coverage. why some are convinced the backlash will actually help, not hurt the president. and another staff member is under investigation at the los angeles school temporarily shut down after dozens of children weren't allegedly sexually assaulted. the teacher's aide is accused of writing a love letter to a fourth grade student. >> my haters are my motivators. so. >> don't hate her. tv show host ellen degeneres speaks out about the push to get jcpenney to remove her as sits spokesperson. who wanted her out and what the retail chain is saying. hi, everyone. i'm tamron hall. "news nation" is following what's next after romney's rejection and santorum's stunning sweep. voters in missouri, minnesota and colorado pickpicked santoru.

romney's team said the losses wouldn't hurt the campaign and even called the missouri primary a beauty contest. wa also was noted was romney's attempt to sell a more personal side of his life. >> my father never graduated from college. he apprenticed as a lath and plaster carpenter. he actually could take a handful of nails, stick them in his mouth and then spit them out pointy end forward. >> joining me now nbc deputy political director mark murray. i hate to try to read body language or things like that. you can't help but look behind mitt romney at that crowd. some of the people are smiling like is this a joke. other people kind of seem confused, as well. where was he going with this story. >> well, tamron, a lot of this is to create a narrative about mitt romney. over the last several months, he's had one very consistent message, he's a businessman that can turn around the economy. outside of that, people don't know a lot else about romney.

he was telling a story about his father to fill in some of the holes. what he was talking about with his father and not him, his father was a carpenter and had a rags to riches type of movement. that wasn't the case for mitt romney. you are at least seeing an attempt by them to actually say who is mitt romney more than someone who has a resume has a former business leader and who has experience at the olympics. >> so is he taking a page everyone rick santorum here? part of rick santorum's praise has come with his speeches at the end of a few of these nights where he's talked about his family being immigrants, talked about his father and grandfather painting this picture of a guy from pennsylvania who's really scrappy and ready to look after the people he says are being forgotten in this country. >> that's a great question. oftentimes when rick santorum is giving a speech, he talks about his family's coal mining past. it's incredibly personal. it's very authentic. the problem romney's had even

when he's telling his own personal stories, authentic stories that, it doesn't seem as natural as the way santorum is doing. santorum is able to get into people's guts right now and romney hasn't been able to connect at that level, at least right now. >> thank you, an mark. our news nation political panel, michael smerconish, radio talk show host, also with us today, a.b. stoddard, a columnist for the hill. thank you both for your time. michael, i'll give you the mike first. what do you make of rick santorum's success last night? >> i know it caught a lot of people by surprise. i think it's he's little explainable. it's the nature of the process. these are caucuses. very few people show up. those who show up are idea logically driven. secondly, tamron, could you not have scripted better headlines for the santorum electorate than the last couple of days. komen and planned parenthood, hhs and contraception and now the prop 8 ruling are the sort

of thing that drive his core constituency. i don't think it bodes well pore him in a general election, but that's what explains his primary victory. >> what explains fact that, a.b. in, minnesota, mitt romney won easily in 2008. he got just 17% of the vote last night. i believe we even have a map of minnesota and it shows the counties he won. 2008. this is the map in 2008. this is now. how do we get an explanation there? >> well, the minnesota gop electorate has changed a little bit, it's more michele bachmann these days than it is governor tim pawlenty. you can't just look at minnesota. mitt romney won all these contests last time. i won colorado by a large margin. missouri is a critical bellwether state. in that state, santorum managed to beat him by 30 points. he had a very good operation, romney did in colorado. he had it left over from four years ago and he was up and

running with that. he hoped it was an operation to take him to november. another key battleground state. this is very hard for him to explain away even though they were nonbinding primaries and caucuses. it is not just a sign that santorum is resonating with social conservatives. it is a sign that the people who turn out to these things are rejecting a coronation of mitt romney and it's going to take a lot of money and fighting bab for him to keep santorum from piling up more delegates. >> let's play a little bit of what mitt rom nilt had to say regarding is rick santorum being a washington insider. he picked back up on this last night. let's play it. >> thanks for being here tonight. >> i'm not sure what that is, michael. nevertheless, what we were supposed to play was romney talking about santorum being an insider. obviously, he was a senator. today, is that enough or is that

