♪ good evening, americans, and welcome to ed show tonight from new york. conservatives seem to have found they are anti-mitt and trying to rally the troops around rick santorum. mean whwhile romney is falling the polls down by 15 points in michigan. unfortunately for mitt he can't buy votes like he did at cpac. let's get to work. >> you have to talk to the romney campaign. >> rick santorum accuses mitt romney of buying the cpac victory. they show santorum ahead of romney in michigan and nationally. minneapolis mayor and the

huffington post howard fineman are here on the state of the race. the president outlines his political priorities as he sends his budget to the congress and calls for more stimulus. >> when we're creating jobs at a faster clip, we have to do what we can to keep the recovery on track. >> republicans can caving on the payroll tax cuts. we'll have the latest with vermont senator bernie sanders. >> in this country the government doesn't tell you or your organization what your religious views are. >> the republican war on women's health continues as they misrepresent the president as anti-religion. >> it will not go away until the administration simply backs down. >> joan walsh and crystal ball weigh in. tonight we take a look back the at the storied rise and tragic fall of whitney houston. good to have you with us tonight, folks.

thanks for watching. rick santorum has been hiding in plain daylight for conservative the voters. they finally get a good look at him and find what they say. the average of recent national polls give santorum a slight lead over mitt romney. in michigan the turn around is is huge. he leads romney by 15 points according to public policy polling. romney was born in detroit and his father was a two-term governor in michigan. santorum mhas surged while romny lost momentum. santorum's trend is almost a vertical line. how many politicians go like that? last tuesday was a big day for him. he caught the attention of michigan voters last week and has the attention of the biggest conservative standards.

>> the train is leaving the station. we cannot make the mistake as conservatives that we did in 2008. we did not unite behind a candidate. >> he doesn't know four conservatives we were supporting mitt romney. if conservative leadership gets behind rick santorum and motivates the grassroots, this race could change permanently. a lot of top conservatives are starting to cast doubt on mitt romney's inevitable path to the nomination. even the former half-governor of alaska thinks a brokered convention would be a good thing for the republican party. >> people who start screaming that a brokered convention is the worst thing that could happen to the gop, they have an agenda. they have their own personal or political reasons, their own candidate they wanted to see protected away from a brokered

election, that's part of the process. >> sarah palin says she's not convinced by romney's conservative credentials even after he won on saturday. a republican source told politi politico's romney's camp bought registrations at cpac to ensure victory at the straw poll. they'll do anything. ron paul's campaign is also questioning romney's win in the main caucuses. several were canceled because of a snoerm, but the state gop says it will not include late votes. santorum didn't give romney any time to celebrate his victories this weekend. according to santorum, it's a one on one fight from now on. >> this is the race right now and that's how we're focused to. if you look at the results in maine, we didn't spend any time there. we did much better than we expected. cpac we felt very good the other two candidates were far behind.

i think michigan and arizona will show the same thing. >> editors of the conservative national review agree with santorum. they told newt gingrich to drop out of the race today, saying the proper course for him is to endorse santorum and exit. we've seen 11 different candidates lead the national polls for the republican nomination, and each time mitt romney has been able to manage his way right back up to the top. so far the conservative base has really not rallied behind one candidate the way they're starting to co-less behind rick santorum. santorum is the last chance for republicans to run against barack obama, the president of the united states, from the far right. the train sleeis leaving the station. we'll see. the michigan primary in two weeks will let us know who is jumping on board. get your cell phones out. tonight's question, santorum's surge. is his surge the turning point for conservative voters? text for yes and text b for no.

