remember that the spin stops right here. because we are definitely looking out for you. captioned by closed captioning services, inc ♪ ♪ >> sean♪ >> sean: a new santorum ad attacks mitt romney over his negative campaign tactics. >> romney tactics are going to backfire. >> sean: the former massachusetts governor is here to respond. we go inside the very private and personal relationship of barack and michelle obama with the author of the explosive new book "the obamas." newt gingrich trails in the polls as the romney and santorum camp stake center tage. can the former speaker make at

it three-man race again? his daughters are in studio with that answer. plus, we look inside the left wing organization known as media matters in this week's media mash with brent bozell. countdown to election day continues and "hannity" starts right here, right now. tonight on "hannity" you hear from mitt romney. now recent days the former massachusetts governor found himself trailing rick santorum in a number of polls and in an effort to ensure that trend continues the former pennsylvania senator released the following ad targeting governor romney's record. take a look at this. >> mitt romney's negative attack machine is back. on full throttle. this time romney's firing his mud at rick santorum. romney and his super pac has spent staggering $20 million attacking fellow republicans. why? because romney is trying to hide from his big government romneycare and his support for job-killing cap-and-trade. romney is tactics are going to

backfire. >> sean: governor romney conservative credentials have been questioned by former alaska governor sarah palin. here is what he is said on sunday. >> i am not convince and i don't think the majority of g.o.p. and independent voters are convinced. that is why you don't see romney get over that hump. he is still in the 30% mark when it comes to approval and primary wins and caucus wins. he still hasn't risen above that yet, because we are not convinced. >> sean: joining me to respond and set the record straight himself, the man, the former governor of the great state of massachusetts and presidential candidate, mitt romney. governor, thank you for being back. i know you gave a speech in ohio tonight. in the speech, it seemed like you were addressing governor palin's comments, maybe some comments by your opponents when you said, "my conservatism is to the core." and i thought it was almost the strongest i have ever heard you speak out saying, "i

am a passionate conservative. it is who i am." was this in response to some of the criticism that has come your way? >> you know, actually, it was the same address that i gave to the folks at cpac about a week ago. pointing out that i have lived conservatism. some people study it and come to know conservatism by their readings. i have lived conservatism in my life, in my home, in my family, in my faith and also in business. if you are not a fiscal conservative in business, you will go out of business. of course, i was able to demonstrate my conservatism as the governor of my state. we balanced the budget every year for four years. we have put in place a rain day fund. cut taxes 19 times. big social issues came to the forein my state. same-sex marriage and embryo farming. these are battles i led the charge for conservative values. my record is solid and strong and that's why i think i won with a record amount of support in new hampshire, among conservatives, in florida, among conservatives

and nevada. and i have the most delegates at this point. we'll keep on battling. i'll get some good support. >> sean: look, there has been so much fluctuation and volatility as you know in this race. what do you think, as you analyze it, what do you think the reason is? is it just, you know, uncertainty in terms of who the best candidate is to take on the president? what do you attribute that to? >> well, you know, there have been a lot of people that have come in the race. i'm pleased and i have been able to stay in race as a leader throughout the process. michele bachmann and tim pawlenty were strong early on. herman cain and rick perry were in the race. newt gingrich has been very high in the polls in the past. and right now we have a new kid on the block who is going to go under the same scrutiny that everybody else goes under in this process. i'm pleased i have been able to come out with the most delegates. no one is going to hand the nomination to someone on a silver platter. they have to fight hard to win the nomination. a process i respect.

and you know it's going to take a while to get this job done. john mccain lost 19 states in his road to become the nominee. i hope i can win. and i hope i get the delegates i need. >> sean: let me go to the issue, we just played some of rick santorum's ad. in fairness, i want to play the ad that you are now running -- not you, but the pac that is supporting you has been running against senator santorum. and give you a chance to weigh in on it. let's roll that. >> mitt romney helped create thousands of jobs. >> rick santorum is called the ultimate washington insider. >> romney rescued the olympics. >> santorum was in washington, voting to raise the debt limit five times. >> romney turned a deficit to a surplus without raising taxes. >> santorum was voting for billions in waste. including the bridge to nowhere. >> romney and santorum: big differences. >> sean: i can tell you that i interviewed senator santorum on radio today. he wasn't exactly happy with that ad.