an old tune we've heard before? >> i don't think it's enough. there's a lot of baggage that one could use against senator santorum. there's always baggage, something you could say about every candidate. but the issues that you could use most easily against senator santorum, frankly would play well with a conservative base. there's ammunition out there. you think about some of the statements he's made relative to same sex couchals or some of the statements he made more recently percei perceived as being insensitive to minorities. if romney were to unfurl those charges like he did nug, frankly, it cog help santorum with the base. this is all about the base. >> chris matthews was just on filling in for andrea mitchell. he said it appears that romney's strategy is to keep up the attacks, that same line of attack that he used against newt gingrich that he already started on sar tore rum and avoid debates. how can that work for him at this point? he said in the past these debates will make him a more

formidable challenger if he makes it to the general election. now he's trying to avoid this if that's true. >> this is the irony. what mitt romney really needs now is newt gingrich. he needs newt to split that, because if it were romney against santorum one-on-one, sar tore rum col do extremely well empty states that remain. >> a.b. this line with mitt romney last night being repeated and put all on the blogs where he talked about his father being a carpenter and painting in theirtive of this i guess maybe a scrappy kid who worked his way up to being a multimillionaire. why now is he using this strategy? and is it just going to go nowhere? >> well, i think it's going to be very tough for him heading into states like michigan and ohio on super tuesday. rick santorum is going to appeal to blue collar workers to this contest. he really stepped in it last week saying he's not concerned about the very poor. he's still recovering from that.

that's a difficult pivot. back to the point of contrast, rick santorum is making a very good contrast against gingrich and romney saying on threeicious, on t.a.r.p., on cap and trade and mandate for health care, both gingrich and romney are compromised republicans who can't be the nominee. if he continues to making it clearly and forcefully, that could be the winning appeal. >> we've watched rick santorum look newt gingrich and anlay out that exact says. that is because his people are hearing you're getting traction. you don't have the cash or the organization burks we know he was in texas today talking with pastors. he's trying to bring it all together. >> they're ---ing that constituency is looking for a fighter. they really want somebody not just to debate president obama. they want somebody to go after him. and they're getting thatting from rick santorum more so than they feel they're getting it

from mitt romney. >> thank you a.b. and michael. moving on, a los angeles elementary school is reportedly investigating another claim of abuse of a child by a school staffer. now, the mother of a fourth grade student at miramonte elementary school told "the los angeles times" a teacher's aide sent her son love letters back in 2009. this comes after two teachers at that same elementary school were jailed last week for alleged sex abuse. today is the second day the school las been closed as school administrators deal with the fallout from this awful scandal as well as concerns from outraged parents. tomorrow the entire 120-member staff of that school will be replaced. there's been mixed reaction from parents. >> the bad teachers are gone. keep them out. but the rest of the teachers were really good. >> mike taibbi joins me now from los angeles. do we notes if police are investigating this l.a. times report that there is a third staffer who may have done

something inappropriate? >> reporter: well is, actually, tamron, the d.a.'s office confirms the investigation is continuing on several fronts involving in their words several individuals at the school who may have information about or have been a participant in some way in some of the alled acts that have happened. so far, an as you pointed out, only two teachers have been arrested and charged. one of them just one charge, three charges involving one alleged victim. that individual martin singer is being held on $300,000 bail, could go to jail for 12 years. the more serious and the one that equates to a scandal involves mark berndt, 61 years old. he is being held on $23 million bail because of allegations that he victimized 23 of his own students in his own classroom over the years. and these are allegations of activities which for which there is dna evidence. that's what has a lot of people really scared about where this is going to go. hard right now, tamron, to quantify the scandal, how many

people might be involved, how many alleged victims there are. it's at the stage of the scandal when it's kind of swirling around. there are allegations that have been recanted at least in one case according to the l. a. times. there is already talk of lawsuits. there's a press conference tomorrow by lawyers representing eight of the alleged victims filing civil suits. right now it's really hard to tell. a factor is this is a largely hispanic community. 98% of the students are hispanic. for more than half, they're still studying english. a lot of people, some of whom have been talked to by reporters are undocumented immigrants. they're worried if they come forward, immigration will be calling. they're reluctance if they have information or claims of having been victimized. that's a dangerous part of the story when allegations are being made, some being recanted. it's impossible to measure the size of this thing. >> mike, thank you. coming up, the payroll tax cut is just weeks away from

