trishna murphy, a contributor to the daily beast, the ascot behind the sweater vest, mrs. j. hogan gidley, national communication,s director for the santorum campaign and here's what, rick santorum said last night in the pennsylvania. >> if you go down the list of the life, marriage, social conservative issues, they were pretty much, we were all pretty much in line. the reason i was considered an extremist is number one, the people who evaluate these candidates and label extremism understood that i actually believed what i said i believed in. >> i actually said what i believed in. distinct, hogan gidley joining us north of the mason dixon line. yesterday, you said governor romney has called rick and asked for a meeting to discuss an endorsement, but we will see how

that goes in the next couple days. what does that mean we will see how that goes? >> i was just talking about the schedule. i'm sure they'll get together soon and have a good conversation. rick and mitt have been through this slog for a long time. a lot of good conversations backstage and at the end of the day, this is all about beating barack obama. they know that. that's what rick was doing the whole time. you know, these are how the party fights play out. they get after each other pretty good, then someone gets the nomination and then you line up and try to accomplish the ultimate goal. >> but if there are no sticking points, why not an endorsement yesterday? >> i mean they want to talk things out, of course. there are some things i'm sure rick will want to have a discussion with mitt about as it relates to the platform moving forward. i think the conservative mantel needs to be carried by somebody and rick can be one of the people that will carry that forward and hopefully they can get together and come up with a good platform to push forward.

>> if there are things -- i mean when you talk about things lining up, where are they not in sync right now? >> that's not that they're not in sync. they haven't had the within on one conversation you need to have to have an endorsement. rick has a lot of support out there. he won 11 states. we won more counties than any of the other candidates combined. he's pushing a message people can get behind. i think that rick probably wants to have a good, frank honest conversation with mitt and in due time, i'm sure they'll work things out and push forward. >> this is the last question. but you did say governor romney called to talk about an endorsement. which is interesting making note of the fact that it was not senator santorum that called governor romney but that will governor romney was calling for the endorsements. how did the senator respond to that? >> i wasn't there for the call. obviously rick called mitt yesterday to tell him he was going to suspend his candidacy but then subsequent phone calls happened and they were talking about trying to get together.

that's how it worked out. we'll see them get together soon. >> we'll see. michael steele, michael steele steele, you've been a proponent of an extended primary calendar, certainly put some things in place to ensure such a thing would happen. will you happy with the way that this has sort of shaped up? >> yeah, i think it's meeting tats requisite charter, which is give every capped a chance to compete. give every state a chance to be a player. i mean, think about it. the say thes that we're talking about in the latter half of this campaign won't have been on the radar screen four years ago, wisconsin, maryland, no one even put those in the calculations. this time around, those states, those activists had a chance to compete. you still have two candidates in this race. don't forget, i mean, don't want to talk about them, you want to the disapparently newt gingrich, you want to ignore ron paul. >> who wants to despair raj newt gingrich? >> he's still in the race. >> that's right. he's still in the race and as

long as he's in it and the same with paul, they're going to get some votes notice those proportional states like texas. >> but michael, what's the value of that now? so yeah, there's still some little action going on like you have -- >> the value is those individuals on the ground who support those candidates will have a chance to speak their minds on that point. >> and daniel the front-runner? >> no, that's the front-runner. you guys seem to think that being the front-runner that's automatic stuff that goes with that. you've got to work to be the front-runner. you've got to work to get that base to support you, work to get that money in the door. you can't look to your other opponent and blame them because your game ain't. >> michael, aren't we talking about -- real talk. >> i'm sorry. >> aren't we talking about mitt romney one of the criticisms that was lobbed at senator santorum was it wasn't just sort of, these weren't policy attacks. these became not personal but it was hitting romney in a way that was you know it, tangible,

palpable effect. >> don't give me the romney victim stuff. romney started this two weeks before iowa with the lob against $3 million against gingrich when he saw himself, romney, sinking in the polls. that's where this is began. people seem to forget that. i get the give and play of politics but don't all of a sudden say whoa is romney because somebody said something nasty about him after he spent $4 million against them. >> and most of the problem for romney is romney. >> is romney. >> it has nothing to do with the other candidates. it's what is coming out of his own mouth. >> he's a special candidate. >> he's a special candidate. >> i don't mean that in a derogatory way. >> i think you did. >> he's a very special candidate. hogan, let's talk a little bit about the decision itself. we knew may was going to be a better month for senator santorum. obviously a calculation was made and certainly is the family factored into that. give us a little inside baseball talk on sort of how the deliberation process, if you could. >> sure, we actually had several conversations for weeks planning

