made could not make you prouder. so, way to go. [ applause ] there's a group of young engineers from paul robson malcolm x academy, and nobody needs to tell them the kind of challenges that detroit has. where is my team from detroit, there they are, stand up. they believe in their city and they are coming up with new ideas to keep detroit's comeback going. and there's samantha garvey, where is samantha? there she is. i just saw her, stand up samantha. samantha spent years studying muscle p

mussel populations in the long island sound and when she learned that she was a semifinalist for the talent search, when she found it out, her family was living in a homeless shelter so think about what she has overcome. she wants to work for noaa or epa, so here is the head of noaa, and lisa jackson, head of epa and you just may want to you know, hook up with them before you leave. [ applause ] the young people i met today, the young people behind me, you guys inspire me. it's young people like you that make me so confident america's best days are still on come. when you work and study and excel at what you are doing in math and science, and you compete in something like this

h h, you are getting america in shape to win the future. you are making sure that we have the best, smartest most skilled workers in the world. so the jobs and industries tomorrow take root right here. you are making sure we will always be home to the most creative and advanced science labs and that america will win the race to the future. as an american i'm proud of you and as your president we need to make sure your success stories are happening all across the country. that is why when we took office, i called for an all hands on deck approach to math, science, technology and engineers, let's train for teachers and get more kids studying the subjects and make sure the fields get the respect and attention that they deserve. but it not just the government effort, i'm happy to say that the private sector has answered the wallace well.

they understand how important y i i it is to their future, a group of businesses and foundations are announcie ining a $22 milli fund to train new science and math teachers. a coalition of more than 100 ceos is expanding math and science programs to 130 sites across the country and other businesses are partnering from everything from will i am to dean kaman to make sure we are celebrating young scientists and engineers in every city and in every town all across america. many of these leaders are here today and i want to thank them for doing their part. we will do everything that we can to partner you to help you succeed in your projects. and i'm proud to announce that the budget i unveil next week will include programs to help

prepare new math and science teachers and to meet a ambitious goal, which is one million more graduates in technology, science and math over the next ten years, that's a goal we can achieve. that's a goal we can achieve. [ applause ] now, in a lot of ways, today is a celebration of the new, but the belief that we belong on the cutting edge of innovation, that is an idea as old as america itself. i mean, we are a nation of dreamers and believers in a better tomorrow. you think about our founding fathers they were all out there doing experiments and you know, folks like benjamin franklin and thomas jefferson, they were curious about the world around them and trying to figure out how we can help shape that environment so people's lives can be better. it in our dna, we know that

innovation has he helped each generation to pass down the american promise which is no matter who you are or where you come from, you can make it if you try. there's nothing more important than keeping that promise alive for the next generation. there's no priority i have that is higher than -- as president than this. and i can't think of a better way to spend a morning than with the young people who are here doing their part and creating some unbelievable stuff in the process. so i'm proud of you, i want you to keep up your good work. i'm going make a special plea to the press, not just the folks who are here but your editors, give this some attention. i mean, this is the kind of stuff, what these young people are doing, that is going to make a bigger difference in the life of our country over the

long-term than just about anything. a and, you know, it doesn't belong just on the, you know, back pages of a newspaper. we have to lift had up. we have to emphasize how important this is and recognize these incredible young people who are doing things that, you know, i could not even imagine thinking about at fifth grade or eighth grade or in high school. and so, pay attention to this. this is important. this is what is going to make a difference in this country over the long haul. this is what inspires me and gets me up every day. this is what we should be focusing on in our public debates. and as for all the folks who are here shs don't let your robots wonder off anywhere. all right? so thank you everyone.