you can go to our blog, and we've got the results later on in the show. i'm joined tonight by howard fineman, nbc news political analyst and editor and director of the huffington post media group. rick santorum says mitt romney is desperate. we're going to see how desperate he is in the next couple of weeks. what do you think romney will do in michigan now na the numbers are out? what's the game plan going to be for romney to really turn it around? >> let neme tell you about the santorum game plan with a tv ad in michigan. they didn't have the money for tv advertising especially in a big state with television. they'll start tomorrow in michigan. it's interesting to see how they play it. irng it will be a gentle, comparative ad. in other words, not a hard-hitting anti-romney ad but a comparative ad on the theme of

this being a two-person race. the real significant thing that happened over the weekend in a way, ed, is newt gingrich didn't do particularly well at cpac. it helps reinforce rick santorum's notion as shaping this as a two-person race. that means mitt romney has to go after rick santorum and go after him hard. there are fewer things for him to aim at than in the record of newt gingrich. >> it will be interesting to see how romney does it. he can't go further right than santorum. he can't do it. those old reagan democrats, if they're still around, there might be a few washingilking th michigan, this is interesting to unfold. what do you make of that? >> yes. you have to look at the history of michigan and the republican party, ed. conservative catholics really matter in the republican party in michigan. it was one of the first northern states for that to be the case,

back a generation ago, pat robertson, the preacher from the bible belt aligned himself with pro-life catholics in michigan and they turned the republican party and the presidential race of the '80s upside-down against george h.w. bush. rick santorum wears his catholic political identity on his sleeve. that matters. that's tough for mitt romney to go after. he's invoking the image of his own father, except that rick santorum is the one with the working class background out of pittsburgh to match up against mitt romney's own dad p in that state. >> if richard vigary is right and the conservatives solidify around santorum, some leaders, and he didn't identify them to me but i know he's very well connected. what does that mean? is that a turning point? we have super tuesday on march 6th, but this next two weeks seems to be very critical, maybe

more for santorum than for romn romney. what do you think? >> it's important for santorum in terms of money. in terms of money he won't catch up with mitt romney, if only because if mitt romney runs out of money he collectsed for his campaign, mitt romney can copy up his own treasure economist and go to the caymans and get $40 or $50 million to spend. what rick santorum has to do is it get the grassroots and the republican party behind him. richard vigory has been around a long time. james dobson has been around for a long time but rnz a lot of people. there's a younger generation that rick santorum has to tap. if you looked at newt gingrich's dream team tr cpac, it had a lot of figures that don't count for a lot really. it had herman cain and j.c. watts. so what.

santorum has to get them all behind him. the big thing is not just michigan and arizona, it's right behind that or the 10 or 11 states in super tuesday on march 6th. if rick santorum doesn't get the money to compete across the board on super tuesday, that will be a missed opportunity for him. that's what he's aiming for after michigan and arizona. >> howard fineman, always a pleasure. thanks so much. let's turn to the mayor of minneapolis and also the vice chair of the democratic national committee s. behind closed doors i would think there's entertainment for the obama team right now. what do they make of this surge by santorum and how do you view michigan playing out as versus the presidential position in that state? >> well, you know, the biggest challenge santorum is the more you wonder where machineries goes. he can't go any further right. he can go more negative, and so

that's why we think it's important for people to go to barackobama.com and sign up to the truth team and let's make sure everybody out there is sending e-mails and dpegt the message out about what the president has done so we don't have mitt romney, once he's done smearing everybody on their end take millions of dollars to try to smear the president. >> r.t., can the president win the economic conversation in michigan? it's about jobs and how much is the automobile turn around going to play for the president in michigan? >> you're going to hear a lot about the auto turn-around, and you should. it's a clear contrast. here's the fact. the auto industry is the number one backbone of our manufacturing sector. it's always been. in fact, it was how the romneys made their money. >> you think the president can win that conversation in michigan? >> absolutely. the question is clear. when the auto industry was about to collapse, mitt romney said let it go. barack obama took a

controversial stand and took the hit. we made a million more cars in america this year than last year because the president led. he we can't do it under president romney who could have let it go. >> new polls show the president fares well against them. how do you keep that momentum going and maintain na? >> watch a republican debate. that's all it takes me to get excited about the fact to work hard. >> there's one more debate before michigan and arizona. will the dnc change its staej and begin treating rick santorum as a possible opponent in the general. >> the fact of the matter is romney is sitting on a lot money and he's made an blooivenable series of erhone nus statements out there. the main thing we'll talk about is the roord. he's created 23 moss of private sector job growth. the republicans are cheering against the american economy.