>> well, i am not exactly happy with his ad, by the way. he was the first person in the campaign to run negative ads, attacking me. he did that through his campaign in south carolina. his pac also ran negative ads against me. then he has had the most negative ad i have seen so far, the one attacking me for attacking him. look, it's not something i'm going to whine about. i know there are some candidates that want to whine about the fact it n campaigns you go back and forth. to talk about the distinctions between one another. but let's talk about a process that gets us to a nominee. recognize that this is preparing us for what is going to come from the obama machine, which will be extraordinary. he will spend $1 billion attacking the republican nominee. we have to get ourselves ready for that attack. >> sean: there has been a lot of speculation today, because both you and as i understand it, senator santorum he said there was a scheduled debate next week you will not be participating in. what was the reason, the

rationale for not participating? >> well, we have had 19 debatedebates so there has been plenty of opportunity for people to get to know us and see us. in days leading up to super tuesday i have a calendar taking me to a lot of the primary states. i think i'm in washington state that night. and so, we all can't just drop our calendar because someone wants to hold a debate. i think cnn has had six or seven debates so far. we're not campaigning. that is part of the political process. we have done a lot of debates. we've got another one scheduled. we're not going to say yes to all of the requests that come along. >> sean: you think before super tuesday there has been a long lag between debates. for example, i argue that the debates really had a big impact on south carolina race in terms of favoring and helping newt gingrich. your florida debates i think had a big impact on you taking florida as you did. and then giving you momentum to nevada. do you think in the sense not

doing a debate before super tuesday on the latest issues in the campaign, for example, the contraceptive mandate and accommodation, and new issues, new ads back and forth -- i get the impression in the case of newt gingrich, he would like an opportunity to debate you again. will that happen? >> you know what? we have a debate i think scheduled, or proposed for 22nd of this month. so, we are going to be doing more debates. i don't know how many more. but i do believe 19 debates is a record in our party by a wide margin. you know, the presidential debates, there are only three. and those are determined by the presidential commission when they are held and how they are held. i know there are some folks who have not put together campaign to debate every chance they possibly can. but you know, we want to get out and see voters. and do some of the handshaking

and getting to see people. and that is part of the process as well. >> sean: we did get a note from the santorum campaign in anticipation of your appearance and the answer was i don't know what you said on the campaign trail but they were upset about you characterizing his position on the accommodation and contraception mandate and he said, "rick has been clear, he supports a woman's right to contraception. he agrees with mitt romney 100% on the issue. they do differ on one important reproductive health issue. rick opposes all form of abortion, including the morning after care and romneycare allow for $50 abortion and taxpayer subsidiaries. obviously there is a hotly contested issue here. i want to give you a chance to give your opinion on the issue. senator santorum's comments. >> first, i said nothing about his statements on contraception. the healthcare plan in my

state the court established requirement of abortion. not legislation. there is no mention of it in the legislation whatsoever of abortion. but i understand. the senator wants to do what he can to promote his position. that is his right. i'll make sure that people understand my record and set the record straight. >> sean: last question, i want to go to the issue of conservatism. it's an issue and it has been written about widely. many times. it's been sort of broken up in romney/non-romney. different people have taken you on. you have have always been able to come back throughout the process, governor. what do you want to say to the conservative that has the questions. you do know they exist. you did make your case about your time as governor. what would you say to them at this point in the campaign to convince them that you, if elected, would govern on conservative principles on all the important issue that the country faces? >> let me take that two

attacks, two approaches to that question. one is to describe my own record. conservative governor and i described the ways i have done that, and how i fought for conservative social values, conservative economic values. balance the budget every year. during my term in office the budget in massachusetts grew more slowously than the rate of inflation. contrast that with a guy up in the polls right now, rick santorum. rick santorum voted five times to raise the debt ceiling without compensating cut in federal costs and he voted and continues to defend earmarks. i'm in favor of stopping earmarks. banning earmarks. in rick santorum's term in office the government in washington grew by 80%. washington sent republicans, or had republican goes there, that were going to try to rein in spending. they started acting like democrats. spend toog much money with big earmarks, billions in earmarks

