us. >> so i ask you that question because the "new york times" had a story by president karzai over the fast several days in response to the koran burning and they say, the americans and afghanistans are demon. they claimed that they burned them by mistake but it will never be forgiven by apology. indeed it was the 200th, 400th,

500th time. americans have died with very good intention. so we are looking at over 2,000 do you see how americans would say, they don't even like us. why are we there? >> well, of course, this recent very tragic incidents, especially this massacre of civilians, meanwhile our main allies, the united states that they have suffered quite a lot. those men in uniform and a woman in uniform, we are grateful and appreciating that. but let's not forget the bigger

picture. we are an ally in war against terror. and we are an ally to make afghanistan a safe place to not allow terrorist groups to threat the security of other countries from there. so having said that, we have a strategic partnership and now we are working on another partnership to define the relationship for the years to come. so this is the bigger i can approxima picture. >> you mentioned that afghanistan is grateful for some of the help that the u.s. has done and that it's an ally. and yet when the see the president of afghanistan talking about the u.s. in the same breath as the taliban, as a demon, there's a disconnect. why is there a disconnect? is this something -- i

understand the anger in afghanistan about these women and children and men, innocent people that were killed. but is the president of the country in those words, i would think undermine american support which was very much there at the beginning of this war. >> well, our president is doing whatever any legitimate president would do. he's reflecting somehow, whatever our people are saying, the situation there, especially with this very tragic incident is not that easy. so mean while he understands very well the relationship and also the partnership that we have with the international community. mainly, the united states of america. so that's why we are working on a very important strategic partnership with the united states, to define our relationship for the years to come. but to whatever he said, i think sometimes in media they are

putting that out of the context but other than that, he is committed to this relationship. and he will continue to work and serve as a president to the country. >> as a last question, do you trust the united states -- i know you're unhappy that this alleged gunman has been taken out of the country. but the u.s. has promised to follow this investigation, to find out what went on and to deal with it with u.s. justice. do you trust the united states to handle this properly? >> well, we do trust the united states. we do know how important this relationship is and we are working as a partner to resolve all of the issue as a partner. we should coordinate and cooperate with all of these issues, like i described, and the bigger picture is very important. we are in the right direction but down the road, things are

happening and we should manage it in a way that should not deter us from our main objectives. >> ambassador, thank you for joining us. >> thank you very much. obama's former intelligence direct for and president bush's point man on afghanistan is next. >> these kinds of events and incidents are going to take place. they've taken place in any war. they are terrible events and this is not the first of those events and it probably won't be the last. i was saving big on car insurance. i was worried it would be hard to install. but it's really easy. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive.

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at meineke i have options... like oil changes starting at $19.95. my money. my choice. my meineke. joining me now, the first u.s. ambassador to afghanistan after the fall of the taliban and dennis blair, president obama's first director of national intelligence. welcome both. let me ask you first what you made of the ambassador's interview. >> well, he has a hard job to do given the situation. i think it shows that afghanistan wants to maintain a partnership with the united states and that's what is reflected in opinion polls in

afghanistan and what took place a few weeks ago, afghanistan needs the united states and since we haven't finished with the job of finishing the terrorists in afghanistan, making sure that the terrorists do not come back to afghanistan, that we also need to -- yes, it has been a difficult few weeks but would like to continue to cooperate with each other. >> you know, what is the effect on u.s. troops? i know when you read some of these things that the president of the country is saying, comparing the u.s. to the taliban or putting it in the same sentence and calling them demons, it not only undermines faltering u.s. support for this war but it must do something to the troops? >> it does, candy. we have to go back to basics, i think. the afghanistan and the united states, because it's in the american interest, we have to get off this idea that it's a favor to afghanistan.