how we could get that delegate number to swing our way. there were basically three ways. we had to win pennsylvania, we knew that was going to be very important. we had to have newt jump out of the race at some point and say all right, i'm going to support rick. he's my contemporary, my conservative friend. we're going to push everything behind rick and then third was texas. texas had to be winner take all by a simple majority. and texas winner take all by congressional district wasn't good enough. and once we looked at the logic behind that, and the dels, you know, once you realize you can't get there, then you have to take a step back and say what am i in this for. >> so you did speak with the gingrich campaign and they were resistant to the idea of walking under the same banner? >> i didn't speak to the campaign, no. >> but perhaps the two candidates spoke? >> perhaps there have been some conversations for sure. >> and worth noting newt gingrich does remain in the race. >> he does. >> the question is whether newt gingrich, and patricia, i'd love to know what you think about this because we love talking

about your -- >> i can't get enough of it. >> can newt gingrich play that role of conservative standard bearer and continue to perhaps hone mitt romney's message and help him win the base? >> i don't know how he's going to be able to do that. he's more than $6 million in debt. at this point in the race, you start to have very real situations facing you. you can't pay your staff. you can't pay. >> who is lending newt gingrich money is the question? $6 million in debt. >> he's in debt to his vendors, lent himself a lot of money. so this is just the reality of the campaign. and while santorum really was still playing in these states, it's been striking to see newt gingrich down at 3%, 2% coming in fourth in a lot of these races. so something that he was saying was not resonating and doesn't have anything to do with the other candidates. something newt gingrich is saying is not resonating. i think he doesn't look enough to the future. he is about the past republicans. >> i don't think it's something he's saying. it's who he is is the big

question. that's been newt's problem for a long time is the more people get to know him, the less they like him. >> that's also mitt romney's problem. i have a quick question for you, hogan, because we talk about money in this race and the role of super pacs. now that it's -- i know the senator has suspended his campaign, it's not officially over but for all intents and purposes now that the fat lady has sung on his candidacy, where do you stand on super pacs? rick santorum's is a testament to the power of the mess and and how it can carpet bag the airways. at the same time mitt romney's ability to carpet bomb certainly undermined your can't's chances in races that happened and future races. >> it was on this shows when we had this conversation. you asked are you guys ready for the attacks. i said that's a sad commentary you're not saying how are you going to combat these huge conservative credentials. it was go are you going to be ready for the attacks that

inevitably come. i'm of the mind me personally, i don't have a problem with them, butty think everything should be out in the open. i think you should have to disclose everything, everybody, anytime they give a dollar or give $1 million, whatever it is so you know up front where everybody stands and what they have to be accountable for the money they give. that way, that's left up to scrutiny and that becomes a different story. i think if we have these -- this process, that's fine. but i think it should be completely open and transparent. >> so you're not objecting to the money but it's a transparency issue? >> yeah, i'm a free speech guy. that falls under free speech. >> that's the core of it. >> logan gidley on citizens united. we'll have more questions for you after the break. the general election has begun. president obama ramps up his economic message with another event touting the buffett rule. we will discuss what the rominee and the president need to do now. next. whoa.

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if it will help convince folks in congress to make the right choice, we could call it the reagan rule instead of the buffett rule. >> just a short time ago, president obama stood with millionaires and their assistants and reminded americans that ronald reagan supported higher taxes on the rich for two straight days he has been setting the narrative for his fight. joining the panel is ryan lizza of "the new yorker." one of the best in the biz. >> that's why i like doing this show. >> ryan, we are seeing the general election messages at least honed on the president's part. this is a fight he's going to take till november. i thought it was fascinating you

had dueling editorials on the pages of the "wall street journal" and "new york times." the journal saying forget warren buffett. this week the administration officially endorsed what is in essence the obama rule. taxes must be high to the spread the wealth. it's all about fairness, baby. it's all about fairness. >> i like the cloeg o colloquialism in the page. >> what do you make of this message in the buffett rule? >> i think,000 nat general election has started we're going to see issues by both campaigns that are adopted strictly as a way to highlight a significant contrast with the other campaign. we're not going to see what barack obama and mitt romney necessarily think are the ideal policies for the countries. they want to highlight the most unflattering policies to the opponent. and obviously, the obama campaign thinks the great vulnerability of romney is his wealth and his inability to connect with average folks.