expiring. congress remains at a stalemate. chair damp camp is calling for civility among lawmakers. do they know what that word means anymore these days? and familitise. get this. a new report out today finds more than a dozen members of congress have sent millions of dollars in earmarks to groups connected to their immediate families. plus -- >> i stand for honesty, equality, kindness, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated and helping those in need. to me those are traditional values. that's what i stand for. >> ellen degeneres breaks her silence on the move to get her pushed out as jcpenney's scopes person. she's telling the haters to keep it moving. join our conversation on twitter. find my page, it is. nice ring. knock it off. ignore him. with the capital one venture card you earn... double miles on every purchase. [ sharon ] 3d is so real larry.

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we hope that we're able to get this passed before the 29th of february, but right now, all indications are that we're leading up to another one of these hostage taking situations. >> wow, that was house democratic caucus chairman congressman john lar son of connecticut on msnbc talking about the latest congressional battle to extend the payroll tax cut for 160 million american workers. just before christmas, congress extendsed the cut till the end of february. now, house and senate negotiators are deadlocked in their latest effort to extend it for the rest of the year. democrats and republicans blaming each other on this one. conference committee chairman dave kemp is calling for civility as the war of words is heating up again. luke russert joins us live from capitol hill. as i said, you wonder anymoreful people know what the word civility means. here we are again. >> indeed, tamron. and about a few minutes ago, jay

carney, the president's press secretary when asked about this contention issue going on capitol hill said look, both sides should be able to come together. these are easily resolvable issues. with conversations i had with aides from both sides, these issues are anything but easily resolvable. there are real differences between how democrats and republicans want to pay for the tax cut that affects 160 million americans. democrats would like to see a is your tax on the wealthy. republicans a federal pay freeze. older americans receiving medicare pay a higher premium because of their circumstances. there's a lot of issues dividing both parties in terms of unemployment. republicans want to see reforms getting a ged. democrats say that's not fair. you have both parties going back to the same fights they've always had, and to be quite honest with you, neither side is going to budge till they feel like they're losing the messaging war. last time around, democrats got

the best on republicans and said they're for tax cuts for the wealthy and not the middle class. president obama had probably his finest month for 2011. this time around, republicans have dug in and feel they will have some leverage on the issue because senate democrats have been reluctant to say what specifically they would do in order to pay for an extension aside from perhaps just a is your tax on the wealthy. there's no specifics in there. that's going to be the battle on capitol hill, which side budges first, we still don't know that. there's not a lot of time left. congress is in recess, februaryst. this is due on the 29th. this will probably go up to the bitter end just like every fight that has to do with spending does. >> you ache all the right points here, but as you wellpoint out at the end of last year, it was seen as such a huge victory for the president and for the democrats. it's not as if someone's mind is

erased. this is not "inception" the move where people forget how this shook out at the end of last year which would seem for the messaging part of in this would put the republicans at a disadvantage even though they believe they have issues with the issues regarding the senate. >> absolutely. one would think, tamron, but the idea from conversations i've had with republicans that look, it's two months later. we lost the messaging war last time. weep are more unified. there was a lot of questions last time around whether or not republicans wanted to see this extended. paul ryan saying it was a temporary sugar high and wouldn't do anything to benefit the me. the economy is improving. democrats will say this is the primary reason this money is back in the economy. so republicans have sort of agreed that all right, this is necessary and it works. but then they're going to say we don't want to add more to the debt trying to position themselves as the party of the debt going into november. whether or not that sticks is the real question. the democrats won the first time by saying tax cuts for the

wealthy but no taxes for the middle class. they'll continue on that message. whatever one sticks, that will be the one who the wins this fight. >> luke, thank you very much. >> rick, rick? i don't know where rick came from. >> i have no sweater vest on. >> thank you. still ahead on news nation -- thank you, luke. still ahead on news nation. >> there's twos little boys in the house. and there's an adult man, he has supervised visitation and he blew up the house and the kids. >> we are learning more details regarding the memorial service for those twos young boys murdered by their own dad. police have released the chilling 911 calls from a social worker outside the door. plus, today's "news nation" gut check. does mitt romney have a reason to be concerned after his triple defeat last night? and they say a picture is worth a thousand words. take a look at president obama's expression when he was launching