that attacks were planned in kandahar. we don't want that to be a place again. but from the point of view of the american troops, what is more important is are we as a country committed to finishing the job that we set out to do? we knew it was going to be hard and going to take persistence and if the american troops will fight and die if they feel the country is behind them, if they feel they are making progress and well-led, that's what we have to emphasize. >> since you bring that up, i want to show you a poll. this is taken after the shooting spree. the question was, which of the following would you prefer to see happen in afghanistan? stick to the current timetable? 24% supported that. speed up this timetable for withdrawal. 50% of americans keep the troops to accomplish close to 21%. can you conduct a war, which this still is very much, without the support of the american people which i don't think is

going to go back up any time soon. >> well, the american people, i think, appreciate the importance of afghanistan in terms of what the admiral said. i think there is a loss of confidence in the strategy. do we know what we are doing when these incidents happen and president karzai makes the statements that he has done. it raises questions in the minds of people, do we know what we are doing? are we succeeding? and i think this poll , in my view, reflects whether we know what we are doing, are we achieving our goals, are our goals clear? i think it reinforces the point that the admiral made and are we achieving our goals? >> let me ask you, i've heard

the words me lie. he was a much larger scale, more people involved and apparently one lone gunman. but really that was, in so many ways, a turning point against this war. do you see this shooting spree allegedly by this u.s. soldier as being a definitive time? >> not even close. not even close. i both hope not and i believe not. milie was covered up. created a fundamental rot in the chain of command at that time in vietnam. this was immediately discovered. all of the right things done in view of the tragic incident. so i don't think they are comparable. i think the ambassador is right.

we put in the resources which are the bear minimum of the experts that are asked to look at it minimum security troops, and minimum in the reconstruction force, minimum in time. and if you look at how individuals in local afghan stab stan, how is justice and governance, the progress is being made. >> in fact, the ambassador said that as well. >> it's not going to be done by 2014. i think 24% is remarkable number to support what we are doing given the fact that we have not been clear on our objectives, the fact that we did it with minimum resources.

and that gets to the questions of the armed forces. we have to get back to that if we are to follow the strategy. if not, let's look at the consequences. violent, treemist groups who plot against the united states. but don't pretend that pulling out will gift you the safety. >> do you this mean it's going to take beyond 2014, foreground troops to be there in combat or just a u.s. presence? >> u.s. presence involved in the delicate business of shifting

the combat lead to the security forces. that happens by getting confident troops in, and then afghanistan taking it over. >> and mr. ambassador, quickly if you can, do you feel sorry for president karzai who has two aud audiences here. he has grieving countrymen and an ally who they blame for what has happened. >> absolutely. and i think when he talks to the victims' families, reflects their feelings and i'm sure today if you asked the same question about, do you believe that the united states and the taliban are the same two demons, he would say, no, well, of course not. when i used to have conversations with him him five, six times a week, in one hour -- >> different times, different -- got you.

>> very hostile statement and i would say sometimes, president, i didn't hear that. and then hours later he would be the charming good ally that he was. in those years. >> we really thank you for your time. mitt romney has twice as many delegates but he still can't put santorum away and some say it's time for mitt romney to change his tactics. >> i understand how the economy works. not because i debated it in congress because i worked in the real economy. i used that skill. okay, team! after age 40, we can start losing muscle --

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♪ werther's original caramels. the president and vice president are settling into a familiar year election m.o. albeit one that takes him through swing states, there's no travel necessary. while republicans scramble state to state, the president can walk a few steps to command the bully

pull pit and the headlines. >> i want to make a few announcements about helping responsible homeowners. >> the rest stuff is in the vice president's portfolio. he spoke in toledo, ohio, about as critical of an election state as it can get and remember the auto bailout. >> there are plans to save the industry was just a give away to union bosses and the unions. >> senator santorum says it was a payoff to special interests, end of quotes. >> biden was on his maiden attack dog voi vaj, the committee released a 17-minute video of looking through the power player tom hanks. >> time and time again we would see rewards from tough decisions he had made.