frankly the white house knows that the buffett rule polls pretty well. americans contrary to a lot of popular notions among the pundits actually kind of like taxing the very, very rich. and so you know, it's a good issue for the obama campaign to kick off the general election with. >> my republican friends on the panel, i have to ask you about mitt romney. we know he is now trying to pivot to a more general election message makeup some ground he lost with women. always interesting santorum consistently won women in races against mitt romney. let's listen to what mitt romney said on fox this morning with regard to women. >> over 92% of the jobs lost under this president were lost by women. his policies have been really a war on women. and so he wants to divert from that and see if we can't find someone to attack, some scapegoat. is there anyone who believes that congress needs more money? >> now, michael steele, in a

conference call with reporters team romney was asked, okay, what specific policies has the president put in place that have hurt women disproportionately. they couldn't name one. they were asked by sam stein of the "huffington post" -- we have the sound. let's hear that sound. >> governor romney support the lilly ledbetter act? >> we'll get back to you on that. >> that is the longest pause ever. this is the lily leadbetter act, fair pay for women in the workplace. that to me encapsulates his problem. here's something that should be, maybe republican ever won't line up with you on that. can you not have the core convictions about basic principles here? >> i think he does. question is laying out what those are with respect to the role of women economically in our society, politically in our society, et cetera. i think that pause is not dispositive of not knowing or not being aware or not supporting. it's just that in those

situations people want to have a clear understanding of where the candidate is on that and probably no one's talked to him specifically about that act to get his points of view. it doesn't mean he's for it or against it. i think overall romney can make a very cogent argument about the impact of the economic policies starting with the spending and the debt the things that women are concerned about and how that has impacted them negatively. >> how can they not be ready for that question in this is the first bill that president obama passed. romney is so far underwater with women. how are they not ready for this? yesterday had he his speech, and was surrounded by women. it was just vet very conspicuous. he was talking about entrepreneurs. >> some of his best friends are women. >> he was like i talked to an entrepreneur and she told me. he's starting to go into pander mode but he has to go into understanding mode and something i think santorum is very good at, empathy mode, understanding people's hibs and caring about their lives and knowing why the

lily leadbetter act, why it's important to women. i don't understand how they could not be ready. i agree they weren't ready for it. i don't understand how they could not be ready for it. >> hogan, romney has talked about his wife ann talking to women and reporting back to him. ruth marcus in the "washington post" today says notes to candidate as in romney, women aren't a foreign country. you don't need an interpreter to talk to them. even if you're not fluent in their language, they might appreciate if you gave it a try. what do you make of that? >> i don't know. i feel like i need an interpreter a lot of times especially when i come on the show. i do want to defend him like to some degree what michael said, too. these calls, you get all kinds of questions. should he be ready? probably so. he's going to need to be ready, yes, absolutely. those calls are long and that pause in there i'm sure will get replayed and demagogued on many networks. not this one, of course. but other shows will probably replay that clip and make him

look a little foolish. there's a gap out there. it's obvious. i'm sure he'll begin to make that up in many ways. ann romney is a great way to do that. she's very likable, a very sweet woman. every time we're back is taken she's very nice at the debates and open and honest with us and always engages all of us. she's -- when is you use the term better half, i don't thinking that applies more than ann romney. >> i think he's fabulous but she's not running for president. >> exactly. that is the true question whether mitt romney it can get some of the ann romney mojo. >> we'll take a look back at the best hits of the campaign. hogan gidley is shake is his head. that's next on "now." ♪

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the campaign that once struggled for any media coverage became the last realistic alternative to mitt romney. let's take a look back at the rise and fall of rick santorum. >> i'm announcing today that i'm running for president of the united states. join the fight! >> growing up in a steelworker town, growing up, having to fight for everything you got. >> we've just been slow and steady. >> we think the timing is going to be just perfect for us to be able to catch that wave at the right time. 99 counties and 381 town hall meetings and speeches. the chuck truck, me and matt and one of my kids. we're the man versus the machine. >> cash contribution right now?

