thelastword@msnbc.com, and you can follow my tweets @lawrence. >> rick splits, let's play hard ball. good evening, i'm chris matthews from washington. leading off tonight, going, going, gone. it wasn't long ago that rick santorum looked like the guy that just might knock off mitt romney, but he lost michigan, he lost ohio, he lost wisconsin, and it increasingly looked like he was going to lose his home commonwealth of pennsylvania. so today rick santorum suspended his campaign. though he refused to mention romney by name, you bet he did. nothing stands between romney and the nomination. check your calendars, by the way. the general election starts today. on that last point, president obama knows that times are bad this fall.

he won't get reelected arguing, i've done a great job. so he's making a different case right now, that if you're struggling, it's not because he's failed, it's because the system failed. the president made fairness the issue today. the republicans have stacked the deck in favor of the rich against the rest of us. obama clearly thinks it has a winning strategy here. plus the trayvon martin case, late this afternoon lawyers for george zimmerman said they are no longer his lawyers. they said an odd behavior on zimmerman's part. we'll get the latest from sanford, florida. more than 50 years after the cuban revolution, we have learned again how dangerous it is for anyone in this country to defeat obama. we begin with rick santorum tonight exiting the race. his campaign communications rick santorum is out.

i want to look at something. here is what he said. your candidate in leaving the campaign, announcing it late this afternoon. let's watch. >> ladies and gentlemen, we made the decision getting into this race that our kitchen table, against all the odds. and we made a decision over the weekend, that while this presidential race is over for me we will suspend our campaign, we are not done fighting. we are going to continue to fight for those voices, we're going to continue to fight for the americans who stood up and gave us that air under our wings that allowed us to accomplish things that no political expert would have ever expected. >> that's fair enough, hogan, thanks for joining us.

>> no one would have expected it. we all. nobody believe. that's pretty far right, because i think it is. he was the secretary second to the last campaign that really matter. why did he quit? i think that in order to secure the amount of delegates we needed to, and a few things had to happen. we had to do well in pennsylvania, first and foremost. we knew that. we had to have newt jump out and push delegates and say, you guys have to support santorum. and the third was texas, it had to be winner take all by simple majority. a big movement was afoot it make that happen. >> he doesn't like mitt romney, does he? >> yeah, he was fine. >> he doesn't like him. he never mentioned his name today. >> he didn't mention his name.

>> why not? >> he didn't concede he won the nomination. he just ignored him. by the way, i think he's right to not like them. this is fairly personal, maybe effective but it doesn't win you friends of the guys you're attacking. >> republican income dent rick santorum has been defeated by bob casey. >> rick santorum 17 point loss embarrassing. losing his hometown by 30 points. >> he lost across the board with voters. among democrats and independents, women and men, blacks and whites, rich and poor. >> we fired him as senator, why promote him to president. >> i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. >> was that below the belt to say that pennsylvania voters fired the guy? >> i mean, i guess that's what happens when you lose an

election. but romney was no different. he lost a few years ago and didn't run for reelection. he quit. that's just politics. >> let me try to get to an objective reality. you still have to be defending your guy but in defending the reality you live in. we heard that the reason rick santorum never mentioned the guy who beat him and flogging him with this tv ad was because it hit him below the belt and said was a loser. >> there is no love lost between the two. is it worse than what normally happens in a tough primary season? maybe marginally so. >> why did he go for the knockout? why was romney not willing to take the guy out slowly and gradually? he was almost out of the race. why did he punch him the way on the door? >> because mitt romney needs anything that looks like convincing finality whenever he could get it.

if that meant dumping 10-1 negative ads on rick santorum in pennsylvania, he was perfectly willing, if not eager, to do it. grind him to dust in pennsylvania, and would he have done it. >> you know the game in roller derby where you win by knocking everybody off the track? >> sure. >> is that what romney did? did he win positively or negatively. >> good question. >> answer it. >> he didn't run one positive ad the entire cycle. weved in him and didn't believe in romney, was he both? >> i believe he was a little bit of both. they were looking for someone who wasn't a conservative vote. >> was romney your guy? >> i don't know. >> i love it when you don't answer the question. you have a great face. so you are saying on this show, in the very hours after your guy leaves the race, that other guy is not the true blue conservative.