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♪ [ gong ] strawberry banana! [ male announcer ] for a smoothie with real fruit plus veggie nutrition new v8 v-fusion smoothie. could've had a v8. held on saturday for the powell boys killed by their dad in sunday's horrific double murder-suicide. now chuckism cox, the boys' grandfather says the service will be own to the public. meantime, for the first time we're hearing the frantic 911 call placed by the last person to see josh powell and his two sons alive. miguel al malgar joins us live from washington. it is obviously so difficult to still hear these details. and even more when you hear that 911 call. >> reporter: good afternoon. it certainly wasn't easy for the public and for those who were close to the boys, charlie and braydon to hear that call.

we did hear that will call for the first time this morning. >> there was a man antoine children. i just dropped off the children, and he wouldn't let me in the door. oh. >> the social worker who brought 7-year-old charlie and 58-year-old braden to their father's home immediately called 911. there's two little boys in the house and there's an adult man. he has supervised visitation and he blew up the house and the kids. >> from the beginning it was clear this was no accident. >> and you think he might have done this intentionally? >> yes. >> police say powell planned the double murder a day before. purchasing ten gallons of gas, transferring $7,000 out of his bank account, even giving away his children's toys. >> hello, this is josh. i'm calling to say good-bye. >> powell then left this chilling voice mail with family and friends 20 minutes before he torched his home. >> i am not able to live without my sons, and i'm not able to go

on anymore. i'm sorry to everyone i've hurt. good-bye. >> josh powell's sister alena was among the first who is heard his message and called 911. she feared the worst had happened at her brother's home. >> i'm afraid of seeing something i don't want to see the it. >> in 2009 is, powell was named a person of interest in his wife susan's disappearance. he was never charged with a crime but in september, lost custody of his boys to susan's parents allowed only supervised visits. this weekend, chuck and judy cox will bury their grandchildren. >> i think he was very chselfis. that's why he took the kids. if he couldn't have nem, no one could. >> with susan's disappearance still unsolved, tuesday night investigators is searched a storage unit rented by powell. >> we want nope what's in it. >> josh's father stephen has

been named a person of interest in susan's disappearance. he's in jail awaiting trial on child pornography charges. today he's on suicide watch. >> stephen will always be part of the investigation. we still have some questions and stuff we'd like to talk to him about. >> police say before his boys died in the fire, josh hit them both with a hatchet. jennifer graves is powell's estrained sister. >> the thought of those babies suffering and they must have because they weren't dead when the explosion was done, they suffered and they died. >> the heart ache and panic from sunday still vivid for that social worker too. >> he just opened the door. the kids were one step ahead of me, they're 5 and 7 and he slammed the door in my face. >> the social worker's husband says his wife is devastated at the loss of charlie and branden. >> she the had bonded with these

boys. she had taken them to a number of visits before and was very close to them. and as i say, it was devastating to her to have had this happen. >> police say the social worker who called 911 and who brought the powell boys here to this home did everything she could. as you mentioned, tamron, the funeral for the boys will be held on saturday. it's open to the public, certainly expected to be a very emotional event. >> thank you. a date line friday night, keith morris will have the latest details on the powell family tragedy friday at 109s:00/9 central on nbc. up next on "news nation"ing. >> in imposing this requirement, the federal government has drifted dangerously beyond its constitutional boundaries. >> house speaker john boehner issues a warning to the white house over the controversial new policy on contraceptives that's under fire by some catholic leaders. what the white house is saying today. plus is, supreme court justice

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♪ and download the app that lets you know ♪ ♪ at free-credit-score-dot-com now let's go. ♪ vo: offer applies with enrollment in freecreditscore.com™. is following right now. pattern of violence. that's how prosecutors is describe the relationship between a former college lacrosse player and the ex-girlfriend he's accused of murdering as his trial gets under way. it's being called the worst shelling yet. syrian forces renew their attacks on civilians despite president assad's promise to end the violence. >> this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand. if the president does not reverse the department's. >> words of warning. speaker john boehner calls the obama administration's controversial policy on birth control "an attack on religious freedom and vows to fight it." but is it all bad news for the

white house here? and family ties. a new report finds more than a dozen members of congress have actually sent millions of dollars in earmarks to groups connected to their immediate families. reports from syria today indicate at least 50 more people were killed in the city of homs came under fire -- came under assault by government forces for a fifth straight day. in fact, we will have the new video, amateur video of some of what's going on on the ground there. >> and today's shelling in homs is reported to be the heaviest since syrian troops started their latest crackdown in that city saturday. hundreds of people reportedly killed. today's attacks come one day after president bashar assad met with russian's foreign minister and promised he would start a dialogue with opposition there. correspondent kristen welker joins us live.