the president is leading it and dlifing on promises and we'll talk about that. that's how we win. >> jim cramer had this to say about support for mitt romney in the business community. here it is. >> business leaders see that he created some companies and they recognize that he would encourage hiring. i have to tell you, no one is as enthusiastic as i thought they would be, and people are talking about obama again. >> what about that? are you hearing the business community behind the president? >> absolutely. when i can be here in minneapolis and see at a community college last friday, see people trained to be able to be prepareding to into the many manufacturing sector and you see a small business who has a welder trained and ready to go, that helps. when you see the fact that there are exports picking up that, helps. we're going to make our case, because this is a president that created jobs. >> thanks so much. >> remember to answer the question at the bottom of the screen. we want to know what you think

the president laid out a vision for america's future and his budget released today. republicans are attacking it. senator bernie sanders, we'll ask him how he feels about the numbers. this weekend there were widespread sadness over the death of whitney houston. details are still coming in and the tributes to her talent have been in ernest. stay with us. we'll be right back. and had the. no, sorry, i can't help you with that. i'm not authorized to access that transaction. that's not in our policy. i will transfer you now. my supervisor is currently not available. would you like to hold ? that department is currently closed. have i helped you with everything you needed ? if your bank doesn't give you knowledgeable customer service 24/7, you need an ally. ally bank. no nonsense. just people sense. ♪ ♪

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weem have the latest from washington when it comes to the numbers. scott walker took a shot at the collective bargaining and said interesting things about his recall election. we'll look back at the life of whitney houston and her struggles with addiction with dr. denny karise. we'll have highlights from the grammy tribute to the singer with joy ann reed. share your thoughts on twitter

using #theedshow. we'll be right back. you know when i grow up, i'm going to own my own restaurant. i want to be a volunteer firefighter. when i grow up, i want to write a novel. i want to go on a road trip. when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. ♪ feel the power my young friend. mmm! [ male announcer ] for excellent fruit and veggie nutrition... v8 v-fusion, also refreshing plus tea. could've had a v8. immerse yourself alsoin all over reliefea. male announcer ] feeling that flu all over your body? with alka seltzer plus. it's specially formulated to speed relief to every inch of you.

liquidate your flu symptoms with alka seltzer plus. congress needs to stop taxes from going up on 160 million americans by the end of this month. if they don't act, that's exactly what will happen. the time for self-inflicted wour wounds to our economy has to be over. >> the president was in virginia today unveiling his bugtd and slamming republicans on the payroll tax cut. at the end of the month the taxes are scheduled to go up on 160 million americans.

just hours after the president made that speech, the re republicans caved. they will agree to extend tax cuts to the middle class without pag for them. big move there. republicans wanted to pay for the tax cuts by slashing spending on the middle class. democrats wanted the ultra rich to pay more. republicans seem to be caving. republicans showed today they would rather add to the deficit then ask wealthy follows to kick in their fair share. the president wasn't done thumps republicans this morning in virginia. he released his budget for 2013. it's a vision for america, the economy, and, of course, requires the rich people in this country to start pulling their fair share and weight. >> warren buffett is doing fine. we don't need the tax breaks. you need them. you're the ones that see your

wages stall. you're the one whose costs of everything from college to groceries has gone up. you're the ones who deserve a break. >> let's turn to senator bernie sanders of vermont, who is a member of the senate budget committee. senator, good to have you with us tonight. here are just some of the highlights in the headliners of the president as budget. $350 billion in hort-term measures to encourage job growth. of course, that is stimulus package. it would implement the buffet rule and repeal tax cuts for the wealthy and dividend income over $250,000 as ordinary income. it would end oil subsidies and reduce the deficit by 4 trillion over the next decade. what's good about this budget? what do you like and don't like? >> all of that stuff is good stuff. look, the fact of the matter is the united states today has the most unequal distribution of

wealth and income of any major country. wealth xwry people are doing phenomenalally well. if we're serious about two things, we have the need to create millions of jobs and make investments if in our energy system transforming energy and rebuilding the infrastructure. it's appropriate that we ask the wealthiest people in this country to pay more in taxes. second of all what the president has said that most americans agree, we have to end the bush tack breaks eeshgs right on that. thirdly he said we have to end tax breaks for oil and gas companies. we have had companies in recent years, exxon mobiles among other companies making billions of dollars in a given year in profits and paying nothing in federal income cuts. that's absurd. we have to reduce the deficit and create jobs, and the welt