appreciate it, thank you. >> that was president obama speaking at the white house science fair, the president using the backdrop to unveil plan to invest money to train new teachers in the next decade. it's caucus day, can rick santorum catch some mitt-mentum tonight? it tuesday february 7th and this is now. the man who always bakes a cake, former rnc chair, michael steele and joan walsh and patricia murphy and game changer and hbo inspiration, new york magazine's john heileman. >> i used to be the indubidible >> it like mitt romneys

standings and i'm trying make a political joke. as we talk about things that go and come, rick santorum, the romney campaign saying they expect to lose minnesota to rick santorum. what does this mean for mitt romney? michael? >> probably not too much. i'm sure they baked in the cake some of the trials of the next few weeks which are at the hands of the grassroots. the primary is a more closed group of voters that come out, you do not have independents that will come out, as in an open primary. the up side for someone like santorum, it gets him back in the story and back in the game, he has an opportunity to make a couple of cases in the various states, whether it's colorado, and minnesota, where he will do well. the third wheel here is newt gingrich and how does this impact him? i would think probably not so much, i think they baked that in as well. >> a lot of cake baking

metaphores, it bares mentioning that the conservative press is getting into this. ha you have, why not rick santorum and there's a lingering feeling if not desire to have someone else come into the race? >> there is, but do we have to take this serious again, the man had a moment in iowa and he did not capitalize on it. he does not have money or an organization. the social conservatives want to love him. but they don't. >> he has charisma >> he has a little bit. >> a little bit. >> you cannot have a little bit of charisma, you either have it or you don't. conservatives are looking for

those that are conservative and always have been. but with santorum, there's so many way to be conservative. he was not conservative when it came to ear marks, he is not the perfect person. he is not the perfect man and that is why conservatives are flopping around to find the perfect someone. santorum is where is the money. without the money he cannot go much further. >> those sweater vests were retailing if you donate $100, you got a free sweater vest. the romney campaign has been making efforts, there was a conference call, tim pawlenty came out and said santorum is a

nice guy but not qualified to be president. >> the romney campaign attacks anyone they think will beat then in a state.recourses to do it. so rick santorum will not be the republican nominee and for a lot of reasons that people said around the table. the money is actually the most important thing, increasingly we will face states that are having multi-primaries every day. and he does not have the money to deal with that and he does not attract free media like newt gingrich does. gingrich draws a lot of earned media even though his bank account is as bad off as santorum. he is known everywhere in the country. santorum is not known everywhere. newt gingrich can go in any state and he is money by anyone

that will vote. that is huge for him. the question is not now, can one of the others win? they cannot win. there's no way that i can imagine where newt gingrich, santorum or ron paul is the nominee, the question is, through a series of victories in portional states whether those guys together can block romney from the nomination. it's not a likely scenario, but it's the only one in play right now. newt gingrich will not get the number of delegates to be the nominee, but can they together, every delegate that someone else gets is one that mitt does not get. if romney is short of the delegates you can see an interesting scenario where people may hold a new convention and names are thrown in at the last minute. >> michael steele will the

republican party allow that to happen? >> no, no, they will cut that off long before that happens. >> who allows that to not happen? >> who is there, nobody answers the phone. >> i assume the chairman does. you have begun to see in florida, the sort of coalescing by a lot of the money and establishment and the cross section of voters within the conservative movement are beginning to say, it not about electability, it's going to happen. the question then becomes, if the scenario that you laid out comes, you have three guys that are dwgoing to block and tackle and mitt does not get the delegates, is it a way that they extract a pound of flesh from romney and his campaign, which i think is more likely the case,

he has an opportunity to bring the guys to the fold. i do not think he can wait that long. there's too much damage that kills the brand going into october and november, which allows the president to pick issues and targets that he wants. >> isn't the phrase, extracting the pound of flesh, is that the part of newt gingrich's -- >> we will be talking more about newt gingrich the man who is not one to shy away from the fight and whether he can regroup with a new strategy, that is next on "now". it's water from the drinking fountain at the mall. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. the brita bottle with the filter inside. [ male announcer ] great tasting tap water can come from any faucet anywhere. what do you get when you combine the home depot with this weekend? the cure for cabin fever. because with... get-it-done savings on everything we need... ...we can turn this weekend into a fresh floor...