what's the latest from the white house or the state department? >> the path forward right now is a little bit murky. white house press secretary jay carn carney saying that write now the administration's strategy is to be in close contact with their international friends to try to continue to put pressure on president bashar he will assad to step down. he also talked about the possibility of humanitarian i'd saying the details are still being worked out. obviously, the administration quite concerned about the reports that they're hearing from the ground. as you know, there's sort of been a steady call for lawmakers, including senator john mccain to arm the opposition in syria. today, white house press secretary yea carney said that is not an option right now saying they want to give all political courses a chance. here's a little bit more of what he had to say from his daily briefing. take a listen. >> we believe that political solution is the right way to go. now, we never rule anything out

in a situation like this, but we are pursuing a path that includes isolating and pressuring the assad regime so that it stops its heinous slaughtering of its own people. >> now, i asked carney if the administration still believed that assad's fall was imminent. this is something they have been saying for quite some time now. he said indeed, they still doll view the situation in syria in that will light. but as you know, tamron, a bit of a setback this weekend when russia and china voted against a u.n. resolution that would have essentially supported regime changing in syria. a lot of people looked at that and said it essentially was propping up bashar al assad. certainly very disconcerting situation in syria, that the white house and state department watching closely. >> thank you. opening statements are now under way in the trial of a former university of virginia lacrosse player accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend. 22-year-old yeardley love was

found dead in her off campus apartment back in 2010 her on again, off again george huguely was arrested and charged soon after. friends described a tul multiwhyious relationship. hug litt janet shamblyian is live in charlottesville, virginia. what is the defense here? >> we got a good look at both the prosecution and the defense from the opening argues this morning. let me take you through it. the prosecution is going for first-degree murder. they have to prove intent. to that end they pointed to an e-mail sent two nights before yeardley love died that said from george huguely top yeardly saying i should have killed you. they're using that as evidence of premeditation. i have to say there was a horrifying moment in the court this morning as the prosecution laid out its case. when they said yeardley love could have been alive for up to two hours after the beating, the

alleged beating, her mother and her other family members just broke down in tears at that point. the defense for its part says that this is a horrific tragedy but there was no intent at all. this by everyone's account was a tumultuous relationship on both sides on and off for two years. he had gone to her apartment that night only to talk things out and that when is he left, had he no idea that he had done bodily harm or killed her. there is one interesting comment that i'm sure we're going to hear again and again that the defensence attorney made during the opening. he said that huguely was not maintaining a lie and he said "george is not complicated, not complex. he's a lacrosse player." a comment that will probably get some reaction from lacrosse players and their families. as i was walking out here to talk to you, tamron, sharon love, yeardly's mother, was the

first witness to take the stand in a trial expected to go about two weeks. if the prosecution gets first-degree murder here, george huguely could spent life in prison. >> janet, thank you very much. back to politics and a warning from house speaker john boehner over the white house's contraception controversy. earlier today on the house floor, boehner threatened congressional action saying the government has dangerously gone beyond its constitutional boundaries. >> this attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country must not stand and will not stand. if the president does not reverse the department's attack on religious freedom, then the congress acting on behalf of the american people and the constitution that we're sworn will uphold and defend must. >> despite the backlash we've talked about from conservatives and some religious leaders, one group of voters is very happy with the decision to mandate religiously affiliated institutions to cover birth control. women's rights groups are those who is are most please the right

now. joining me is amber al sy who wrote about this for roll call. thank you for joining us. >> thanks. >> you pointed out a number of organizations from planned parenthood who have been in the headlines a lot the last few weeks as well as emily's list have sent out statements saying they support this move. does this counter the backlash from some catholic leaders? >> that's right. the battle lines have really been drawn in this case. the catholic leaders as well as speaker boehner, the republican presidential candidates are really trying to make this an issue about religious freedom. that's really rallied the left and particularly women's rights groups, women voters to kind of push back and defend the president on this is stance. you know, let's take it back to what the policy actually does. it requires that universities, hospitals, non-profits that are basically run by religious organizations provide their employees subsidized birth control like all other companies will be required to do. the argument is that a catholic

