know. people are mad. but don't go in that direction, it doesn't s at 10:00 where we'll have live election results. "countdown" is next. ♪ [ theme music ] ♪ which of these stories will you be talking about tomorrow? karen handel is gone but the komen stand l continues. and handel insists she is the victim. >> the only group who has made this issue political has been planned parenthood. >> sometiming is everything. guess who just endorsed wackoman did to planned parenthood. >> tonight a special comment on susan g. koman for the cure and its collaboration with the witch hunt against planned parenthood.

another victory against california's prop-8. [ cheers ] >> today is a great day for all loving couples. >> but still there are no same-sex marriages in california. what the court ruling there really means. the obama campaign reversal on super pacs. it's principaled stand erased by the reality of the super pacs aligned against it. >> we have to live in the world as it is not as we want it to be. >> the dilemma of principals in the fight against those without principals and without any limit on how much they can spend. and the fight against fox. with the man who went into the belly of the beast and survived to tell about it. >> i don't think anybody should be surprised in an election year -- >> we're here on fox news. every single day in fairness

you guys every single day bash president obama. >> all of that and more on "countdown." ♪ >> good evening this is tuesday february 7th, 274 days until the 2012 presidential election. the susan g. koman, trying to recover tonight from self inflicted wounds caused by right-wing organizations. the resignation of karen handel her denials that the a plan to cut funds to planned parenthood started with her. in case komen thought the controversy had ended, these

protesters in dallas say otherwise. >> we want them to recognize that women were angry by their decision, and we want them to be reminded. we're still out here watching. >> good thing because despite the great work they have done raising and investing nearly $2 billion, the organization seems to be having a struggle with the truth. nancy brinker, and karen handel who posted on her campaign website in 2010 let me be clear since i am pro-life i do not support the mission of planned parenthood. last tuesday the komen foundation announced it would cut the grants to 19 planned parenthood affiliates. the reason investigation by government authorities on any level. including use of medical funds

the brain child of one congress cliff sterns. komen's founder and ceo, said the organization had not caved to political pressure and that changing the criteria that lead to cutting a planned parenthood's funds started with her. >> i initiated a come interest hencive review of our grants and procedures. >> however, an anonymous insiding was telling the huffing ton post . . . "huffington post" saying it has internal emails to support that. karen handel saying otherwise. >> was involved in the process, but to suggest i had the soul authority is just absurd. the process was vetted. the policies were vetted at all

of the appropriate levels in the organization. >> that putting miss brinker under the bus. >> the last time i checked, private nonprofit organizations have a right, and a responsibility to be able to set the highest standards and criteria on their own without interference let alone the level of vicious attacks and coercion that has occurred. congressional investigation along with the various state investigations, those were a factor in the decision. if you have a grantee where there is controversy surrounding it. komen was doing its best to move to neutral ground and i was asked to look at options to that. >> as for planned parenthood today the organization did not

comment on karen handel's resignation. instead it released a statement: >> my special comment ahead. first becky bond planned parenthood's largest corporate donor who joins us now from san francisco. does karen handel's resignation change anything? >> i would say it is a very good thing that karen handel is no longer in her job. the susan g. koman is the global leader in breast-cancer research, and we can't have a woman putting her political opinions ahead of who gets screenings for breast cancer. >> first it was about the investigation, and now it was handel's idea have you gotten

in your mind straight what this story actually was? >> we know karen handel wasn't able to do this alone. the board either wanted to do this to defund planned parenthood or they let it happen. and there's 140 komen chapters across the country run by great men and women who care deeply about breast cancer research and they are going to clean house, and we are going to stand by and keep watching and make sure that susan g. koman is able to get back to fighting breast cancer. >> do you think that miss handle came in and caused this problem? or had there been prior indications that komen might be susceptible to pressure from the right. >> we were very surprised by the decision to defund planned parenthood. but planned parenthood is under attack every day for almost every position whether it's in

congress or through this foundation, so we're not surprised to see them attacked. and that's why we have to standing up every time they are attacked. they are attacked in congress every day, and they take the tea party congressmen seriously. but when this happens in communities that depends on these clinics, you saw that out in the real world, people aren't going to stand for this right-wing campaign. >> this isn't about $700,000 or the specific organization of two foundations. is about the credibility behind the susan g. koman people and what they were lending to those attacking planned parenthood. >> the people in the 140 komen chapters they have been in touch with us saying thank for supporting us. we're working it out. and if the people that ran these

chapters were represented on the board, this wouldn't have happened. and we're going to work to make sure the board is reformed. we need people on the board who's number 1 priority is fighting breast cancer not tea party politics. >> you know more about this than i would or people watching i would think would know. were they at any point in the last week do you think they were thinking inside komen we are endangering our tax status? >> i think it's clear the organization is in turmoil. we had people quitting in principal, so i think there's been lots of confusion, and we're really hoping if they can get a better governing board in place, and the great men and women can get involved and if

they stand up and say we're not going to let you do this with all of us watching i think they have a real chance to get back on track. >> how does the attacks on planned parenthood come out at the engineer of this week? >> i think it's very good to see a fight where planned parenthood is attacked all the time and this time the people attacking planned parenthood they were the political idiologs. planned parenthood need millions of us to help fund their healthcare and also to stand by them. >> becky bond. thanks for your time tonight. >> thank you. >> and now as promised a brief special comment on the resignation of karen handel.

