killed himself a bear when he was three. >> all signs say we're set for a coronation party. >> i'm here to tell you i'm endorsing mitt romney. >> all hail mitt, ruler of a broken republican party. >> we're much better looking. that doesn't count. we start 24 hours from super tuesday. a day when 11 states will try to accomplish what the previous contests haven't and end this thing for good. governor mitt romney is surging, like he's done so many times before and ready to be crowned king. a new poll shows he's up three points. a 10-point rehearsal from a week ago. romney is securing his base, wealthy establishment republicans. today it was bush attorney general joining a line of

republican big wigs getting behind the severely conservative candidate. over the weekend, it was house majority leader eric cant rorks. both representing super tuesday states. this was the biggest get of weekend. >> we have known the romneys for years and believe mitt is the best man to lead the country for the next four years and ann will make a great first lady. >> that's right. former first lady, barbara bush securing his other base as well, moderate, pro-choice republicans. mitt doesn't have a lot to sing about just yet. >> this place always has a special feeling in my heart because when i grew up, i was thinking about dave crockett. remember the song, raised in the woods so he knew every tree and he killed himself a bear when he was only three.

>> thankfully on this occasion romney spared us song. as i was saying, mitt is still suffering with a popularity gap. it seems he's just popular as anyone else that has been running of late. a new poll puts his approval seven points behind bob doyle's at this point. it seems romney is still having trouble connecting with the average voter even when he talks about why america is great. this is what you get. >> our dna as the same as the other human beings on the planet, so it's just not our brain power. we're about@same size. we're much better looking, but that doesn't count. >> rick santorum is one human being not worried about romney's surge. >> money's not going to buy this election. the best ideas and believing in the american people will win this election. >> indeed, and rick may have a surprise up his sweater vest for

mitt. a second ohio poll shows rick is the sacandidate a few points ahead. newt gingrich ahead in georgia, that crown may still be out of romney's reach for a little while. joining us now our panel, karen finn finney, julian epstein and krystal ball. how many times have we polished the jewels only to find that romney can't be crowned. is he going to be the prince charles of the republican race? >> maybe she should stop talking about the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees. >> and the dna. >> here is the problem he's going to have. he cannot close that enthusiasm

gap. he's been consistent. i'll give him that. he hasn't improved as a candidate. he hasn't really picked up support. the irony here that the republican party wants this race to end sooner rather than later because his negatives are going up and because it's hurting their party when i'll give credit to my democrats, last cycle while we had a tough contested primary, everybody's numbers went up. >> that is a big difference. julian is this just about ohio? if santorum loses there, can he show off wins in other states and make a legitimate argument he's in the race. >> probably not. he's starting to trail in some of the southern states as well. i think this is a case for mitt romney to go back to the beetles song. money can't buy you love, but it can buy you an election. he's buying this election. i think to string it together,

if he is king of the party, he is king peiros. as was just suggested, it's not the enthusiasm gap, his negatives, according to your poll, he's at a lower point in term of his favorability, unfavorability, than any candidate for president whether they won or loss. it not only has exposed him and raised his negatives so high, particularly negatives with independents. he trailing about 20 point, but he's also shown to be a very, very bad candidate. he wins florida. the next thing he says i don't care about the poor. he starts to surge and talks about how much better looking he is than others. he's incapable of keeping his silver foot out of his mouth. >> krystal, you're from

virginia. female he can't beat ron paul, he's got really big problems. we know that gingrich is expected to do well, but how well does romney need to do. >> i think the fact that romney and ron paul got on the ballot is going to end up being important because it could have been a battleground forum. he's likely to win all of delegates. that does make a difference. georgia is still looking strong for newt gingrich. gingrich has been rising a little bit in the polls elsewhere. one other state i would watch is tennessee, where i think romney has been closing the gap with santorum and has a great chance at winning tennessee as well. if he strings together a couple of these victories, i think tomorrow will be a good night for him. one thing that i will point out is looking forward, i don't see either gingrich or rick santorum getting out of this race.