university, for example, has many noncatholics working for it. and so those people should be entitled to the same access to contraceptives that other women working at other comp rarporati get. this is a position that makes the president strong with women voters. there are more women in this country than there are men. in the end, this is actually a strong position for the president to hold going into the election. >> we know there are more women than men but we also know that the catholic vote is important to the president. i believe it's the last nine out of ten elections that we've seen where the president has won with the help of catholic voters. i guess my initial question is, does this somehow negate the other? does this give a balance here, one very strong group supporting and another very strong group obviously upset? >> yeah. i would argue that it does more than that actually because the president was pro-choice in 2008 when the he ran for the

presidency. and catholics supported him. this isn't even about abortion. it's about birth control which is not even enas contentious politically. there are statistics that show in 98% of catholic women sexually active have used a contraceptive at some point. while the leaders of the catholic church might be upset about this, it seems catholic women are on the same page as most women in this country. birth control is pretty commonly used. >> the catholic leaders are very organized. they've been very vocal in getting their message out they're angry. you see it everywhere. they've been mentioning it as well to the parishioners. are these women's groups as organized? i've seen a few tweets from emily's list. are they getting the message out as effectively? >> they're starting to. i think the bishops are really on the offense on this. they've done a good job ofable a coalition. they've got the national association of evangelical s

involved. you've got house republicans all of them pushing this as a religious freedom issue. and that's how they can really get at the administration by saying this aspect of obama's health care law is bad for faith-based groups. now you see the women's rights groups are trying to fight back against that narrative and really trying to own it. there's a group of catholic and other religious groups that came out in defense of the policy today, as well. so the you're starting to see that pushback and i think you'll see more of it. but certainly both sides are taking kind of serious activism around this issue. >> ambreen, thank you. up next, what ellen is saying after a conservative group launched a campaign to get her pushed out as the spokesperson for j. c. pennies. the retailer refused. and now ellen seems to get the last word. we'll play it for you next up in scoop. first, there's a lot going on today. here are some things we thought you should know. a "washington post"

investigation, get this, found 16 members of congress sent tax dollars appropriated through earmarks to organizations affiliated with members of their immediate family. lawmakers tell the post" the money is not intended to directly benefit their relatives or themselves. instead, they say it's meant to assist corporations, educational programs and community organizations that employ communicated help residents in the states or districts they represent. and president obama got a taste of how the kids of america are shaping the future during the white house science fair yesterday. the president got to the launch an extreme marshmallow cannon. you saw him pumping it there. then he got a chance to pull the trigger on the cannon. oh! oh! let's go look at the marshmallow. see what happened. >> can you eat it after that? in case you missed it, loo look there. a close-up look at president obama's face.

pretty priceless to say the least. meantime, a new but video on sesame street's youtube page shows supreme court justice show issues a ruling on the case of goldly locks versus baby bear. >> let me hear your story next. >> i'm sorry. i didn't mean to break it. >> then to end this disagreement, i say you help baby fix his chair and then the two of you can live happily ever after. >> i can live with that.

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a computer later translated the signals into sounds. future research into the field may help severely disabled people communicate easier. i'm martin bashir. what's the most pressing issue facing americans today and what are republicans and congress railing about? no wonder their approval has hit a new low once again. plus mitt begs the question. where's the laugh? tamron, where's the laugh? now back to you. >> i don't know where the love is, but ellen says she's found the haters and said they will motivate her. that is ellen responding to some criticism. simon cowell explains the shake-up at the x factor". why did he dump paula. and singer adele is being criticized by a fashion icon over her weight. let's get the scoop from brian bagging that czar from pop goes the week. come. ellen and this controversy, a lot of people were not aware of

it. she's the jcpenney spokesperson. >> an organization called 1 million moms tried to mobilize a boycott. they released a statement, and i'd love to -- ellen is reacting. they said by jumping on the pro-gay bandwagon, jcpenney is attempting to taken a new target market and in the process will lose customers with traditional values that have been faithful to them over all these years. well, yesterday, ellen taped her show that airs today and responded to it. so let's take a listen to something she had to say. >> this organization doesn't think that i should be the spokesperson because i'm gay. so for those of you just tuning in for the first time, it's true, i'm gay. i hope you're sitting down. i hate to break it to you this way. but anyway, so they wanted to get me fired. i am proud and happy to say that jcpenney stuck by their decision to make thee their spokesperson. >> you know, she went on. she made a lot of great