>> he is more conservative than obama. >> is that the point? >> sure, that's the point. >> is that campaign slogan of the republicans? >> first i said money intrastructure. >> you're great. go ahead, howard. >> i'm just listening with, listening to the trailing off of the santorum campaign here in the words of hogan gidly and if i'm mitt romney, my enthusiasm level is going down by second. >> one of the advantages is his clear ability to meet with certain people. he is a roman catholic, he did connect with the could be servetive protestants as well as can licks. here he is describe is his rise as a candidate in his concessions speech right now. >> that's how people say, how did this happen? how were we able to come from nowhere? because i was smart enough to figure out that if i understood and felt at a very deep level, what you were experiencing across america and tried to be a

witness to that, to try to be an interpreter of that, that your voice could be heard and miracles could happen. >> i want to ask you, because you are still a spokesman right, for santorum? >> sure. >> i always like them personally when i disagree with a lot of things, but i like him personally. one reason is his spunk. my wife argues with me about this. a lot of people can't separate politics from their personal thoughts of someone. i can do it. howard can do it. i like doing it. so get out before he loses pennsylvania, sew still has the credibility of the guy, at least not lose at home twice. >> sure. i mean, i'm not saying we haven't talked about it, of course. you look and say be what are you doing in the future? there are a lot of things thrown out there. a lot of people say prepare for 2016. >> bit way, there is an implication here. >> what do you mean? >> if you are preparing for 2016, you are preparing for romney to lose. >> yes, it is.

because there is no job open if a republican wins this time. see, it's called "hardball." this young guy just admitted the fact that you this guy you still speak for is planning it run in 2016. i have already written my column about how he will run in 2016. i hope he runs in 2016 so we don't even have to run to vote for him. >> i'm just marveling at hogan having wander need this den. he has confirmed they have talked about possibility of santorum running in 2016. >> because romney will lose in 2012. >> for whatever reason. >> there is no other reason. if you get a republican elected in 2012 which you said is unlikely your guy has an opening in 2016. >> you haven't seen he is a conservative. >> he is more conservative than -- >> that doesn't mean anything. >> well, look, i think in the end that rick santorum will campaign for romney. and i think he will campaign for him among annie van gel cals, among others and say, i didn't get it.

i disagree with romney on healthcare. hogan may agree or disagree. but santorum will have to say that it take the wind out of the sales. >> he reached that. you know that, right? i talked about that earlier. romney called rick and said -- >> he put out a nice statement. >> but what saaber to yum will do, i think, and hogan correct me if i'm wrong is he will talk about barack obama. rick santorum won't talk a lot about mitt romney. >> there is not a chance in hel rick santorum is on the ticket. let's say that now. >> i haven't seen their short list. i don't know if -- >> you don't expect rick is on the short list, do you? >> i don't know, we'll see. >> you think he might be? >> might be. >> so santorum still hoping for second spot. >> when rick was out there taking it on the chin, he said, no one campaigns like this any more. everybody should have to do this. somebody needs to be on the ticket that says hey, i can go into the lion's den and talk about it.

>> there are parts of the campaign when people in the middle, from center left, very affected by what looked to be the lunch pale case. for rick santorum. i've been telling my liberal friends, there's a lot of populism in the republican party. your guy spoke it. it isn't all 1%. it wouldn't be in general election if it was 1% party. 49 of that 50% republicans get in general elections like 2010 are not 1 percenters. why did he stay on that line and run on that line and knock romney's block off? why did he stick on my grandfather's big hands out of the coffin. i grew up, a joe bag of doughnuts, kind of guy, why didn't he stay there? why did he get into contraception and all this stupid stuff we fought about 50 years ago. >> you guys did. oh, come on, chris. >> so i hope we bring up contraception under this campaign? >> that's fine. that's one sentence out of a whole 45-minute speech.