even though romney looking more and more inevitable. there's a lot of southern state, missouri goes again. he's going to have kind of a long march to get through. >> karen, do you think that romney's surge has to be put down to santorum and his 13th century views that are frighten voters back to romney and back towards the 21st century? >> i think that's part of it. the last time we really hasn't had a lot of time for some of san t santorum's things to sink in. ping that helped romney. i'm reluctant to call it a surge because he doesn't seem to be

able to hold onto it for a moment. >> a slow roll. next, rush says he's sorry, sort of. stay with us. >> mr. boehner comes up and says rush's language was inappropriate using the solid fork for your entree, that's inappropriate. [ female announcer ] experience dual-action power, with listerine® whitening plus restoring rinse. it's the only listerine® that gets teeth two shades whiter and makes tooth enamel two times stronger. get dual-action listerine® whitening rinse. building whiter, stronger teeth. the calcium they take because they don't take it with food.

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twomplts more advertisers have walked away from lush limbaugh's radio show. that makes a total of nine and counting. when you add in his weekend apology, one thought mr. limbaugh might be watching his words today. >> i don't expect, and i know

you don't either, morality, honesty from the left. against my own instincts, against my own knowledge, against everything i know to be right and wrong, i descended to their level. i became like them. >> charming as ever. thank you for being with us. this is the initial apology. my choice of words was not the best and in an attempt to be humorous i created a national stir. i apologize to miss fluke for the insulting word choices. is that apology worth anything? do you accept it? >> it's not worth a whole lot. this went way beyond a poor choice of words. he says he apologizes and again on air today for using those two words slut and prostitute.

he came back three days in a row and double down on some of the nasty, most vulgar attacks including saying her parents should be ashamed of her. it was a wonder she could walk. asking for her sex tapes. it's also very interesting that he could not be bothered to give any kind of apology until seven of his major sponsors had already dropped. >> that was purely accidental. that was purely accidental. karen, he's had to apologize before insulting women before. his overt hatred of women suggests he may have very real feelings of personal inadequacy and the reason he attacked miss fluke for three days is because he represents everything that frightens him, an

intelligent woman does have an opinion and is prepared to vocalize it. >> that's why i love you because you would never tolerate that. you like us smart women to come on your show and say what we really think. look, inadequacies aside, we know the guy's got lots of problems. here is what i would say. on the one hand, what he said, it wasn't just the two words, obviously. the nonapology was ridiculous and it's childish to suggest it was real apology. everybody is sorry when they get caught. how many men, i can't count on both hands how many men are sorry once they get caught. the second piece of this is in the larger context, this is the thing that rush doesn't understand. it seems the advertiser who is are pulling their support seem to understand, at least they are hearing from americans about this that there's a larger point that we don't talk about people

that way. that's not an appropriate way to talk about women. we are people's daughters and sisters and friends and loves and wives, not to mention, by the way, even if the story was she was taking birth control to have sex, that's none of his business, and that's not the point. >> julian, a few republicans have condemned limbaugh but not many. they want to bomb iran but they are petrified of rush limbaugh. >> it's like the old song sorry seems to be the hardest word. when things like this occur there are weasel apologies and then there are real ones. it's like mel gibson made when caught makes racist comments. they say i'm sorry if my words

offended you. he said i'm sorry about the word choice that i used. not the fact that he referred to her in the most despeckable ways. the proper way is you say i'm sorry to the person. i deeply regret what i said. i was wrong to say it and i apologize to you. you don't sgeet this stuff about i'm sorry if you may have been offended. >> you're not dealing in the realm of complete mystery. >> one last point. >> it does sound like he's had to apologize. >> it's not just woman that are offended. it's men. >> i'm the father of two daughters. i'm married to a woman and i'm dis gusted and appalled as you have been. >> krystal you've been leading the charge to see for advertisers leave the show. you were personally attacked at the weekend. can you tell us something about that. >> it was an ironic situation