references. she went to the one million moms facebook fans and noticed there are only 40,000 fans on the page. see said being gay or no gay is no bandwagon. occasionally we'll sing we are family. she stands i stand for honesty, compassion, treating people the way you want to be treated. >> okay, let's move on to x factor. >> that's right. recently, there was a big upset on the show where paula abdul was ousted. now simon cowell is saying if it were up to him, he wouldn't have the gotten rid of paula. >> who got rid of her? >> he said fox did. it was fairly straightforward what they wanted. he said he would have liked to have kept her telling that to "extra." >> i guess he made his prediction the show would the get 21 million viewers. >> overhyping the show saying they'd get 20 million and they got about 11 million.

>> adele, she's a great singer. she's full figured and beautiful. >> 23 years old and an amazing talented artist. she'll probably sweep the grammys. carl lagerfeld was give aginterview with the metro newspaper over in paris. and he actually said, they were asking him about music. one of the things he said is the thing at the moment is adele. she has a beautiful face and a divine voice but a little too fat. >> stating something completely irrelevant to her music. she just swept the billboard awards and probably going to sweep the gamies. she's going to be okay. >> this is such a tired thing. we see these people complain about someone being too heavy or skinny. they know they'll get railed on. she's letting it be all the way to the grammys and to the bank. >> exactly. >> thank you very much, brian. next up is today's "news nation" gut check. so riddle me this, pa batman. after romney's defeat in three

races last night, does he have a reason to be concerned? we're going to tell you how you can weigh in right after a quick break. my dad and grandfather spent their whole careers here. [ charlie ] we're the heartbeat of this place, the people on the line. we take pride in what we do. when that refrigerator ships out the door, it's us that work out here. [ michael ] we're on the forefront of revitalizing manufacturing. we're proving that it can be done here, and it can be done well. [ ilona ] i come to ge after the plant i was working at closed after 33 years. ge's giving me the chance to start back over. [ cindy ] there's construction workers everywhere. so what does that mean? it means work. it means work for more people. [ brian ] there's a bright future here, and there's a chance to get on the ground floor of something big, something that will bring us back. not only this company, but this country. ♪ fantastic! [ man ] pro-gresso they fit! okay-y... okay??? i've been eating progresso and now my favorite old jeans...fit.

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>> time now for the "news nation" gut check. earlier this hour, we told you about presidential candidate rick santorum's stunning win yesterday. three states, not a bad night for him. mitt romney's team certainly trying to downplay the laws saying they won't be hurt by what was happening or what happened yesterday. but given he lost colorado after winning it in 2008 with 60% of the vote, the national review and others have indicated romney may have reason to be concerned. in 2008, romney won minnesota with 41% of the vote. last night, romney came in third behind ron paul. so what does your gut tell you looking at last night's results? do you agree with the national review and others? go to facebook.com/news nation to cast your vote. an update to a previous gut check.

arizona's high court has upheld a ruling that barred a candidate from running for local office because she didn't speak english so well i guess. anyway, the candidate was running for city council seat in the border town of san luis until the cord ordered tests revealed she did not have the strong enough command of the gish language to serve. her attorney is looking to appeal the -- to the u.s. supreme court. wow. that does it for this edition of "news nation." i'm tamron hall. martin bashir is up next. gimme that. let's foam in those tones and highlights. [ gigi ] try nice 'n easy colorblend foam. get permanent dimensional color in a drip-free delight! oooohh! [ gigi ] our foam penetrates hair and locks in color. for tones and highlights that last. drips? dropped! grays? gone! why put up with drips when there's foam at your fingertips. [ gigi ] try nice 'n easy colorblend foam. no other foam color lasts longer. [ female announcer ] from the color experts at clairol.

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oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen good afternoon. it's wednesday, february the 8th. here's what's happening. of rich mitt, poor mitt. >> this was a good night for rick santorum. >> as rick rolls. >> wow, conservativism is alive and well. >> and the republican field is wide open. >> it's very hard for the media to portray governor romney as the inevitable nominee. >> so where is the