that rick santorum voted for. look, when it comes to economic conservatism, i have the record he does not have. i believe when it comes to the economic conservatism, people have a hard time finding someone more conservative than myself. >> sean: it's always great to have you. thank you for joining us. appreciate us, as always, your time. >> thank you, sean. good be with you. >> sean: coming up, the hotly anticipated book that examines the first and private life of president and first lady and then the look at how the presidency changed their marriage and much more straight ahead. [ male announcer ] is zero worth nothing? ♪ imagine zero pollutants in our environment. or zero dependency on forei oil. ♪ this is why we at nissan built a car inspired by zero. because zo is worth everything. the zero gas, 100% electric nissan leaf. innovation for the planet.

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every day is a 5-hour energy day. [ male announcer ] 5-hour energy. every day. >> sean: in the controversial new book "the obamas," author jodie cantor set the record straight and set out to chronicle the president and first lady's relationship since he took office. it's an intimate look at the personal and private life of the first couple. however, the book has been overshadowed by description of fierce exchanges between the first lady and top white house officials, as well as exposing lavish parties thrown by the anointed one during the height of the recession. these revelation cause the white house to challenge and downplay many of the details that are offered in the book. joining me now, "new york times" correspondent, author of "the obamas," jodi cantor. good to meet you. >> great to be here. >> sean: i'm enjoying the book. i've not finished it. i enjoy it. you did a lot of research. i watch you on interviews and you're being attacked by the

liberal media. >> i don't know if it's totally true. >> sean: want me to give you an example? they say you didn't source it, you didn't talk to the obamas. you talked to their closest friends. how many sources do you have? >> i interviewed 33 current and former white house aides and a lot of the obamas' closest friends. actually a lot of -- i wouldn't say that i've been attacked that much on tv. it's more i think the thing that surprised me is people on the right and the left are responding to the book, because there is so much that is universal to the presidency. it's so much about going into that bubble and learning to cope with it. i really wrote the book in the first place to say that, to talk about what happens when two pretty regular people, chicagoens, talented, ambitious chicagoans, people who live in the real world what happens when they go to the white house? what sort of transformation do they go through? >> sean: you came under attack on a rival network, and i watched this about the fact

that well, you didn't talk to the obamas. what do you really know? the white house wasn't happy with a lot of it. michelle obama did the infamous interview, i think it was with gayle king when he is made some comments. most people thought at the time it was in direct response to your pending book. >> i think what was funny about the book's release i found a lot of people were weighing in on the book without actually reading it. my understanding is that the first lady said on tv he is hadn't read it. >> sean: he is did. >> either. and so i find when people are actually reading the book, what i hope they find is a sensitive, accurate, nuanced portrayal of the president and first lady that shows by the way their successes and failures. >> sean: the area i want to go in, one of the main sources you used and spoke with. one of the closest confidants, valerie jarret. it looked at an article that you wrote in 2008 -- or 2009 when they knew they were going to the white house. no new friends.

close circle of their old friends. during the campaign you describe how they would spend time on the campaign trail how it changed their relationship and lives. and i look at the president surrounded himself with. one in particular quoted as being really upset at the year-long separation for example of jeremiah wright. and you remember the column that you wrote. what i'm trying to get to is what is it, why do conservatives like me look at his background, look at rescoe, look at the people jeremiah wright, look at the inner circle and say i find he hung out with radicals his whole life. bill ayers, bernadine dorn and there is a part of his life he hides. i don't think he is honest with american people. >> the no new friends goes to presidential rise. the president and first lady did go from living an anonymous life to the

president being a political celebrity. the reason they limited their circle then was to you they wanted to preserve in their friend's telling an authenticity to their relationships. they didn't want to schmooze with new political allies. >> sean: did you discover in your research -- like valerie jarret, close relationship with media matters, and the list that this creates and going up to the highest, closest connection to the white house. the president himself, valerie jarret. she is a part of this. where are we to glean from jarret, ayers, media matters, i said there is something not right? am i offbase? >> to be honest i don't know if valerie jarret and jeremiah wright know each other. their backgrounds are the -- >> the other -- >> they're really different. yeah, but you know i interviewed jarret and the president's closest friends