and just to prove my point. i was on air on msnbc calling out rush for what he did to sandra fluke was slut shame her. in response to that the spokeswoman for the gop in california thought it would be appropriate to call me a slut proving my point that one way that's common to demean women is calling them out as sluts. >> she drew that conclusion from your name, is that right? she seemed to think that your name given to you by your parents gave the conclusion that you were that word? >> that's right. that's the indication. i have to tell you, having lived my life with the name krystal ball, i've pretty much heard it all. she's going to have to be creative next time. >> karen, this morning on the view, sandra fwluk said it's important to remember it's not about one conservative voice,

it's a whole segment who think rush's language is acceptable. she's right, isn't she? >> she's absolutely right. there's a poll out that said 45% of conservatives in tennessee think the president wasn't born in this country. how do we get there? people who won't speak up or when they do, they give that sort of non-apology. it's not just what he said. it's not just that more people should people out for what he said. it's because of the message we send with our silence. i spent the yesterday in alabama walking on the bridge. you feel so strongly about our rights and she said she can feel the same kind of demeaning language coming out about women that we heard about blacks in

the '60s. that's why we do what we do. >> we really appreciate that affirmation of the network. thank you. our thanks to that festering mound of vermin that's mr. limbaugh. stay with us. much more ahead. while campaigning at the daytona 500, mitt romney may have hurt his aimage when he said he doesn't koesly follow the race but has friends that are nascar team owners. it doesn't help that he kept referring to the drivers as chauffeurs. ♪ [ male announcer ] say goodbye to "ho-hum,"

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sacrifice of hundreds who marched from selma, alabama to the state capital of montgomery. they protested against discrimination practices that meant that vast numbers of african-american citizens were disenfranchised. al sharpton is leading the march. good afternoon, sir. >> good afternoon, martin. >> great to have you. do you believe there's a deliberate attempt at voter suppression being undertaken by the right today? >> yes, i do. i'll say it when you look at@faat the facts that we see fraction of 1% of prosecution of voter fraud brought in the last decade and they are now all of a sudden going after voter id laws andlessening early voting in over 30 states being proprosed

just suddenly they all have this same revelation with no data to back it up risking five million people that will be disenfranchised, one has to conclude it's a deliberate attempt to try and suppress our votes in particular not in communities that are impacted seniors. >> you will know that some republicans claim that people can walk off an international air flight, stroll into a voting booth and mark their vote without any attempt to check in they are qualified to do so. do they have a point in seeking to strengthen requirements? >> absolutely not. one would then ask why have you not presented evidence where that's happened. why would we risk you having something you fear is possible with an absolute that we know five people would be disenfranchis

disenfranchised. that's one. secondly, why do we change with identification that's necessary. we didn't change it in the last 30 years. let me tell you this, they didn't have that we have photo id in their own primaries now. they're not having it at super tuesday tomorrow. they didn't have it in the iowa. they didn't have it in south carolina. why do they want it in the general election? if they're concerned about thabt, they should be doing it during the primaries. they're not doing it because they're not targeting those voters. >> could it have anything to do that african-americans have voted in large proportion for this president? >> one can suspect that you're suggestion is well founded. whatever it is, i think since they are changing something that has not been broken, since they are fixing something that's not broken, one can only suspect there's another motive other than fixing it.

secondly, since it's impacting and clearly an attack on the voting rights act, that's why we're out here marching to proest the people that come from all over the country would thot be marching and walking ten mile a day to raise this issue, if we didn't feel it was real threat. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you. of course, you can watch v reverend al on his show every evening. stay with us. the day's top lines are coming up. >> our dna is the same as other human beings in the planet. it's not just our brain power. we're about the same size. >> don't be silly. i'm not a robot. i'm a human man. ♪ turn left.