yiest people in this country should play a role in that. >> these numbers, do they add up and reduce the deficit over the next ten years? would it do 4 trillion over the next decade? >> from what i understand, it would. we need tax -- corporate tax reform. what the president is saying is he wants to make it budget neutral. he wants to end some of the loopholes and the exemptions and he wants to lower corporate tax rates. i think you have so many outrageous loop holts, you have a situation where we're losing $100 billion every single year because of the tax havens that corporations are investing in. i think we can raise substantial revenue to make a simpler and more progressive corporate tax road. >> we know paul ryan's budget would cut taxes for the wealthy and end medicare as we know it. today he called this budget dishonest. what's your reaction to that?

>> i don't think it's dishonest. i think it is a serious budget trying to deal with the issue of fairness. i think clearly what ryan is about is conditioning the republican effort to engage in class warfare. who in their right minds could support a proposal that says more tax breaks for the wealthiest people, and yet we're going to cut medicare and medicaid many in drastic form. that makes no sense anyone i know. >> here's mitch mcconnell oat floor today. >> it isn't to solve our problems but to ignore them for another year, which will ensure they get even worse. once again, the president is shirking his responsibility to lead by using this budget to divide us. >> senator, is voting on the payroll tax cut separate from the extension of the unemployment insurance? is that a mistake? >> i don't think it should be separate, ed. i think you have two huge issues. clearly i'm not a great fan of

the paul roll tax holiday. at the same time we cannot forget that long term unemployment in this country is very veshgs high, and we also need to make sure we don't cut drastically the reimbursement rate. >> i have to say i thought it was a bigger number now that we're winding down in iraq and afghanistan. i thought it was maybe six or seven trillion in instead of four. when you say that number, what was your reaction? >> ed, remember, the president's budget is essentially a recommendation to congress. that's all it is. we've got to go from here. i agree with you. i i think with an infrastructure crumbling with the potential to create millions of decent paying jobs, roads, bridges, rebuilding the rail salmonella, we should make a hef investment. i think the president put money into energy conservation and

sustainable energy we could do more. >> good to have you with us. thanks so much. bernie sanders tonight. scott walker went to cpac to beg for money. you won't believe how walker did, and i'll show you the tape now. the shock and sandness over whitney houston's death and amazing tributes later in the show. stay with us. we'll be right back. i wouldn't do that. pay the check?

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welcome back. this is one of the most overlooked cpac speeches, which certainly caught my attention. scott walker is the poster example for attacking the mild class in america, which made him a perfect speaker at the radical conservative convention. he tried to whip up the crowd by talking about the importance of his upcoming recall fight. >> many project there will be as much $70 million or more spent on the recall election on me this next late spring or summer. that's what's at stake here. you see, the big government union bosses understand this isn't just about who the governor of wisconsin is, and it's not about what the momentum or impact will be on the november 2012 elections. those are factors. >> governor walker told the crowd p if he loses it will send shock waves across the political

spectrum. >> when we prevail it will send a powerful message to every politician in america that if you stand up and do the right thing, if you tackle the tough challenges, there will be men and women that stand up shoulder to shoulder arm to arm with you. lord help us if we fail. i believe having looked at this closely over time if we fail and i'm not planning on it, and i think this sets aside any courageous act in american politics for at least a decade, if not a generation. that is why we must not fail. >> walker has enough political savvy to make his recall election bigger than himself. the freshman governor needs to raise a ton of money outside of the state to cover his backside because he destroyed the rights of working men and women in wisconsin by radically changing collective bargaining. he doesn't see collective bargaining as a right.