from susan g. koman foundation for the cure. in the time until ms. handle's exist this morning, komen's only actions has been a mealy mouthed partial reversal. a new, new policy to replace the new policy the spineless consequence to which are komen is not committed to funding planned parenthood, a by which it has not committed to staying out of this game which would kill some freedoms and some women. komen could not do that by itself of course. it has raised the consciousness that one of the vote-getting machines in this country was zeroing in on planned parenthood as thescape goat to whip it paranoia and political power.

the relish you here is the komen organization's attempt to hide its partnership with the gutter-snipe purveyors of hate and fear and revenge fantasies, by couching the most intense kind of political involvement the willingness to participate in guilt by association, to echo the infamous call of investigation, to shun affiliation with a group of individual purely to amplify paranoia of that group. planned parenthood extrordanaire services for men and woman, 97% of which had nothing to do with abortion were to komen's advantage. and recall what we're dealing

with planned parenthood's opponents will believe anything and say anything. remember well that tragic comic call story from yesterday about the louisiana congressman who posted to facebook with forefied comments, the story of an $8 billion planned parenthood abortion-plex being built in kansas. these are the people with whom susan g. koman got into bed. miss handle's resignation changes nothing about this. komen continues to lie and insist that its attack was not based on any idologigy and speak of quote, mistakes on how we have handled issues. nancy bringer has still not told the truth nor explained how she will make this organization

worthy of the women and men of this country who had put women's health above politics. mrs. bringer has dishonored both her sister's memory and this essential cause, until she leafs the organization to somebody who truly cares. komen does not deserve a dollar in donations from a

planned parenthood. anna talked to a conservative and it got a little contentious. drama, when we return. i'm freaking out man. why? i thought jill was your soul mate. no, no it's her dad. the general's your soul mate? dude what? no, no, no. he's, he's on my back about providing for his little girl. hey don't worry. e-trade's got a totally new investing dashboard. everything is on one page, your investments, quotes, research... it's like the buffet last night. whatever helps you understand man. i'm watching you. oh yeah? well i'm watching you, watching him. [ male announcer ] try the new 360 investing dashboard at e-trade.

prop-8 unconstitutional again. president obama spoke out against superpacks his campaign vowed to dampen the influence of super pacs. today that all changed. and the far right goes after

ellen. take ellen with or without the points. and as fox continues to imply the president of the united states is cooking the unemployment statistics in order

50 remarkably the latest ruling on california's infamous prop-8 comes down to the actual word marriage. the federal appeals court ruling that the ban on same-sex marriages violates the constitution. voting 2-1 that a state could not revoke the rights of a majority group without a reason. on the significance of the wore marriage reinhardt went on to write:

same-sex couples won't be able to marry in the state yet senior counsel for the alliance defense fund: fans and foes of marriage equality say they are ready to take the decision to the supreme court. that's not likely to happen until 2013 maybe the year after. other cases challenging the federal defensive marriage act are already making their way through lower courts and gay

marriage acts are moving across other states. clarify the practicality did anything actually change today? >> nothing is different today than it was yesterday. for same-sex couples. they are still currentingly not able to marry in california. but this says it is unconstitutional. you can't single out one group of people from different treatment than others. >> is it disappointing? is it a problem in any way that the judges were focusing mostly on that point, rather than the specific right for these marriages to occur? or is that an academic debate? >> certainly we believe that there is a fundamental right to marry the person that you love. it's a fundamental freedom that we should all value and all be

able to take part in. so we would love to see a brood ruling at some point, but it is still positive that for gay and lesbian couples in california who want the same protections as everyone else that this is a step forward in saying they are going to be able to have those rights. >> as positive as the court rules have been do you sense your community is getting frustrated to this point? do you think we're headed towards a tipping point at which a large part of the political main stream will say it is now safe. we can now afore to back this now. >> for any community that has been denied their rights the gay and lesbian community would like to see that day come sooner rather than later, but this is a marathon not a sprint. a process of educating the

american public. going through legislatures and the court of public opinion, certainly. but we are seeing a major shift. you have see six states and hopefully california joining that list soon. the tide of history is on our side here. >> from the other side of the tide, in more ways that one there was a tweet from newt gingrich today: practically speaking is this ruling today more of a benefit to the lgbt community or the republicans still running on homophobia? >> i think you are going to have politicians out there what want to score some cheap political points, but they are certainly not playing the long game. what might be beneficial to them in a republican primary isn't going to play well in the

general election when you have the majority of americans who support same-sex marriage. >> michael cole schwartz thanks again for your time. >> thank you. >> when it comes to super pac i found a new way to get my profile out there. check me out. everybody says i've got a friendly disposition and they love my spinach dip. 5 foot ten. still doing a little exploring... on it. my sign is sagittarius i'm into spanish cheese, my hairline is receding but i'm getting a weave. (falsetto chorus) getting a weave. who wants some ronald tonight!? geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. polar shifts will reverse the earth's gravitational pull and hurtle us all into space which would render retirement