most of his speech was, look, my grandfather was a coal miner. >> how come everyone thinks santorum is a cultural, like pat buchanan. >> he is. >> i think santorum got off track in michigan. if he stuck with the theme you are talking about, rerentlessly, and focused on the economy, if he won michigan we wouldn't be sitting here right now. >> congratulations. did you a good job, hogan. a good job tonight at telling us the truth. which if your guy runs in 2016 because he expects romney to lose in november. frank will be back on at 7:00 with another edition of the show that might have your words. you might watch. >> i will. >> your candidate will watch. this is so much fun. we are both protecting the same thing. newt gingrich is probably coupling back too.

anyway, pushing against fairness. fairness is a great democratic argument. he is arguing wealthy should pay their fair share and aren't doing it. but is raising taxes on the wealthy a political winner? when we come back, fairness versus way out capitalism. this is "hardball." hello! who's she? downy unstopables. here to shake up your fresh. toss these little scent boosters in before you wash. and the fresh scent will last until you're ready to wash again. downy unstopables. the fresh too feisty to quit. you know, from car insurance companies shouting, "save 500 bucks over here!" "no, save 300 bucks over here!" "wait, save 400 bucks right here." with so many places offering so much buck-saving, where do you start? well, esurance was born online, raised by technology, and majors in efficiency. so they're actually built

to save you money... and time... and whiplash. esurance. insurance for the modern world. click or call. if you think mitt romney's background could help him win in new england, think again. let's check the "hardball" scoreboard. we have new numbers from maine, obama leads romney by 18 points, 55-37. wow, that won't last, i don't think. that's according to a new automated phone poll. by the maine people's resource center. the poll also found independent king trounsing in the race. to beat olympia snowe. king is at 56 over the

republican and democratic parties, even though he would caucus once he makes the senate. i say he becomes a democrat, effectively. we'll be right back.

welcome back to "hardball." the president thinks he's found a winning message for his campaign. that's important. he made a strong push for congress to adopt what he's called the buffett rule. let's watch. >> a share of our national income going to the top 1% climbs to levels we haven't seen since the 1920s. the folks who are benefiting from this are paying taxes of one of the lowest rates in 50 years. that's wrong. that's not fair. so we have to choose which

direction we want this country to go. do we want to keep giving those tax breaks to folks like me who don't need it or give them to warren buffett, he definitely doesn't need them, or bill gates, he's already said, i don't need 'em, or do we want to keep investing in those things that keep our economy growing and keep us secure. >> republicans are lining up behind a budget plan that would slash social services for the poorest americans, programs like medicaid, while giving deep tax cuts to the wealthiest americans, up to 12% for people making over a million of year. the president speaking that economic fairness will sit better with americans. is he right? this is the key question, perhaps, of the campaign. robert rice served as secretary of labor under president clinton. his new e-bike is called "beyond outrage." steve moore is a respected writer for the wall street

journal. i mean it, gentlemen. let's go to the fight here. it does seem to be a classic american fight. the president is making it here, not saying i've done a great job as president, but saying, no, i'm on the right road. the road is fairness. we should not be out there giving tax breaks besides the obama tax cuts. when we have to, will it go towards poor people or not? >> i mean, mitt romney is the poster child for wealth and power and privilege in this country. he also fell into the trap, it seems to me, of endorsing paul ryan's budget which, as you said, gives a huge tax break to people at the top and also cuts medicare and medicaid and food stamps and a lot of things that the middle class, the lower middle class, the poor depend on. kind of a reverse robin hood budget. we're going to see a lot more of this. we're already hearing and we already heard in december a great speech, i think, that the

president gave out in kansas about fairness. he used the word fairness in december and then 15 times. we're going to have at least 15 fairnesses per speech from now on. >> that's a good korege. i want to ask you this question. why do you folks on the conservative right believe the way it get the rich to work harder is to give them tax breaks, more money in addition to the money they've already earned by tax breaks all over the place and the way to get the poor people to work harder is to cut them? to hurt them? help the rich, hurt the poor. but both make people work harder. why would a poor person work harder if you slash medicaid and the chance for his child to go to college. why would a rich person work harder when he already made the money he is getting the tax break for. your thoughts? your thoughts? >> my thought is that you're right, this presidential election will be about two themes, democrats talking about bush, what he was talking about, fairness, fairness, fairness. for mitt romney to win this