>> collective bargaining is not a right in the public sector, collective bargaining is an expensive entitlement. >> we have a big ideological fight unfolding in the middle of the country. i think walker is dead wrong. collective bargaining is the reason most american workers have 40-hour work weeks, eight-hour workday, overtime, pejs, paid vax, weekends, holidays, breaks on the job, safety standards in the workplace, health shurnts and sick leave. unions have fought for those rights for over 100 years in america especially in wisconsin. scott walker and his allies all investiga invested in his survival. if he wins the attack will explode and if he loses the radical attack might get stopped for a while. >> is it chom, is it marijuana?

is it cocaine? is it pills? >> it has been at times. >> tonight we're looking back at the life of whitney houston and the issues that could have led to her death. dr. denny ka reese of the phoenix house and joy ann reed are here. republicans in congress are promising to continue the war on women's health. >> if we have to overcome the president's opposition on legislation, i'd be happy to support this. >> we'll discuss how women will respond. ♪ oh! [ baby crying ]

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>> a very memorable moment in the career of whitney houston performing the "star-spangled banner" for the super bowl xxi years ago. her death brings to mind her incredible talent as well as her struggle with drug addiction. she was just 48. houston was discovered in her bathtub by a member of her staff at the beverly hills hotel saturday afternoon. she was underwater and unconscious. first responders were immediately called but could not revive her and she was pronounced dead at the scene. according to assistant chief coroner fred winter, there were prescription drugs in her home, but less than usually frent in cases of overdose. it could be weeks before the coroner's office completes toxicology tests to determine the cause of death. police do not suspect foul play. houston attended a party in los angeles thursday night where she drank alcohol but did not seem disheveled.

according to her friend, kelly price, she was dancing and she was laughing, price said. houston was in town for the grammy party of her long-time mentor, legendary music producer clive davis. houston's funeral will be held in newark, new jersey later this week. joining me tonight is dr. denny karise, cleef clinical officer at the phoenix house. so sad, isn't it? >> it's very sad. >> it's all too often we see big stars struggle with drug addiction. what is it? is it the pressure? is it the visibility? is it the money? is it not knowing how to handle the fame? to many of those things. >> i think one of the things is we could answer that, we'd know what to do and better how to help. i think that celebrities have more pressure in many ways. they're less likely for people to confront them about their behavior or missed appointments and things like that, but i think it's an equal opportunity illness and that addiction hits

everybody. you just hear about it and see it when it's a celebrity. you see it when they reup lapse and not doing well. sdwloo some of the pictures of whitney houston before she died, a lot of people around her. it didn't look good. it looked pretty sad. what kind of pressure is on peers to help her out? >> he did look pretty disheveled, and it's on your friends, family, those close to you to help out. what happens is when people have a long addiction career is that people try to help, and when the person looks like they're going over the edge, they help. the first 25 times they intervene and do something big, and the person gets through it and show up the next dame and they're fine. the next 25 times they say i'm worried about you. the person is basically fine. finally it's just they're doing that again. people forget it takes one little switch to really -- >> they get used to seeing it, and they don't intervene maybe the way they should. >> yeah. >> it seems like everybody in

america knows somebody who has a problem. do we have a problem when it comes it to intervention? are we afraid to step forward and do something? >> i talk to people almost every day that are afraid to say something. what if i'm wrong? they won't like me or be angry at me. you have an obligation if you care interest somebody to say, i notice that you're having difficulty with things that came easily for you. i notice it appears that your eyes are shut or that you are groggy all the time. is something going on? >> we don't know exactly what happened. she may have just had a heart attack. we don't know. there's a lot of speculation out there. a long trail of addiction. there are some folks that just can't be retrieved. is that the truth? some people can't be turn around. not that that was whitney's issue. >> right, right. some people can't be turned around in time, you know. the big problem we have is we

can't predict who that is. a lot of people say they've been through treatment three times already and it didn't help. that's not a predictor they won't get better the fourth time. >> she seemed to be doing well. she recently completed a movie and some positive things were happening and all of a sudden. >> i think it's important to know when you do drugs, particularly, cocaine for a long period of time, it changes your brain. you have kraicravings, but ther always that piece of you. your brain has changed. you have to deal with that on a daily basis. >> thank you for joining us tonight. up next, the stunning tribute to whitney houston and the other notable moments from last night's grammy awards. stay with us. [ male announcer ] let's level the playing field.