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the president's switch on super pacs. but on this date exactly 200 years ago, charles dickens was born in portsmouth in england. he has a dickensian childhood. time marches on. still talking about the super bowl, and we'll begin with the best of the commercials.

and that including will ferrell's spot. continuing my professional friends inexplicable series of commercials aimed at just one market the ad ran only in nebraska. from super bowl commercials to super bowl parades, and this morning the new york giants took to the canyon of heros, and fans came out to see all of their favorite players where they are on the giants or not. yeah. apparently she doesn't know that mark sanchez is the quarterback for the new york jets and not the new york giants. finally we end as we always do with north koreans covering

popular 80s hits on the accordion. we find the students doing this. ♪ >> now available on itunes. if you think that is good you should see them perform it in the pencil sketch version of it as well. the next major battle in the so-called culture war, the attempt to take down >>i'm a political junkie. >>this show is my fix.

"dumont's court of current issues" will not be seen tonight so we can instead bring you "countdown" the longest running new channel on television unless you consider fox, news. >> do you violate your own ethics so you have a chance to defeat opponents who do not have those ethics? in our third story in the "countdown," the obama campaign says it will participate in events to aide a pro obama super pac. on the president's recollection website last night. his campaign manager wrote, quote:

senior advisor david axle rod defended that decision this morning. >> the bottom line here is that the -- the citizens united decision was a bad decision from our perspective. it did open the flood gates, but now the rules are what the rules are. we have to live in the world as it is. >> last year two super pacs raised a total of $51 million to support the congressional and presidential rates. the gop presidential race brought in $40 million more. and the president's campaign raised nearly $140 million last year. they say the president, vice president, for their wives will at ten these gathering.

but finegold is calling the obama's decision a, quote, dumb approach. speaking of dancing with the devil, the race for the gop presidential nomination continued today in colorado and minnesota, and a non-binding primary in missouri. the contest in missouri will still cost taxpayers there an estimated $7 million. and while the romney campaign does not appear to be worried about these contests it is clearly worried about the poll we told you about yesterday. trotting out the new gop mean for 2012 referring that all

numbers they don't like are cooked somehow. the director of polling for the washington post the results are consistent with other surveys. more polling today from reuters. the gaps among those three latter candidates are within the poll's margin of year. so discuss this we bring in joe williams. >> good to be here. if they are having conscious attacks, then they didn't last very long. the two words are sheldon adelman, and now allowing him to compete in south carolina and

florida. the three statistics are, $15 million, the amount that mitt romney spent basically vaporizing newt gingrich in florida. and 51 million, the statistics you just claimed, raising that kind of dough in one year to defeat president obama. >> is it coincidence that the president just endorsed the idea of the constitutional amendment to overturn citizen's united? and it seemed like the white house really undersold that especially in light of the decision relative to the super pacs. >> but you have a bit of cognitive disconnect here. the president has spoken out

against super pacs. he smacked the supreme court justices almost to their faces a few years ago. so this denonesation of the super pacs and joining them basically, is creating a bit of abrasiveness between his support supporter supporters. so it's a little bit of trying to have both neat either fences. i think he does believe this and it's not necessarily a coincidence but just awkward timing. >> with the premise that you should not bring a knife to a gun fight, this decision is there blowback inside the democratic party, in the base? or it is more theoretical at this point? >> it's more theoretical. there are people who have a lot of adjectives to this situation. they don't like this situation, and basically there's good

reason. because we saw the mud get slung in florida. it will be all-out war fair and a lot of slime will get thrown in 2012. so that is not very conducive to good government and good debate about where we take our nation. on the other hand it reminds me a lot of the people's mike at occupy protest. you can't possibly hope to compete with amps that go up to 11. because it will drawn out your message, and they can throw mud slinging, and it doesn't even necessarily have to be true. >> romney attacking the abc post poll. you only have so many times you can work we refs without people

dismissing you as a guy who works the ref. >> yes, but we are also talking about the republican's view of the media. you are cooking something against the republicans. you are a liberal by definition doesn't matter. doesn't hurt him with the base that much. general election same thing. the people he is trying to win over love this message. >> the general election is actually covered by the media they are trying to eliminate. the national disisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisisis

planned parenthood. anna talked to a conservative and it got a little contentious. drama, when we return.

jerry springer on the latest numbers. speaking of faking it the florida legislature, taking one

of those one size fits all koch brothers alec is on the new news network. >>welcome to the war room. >>jennifer granholm joins current tv. she's a political trail-blazer. >>make your voice heard. >>detremined to find solutions. >>that partnership in order to invest in our country is critical. >>driven to find the truth. >>how did romney get his groove back? >>fearless, independent and above all, politically direct. vv