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how does that old saying go? behind every good man, there's a great woman? here are today's top lines weekend recap. >> michigan was another case of voters taking a look at mitt romney and saying, i guess. >> talk to the hand. i'm thot going hear it. >> she was in second grade. i was in fourth grade. she was in the second grade. i was in the fourth grade. oh, yeah, she was in second grade. i was in fourth grade. people don't want to hear me anymore. >> maybe i should do all the talking. >> i love it when the left says equality, equality. where does that concept come from? does it come from islam? >> recognizing the equality of all men and women. we're willing and able krad l those that hurt and nurture the bonds that tie us together as a nation. one nation under god. >> i'm endorsing mitt romney.

>> i say you haven't found that. i've read that fp. >> it's fun to have chris christie there. what you hope for is someone to heckle them. >> first off, it's none of your business. >> the republican leaders are afraid of rush limbaugh. >> an entertainer can be absurd. >> oh. >> our dna is the same as the other human beings on the planet. it's not just our brain power. we're about the same size. >> i'm not a robot. i'm a human man. >> we're much better looking but that doesn't count. ♪ am i a man or am i a muppet ♪ if i'm a muppet i'm a manly muppet ♪ >> let's get right to it.

michael eric dyson. good afternoon. it looks like mitt romney after several years and a reported $200 million is poised to wrap this up, eorsements pouring in, momentum on his side. here is the rub. a new poll shows that four in ten say the nomination fight has left them with a less favorable impression of the republican party. with romney's own favorability on the decline, i guess it's good luck in the general, mitt. >> the operation was successful, but we lost the patient. the reality is that it's extracted quite a toll on the republican field, mitt romney in particular because he was said to be the one that would win by sweeping margins. the man that would set the republican party aright. the man that could prevent barack obama from enjoying a

te second term. it's turn into a food fight among varying positions and persons and stratagems in the republican party. i think they have lost on many fronts. >> also, we were cold told this campaign would be good and we would get to know him. it seems the more we get to know him, the more it confirms our view it's inauthentic, robotic, manipulated by the money men. he hasn't warmed to us, and we haven't warmed to him. >> it's not done him great deal of service. this protracted proses that's revealed his weakness and very few of his strengths. it's not served him well. he's not taken advantage of this

particular opportunity to hammer home who he is, to make us feel who he is, the nearbiness, the warmth, the passion, what inspires him. >> what inspires him is the height of certain trees the and he talks about dna, and he likes driving cars and he likes friend who is are nascar owners. is that not good enough for you? >> and maybe fries without salt. it doesn't give us a sense of who you are politically. it doesn't make us feel you have the sense to articulate that people know what you mean and believe what you say. i think in that sense, it's not done very well this process for him, and he's not been able to seize the kind of attention from the broader public for good reason. it's also a lack. it's always what's missing. he came in above this other guy but we're searching for somebody else. we still haven't found what

we're looking for. >> it would be remiss of me not to ask you about a controversy involving a student sandra fluke and rush limbaugh. rush today apologized for calling her a slut and a prostitute. it's what some described as a vacuous apology. yourself as a socialology professor, you're part of that community, what's your reaction to this kind of controversy and the attack on a student of your community? >> it's ridiculous. i'm proud of her. i'm glad she spoke up and spoke out. it's courageous in the catholic circles that she spoke from. her love from the catholic faith and self-critical of her own faith communitilessened by the way that others on the opposite side of the aisle could take. it was a ridiculous, spineless assault upon a vulnerable person

doesn't have that he possesses. i think the response has been tremendous. at least eight or nine sponsors have pulled out. there are no on his website today. none of sponsors are there. he needs to feel the heat of those that feel he's stepped way beyond the boundary of reasonableness and he's engaged in a posture that needs to be addressed. those of us that support her must stand behind her and say it was inhumane and you need toe be held accountable for it. >> finally, i get the impression that the president of the university who issued his support and statement, you're proud of this young woman? >> absolutely. the president of georgetown university is proud of her. he's proud of the position she's taken in terms of her defense of a reasoned argument for her