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whitney houston and big winners and more. the big finish tonight. the gop isn't giving up on its war on women's health. we have reaction. don't forget to tweet us. we'll be right back. [ dog barking ] ♪ [ female announcer ] life is full of little tests, but your basic paper towel can handle them. especially if that towel is bounty basic. the towel that's durable and scrubbable. in this lab demo, bounty basic is stronger than the leading bargain brand. everyday life. bring it with bounty basic. affordably priced. tested by everyday life.

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the beach boys reunited, each of them between 69 and 71 years old. they're still young, and they are great. new jersey native bruce springsteen sanity hi new patriotic anthem to americans coming together. ♪ ♪ >> let's turn to joy ann reed, msnbc contributor and managing editor of the grio. first of all, jennifer hudson. fabulous. it was perfect. >> yeah, you know, there have been some people who criticized the performance because she didn't do the whole key change, the sort of big piece the song. i thought it was understated. i thought it was emotional. you could actually see her

emoex, and you could see in her face she was really struggling to complete the performance. i thought it was beautiful because it was so simple. >> it was on short notice, obviously, how did they handle all of that behind the scenes, the selection, all of that. >> it was difficult because shaka khan was supposed to perform and she couldn't. i think people were still in shock. jennifer hudson stepped up to the plate. people waited the whole telecast of that tribute. it took a long time. it took almost too long. by the time she stepped up there, the weight of the world was on this young woman. i thought she did a good job. >> this is an unusual situation. i can't remember someone of star power as whitney houston passing away just hours before the grammys. i mean, they have to be commended on how they handled it. on top of that, it was a fabulous concert. i mean, it was just one

unbelievable act after another. taylor swift, i mean just tremendous. >> it was a big night. you have to say nicky manja put on an interesting show. the grammys are over the top performance. i definitely think they waited a bit too long to get to the whitney tribute but i thought it was beautiful. >> what about springsteen's opening number kind of paralleling that of clint eastwood of the super bowl ad. some of that american message to get it done. >> you can't hate on the boss, man. there were a lot of great performances. bruno mars was great as well. you can't hate on the boss. >> i found it interesting in the twitter world there are some kids out there that don't know who paul mccartney is. the beatles. come on. >> they wrote glenn campbell, and the muppet show made sure. >> i was surprised to see glen campbell out there.

>> apparently he has alzheimer's, so he remembered his songs off could you cards. when someone tweeted that, enough respect to glenn campbell. good job. >> the world was roolting for him. all in all i thought it was absolutely fabulous. thank you for joining tonight. >> thank you. the republican party is about to make a mistake with female voters. that's next. everywhere you go, america,

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joe may have your back, but johan has your feet. gevalia. meet me in the coffee aisle. ed show survey tonight, i asked, is rick santorum surged a turning point for conservative voters? 4 58% of you said yes, 42% of you said no. crystal ball in the conversation next. stay with us. ♪

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when i grow up, i'm going to go there. i want to fix up old houses. [ female announcer ] at aarp we believe you're never done growing. i want to fall in love again. [ female announcer ] discover what's next in your life. get this free travel bag when you join at aarp.org/jointoday. the republican party, i think, is sailing on thin ice. mitch mcconnell and his buddies in the senate want to deny all american women the right to coverage for birth control. on friday we told you about republican senator roy blunt. he's got a proposal to allow any

contraception for female employees. >> the thing about contraception is the whole problem. it is about freedom of religion. it's right there in the first amendme amendment. you can't miss it, right there in the first amendme to our constitution, and the government doesn't get to decide for religious people what their religious beliefs are. >> bob schaefer asked the gentleman from kentucky if he supported blunt's radical amendment. >> yeah, if we end up having to try to overcome the president's opposition by legislation, of course, i'd be happy to support it and intend to support it. >> republicans and catholic bishops muddied the waters on this story for a week. now it's clear this is not about religious freedom. this is nothing more than a frontal attack on president obama, and any woman in this country who wants coverage for birth control. it's 2012. why can't we get this right? i'm joined tonight by strategist crystal ball and joan walsh.