extensively. i don't think there is anything necessarily -- >> sean: valerie jarret, jeremiah wright, and jarret's association with media matters seems natural to you? >> ayers is tangential guy in the president's life. i looked into it and there is no evidence he had a close -- >> sean: he started his political career in his house, gave speeches together and sat on boards together. asked about it one time he said it's a guy in the neighborhood. you don't think it's buy? >> in the biographical reporting i have done, jarret has conventional background as a business person. i don't think there is anything radical about her background. she is the person with a much closer and formative relationship with the president than somebody like bill ayers, i think. >> sean: i thought you did a good job on a positive side, which may shock some people, of showing the difficulty transitioning for a family in the white house. and challenges that any family would face. and how difficult and how they

looked out for their kids. i thought there was touching moments in there about that. but i do believe and i urge you as you do your investigative work in the future i think what is missing is i think he has not been honest his portrayal of who he is and what he really thinks to the american people. >> well, i have a different take on it from my reporting, which is that he is a very introverted president. the number of people he really confides is in is relatively small. he has a solitary decision-making style. i look at it based on my interviews is not so much the matter of hiding some terrible secret, but a bit of a loner in the white house and in his decision-making. >> sean: a lot of research. i thought it was well done and i learned a lot i didn't know before. appreciate you being with us. thank you. thank you. >> sean: coming up in this week's edition, media mash continues to uncover media matters and the all-out assault on the fox news channel. first, newt gingrich's daughters have been important assets to his campaign in past

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>> sean: welcome back to "hannity." miff next two guests were of the presidential campaign. the daughters of newt gingrich, his biggest supporters and defenders on the campaign trail.

the dad may in recent days be slipping in the polls a bit, they are determined to make sure he stays on message and how he can help restore america if he is elected president. joining me now to explain the new steps are the daughters of newt gingrich, jackie cushing gingrich and kathy lubbers gingrich. how are you? >> great. >> sean: on the campaign trail, the late zest mitt and rick santorum are not going to debate as they were scheduled next week. the debates have been a big part of the campaign. your dad responded. roll that tape. >> our expectations are we will continue in debates. romney mod is go the wall street to raise money to run negative ads. you can understand having to defend that strategy is not something he is happy with. >> sean: your reaction? big impact on south carolina for your dad. >> the debates are very important. on the one hand the voters get to see all the candidates on stage next to each other

talking about hopefully positions and where they stand. sometimes it gets down to the tactical part of the campaign. it's very important. >> sean: even in florida, i mean it helped mitt romney. i think in that campaign, he was aggressive toward your dad. >> it's an equal opportunity, that is the whole point of having the debate, to give the candidates equal time to say their peace. >> do you think that maybe governor romney and rick santorum are looking at the polls and why do we want to go up against newt gingrich who we know is a great debater? >> absolutely. dad is known for being great in debates. wide range of knowledge, he has been doing it for a long time. talking about conservative since before i was born. true. >> fact. >> sean: you heard it -- >> i heard it as long as i can remember. it's the same core speech. he has his core values. in the debate, it's important that voters see them next to each other. >> sean: does he really prepare talking to your kids? >> absolutely. >> sean: your kids, too?

>> no. >> maggie and robert. drinks a diet coke and takes a nap? >> some people take those things seriously and he does. he knows that he knows what he needs to know. and he needs to be rested so present his ideas. one other thing, sean, really, not going to debate newt, what are you going to do with president obama? >> sean: here is my question. this has been such a volatile race. ups and downs, topsy-turvy. everybody in the campaign that is in has been up. your dad won south carolina, big win. romney comes back. santorum is surging. how does your dad get back in your view when you talk to him to getting to the top of those polls again? do you worry he has a hard time getting back? >> we don't worry. up and down in the polls. what goes up, comes back down. dad has been through the national scrutiny. as has romney. santorum is about to go through it now. if you look at the candidates,

which are why debates are important. the only candidate, including barack obama who had budget for four years welfare reform, cut taxes and cut spending on the national level. he has worked, governed, reached across the aisle and made it happen with a democratic president. he can get things done. >> sean: are you guys angry at how personal this campaign has become? both of you have had to come to his defense, about lies about divorce between your mom and dad, you have gone out there in a big personal way. it got personal on a lot of points. does it anger you? >> the accurate word for me is disappoints me. >> sean: i think i'd be dad if it was my dad. >> maybe if it were the first time. we know a lot of the stories -- >> sean: not your first rodeo. >> not our first rodeo. a lot of this is urban legend. a lot of is it media too lazy to do their work. >> sean: that's true. that is a good point.