particular position. even if he disagrees with that, he appreciates the integrity and the structure of conscienceness that leds her to do so. as the president of the university and me as a professor, this is what we want from our student, not mimic our positions. the president of the university is proud of her and professor dyson is proud of her as well. >> both of you from georgetown. thank you so much. >> thank you. >> don't miss msnbc super tuesday coverage all day tomorrow. next, while the president deals with iran, his opponents play off the worst kind of fears. stay with us. >> now is not the time for bluster. now is the time to let our increased pressure sink in and to sustain the broad international coalition we have

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and it's free. ya know, for whoever you are that day. it's just another way you'll be traveling at the speed of hertz. united states will always have israel's back when it comes to israel's security. >> iran's leaders know that too. for them you're the great satan and me little satan. >> that was earlier today. detailed discussions about how to handle it will growing threat that is iran's nuclear program. political leaders were warned not to use loose talk. this fell upon deaf ears when mitt romney responded to a question from a middle school student in georgia. >> pretty straightforward in my view. if barack obama gets reelected iran will have a nuclear weapon and the world will change if that's the case. >> that was his answer to an

11-year-old boy. joining me now dana milbank. the president has said that the bond between our two countries is unbreakable, speaking of israel. do you think it's likely to affect israel seeking united states support and guidance prior to any kind of military action? >> that's where the debate is right now in terms of exactly how much knowledge, consent the united states will be providing israel. i've been hanging out and watching what they have been saying. all things seem to be pointing toward this attack. all the talk about being careful and being cautious and trying all things. i'm finding very little sense that the military action is what's coming here. what strikes me is the larger

point as posed to who does it in the end whether it's an israeli mission or u.s.-supported mission. >> there is an action suit? >> even president obama says the next several months will be difficult. it seems to be a lot of ominous talk. it sounds like the early months of 2003. it has that sort of feel right now. it's very similar. >> when you listen to the republican candidates, they seem so gung ho that a military conflict seems inevitable. americans may want action if iran gets close to developing a nuclear weapon.

there's much more disagreement in terms of the way forward the be american people seem more attuned to the complexity of the situation than many of the republican candidates. >> that's not the first time that's happened this year or that the republican candidates have been at odds with the american people. what this does do is give president obama plenty of running room and ability to get tough in terms of his negotiations indirectly with iran. he said yesterday that he wasn't bluffing. what the republicans are doing is helping him in allowing the united states to take an even tougher position. the american public is rightly been scolded by two wars now and probably has no particular desire to get into a third one unless it's necessary. >> despite that, less than an

hour ago senator john mccain was calling for u.s.-led air strike against syria saying we have a clear national security interest in president assd's defeat. do you think the american people have the stomach for more military intervention in the middle east? >> it's been quite a while since libya. we need somebody to start dropping the bombs on sooner or later. syria was the second subject being mentioned. it's not funny that not hearing a whole lot about the palestinian conflict that's not where the heat is right now in the middle east. iran is just dominating the talk. >> indeed. thank you. >> thanks. next, rick santorum's trouble between the sheets. stay with us. first, amanda has the cnbc market wrap. >> we're still moving to the downside at the start of the trading week.

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although mitt romney has used the adjective to burnish his own actions, it's rick santorum who seems to be severely conservative especially when it comes to the bedroom. mr. santorum was offered some bizarre parallels between homosexuality and bestiality and then his attacks on birth control. >> homosexual liberty idea. many in the christian faith have said that's okay. contraception is okay. it's not okay. it's a license to do things in the sexual realm that things ar

be. >> according to the cdc. 98% of american women use some type of birth control. so why is santorum's fixation on sex? joining us is charles amblow. e great to have you. i read your column on saturday. it was like a sermon on a text. you went through this text of a q&a with rick santorum from 2008 when he talked about the democratic party of wood stock, the great american orgy. does rick santorum have a problem with sex? >> if you read this transcript, which i did, someone sent me the copy of the speech. i read through it and went to the site of the place where he had given the speech. i saw there was a q&a and looked at the transcript. i was so struck by this that i couldn't figure out why he was so fixed on the sexual angles.