great to have both of you with us. joan, will this issue have an impact with female voters this fall, or is this going to subside between now and then? is this something women voters would really remember for the long haul? >> i think so, ed. i'm very grateful to them. they're not gog ling to let it subside, apparently. they've walked into a trap. i want to thank the catholic bishops because you and i have talked about how some of the provision with the health care reform bill didn't take effect right away, they weren't clear to the american people. i have talked to more women in the last week about the fact that, regardless of the church controversy, that their contraception is going to be free with no co-pay. everything that the bill did for women's health equalizing the playing field, we had a teaching on it in the last week. that's the other thing i think is really important. now women are realizing what they've got, and then these guys are saying they want to take it away? i think they're making a huge mistake.

>> well, they certainly have spread the net out a lot further here with this blunt amendment. crystal, is the republican party tone deaf on this issue? first to spread it out and say it's a religious issue and then say any employer could branch out and deny this i find absolutely amazing. >> yeah, absolutely. it makes it very clear what this is really all about. and even before the president offered his compromise, two-thirds of women already supported the law as it stood. so women are absolutely on the side of the president here, and let's remember, republicans are not exactly doing that great with women to start with. last time around in 2008, president obama got 70% of unmarried women voted for him, and the numbers right now are looking the same for the gop field. mitt romney right now is actually beating the president by five points among men, but among women he's losing by 21 points. so this just doubles down on a losing strategy for them. >> what a mazes me, joan, is the

republican party doesn't seem to understand that women who exercise birth control are doing it for medical reasons, okay? they take the medication for medical reasons other than getting pregnant. why can't they get that right? >> because they don't want to, ed. you know, they just don't want to. they want to make this about sexuality. they are stuck back in the culture wars of the 1980s. they think this is a winning hand for them and they really don't see what krystal said, that they're alienating huge flocks of the population. it's not just about women. if we're having sex and we need birth control, there's a man involved, you know. there are husbands and fathers and partners all over this country who are benefiting from this as well. so it's really a national issue. and they've botched it. >> here's what congressman ryan

said about the president's compromise on sunday. >> the insurance company has to pay to do the coverage, so it re reinforces the insurer and a lot of these catholic institutions are self-insured and all the insurers under this rule must provide the mandatory benefits. so it really is a distinction. >> krystal, what do you think of that? >> this is not about religious freedom. religious freedom does not mean your employer gets to impose their religious beliefs on you. that's not what this is about. in fact, health insurers know it's far cheaper to pay for birth control than it is to pay for abortions or pregnancies. this is basically a costless thing. so what paul ryan is saying doesn't make any sense. there is another element to this, too. republicans have a very disspirited base that is not enthusiastic, and this is one of the ways that they jump their base and keep the working class, the no-class folks who are voting against their own self-interests economically with the republican party, they use

this as a culture war, tribal chip to keep them in the party, frankly. >> today both of maine's republican senators broke with mcconnell on this issue. joan, what do you make of that? both susan collins and olympia snow. >> i think it's terrific. i expected it, frankly, and i want to say one more thing. i'm very excited fioor elizabet warren because scott brown announced today he's supporting roy blunt's ridiculously flawed legislation. he did a great favor to elizabeth warren. >> does elizabeth warren run commercials on that issue, i think? >> i think so, yeah. i do. >> could i point out one more thing here? there are more women in office. i think it's noted the two republicans breaking ranks here are two women. right now we have 83% of the legislature are men, and that's not to say women always vote the right way, but having those voices at the table makes a real

difference. >> you think -- >> and women jumped out in front last week with president obama and senators and house members. >> are both of you comfortable with what the president did? did he handle it properly? >> wonderful. >> absolutely. america will look at this and say the republicans are being completely unreasonable, as usual. >> great to have both of you with us. joan walsh and krystal ball. that's the ed show. you can listen to my radio show on channel 127 monday through friday, noon to 3:00 p.m. just a quick show note -- not that we're keeping score, but we are -- it's been six days since shawn hannity promised to release his tape of president obama saying he didn't want to get osama bin laden. ezra klein is filling in for