>> it's out there. >> sean: nbc primetime is written by media matters. all right. you fight on the campaign trail? >> no. we always have fun together. we try to travel together if we can. we have a good time. that is one of the joys of the campaign, spending time with my sister. fun. >> sean: i'm not happy. thank you for being with us. coming up, brent bozell unleashes about the media matters scandal. that and much more is coming up next. unglasses. [ tires screech ] ♪ oh, it was the first time i fell in love ♪ ♪ the first time i felt my heart ♪ [ man ] people say i'm forgetful. [ horn honking ] ♪ ...all through the night [ man ] maybe that's why we go to so many memorable places. ♪ [ male announcer ] the subaru outback. love the road you're on.

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>> sean: welcome back to "hannity." time for media mash, weekly roundup of ways that the liberal main stream media tries to distort the news. this week, thanks to internal memos uncovered by the daily caller we have seen firsthand the blatant bias at the left wing organization media matters. and just how far are they willing to go to take down their so-called enemys? in particular, the fox news channel. joining me now with a special edition and reaction brent

bozell. welcome aboard. >> hi. >> sean: let's go to their own memos and what their plan of action was. i'm on the list. along with many of my colleagues. people in the public eye targeted, an enemy list as well. the progressive movement is in need of an enemy. george w. bush is gone, we don't have john mccain to kick around anymore, filling the lack of leadership on the right, fox news emerged as the central enemy and antagonist of the obama administration. our congressional majorities and the progressive movement as a whole. what do you make of this? >> let me say as a matter of policy i refuse to talk about this organization. i'm making an exception tonight because i want to comment on it tonight. that memo -- kudos to tucker carlson and daily caller. that memo confirms everything

you and i talked about the left where they have an agenda, objective truth has nothing to do with it. if you look and read the words, where does the media bias come in play anywhere there? what they say, the job is do the dirty work for the obama administration and congress. they are going after fox. not because of a biased on fox but because they want to do the dirty work of the obama administration and they see fox not being in tune with the obama administration. >> sean: let's look at how this goes. the whole mind set, the enemy's list, hiring of private investigators. let me put this up on the screen there. this will be inside the memo from media matters that says, "we should also hire a team of tracker tos stake out private and public events with anchors, hosters, reporters, prominent contributors and senior network, and staff." they're saying this is a proposed non-profit and we learn through the memos decollaboration with the highest level of white house, valerie jarret. nobody gets closer to the

president. we over this tonight. close collaboration. and meeting on a weekly basis. men i ice list is built and main role as a non-profit is to basically obliterate and destroy politics and personal destruction of people's opinion they don't agree with. >> not only that, it's to destroy the network. destroy a corporation. these people are so radical. in their mind's eye, mort kondracke is a conservative. there is a lot that has been said about juan williams and how he was fired by npr. do you know this organization tried to get -- [ inaudible ] taken off npr because he is worked for fox news? these people are character assassins. if you don't walk the straight and narrow with them, off with your head. they'll try to destroy your career. they tried it over again. how about this one, sean. think about this. we know the soldier story with

rush limbaugh and how he was completely discredited and know how it was used to hend his career going after advertisers with an absolutely false story. it was so false and debunked his enemies on capitol hill had to issue a formal speech on the house to apologize. do you know that you can go on this group's website and the story is still there? >> sean: i don't dig that deep in to it. there are other aspects of this. it's interesting. it seems that there are, there are people on the left for example, i would imagine in the minds of the people writing the memos involved in the enemy's list, looking to destroy me and others, it's unthinkable i could be friends with bob beckel. but we're friends. we invest in each other's charities and talk about our families and friends. same with juan williams. that seems unthinkable because they view conservatives as evil.