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this is a long process, we have only begun the choice and i think you are going to see us

talking about big ideas and big solutions, and giving people a real choice on super tuesday in oklahoma, georgia, tennessee, and then on to texas, where our hope is that by the end of texas, we will have tied romney for the lead. >> that was newt gingrich this morning talking strategy. the candidate is by-passing the three states voting today, he is in ohio instead prepping for super tuesday which is exactly four weeks from today. we were talking about gingrich's prospect is he will do fox news and we have heard rumors that he is gunning for another debate between now and the 22nd. >> he has relied on the moments that he does something headline grabbing and that does not a campaign make. so he starts to need to look for places where he can put his

campaign forward again. he is putting all of his eggs in the super tuesday basket. if he does not kill it on super tuesday, it's impossible to see where he will go from here. his team has one strategy and he has another one six hours later. i talked to people in the gingrich campaign, they said we are going to be positive and then five minutes later necessary at t he is in t in the mosh pit. >> a letter to gingrich talked about a group that is going rogue right now and starting a shadow campaign. true blue gingrich supporters will start their own movement. >> that will never happen. it's an interesting piece of trivia and funny that people like that are so aware how dysfunctional as the campaign is. they have to have two eyes in

their head, that is not hard to figure out that the campaign is messed up. we are talking a lot about super tuesday, and can gingrich survive to it and can he do well during the super tuesday? i am a simple man. i think that newt will do well in georgia and tennessee and kentucky and some of the other southeastern sta southern states. that will be written off for him. if newt gingrich can win ohio, we will have an interesting race again. that will be a big, huge important general election state, not a southern state, a state that has a diverse population and a big industrial economy. >> and a lot of delegates. >> yes, and as a talking point, if newt wins ohio, he can say, i'm able to beat romney the states that matter that we have to win in the fall and that will change the game. if he doesn't win there and he

is just a bunch of southern wins, he will quickly fade. >> the reason it matters and it's sort of possible but i don't think that it will happen, romney has an income gap in his support. rich voters like him and those making $50,000 and under could not like him. so ohio is a test whether he can expand his base and bring the voters in. >> i think that is the thing you want to look for, how well someone like mitt romney is able to translate his support within the republican ranks, with a group of republicans that look like the rest of america. it not the traditional view of the southern white male, it's a broad base of republicanism there, if he can to thdo that is him up to run the rest of the

table. for newt it's a big deal, if he can win there, he can win anywhere. >> and the gingrich campaign is aware of that. >> gingrich is in ohio today. >> he will be in ohio a lot over the next month. >> let's talk about the other side of the race, which of course is the white house and the president, the white house officially throwing its support and trying gin up donations. let's listen to what david axelrod said this morning. >> we were faced with a situation as to whether we could afford to play by two sets of rules and the answer is obviousliy lno, that doesn't me that we think it's the best way for the system to function, the president will fight for ways to reform that for the future but that will not happen in this campaign. we have to live in the world as it is. >> quickly, this is such a farce and you are sitting on a quarter

of a billion dollars already and you are complaining about not having enough money and the fact is, they want to get in the game and they have been trying to first out figure out a way to get in the game. watch the numbers. i don't want to hear another word from a -- >> we will have more on this volatile subject after this break, and we will make mention of the fact that the gop $410.9 million generated in the race. et we will talk more about it after the break. [ male announcer ] is zero worth nothing? ♪ imagine zero pollutants in our environment. or zero dependency on foreign oil. ♪ this is why we at nissan built a car inspired by zero.