race, he has to use the word that neither you nor robert rice nor barack obama has been using at all lately, and that is growth and prosperity. that has to be the message. way to grow this economy is the way reagan did it. >> the one thing he did at the helm was cut taktsz. that gave us what we got in 2008, 2009. why do you say it's the road to prosperity when it was the road to doom. >> chris, you could make the same argument about tax increases. most people would remember the culinary is very positive. >> well, we cut the tax rates to 2003. in 2003, 4, 5, 6, 7, we had a healthy economy. the economy crashed because of the housing market.

we had four or five prosperous years then the economy crashed. >> an chance. >> it did. my good friend steven moore, doesn't want to admit that after the bush tax cuts in 2001-2003, median wages started to drop ng. and fewer jobs, created even before the great crash. than were created in any four years of bill clinton's presidency. he did not lower taxes. this whole supply side bologna. >> bob, answer me this question. >> you know that in april 1st, the united states became the highest corporate tax rate nation in the world. >> okay here we go. >> now if we do the buffet rule, we will have a 30% capital gains. >> this is the question everybody wants to come to. you are talking down america. this is the only country everybody tries to get to. we don't put up walls to keep people out. >> i don't want to.

>> you just did. >> he took a swipe at the buffet rule, let's listen, i think this is on morning joe. >> i think people think this is the pixy rule where if we sprinkle dust on it. it has a huge tax increase on job creators. >> let me get back it principle. the president will run on this. he is not getting into detail. he says the wealthiest people. people over a million or near that range should pay the same rate as 40 years or the same income. >> i love that principle. for 25 years i've been in policy, i've been a strong advocate of flat tax, single right with no tax deductions, no loop holes.

if warren buffett makes a hundred times more money than someone else, he pays a hundred time more tax. why can't we have a flat rate tax system? i'm not talking down america. you are cut meg red, white and blue. i just want a fair advantage. >> okay, we will have a vote. you're predicting stephen moore, here on this program, that republican minority of the united states senate will support the buffet rule. >> they will not because it raise he the tax rate to 30%. we have to bring our rates down for growth, not up. >> okay, robert rice? >> well i was going to say that

what steve moore and lot of republicans don't want to remember is that for three decades after the second world war they the top marshall tax rates was not over percent and it was faster than the last decades sense the reagan administration. history is on the side of barack obama and those who say that rich should pay their fair sure, not just because we have a huge budget deficit and we also have a deficit in terms of education and investment and job training and roads and bridges, but also because that kind of fairness, that fairness is completely compatible with economic growth which is what steve moore says it's not. but look at history, it absolutely is. >> bob reich my hero and chris matthews hero. what happened to the democratic party that talked about -- >> 91% to 78%. >> steve, i know what i'm talking about in this area, steve, i know more than you in this one area. when kennedy cut taxes in 63, guess who opposed him? the entire business community. >> right. >> and now the democrat are wrong. they have become anti-growth. they are following the advice of people like bob reich that talk about fairness but not as how do we get as jfk said --

>> we have to go to growth first. >> unless we invest in education and infrastructure and we aren't doing that under the ryan budget. >> this is the fiery speech of the economic fairness argument. let's listen to the president. >> here in america we don't give up. here in america we look out for each other. here in america we watch each other get ahead. here in america we have a sense of common preface. here in america we can meet any challenge. here in america we can seize any moment. we can make this century another great american century. thank you, god bless you. god bless the united states of america. >> 50 years from now the republicans will be coming on a show like this saying, all we have to do is cut taxes and we will have economic prosperity. no matter what the tax rate is. if it is 2%, they say lower it, we will have more fun.

thank you, you're not that predictable but sometimes. here it comes. thank you. thank you. up next, can mitt romney put the infamous dog on the roof forry him be instead of on the roof. david axelrod hit him with it, and he couldn't escape the poor pooch up on his roof. you're watching "hardball." it's time to get going. to have the energy to turn a "to do" list into a memory.