>> you can. >> donate to romney. he needs our money. >> romney? >> no! >> pumping a little iron to get myself psyched for coming out here. >> we did it again. >> we're the nice candidate in this race. we really are. president obama once said he wants everybody in america to go to college. what a snob. i don't believe in an america with a separation of church and state is absolute. you bet that makes you throw up. that makes me throw up the american public does not want to see two or three candidates get into a mud wrestling match. he is the worst republican in the country. quit distorting my words. if i see it, it's bull [ bleep ]. >> yeah, this is oil. oil. out of rock. shale. the president has a radical environmental ideology and a theology. we worship the earth or we focus on the earth and we don't worry

about man. carbon dioxide, a threat to our country. go tell that to a plant. i would say i'm sort of the guy at the dance the girls walk in they sort of walk by but by the end of the evening, steady eddie is there and he's the guy you want to bring home to mom and dad. >> we will suspend our campaign effective today. ♪ it's something unpredictable but in the end it's right ♪ i hope you had the time of your life ♪ >> hogan, it's a moving tribute. of course, we have to. if you could you do over one moment from that campaign and don't say anything about mitt romney and carpet bombing but if you could have your candidate do over any moment in that campaign, what would it be? >> that's a good question. too close to it at this point to say that. >> is it the sweater vests? >> no. >> no, i don't know. that might be the one i would definitely pull back on, the sweater vests. it took this country backwards

with the sweater vest. >> that is going to be all over the twitter. >> sweater vest on yesterday in honor of mr. santorum. it's a cool thing. >> tell us one time where rick santorum got the angriest at you. >> yes. >> at me? >> yes. >> whether he did he just tear your head off. >> it wasn't at me really. if i ever got angry at me, i would blame you guys. he would go that's right, they are terrible. liberal media. you saw those clips out there. i think what's so great about rick is you don't necessarily agree with everything he says. democrats, republicans, whatever, but you know he feels itten au know he believes it. that was one of the ways he was able to win in democratic districts in pennsylvania and win the state as a senator. to this day, he was able to get 11 states because people said i get that. i don't agree with everything. how many people left our events, ron paul supporters i heard them in the back of the room, he answered my question. what kind of politician actually

answers my question. i don't agree but he answered my question. they were blown away the fact that he would meet the voters one-on-one and talk to reporters almost at every event. sometimes that was to our detriment. of howard fineman wrote a great piece about that and said no one does this anymore. everyone should talk to people. >> hogan gidley masterfully taking a question about his candidate's shortcomings and turning it into an answer talking about his strengths. >> he didn't shed a tear after that clip. >> he will now. thank you for joining us. great to have you. >> always, thanks. >> we look forward to what's next for rick santorum. coming up, the hope fades for a cease-fire in syria. the united nations is looking at all options including working with iran. p. j. crowley and nicholas kristof join us live next on "now."

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the cease-fire deadline in syria is now less than 12 hours away and the syrian government today promised kofi annan it will respect that timeline, but in just the last hour, there are new reports of tanks heavily shelling opposition cities and at least a dozen deaths. last night secretary of state hillary clinton spoke about the difficulties ahead. >> this situation is only getting more dangerous, and the russians have consistently said they want to avoid civil war, they want to avoid a regional conflict. but their refusal to join with us in some kind of constructive action is keeping assad in power. >> joining us now are pull list irprize winning columnist for the "new york times" nicholas kristof and until washington, p.j. crowley, former assistant secretary of state for public

affairs. niche, we're talking aboutern international attention on a dire situation. i don't think most of the country understands that 9,000 people have been killed in syria last year. the human rights watch reports at least 101 documented executions, 26 people killed alone on tuesday. why do you think there is not more attention being paid to this? >> you know, i think this comes at a time when there's already a certain weariness with what has been happening in the arab and muslim world more broadly and a real apprehension, fear that is attention may lead to greater involvement. it's also true that you know, it's been very, very difficult to get foot and out of syria and there have been some extraordinarily brave reporter who have gone there and who have died trying to get that footage but we don't to the same degree have footage on our television screens each day bringing that home to us. and i think the combination of those factors means that there