now the cable outlet for nbc news, they writing the primetime line-up. the "l.a. times," "new york times," "washington post." prominent columnists. all of these guys are taking this propaganda, spoon fed seemingly from the white house, or at least in some part. we have to find out. and they run with it. i said in 2008, journalism is dead. people laughed. >> sean: and the sound you hear -- >> and the sound you hear from so-called reliable, serious journalism is silence. >> sean: crickets. >> you are not hearing anybody talk about this. there are so many conflicts going on here. so many personal conflicts. there is nothing wrong with the liberals criticizing sean hannity for something that sean hannity did. but to criticize fox news because sean hannity is biased, well, of course you're biased. it's your job to be biased. i love it when they go after fox news and talk about bill o'reilly. go after fox news and talk

about sean hannity. they don't talk about bret baier or shepard smith. they don't talk about the news. they talk about the commentators. >> sean: they have an editorial page. whole thing is propaganda. >> sure. but it's one thing to criticize you or to disagree with you and you welcome that, and i'll welcome that. that is perfectly fine. but it's another thing to twist and distort what it is you say. that is what this group does on a regular basis with conservatives. it's interesting, sean. again, you and i talk about this over and over again. they can't fight us fairly. they can't go mano-y-mano on ideas so they have to hire private detectives to get in our personal lives to see if they can destroy us that way. this is a memo that proves it. >> i guess they didn't find anything on me or i would have read about it. >> that rattling you hear is the trash can. >> sean: what? >> that rattling you are

hearing is your trash can outside. >> sean: i guess so. i have no idea. what is the fall-out for this? i talk about the main stream media ignoring the story because they're part of the story. a big part of the story. >> i am getting a sense that media matters is the like the rabbit in the corner -- the rat that is cornered that goes for the jugular. according to this report, their audience is down 53%. the numbers are down 53%. they have more money than the good lord. but they don't have an audience out there. i think they are getting desperate. i think the tactics they are employing are the tactics of desperation. when they go this personal, this savage, this ugly. that's desperation. that's what i say can determine it. watch out. >> sean: all right. good to see you. and we are back to our regular format next week. all right. thank you for being with us. let not your heart be troubled on great, great, great american panel is coming up next. [ male announcer ] at scottrade,

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>> sean: tonight on the great, great american panel, senior spokesman for hillary clinton campaign, founding partner of hilltop public solutions, mo elleithee is back. he isshe, a republican strategi, dee dee benkie is back. member of the "wall street journal" editorial board and write ore the best of west column, on opinionjournal.com. james frey bacjames taranto bac. we is a free speech and radio controversy. they have been suspended for saying this. >> at some point you're just sick of it all. so is everybody else in the industry. all her friends and hangers on.

>> sean: i think first of all, you reaction to it. then an issue of okay, they have been suspended. the broader point here. they apologized. what should happen? >> it's not a free speech issue, because it's a private company making ils own programming decisions. it's a question of taste. i think from what we heard of the clip i don't listen to the show, i regret to say. it sounded like it was tasteless. i can't blame people from objecting. on the other hand, it sounds like they are in business of being tasteless and there is something ridiculous about it, to have the shot jock goes too far. >> with the imus controversy that people would learn. maybe it's not a term you use, different term. what do you think? >> well, they were wrong. these guys are funny and edgy. they were wrong. whitney houston is a fantastic

entertainer. he is really should get the respect of that. there is nothing wrong with that. actually, i thought that everyone should get a it withny houston song, mo elleithee should get a song like toward the obama thing -- >> sean: forget that part. there is a broader point here. it happens with all the celebrities. we don't know what the cause of death is yet. toxicology as far as i know didn't come back. everybody knew she was in trouble. we have known for decades she is in trouble. we have the hangers on in every single solitary case, nobody loves the celebrities enough to say stop. no. >> sean, they are making money from it. surrounded by them, they are making money from it. they keep going.