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back to "hardball." now for the side show and what a side show it is. ask just about any of mitt romney's rivals and they'll tell you they had the dog seamus on the roof of a station wagon for a 12-hour trip to canada. remember this tweet from obama campaign adviser david axelrod. quote, how loving owners

transport their dogs. today on morning joe axed rod was pushed on whether the seamus stories are here for the long haul. >> when are you going to stop channeling gail collins and stop talking about the dog on his roof? when are you going to stop that, axelrod? >> i'm a dog lover. >> me too. i have a rescue. i would never put them on the roof of my car. who would do that? >> mitt romney. >> he always does that. that's about how great it is. the story speaks for itself. it ain't going away. finally, did you ever think you would near newt gingrich, newt gingrich of all people, dispensing hair and make-up advice? while trying to make a point about health care. here is what he said about personalized healthcare just yesterday. this is newt again, quote, think about it. if you're going out on friday and you're going to put on make-up, each of you has a

different skin tone and have you different hair color and you may want to create a different effect. if you're going to church you wear one level of make-up. if you go out on a date you may wear a different level of make-up. we will have to have very personalized medicine just the way we person allize make-up. i have to ask, what is with this guy, newt gingrich? is he looking for a job with mary kay? the latest on the trayvon martin case. the attorneys for george zimmerman quit the case saying they have lost touch with their client.

we are withdrawing as counsel for mr. zimmerman. we've lost contact with him. up to this point we've had

contact every day. he's gone on his own. i'm not sure what he's doing or who he's talking to, but at this point we're withdrawing as counsel. >> wow. welcome back to "hardball." that was craig sonner, former attorney for george zimmerman. zimmerman was the neighborhood watch volunteer that shot and killed trayvon martin over a month ago. his attorneys say they have not heard from george zimmerman since sunday, which was two days ago, and have given up representing him. joining me right now is ron allen. with me is nbc representative correspondent who is covering this difficult case. ron is there anything more to this to figure out. when your lawyers quit, that's an good sign of the health of the client, i would say. >> well, they said a number of things. they said the final straw was that zimmerman apparently tried to contact the special prosecutor, angela cory, on his own today by telephone, and his lawyers said they did not think the prosecutor would speak to him under any conditions because that would make the case more complicated. that was the last straw. that's what they were referring to when they said he was acting

on his own. they also said he is not in the state of florida but he has been in touch with them by phone. he has not ever spoken with them face to face during this entire process because it has not been safe or possible. we now know it's because he's been out of the state. despite everything else they heard, they still believe he acted in self-defense that night. the question is where does this all go from here now. they also said they may welcome him back if he reaches out to them. again, they say they haven't talked to him since sunday. just a very, very strange and baffling development in all this, chris. >> who is managing the legal defense fund we've read about for zimmerman? >> there was some confusion about the web site that's been set up over the past couple days. the lawyers say it is a real web site being run by george zimmerman. apparently his father has played a role in this as well, trying to help it just to get set up. his lawyers say that is legitimate. we don't know who is

contributing to it or how much money has been raised. again, there was a very convoluted process in how that came to be. we were all expecting today that the special prosecutor might denounce his decision, there might be an arrest, there might be zimmerman turning himself in, but suddenly we're in front of the federal courthouse and the lawyers are saying they're taking themselves off the case. very strange developments. >> on that point, the prosecutor, there was a wonderful takeout piece on her today that gave a good background on her. she is a tough law and order prosecutor. the question, i guess, is what do you make of the fact that she's chosen not to impanel a grand jury? >> that's not totally unexpected. there have been signs she was going to do that. the martin family, i spoke to them earlier, they were actually pleased with that decision because they are concerned about a closed door process, which is what the grand jury would have been. they wanted to be present for all the proceedings. they wanted to see all this done in public very transparent and out in the open, so they're very pleased by that.