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break, i want everyone to get their you thoughts in. we know that the obama campaign is trying gin up donations from the super pac. >> we have come a long ways to things that you can believe in and hopes that can be different. we have to live in the world as it is. and did anyone ever believe that the obama campaign was not going to get into super pacs or they have not been already? please. the obama campaign has been in two successful elections and they have been the biggest hypocrites. there was a system that he pledged to abide by and the rival pledged to abide by it, he chose to opt out and destroy the financing for america forever. there's not a principaled arg argume argument.

it was we cannot turn down this amount of money. if they had not done what they did, i would have called it political malpractice but to stand around now and complain about, well, the system is such a mess, but we have to play in the system, as it is and we hate doing it, but you guys are as much in it as making big money as bad asity in presidential politics as maybe the supreme court justices. they have helped to mess up money poll tib-- money politics america. >> and john highyou wonder how end up in presidential ad campai campaigns. we have more to discuss. birth control back back slash, the white house has repealed their decision to have religious

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♪ >> the administration said that obama care, that religious organizations, catholic schools and hospitals and so forth have to provide for free contraception and abortive pills in violation of those religious organizations, this kind of assault on religion will end if i'm if president of the united. >> that was mitt romney a half an hour ago, his comments as the white house is being hammered on the new rule s the administration looking to compromise joining me now is terry o'neal. thanks for joining the program. >> hey, alex, how are you?

>> i'm great, a lot of buzz words, war on religion, abortive pills, they are trying make it a wedge issue, do you you think they can do so to the extent that the white house will change its position on contraseption >> no, the ones that will be in trouble in 2012 will be the ones that try to restrict birth control, that is different than the abortion debate. 98% of sexually active women that includes 98% of catholic sexually active women use birth control at some point, a vast majority of people in the country think that if an employer is going to offer health care, that that health care should include birth control. it's a winning issue for all the candidates that support birth control and a loser for those like mitt romney that wants to restrict birth control. >> i want to open this up to the

panel, what is surprising to me how the abortion debate has become conflicted with the birth control. they are apples and oranges. >> they are but in the catholic church, they are both wrong. there's no black and white, there's no gray issue, it is wrong. so for the federal government to say, this is less wrong than that is wrong, that is not the role of the federal government. >> they are not being forced to take birth control. it's the religious liberty of the women who work for the catholic church. >> but it not the liberty of the organizations that they are requiring to could thdo that >> if the church said they are not respecting child labor law do on we let them opt out. >> they are requiring catholic organizations that are part of the church -- >> 28 states have this regulation, we are living under it here in new york.

catholic church sued three times and never won. this is is legally an issue that the obama administration is on the right side. >> we will see what happens after there's new leadership in the new york catholic church. >> he is a fire breather on it. >> it's an offense to a conscious of a religious institution, individuals in the church may have a different view on that, >> we do. >> but the church is teaching there's no deviation on that, you can make a choice as a catholic if you want to do x, y, and z but the thrust of the teaching is clear and the fact that the federal government saying to the church, that you will have to teach differently on this. to me it's offensive. >> let me make this last point and then i'll be quiet.

to your wishful thinking that it's not a wedge issue, keep wishing because trust me, catholics across the country, regardless of where their position is personally on the issue believe that this church -- >> let's let terry respond. we are not requiring the catholic church to do anything. the federal government does not require them to provide birth control, what the federal government is saying and should be saying to all churches as well as all religiously afi lly and hospitals, they should be saying, if you get into the health insurance business, you cannot discriminate against birth control. that is the only thing we are talking about here. there's no -- >> but we are talking about the catholics. they are making a big offensive in the media, they are using their resources to try to present this as some kind of religious thing. individual women have consciouses. and institutions do not have a conscious. an individual woman has a first

amendment freedom of religion, she has a 14th amendment right to the equal protection under the laws and the right of privacy, all of these rights would be violated by a federal law invites employers, whether the employers are religious or not to with withhold birth control. >> there has to be -- i want to pick up on something. i want to pick on something that michael steele said, which is how this plays out nationally. peggy asserts in the wa"wall street journal" that the administration is waking a, sleeping giamccain won religiou voters and obama won catholic. i wonder -- >> this is where people do not want the federal government to tell church related