whitney houston was a talented, wonderful -- >> sean: talented, wonderful -- wait, she became actively involved in drugs. >> look, i saw a position on some television show last night who said the second one of her friends knew she was in rehab saw her at a party holding champagne should have come in and said hold on. >> sean: stop right there. that is a legitimate concern. >> they called her a "crack whore." they are a-holes for calling her that. the woman is not buried yet. it's wrong. over the top. >> sean: over the top but can they say they are sorry and move on? >> they said they are sorry. >> sean: why do i expect that people can't make mistakes and everybody has to be perfect. i'm like all right. >> no one is perfect. >> sean: they said they are sorry for. watch, there will be an effort

to get them fired. >> they will move on and keep doing the show in the commercial interest of the station to continue doing that. >> sean: here is the controversy, though, erupting with the new jersey governor chris christie ordering flags flown at half staff honoring whitney houston. people say what about the military? what about the brave men and women? do you look in toto at somebody's life or the last 15 years or longer? i don't remember when he is got married to what, singer bobby brown. >> which was the biggest mistake. >> sean: he is has free will. hwill -- she has free will. she can make her own decision. you can't blame him. >> we celebrate a lot of people in this country as cultural icons throughout history who have had their demons. look at the entertainment world alone. elvis to marilyn monroe. people we still celebrate today though they had real problems. i don't think it's wrong -- >> sean: do you want to examine her right --

>> i get the frustration of the parents of our fallen soldiers who say why aren't we getting the same treatment? they should be getting the treatment. >> sean: good point. i agree. i don't think we should take away from whitney houston. >> sean: we do it because we're celebrity-obsessed society. >> true. totally. >> i want to defend the governor here. usually when we fly flags at half-staff it's for politicians that died. if frank lautenburg died they would fly it at half-staff. who contributed more to the world? whitney houston that gave us music to people to enjoy or lautenburg who let us drive 55 miles per hour? >> whitney. totally. thank you. national anthem of all time. i mean -- >> sean: he i she did. the giants won that year. >> great. >> sean: a quick break. more with the great, great, great american panel straight ahead. the employee of the month isss... the new spark card from capital one.

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>> sean: continue with the great american panel. the phantom statistic of the contraception mandate that 98% of women on birth control are catholic. number that liberals throw around and it remains unconfirmed by anybody. watch this. >> nancy pelosi, somewhere?

apparently not. >> contribution in this case that women make to the workforce. 98% of catholic women i am told by all of you, use birth control. determine the size and the timing of their families. so again, it's a women's health issue. >> sean: 9 # in fact what is so -- 98%. what is so funny? >> i'm the only woman on the panel. women use contraception, news flash. that's just the way it is. >> sean: go with the statistic 98%? >> who knows? i don't know. >> sean: it wouldn't matter. it's still a religious liberty issue. >> it is. it's noted 98%, or 99%. it's the fact that the catholic church if they have churches, they have schools and they don't agree with this, then they should haven't to deal with it. so nancy pelosi is wrong as usual. >> why is a politician telling us about women using contraception?

it's none of the government's damn business. >> or you guys. neither does she. it is a freedom issue. >> we use contraception, too. >> yeah, right. exactly. >> it is a matter of freedom. leave women and men alone and let them use their contraception. but leave religious institutions alone. and don't try to force them to do something that go against their conscience. >> sean: first, 98% is from a real study? >> what study. >> whoa, whoa whoa. [over talk ] >> what statistic? that can't be real. >> i agree with you, move beyond the -- [over talk ] >> the bigger issue is whether or not you provide access, universal access to contraception, while respecting religious libertys. i'm a democrats who actually had issue with the ruling

initially came down but i thought the compromise ended up in the right place. >> sean: accommodation, what the president is saying the catholic church will pay for catholic institutions, hospitals, charities and that the wonderful healthcare companies are going to give it to women free. so nice. because it's cheaper for them in long run. [ overtalk ] >> they should haven't to do that. you men should not have an issue with this. look, you don't -- >> let's be clear here. this is not a compromise. okay? >> sean: i agree. >> the president is negotiating with the taliban. he will not negotiate with the catholics. this was an imposition. an attempt to save face politically. the only people who accept this are the left wing cath limbs like carol keon and an effort to placate element of political base that were upset. but it does not deal with the religious liberty issue. obama administration has done is shameful and un-american. >> sean: how does it not deal with religious liberty? >> they are still required to