one thing that no grand jury means is that that zimmerman would not be charged with premeditated murder, you need a grand jury to do that, is and that's one thing we can be certain of. it's a very courageous decision. >> i read that. >> is that a good objective assessment, the fact that she chose not to go to a grand jury but to decide she's going to make the call herself whether to indict? >> well, that's what people are saying, and for many the scenario, a very plausible, possible scenario would be to hand this to a grand jury, the grand jury decides not to indict, and then you have a prosecutor come forward and explain to the public why this didn't happen. some prosecutors use grand juries for cover. when you have a complicated case, it gives them an out. many people say to take this on her own and to say, i will make this decision, is very courageous. the martin family is satisfied with this process. >> let me go to michael with me.

given his lawyers have dropped out and he's on his own, apparently. >> george gone rogue, basically. >> to be totally fair here, the pressure on this guy, if he picks up a newspaper, a magazine or watches any program. >> of course. he's not totally in communicado. i just got off the phone from i should point out. one of his friends. they talked about the lawsuit -- >> turn it around. could it be he doesn't think much of these two lawyers? let's just turn this around. do you think he doesn't think much of the lawyers? >> then you get another lawyer rather than call and talk to the prosecutor yourself. >> do you think maybe on the political right, there are people more sympathetic to him that have been offering themselves up for legal help? do you hear much of that? >> frank taffy told me there was

a report after $10,000 donation for the defense fund from texas. he says that's not true. >> might as well get something from the lawyer. >> it depends who lawyers. might get a couple days or a couple minutes. the other thing is -- one of the things that was interesting is, from the lawyers they learned he had called sean hannity, and apparently neither hannity nor zimmerman will tell them what they discussed. >> let's listen a bit more to the zimmerman lawyers, what they had to say today. >> we learned that he had called sean hannity of fox news drebtly, not through us, and we believe -- i can't confirm this -- we belief -- believe he spoke directly with sean off the record and he's not even willing to tell us what our client told him. >> you know what's difficult about this, covering the case from an anchor desk or anywhere, from an investigator reporter, we know so little about what happens. because there's only one live

witness, the man involved in the shooting. the victim is dead, which is the case in most street shootings, i guess, but we have no way to get around the attorney. the prosecutor is very respectful, according to the times today. right? >> right. >> very careful to say nothing. >> there's so much that we haven't seen that you would need to form a judgment about what happened here, and certainly a prosecutorial judgment. the forensics on the shooting itself. >> what would that tell you? >> it would tell us, what is the distance from which the bull he was the shot. what is the angel from which the bullet was shot. >> what would that tell but criminality? >> it could either support zimmerman's story or contradict zimmerman's story. >> whether he was being rushed or not or whether he just shot him. >> the autopsy report from trayvon martin. the angle where the bullet resides, medical reports from that evening on just how serious the injuries were. >> well, we had the head

bleeding and nose -- let me ask you this. the stress test, because i'm fascinated with the veracity. of lie detectors. everyone is, from the time you're a kid. how safe is it to believe in a stress test, a voice test. >> it's the kind of thing that if presented in court would be challenged by other experts as these things always are, so i don't think we should form any final conclusions on that at all. >> of course not. >> do police believe him? >> some police believe him, they use them at times, but i don't think a prosecutorial decision will be made. just another thing on whether the lawyers find him. if the prosecutors want to be in touch, how will they be in touch with him? >> we'll find out. it's a very difficult case to find the truth here yet. thank you very much. up next, a reminder of how dangerous it is politically for

anyone in south florida especially to say anything nice about fidel castro like, i love him. we have the story about miami sports figure. a major one. fighting to save his career after saying he loves the cuban dictator. this is "hardball."

well, the senate race up in massachusetts certainly shaping up to be the marquee matchup this election year. now we have learned the

challenger elizabeth warren doubleded the fund-raising hall of senator scott brown. warren took in nearly $7 million versus last quarter of 3.4 by senator brown. brown still has 15 million in his war chest, of course, 4 million more than warren, but she is well within the margin of error.