organizations what to do. there must be another way to allow women to make the individual choice to have birth control and have it paid for and not have the church do it. >> it's important to not fall for the claim that the federal government is trying to force them to provide birth control. if anybody has been paying attention in the past -- >> you are comparing -- >> okay, let's hear what john has to say. >> there's political questions here. you are driving to the right question. there's a lot of religious voters that be upset about this, and there are some that are catholic and they support democrats bro s broadly. the majority of catholics are on the administration's side of this issue but it's the case

that some number of catholics that could be pivotal voting groups that do not like this. there's a group of those people out from and in a close election, people that voted for obama in 2008, who were turned offnot saying they will lose the election. but you are talking a much closer election than you had before. i'll say finally that there's actually a, there's a middle ground that exists in hawaii where there was a system that was developed where catholic insurance companies that provided health care, they would disclose it to their customers and say we will not do this and they would assist them in finding alternative methods to get low cost birth control

through other providers and that was not a bad model. >> we know, but in terms of telling someone to go down the street and get -- >> can 98 -- you know, i'm going to start an organization, we are the 98% of catholics that use birth control, why are we saying that noncatholics have to live under laws that our bishops create? >> look -- >> the sleeping giant is being awakened and that is that people do not want women's health to be politized, to have it effect women's health is a problem. you look at what happened to the

komen foundation. >> you are not talking for everyone, because i go to -- listen, i go to republican events. i'm not sure how many you go to, when i go, the notion of banning funding for planned parenthood is a big applause line. we can debate whether that is okay -- >> they need to play the politics better. >> a loft -- >> terry i'm sorry that we cannot keep you on for the entire hour, i'm sure you go to republican events in your defense. did not mention that in the letter in the komen -- terry, thanks -- >> thank you for joining us, terry o'neil from the national organization for women, after the break, culture clash part two, as if we have not had enough. we are minutes away from a

decision on prop 8. that is next on "now." 4

in about 15 minutes a federal appeals court in california is expected to make a major ruling on same-sex marriage, we have former lieutenant dan choi, dan, thanks for joining the program. >> great to be with you, i love the name of your show, "now," when you demand right, you do not do it later you do it now. >> it means to many things to so many people, dan, let talk about prop 8, it looks like the country is moving toward accepting gay marriage as a viable union.

53% of the americans believe that gay marriage should be legal and 45% do not. this splits on age and to say that the younger generation is majority for gay marriage union where do you think the court will decide? >> whichever way they go today, it will be historic, which ever side wins, there will be a fight in the supreme court, we welcome the fight. when people fall in love they do some crazy things so we will be able to see a lot of fireworks coming on throughout the years as we fight the battle, and beyonce teaches us your love has got me looking to crazy right now, got me looking so crazy in

love. uh, oh, people know that when you fall in love, you are liable to do great things. >> dan, we wanted someone to quote beyonce on the show, that is why we brought you to. we had a heated debate over the role of government in people's private lives. michael steele, i'm going to throw it to you. it seems hypocritical that the republican party would wrap its arms around the idea of personal choice and on the same note sort of turn around and say, look, gay unions are, you know, that love is not real love. >> i think that the party, are you right, in some cases you have that problem. but overall, people have taken the view more of a libertyview, the states should decide and that is where you have the battle drawn out, as opposed to the federal level when you have

a federal mandate. i know when i was asked about the defense of the marriage act, those are local decisions that should be made by the state of california and on the state's level. everyone has the opportunity to express themselves and the community can decide where they want to be. fundamentally that is what it's about. when you bring it to the federal level, you are stomping on my toes, and i have a opinion about it. >> michael can i ask you a question? >> sure. >> since i fought for every state, tonight he believe that my love is just as equal as your love, when i come back from iraq, that i should not go to state where my love is not accepted or where i cannot say goodbye to my husband or my

lover. >> i'm not going to get into how you define your love and how you feel for a person. but then, you take it to another level when you are asking the broader community in which you live to look at it in a way that is different. then we get into a conversation that gets less into what you just expressed and more about what the other person feels. >> all i know is when i fell in love, it was worth fighting for. you can put all this state and that state, but what translates in my book is that you do not think i deserve to be married in every state of america. >> i am curious, michael, for you to tell me if you think that local standards were that it was

unacceptable for black men to ma marry white women in some states and not others. >> i do not that particular equation, when you walk in a room i do not know if you are gay or not, but you know i'm black. whatever feelings you have about black people, that is something that just comes out. i don't know until later on, maybe you tell me or some other way, do not make that comparison. it's not the same. >> [ multiple speakers ] >> guys, let's -- >> as an african american, it's not perfect. >> there are things that you cannot facts, you cannot help whether you are white or black or gay or straight.