paying for all this is the president's job. the president in chief made more than $4.5 million. oh, to be an incumbent. a former rnc chief and ed gill less pea is next. they didn't take a dime. how much in fees does your bank take to watch your money ? if your bank takes more money than a stranger, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense.

joining me now, ed gillespie, and anita dunn. let me start first with the republican scenario now. i don't know if you heard rick santorum kind of dodging the question of whether he would stay in to make sure that romney didn't get enough delegates even if he, santorum, couldn't make it. we know newt gingrich at this point is kind of saying the same thing. >> well, if i were rick santo m santorum, i wouldn't have answered that question in any other way. so to stay on national television, yeah, i might get out, that dispirts your potential voters. that's not to say he might not stay through the whole thing. i think the pressure from the voters would be pretty tough at that point. >> right. is it a bad idea to have a

brokered convention? >> well -- >> is it necessarily going to hurt the party? >> i don't think it would be healthy. we'd be better off to have a nominee clearly identified and making the case against president obama for as long as we can. i think having a competitive primary is going to result in a nominee who is stronger at the end of the process. i support governor romney. i think he's the likely nominee and the challenge that he's facing right now and in the vigorous contest is making him a candidate. >> let me ask you about mitt romney before i ask you about the president versus whoever they come up with and that is, what do you think mitt romney is doing wrong? >> well, you know, it's not for me -- >> as an analyst. >> as an analyst, mitt romney's inability to really close the deal and not to get stronger as the primaries goes on i think speaks with his inability to connect with voters and part of

this process is really to give these people an ability to get out there and connect with voters. and i think that the difference between romney and some of the other candidates who have had that ability is an authenticity, a willingness to stick to principles and say what he believes. he has not done that during this campaign. people have problems connecting to him personally. that's what this primary process is supposed to do for candidates, to let them grow, and he has actually shrunk. >> this is about independent voters, as to who they would support. mitt romney, 49%. barack obama, 41%. everything at this point seems to me would make you believe that those numbers would be reverse. this messy, i can key primary going on, economic recovery is

getting better. >> candy, there are other polls out there that show other results. here's the thing, polls are going to bounce around. it's going to be a close race. i think the poll figure that i find very interesting in many of the public polls is the one that talks about the -- which candidate understands your life. and there president obama consistently polls far ahead of governor romney and, again, it speaks to an inability of governor romney to really convince people that he gets what they go through when they wake up, have to go through their jobs, juggle their schedules, get their kids' homework done. >> conventional wisdom lately has been for some people like, okay, this economy is done, we need to concentrate on the house and the senate. but these independent numbers may suggest that you have a real race. >> i think the republican nominee is likely to be the next

president. i think the numbers are against approximate president obama. it's unlikely to be below 8% by november. people are frustrated by the obamacare bill which is a signature accomplishment. i think he's in real trouble. >> let me ask you both to hold here for a minute. we'll continue with anita dunn and ed gillespie in a moment. there are patients who will question, why does my mouth feel dryer than i remember it to be? there are more people taking more medication, so we see people suffering from dry mouth more so. we may see more cavities, bad breath, oral irritation. a dry mouth sufferer doesn't have to suffer.

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i think that my party is in an unfortunate place right now as viewed by many, many women in

this as viewed by many, many women in this country. we're feeling anxious about what they believe to be attacks on women's health. >> let's start with you, ed. i mean, you can't win unless the women are with you, frankly, in this country because they vote more than men do, and they vote in larger percentages and numbers. so this is a republican from alaska voicing a concern among republican women that either the -- even though the democrats have been good at spinning their message, republicans have been bad approaching some of these issues about contraception and about women's health care. >> i think she was responding to a lot of the media coverage, which i think was quite overblown, to be honest with you. >> sure, but it's out there. >> well, but candy, if you look at the cbs-"new york times" news survey, not a right-leaning news survey at all, 57% of americans agree that there should be a religious exemption. i'm on the board of trustees at the catholic university of