is -- it just easier out of sight and mind. >> unlike you know, the arab spring where there was quite a bit of social networking around it, there was more exposure, obviously, the chattering clash picked up on it more and certainly the republican presidential race and the republican races in some way is on instructed attention on international affairs. p.j., i want to bring you in here because i thought the secretary of state's comments yesterday were very interesting, very sharp language directed at russia. and we know now that kofi annan is meeting with iranian officials to ask for their help. what does that say about the situation that we are looking to tehran for help on this? >> well, syria in many respects is a proxy war. you have iran supporting syria and the assad regime on one side, you have saudi arabia supporting the sunni-led opposition on the other. so to the extent that kofi annan is just trying to find a way to hold in place not see the

situation spiral you know to even a more violent level getting iran to be supportive, i understand his diplomatic initiative. i'm very skeptical that iran is going to follow through in a meaning full way. >> nick, i want to throw one more question to you before i open this up to our panel. we've talked in previous months and years ago about the russians and chinese and their role in stopping and preventing mass atrocities. do you think that increasing pressure the rhetoric from the secretary of state, pressure on rush yash side effectcally will cause them to move on this? >> well, i think that it's already caused them to inch along at the margins. i think it's useful to apply that pressure and remind everybody one of the reasons for all the blood shed is really the reprehensible behavior in moscow and beijing. they doets bear some responsibility. it has helped a little bit with getting both moscow and beijing

marginally more helpful but it's still pretty marginal. we need to keep up the pressure. >> hugo when we look at foreign affairs, it is an increasingly complicated picture. >> i have a question for p.j. on this and where the difficulties surrounding the iranian nuclear development program fits into the problems in syria and where -- how much that hems in what the obama administration is able to do. >> actually, let me piggy back on that. a senior administration official said yesterday, speaking about iran and israel, this play be the most complex negotiation i've ever seen the president enter. it's got the democrats and republicans looking to score points. the russians and the chinese trying to water down the sanctions, the french pushing for harder actions and the israelis threatening to take the program out. wow. >> perfectly simple. well, i mean first of all, the backdrop, of course is we have not hts diplomatic relations with iran since 1979. and even unlike kind of a

rogueflation like north korea which we do talk to on a rel basis, we have very great difficulty having an even simple conversation you know, with iran. so that's one of the reasons why kofi annan is having that conversation because we are unable to do it. we do have an important dialogue with iran on friday under what's called p5-plus-1 to see what iran might be willing to do in terms of again, trying to answer legitimate and crucial questions about the nature of its nuclear regime. really the goal for the meeting on friday is to make sure that there's another meeting and the beginning of a conversation and a process. i don't think that the united states has an ability to influence iran in many respects particularly in the context of syria. >> ryan, what can the president -- what can the president do here? i mean, we talk about the unknowns going into november and certainly the economy is probably the biggest one for most americans but foreign policy is an area where i think

a lot of folks think he has a strong record. but there are so many question marks in the middle east and beyond, that it's almost sort of -- it's the shifting sands, if you will. >> yeah, iran and syria, this is two countries and two sets of issues where romney and obama do have different positions. and i wanted to ask both p. j. and nick, on syria, do either of you think that the republican calls for military intervention either direct or arming the resistance is wise at this point? >> nick, why don't you take that first. >> i've actually been changing my view on that. i think there are a million reasons to be cautious about supporting the opposition in syria. you don't know where those arms will end up. there's a real risk of the muslim brotherhood government there. and we see it as opposition versus government in the region is seen as a sectarian conflict in many ways. having said that, you know, as this goes on and on and more and more people die, i'm afraid that

ultimately the result is going to be that we create more polarization in syria and you know, it leads to a more fundamentalist muslim brotherhood government in the end. so it seems to me that i'm kind of inching my view toward the more republican view that perhaps we should be supporting in some ways very much working with turkey and other countries in the neighborhoods, working with ways to support maybe even with arms the opposition in syria. >> michael steele? >> i want to follow up on that because you raise an interesting flag there in the litany that alex just laid out of the quoted source where they talked about the french and the russians and others. the key for me is israel. and of all the things that you listed, how israel responds and ultimately decides to act i think really is the lynchpin here in this whole powder keg. how do you guys see israel sort of maneuvering through the late