it's not because they are clubs you belong to, you cannot change who you love or what color you are, therefore there should be equal on the a national basis. it's the same story with same-sex marriage. >> in your cultural view that may be acceptable and in mine it's not. >> and race is a very different category. >> theme fundamental question he is, dan, i want to bring you back in here, state by state versus federal, in terms of the debate, where is this going. you have prop 8 being debated in california and you have folks that are running for the highest office in the land who have impuned the notion of sexuality.

>> and where younger people are and where older people are. you can feel this issue, this will not be an issue in 50 years, it's just a matter of will it not be an issue in ten or 15 years. this is so tied general to generations. it's so different once you have a personal experience with gay friends and you see them fall in love and see them want to marry each other. it's not going to be an issue in the future. it's a question of when. >> it's important to talk about the history of this. the supreme court has decided in many courts that it is a right. we know that no matter where we come from, rights are not voted

on as if it's a popularity contest. i'm asian, i'm gay, i believe that discrimination against people for that kind of love is wrong. dan choi, i'm sorry we have to cut you off there. thank you for your thoughts. and we will be watching prop 8 with baited breath. we will have more after the break. ♪ [ woman ] i was ready for my trip, but my smile wasn't. [ female announcer ] new crest 3d white intensive professional effects whitestrips. it goes below the enamel surface to whiten as well as a five-hundred dollar professional treatment for a transformation that's hard to believe. ♪ wow, that's you? [ female announcer ] new intensive professional effects whitestrips. and try 3d white toothpaste and rinse. from crest. life opens up when you do.

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we have breaking news, a california, sorry degree, a fed appeals court has struck down prop 8 as unconstitutional, we will have more on that later. thank you to my guests, i'll be back here tomorrow, "andrea

mitchell reports" is next, and chuck todd is in for andrea today, chuck, you have a spicy hour coming up. >> thank you alex and that is right, we have the breaking news and we will immediately now go to that, we have that decision from the california appeals court, we know it's unconstitutional so we will head to pete williams on how it was ruled unconstitutional. as we heard pete reporting earlier today, the question was going to be was it going to be ruled unconstitutional vis-a-vis california's law or the federal constitution, pete, you have the latest. take it away. what is the ruling? >> i have had it for about a minute, chuck, so it will take a while to answer that question. it does appear though, from just beginning to read this 128 page opinion, that let me quote from it here. it says all proposition 8 accomplished was to take away from same sex couples the right to be granted marriage licenses

and to use designation of marriage, serves no purpose or effect other than to reclassify their relationship and families as opposite of other couples. the law does not allow for things of this sort. there's a hint here, chuck, that the court of appeals may be trying to narrow the effect of this ruling so that it would apply in states that have civil yo unions. so it would only apply in certain situations. what this, the logic would suggest here is that if those states already have given all the legal benefits of marriage except the word marriage, you cannot do. that and if that is the, how

this decision is narrowed, then, it's possible that the supreme court may not want to get into this fight. in any event, chuck, back to the headline here, a federal court of appeals has agreed with the lower court declaring proposition 8 unconstitutional, that was the ballot proposition passed by voters in 2008, that said marriage in california can exist only between a man and woman and that has now been declared unconstitutional. now they have a choice, they can go to the full ninth circuit court of appeals and try to get the supreme court to take the case. we will hear from them in a while to see what they will do. my guess is they will try for the ninth circuit and try to get more judges on the federal ninth