america. we teach students in the -- in our courses that it's a sin according to our faith to have abortion-using pills or stelilization procedures or contraception, and then to say what the must pay for that, most people say no they shouldn't be compelled to do that. it's not a ban on conare a acceptings or that it should be denied to people at all, but should you require a catholic institution to violent the tend yabts of their faith, and 57% of americans agree with that. >> in the political realm, it would seem to me that at the moment the democrats have sort of seized this conversation in a way that has framed it as an anti-woman thing rather than a religious versus private -- religion versus the government. >> well, candy, there's a good reason for that, which is, you know, barack obama agrees with ed gal espy on this. he does not believe that religious institutions should be forced to do something, and that's why when they originally proposed the rule, they had a

one-year period where they were going to look at ways to make sure that the concerns of schools like georgetown university -- >> are you going to gain from this, do you think? >> what has happened, of course, is that it is an issue of woman's health and basic preventtive care that every woman in this country should have a right to. we're not going to force people to have them. i think that the compromise position that president obama put forth, which was saying that these schools don't have to pay for it if it's against their beliefs, but that women should still get access to it, is one that the republican candidates attacked. rick santorum attacked it. mitt romney has attacked it. of course, you have the blunt amendment in the senate, and that does appear to be against women's heth. >> on the sheer politics, e, in the last 30 seconds, republicans, are they on the losing end of this so far, just in terms of how women are viewing this argument? >> the data doesn't support it. i'm sorry, but the -- these institutions will be required, and the archdiocese of washington, the schools, the

hospitals, the cardinal world will be required to pay because they self-insure, as do many other archdiocese around the country. >> you need to come back because i like this conversation because i do think the women's vote is going to be key as it always is, but i got to cut it off there. anita, ed, thank you for coming in. >> thank you for having us. >> far media zakaria is at the top of the hour, but first, is it pandering or just politeness? >> what a beautiful island. what a beautiful place. what a wonderful culture you enjoy. what a wonderful people you are. what's this? [ male announcer ] quaker oatmeal squares

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while campaigning down south northerner mitt romney took a lot of fwreef for his use of y'all and his proeshgs for what he called cheesy grits. all the fuss was inspiration for today's on the campaign trail. a look at the panderer. bill clinton's ability to relate to voters is legendary, but sometimes there's an invisible line between relating to pandering. as clinton rivalled the late paul songus tried to point out. >> he has pandered there, pander bear. >> an attempt to relate or

pander. however you see it, it's as time-honored a tradition as kissing baby. there is rick santorum in alabama where he has no known personal history or family ties. >> everywhere i go in this country. >> newt gingrich and his southern backyard on the subject of grits. just because you're at home, doesn't make it less of a panderer. >> i have had some acquaintance in a variety of forms, whether it's with shrimp, with cheese, with gravy. get it. >> forget the grits. if this is friday, it must be puerto rico, and mitt romney loves apparently everything. >> what a beautiful island. what a beautiful place. what a wonderful culture you enjoy. what a wonderful people you are. >> loving what your voters love is a bipartisan activity and sometimes no words are needed. maybe just a couple of hot dogs. attending to matters of state,

in this case a visit from british prime minister, president obama flew the two of them to an early round of ncaa basketball in ohio. about as critical a state as it gets in presidential elections. and the next day he appeared on espn to unveil his tournament brackets. his final four picks were a testament to caution. it's probably just a coincidence that three of the four are from battleground states. >> in the midwest north carolina, kansas, roy williams against his former team. >> i'm just a sucker for the tarheels. >> and, finally, when panderers go wrong. massachusetts senator and then presidential candidate john kerry ordered a philly cheese steak in an unfully way with swiss cheese. cheez whiz is apparently the more relatable choice. a footnote, despitehis pander faux pas, john kerry won pe pen. no pander here. just a big thank you for washington state of the union. i'm candy crowley in washington. find today's interviews, some