spring, early summer and into the fall with these tensions still there and rising? particularly in places like iran with their nuclear program and this whole backdrop with syria. >> p. j., why don't you take a stab at that. >> sure. i think the israeli position has evolved. originally they wanted to hold on to assad because he was a known commodity. now i think they've recognized that eventually he will fall. we don't know when and specifically how. so they're prepared for a new government in syria. but they're very cautious as nick was saying in terms of how that will unfold. i think with the netanyahu/obama meeting we've moved the prospect of military action with iran to the right past november. that's one of the reasons why you know, getting through a diplomatic process and seeing what happens there will be critical to military calculations. you know down the road. i just want to underscore what nick just said about working

within the region. i think we will inch our way towards some sort of humanitarian intervention eventually but the critical country will be turkey. it will have to lead this effort to open up safe havens you know within syria for the delivery of humanitarian assistance and some protection for the syrian population. >> it's worth noting there is an escalating situation in north korea. the north koreans are planning on launching a rocket in the next 72 hours, certainly something the president will have to contend with in the coming days. thank you, gentlemen for your insight and smarts. we need you on this program a lot more often. we will be back with more on the horse race and beyond after the break. [ fe male announcer ] tide pods three-in-one detergent. pop in the drum of any machine... ♪ ...to wash any size load. it dissolves in any temperature, even cold. tide pods. pop in. stand out.

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hogan gidley and the santorum campaign. it is officially, i mean it's not officially. it is unofficially, it is totally unofficially on and i want to look to two pieces of advice, well, actually, three because i'm counting patricia in here. >> i have a piece of advice. mitt has got to the hire hogan. that's my number one piece of advice. >> do you get 10% for that? >> yeah, hogan's earnings. >> but beyond hiring hogan gidley, chris cillizza who we love talking about on this show has a must do list for mitt romney. meet with national media, put ann front and center, learn how to talk about mormonism, find a good answer to health care, find a way back to the middle. now i personally think only three of these will happen. one is meet with the national media, put ann front and center and find somewhere to break with conservatives. actually, that's find a way back to the middle. the point is -- >> number one the most important thing he could do is meet with the national media as often as

he can, mostly magazines. >> yes, weekly magazines. >> actually -- >> there's a serious point there. his relationship with the media is not great. you the know, reporters if they're honest, the conversation among a lot of reporters is who does the romney campaign and it doesn't seem like they like anyone in the press. >> and they don't seem to like people very much either. >> you, patricia, have a very good story in the daily beast talking about what mitt can learn from rick santorum. >> rick santorum to see him among people, you see several things about him. he has a corset of convictions. he is very consistent with those convictions. we au all those clips earlier. those could have been from knit in the last year and a half. he doesn't change his story or who he is. that's why the people who like rick santorum love rick santorum. he also cares about people. when you see him interacting with people, when he talks about people whose children are

disabled like his daughter, you feel an empathy that mitt romney does not have. that is an empathy that will hillary clinton did not have at the beginning of hadder campaign that she developed. that john kerry did not have. i think that mitt romney is in a lot of trouble here. these are not skills you can learn. you have to evolve and grow as a candidate. is he going to do that? >> i think it's called a personality transplant. >> to that point with all due respect, he does need to meet with the national media. last thing he needs to do is meet with the national media. number two, i think with respect to the personality transplant, forget about it. ain't happening. it's not the man. let's go with what we've got. the best way -- >> that's what the republican party is saying. >> go with what we've got and the best thing for him to do in my estimation and i wrote about this 2 1/2 months ago is to stop hemming and hawing. bring true conservatives inside the rank and file of his organization and his operation. get them in the room with him.

get them in his ears and his head and have them fashion the arguments that allows him to walk that tight rope between bringing conservatives to the table and reaching out to moderates. jamb kemp did it, ronald reagan did it, a whole host of conservatives before him have done it. they need to listen to the base. move forward. >> here's my question, how does he do that? because everybody thinks okay, the general election started bam, go to the middle. he can't go to the middle right now because he doesn't have the conservatives with him. >> that's the point. the general election hasn't started. he still has ron paul and newt gingrich who are going to be for whatever good or bad or indifferent nipping at his heels. >> it's april, 2012. if you've been following mitt romney, he has been wooing conservatives since his last year of governship in massachusetts. the guy has been switched position on abortion. >> he has not had folks inside with him. that's my only point. >> how is that going to help him

against obama? who else are those people going to support in the election? >> they'll like him more but who else are they going to vote for? >> in a state like north carolina, virginia, he needs to galvanize his base and get out there. >> it's not enough of them to get them to the polls. he has to conquer the middle. how is bringing conservatives into his inner circle going to do that? >> it helped john mccain. >> again, you guys are talking about politics up here where the ether is then. i'm talking about down here where where real people in the base of the party are focused on a primary concluding a primary fight, getting ready for a convention and gearing up for a fall campaign. >> oh, my god. >> how many points is it worth, the conservative base that doesn't like romney and you say he needs to woo, the bottom line, how many points is that worth in the general election? >> i can give you 2006 is worth a lot when 6% of your base stays moment and you lose elections.