we're back, and here's some advice if you happen to be in south florida, don't say you love fidel castro. that's what native ozzi guilled

he have forced to apologize to an outraged cuban community down there. whether he keeps his job is very unclear right now. the incident shows, obviously, that even 50 years after castro took power how perilous it is to say something about him pm give us the sense of what this means to people when they hear a prominent figure about the bebeloved baseball teem with a new stadium and everything to say that about the guy that took their country away from them. >> it's about the most insulting thing that someone could say to this community. you have to understand that fidel castro is a dictator who has not come up among the democratic process and not subjected hichls to the democratic process. he's a violator of fundamental human rights. that's been documented by a

variety of different organizations. on top of everything else this is full of people who lost they're home and livelihood too this person, to tyrant. it's the worst thing that can be said by someone in the community. >> let's take a look. i love fidel castro. i respect fidel castro. a lot of people have wanted to kill him for the last 60 years but that is still here. do you have any idea, do you want to think about what he was trying to say? was he trying to say he was a bad guy but he's been able to survive or with he saying i love the guy? >> i have no idea what he was trying to say. he generally speaks off the cuff. there's really no way to kind of justify what was said or to

explain it. >> let's listen to him at the press conference. >> because it was misinterpreted. what i mean in spanish, i want to say the thing i say. i cannot believe somebody hurt so many people over the years and still alive. i say a couple of things i cannot say right now to the guy. it's exactly what i was thinking or what i was saying. >> was there a mistranslation of the word from spanish to english there or english to spanish or a guy speaking in spanish and was there any misinterpretation. >> it's not a word that doesn't translate. i don't know how he can explain it to be completely frank with you. the cuban community is extremely hurt and outraged by his statement.

>> what do you think about this guy? is there any restitution. it's not a capital offense. do you take away his livelihood? do you say he can't manage the team? what's an appropriate response? probably when the people don't show up in the seats. if they don't show up they will say he's costing us money. >> i think they have to make a statement with whatever they decide to do. they have suspended him. there was a protest outside. the sentiment was that was not sufficient. they need to think long and hard about how insulting the stams were. >> my view is he bought the wrong ticket to the cold war. if the communist had won he would have been standing the central park watching the

execution of anybody with talent. i'm with you on this one. >> thank you. >> castro was no good. how about this one, hillary clinton against rick santorum. [ degeneres ] what's more beautiful than a covergirl? two covergirls. get two miracles in one product. new tone rehab 2-in-1 foundation. covers spots, lines... and wrinkles. and helps improve skin tone over time. new tone rehab from easy... breezy... beautiful... covergirl! covergirl!

has a facebook page these days. but where's the relationship status? well, esurance is now in a relationship...with allstate. and it looks pretty serious. esurance. click or call.

let me finish with this. rick santorum is no longer a candidate for president in 2012. he hopes, he made clear today,

to be a candidate for president in 2016. imagine the contest. imagine santorum coming back after the defeat of mitt romney demanding the nomination on the grounds that the false profit, that would be romney, failed to deliver the goods. he led the party down to te feet and betrayed the conservative cause in the bargain. imagine what rick santorum would be able to splash across the fermment. he could claim to blast away at any other candidate. an all out cleansing of the republican for liberal intent. by leaving the campaign before the april 24th pennsylvania primary, the former senator from that commonwealth has maintained his political viability. had he stayed in the race and lost there in pennsylvania on his home turf he would leave a deep record of defeat.

well, now santorum can march on. he can pretend to root for romney this november all the way remembering the ad romney ran against him about him being fired from public office being remembered by his home state. he can say all the right things hoping his main chance will come next time when romney has paid the price, has been shown the insincere conservative that he is that he lost to obama. now comes the good part. can you imagine a presidential campaign in which rick santorum is the republican p candidate and hillary clinton is the democratic candidate. you think we'd have to read the newspapers to know where he stand. not have a set of tvs to appreciate the grand canyon that separates the two of them. this will be the campaign everybody would hope for, root for, give up their vacations to watch. former senator rick santorum versus former u.s. secretary of state, hillary clinton. let's dream of ige