the questions they were asking him had nothing to do with sex. it was how is the party being labeled? and every question no matter you asked him if the sky is blue, he went back to sex. it was a strange experience for me. i kept thinking what is going on with this guy that he has such a problem with sexual freedom and what happened in the 1960s and what has come out of the 1960s and followed. and part of the column was just -- i just wanted to print as many of his actual words as possible. >> what's even more remarkable is santorum is now complaining about the criticism he's drawn and he's described this as a sad situation. but with 98% of women using birth control, and a man saying he wishes to outlaw birth control, did he expect anything less? is he detached from reality? >> you have to be detached from reality. what we see with the population

in the world is having more children is not our problem. we need to have quite a few fewer children in the world. we are expected to add another billion people to the planet in the the next ten years. having babies is not the issue. and i think that even from a conservative standpoint, if you were to weigh lesser of the evils and say what is the bigger problem? do we want fewer abortions or use contraception? i think you would come out and say we want to have fewer abortions so we probably want to give a little bit on the contraception side so we wouldn't have unintended pregnancies and people who had to mull whether or not they wanted to have an abortion. but that's not what they want. they want to restrict contraception, so you may have an unwanted pregnancy and then have to wrestle with the issue of what do i want to, as a woman, carry this fetus to full term and have a baby. that creates another whole host

of issues that they are ignores. >> one of the problems, i guess, is there are many people who would say what rick santorum is talking about in terms of policy has some evidence or validity to it. being in a family is beneficial to a child. and yet all i hear him say is outlaw contraception. i don't hear a coherent social policy. i don't hear anything beyond the idea of no sex on campus. >> first, i want to start with the idea that single parents can actually raise very productive and well-rounded children. they have gotten a short shift in this conversation. if you look at the number of children born to single parents, 70% of them are not poor. they are not taking food stamps. they have gotten whacked over

the the head in this debate as if they are it the enemy. they are not the enemy of doing god's work. they are just doing it by themselves. could they use another person in the household? of course, they could. >> i wish we had more time. it was a fabulous column. you're a wonderful writer. thank you for joining us. we'll be right back to clear the air. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. we have to thank you

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it's time now to clear the air. the republican mud fight is reaching a pivotal moment with super tuesday. the eyes will be focused on the winners, the losers, and who is possibly out. but are there really any losers in this contest? look at herman cain. he entered the race without any experience of public office armed with an economic plan

which was so stupid that most people thought 9-9-9 represented the price of a pizza at restaurants he used to run. he wrote a short book, which sold around the country. he's a national ly-recognized public figure and selling his dose through a public speaking agency. herman cain has won a loss through this process, even though he's no longer in the race. how about newt gingrich? recent polling describes hymn as the most disliked politician in america. but he and his wife have executed a bill yant strategy. running for the nomination and selling children's books about an elephant. there are few experts who think he could win the nomination, but they have been selling like there's tomorrow. perhaps some of the candidates have taken as their lead not the president, who is probably the finest campaigner for a generation, but sarah palin who has shown us how to transform a

bankrupt political campaign into a personal fortune. and that's why none of these candidates are losers. they will be doing extremely well long after this primary season is over. but when the dust has settled, i'm not sure the same will be said for the nominee or the republican party as a whole. thanks for watching. dylan ratigan is here in the studio and ready to go. what you got? >> it's interest iing. as i came to the office, i wondered if martin will show up today. you know? how is his health? i hope he's not feeling frail. and inspired to know -- >> i was at the doctor's office this morning, but i'm recovering well. >> as much as i'm inspired, i believe no one is more grateful to your healthy return than former aspiring candidates for the republican nomination for the presidency of the united states. they are like, oh, good.