you can go out and reach across the fuzzy middle all day long, i'm telling you base states. >> we unfortunately -- >> base stays home -- >> we have to pay the bills. that means going to break and getting out of the political ether. and coming back with more. we're going to dock more about arizona passing a trio of controversial bills including one which considers pregnancy to occur two weeks before contraception. the latest in the war on women next in what now. ♪ spread a little love today ♪ ♪ spread a little love my way ♪ ♪ spread a little something to remember ♪ ♪ ♪ spread a little joy... [ female announcer ] fresh milk and real cream. that's what makes philadelphia. ♪ so spread a little... [ female announcer ] and that's what makes the moment we enjoy it, a little richer. ♪

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welcome back. time for what now. arizona lawmakers have just passed three anti-abortion bills, including one that declares that pregnancies begin two weeks before the conception. i said contraception going to break but of course, i mean

conception. >> those are important not to confuse. >> yes, they are very different things. >> that would be much more extreme. >> the results are different. >> but basically says the gestation begins when you awful of u late and not when the egg is inseminated. the over all bid is to shorten the window in which women can have abortions. >> we need to shorten the window in which legislators can talk about a woman's period and try and pass bills related to that. this is why is women believe there is a war on women because there are state houses across the country with republicans introducing the bills and this is the party of personal freedoms that wants to have the legislature make these decisions when a woman and her doctor should be deciding this. this is not made up. this is not democrats saying we think this might be happening. this is happening. women are not a special interest group. women are the majority of the electorate, the majority -- >> they will decide this

election every time the republicans go down this road, they're getting further and further away not only from winning in november, they are damaging themselves with this is entire generation of female voter who's thought these matters were settled in the 19. >> because conservatives have not been successful in overturning roe versus wade they have been successful in doing in recent decades is state laws that make getting an abortion more and more difficult and they've become sophisticated in finding ways to limit abortions. what we're seeing is a backlash against those efforts first with the bill in virginia, the transvaginal bill and now with this egg drop bill in arizona and so there's a limit to this strategy of limiting abortion and we're seeing a backlash. >> do you think michael steele, the party is learning its lesson at all? it doesn't seem like it is. >> i think some have. and are. i think that there is, to your point, a genuine concern that i

know existed over the last ten years that the issue with electing conservatives to the white house to congress, that they would be the champions of these arguments and these issues. they said they would be. and yet, they look and sought see any movement at the federal level on these issues. you're right. it then transcends to the local and state areas where they can have a greater impact immediately. i think the though at the end of the day, i'd like to hear the voice and i said this before, republican women i think have a voice here. they need to be the voices in this conversation. and if they are, you won't see this kind of nonsense and this kind of noise where you'll have legislate tors dictating vaginal outcomes. >> vaginal -- and this is what happens. you have to say things like egg drop and vaginal outcomes. >> that is the phrase of the day. >> thanks again to michael, ryan, patricia and hugo. i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. pacific when i'm joined by

former secretary of education, margaret spellings, ed rendell, howard wolfson, robert reisch and patricia murphy is back for me. till then you can find us at facebook.com/now with alex. andr"andrea mitchell reports" i next. [ male announcer ] if you have yet to master the quiet sneeze... [ sneezes ] [ male announcer ] you may be an allergy muddler. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin® because it starts working faster

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right now on "andrea mitchell reports," rick santorum is out. can mitt romney reyipt the party? >> i think we'll all come tath as time goes on to make sure that we see a new change in direction in washington in the white house, the senate, the house, we'd like to keep in republican hands. inside santorum's decision making. we'll be talking to his top adviser john brabender. locked and loaded. a defiant.north korea begins fueling its long-range rockets. the question today, will it work? plus a bloody stalemate continues in syria.