that's like foster freese and adelson. know, these nutty millionaires. >> i don't think they would call themselves nutty but continue. >> no. what i mean is -- hiring gladiators to do their battle. these are individual extremely rich people. and that's troubling. >> right. >> but when -- >> less troubling -- >> than what is going to happen the next cycle, what's already happening at the state level with super pacs, homebuilders getting involved. and -- where you actually see goldman sachs and bank of america figuring out how to take the money. >> right. what we are seeing now i think -- really good point. seeing these individuals as opposed to using this vessel. much more than organized interest. i actually think that -- just to give provocation here, there is a way in which the -- the -- sheldon adelson and freese in this race is making it more possible for gop primary voters to express their actual preference. the reason is that it is making it impossible for romney to simply just lock the race up and dry up the money fr

happening again with contraception, with that ridiculous hearing yesterday and with our friend, foster freese and the aspirin. most people are too young to understand what that's about. it's hilarious. >> i'm not too young or too old. i don't even know what he's talking about. he said back in my day. what day was it? was this before "gunsmoke" and "i love lucy" at least. michael steele for the defense. guess who's out there paying chaplain the day they did the schiavo vote, voted unanimous consent to go ahead and intervene in a family matter involving a woman on a respirator. the whole situation we're now aware of. a very sad case for a woman there, young woman dying at that aimin age. >> stuck in the craw for a lot of those around the country because they believe that government has no place in the personal health care. which was the crux of our argument against obama care in the first place. this situation is a little bit worse than schiavo. at least you had some woman who understood and probably would be with the party's position in terms of wanting to have the family make this choice or t

. >> foster freese is a businessman who donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to santorum's campaign. he made the campaign yesterday on "andrea mitchell reports." later in an interview, santorum refused to denounce the comment saying he also disagrees with the use of contraception. he did say, however, that birth control would still be available if he were to become president. >>> tensions were high at a congressional hearing on contraception. >> we've been denied the right to have a witness -- >> the gentlelady -- >> i want to have the right to make a -- >> delegate eleanor holmes norton stormed out shortly after this. the hearing stemmed from the white house rule requiring faith-based employers to provide insurance for birth control. norton says she was outraged because the panel included only men. >> they were violating our first amendment rights to talk about that aspect of the controversy that, by the way, is what most women and families were concerned about. >> the second panel for hearing did feature two female guests. >>> 5:07. remembering the life of a journalist. what's bei

freese donated $380,000 to a pro santorum super pac. >>> president obama is out west with stops in california and washington. mr. obama was at a fundraiser in san francisco last night. today he'll visit the boeing plant to talk about u.s. exports. earlier, he praised congress for extending the payroll tax cut. in a statement issued last night, he said leaders of both parties have done the right things for your families and economies that will prevent a tax hike on 160 million working americans. this is real money that will make a real difference in people's lives. >> two fighters were scrambled >> two fighthen mr. obama was a helicopter in los angeles. the jets intercepted a light plane that entered restricted airspace, a plane that turned out to be carrying a load of marijuana. president's marine chopper landed safely at the airport for his flight to san francisco. the pilot of the intercepted plane is in jail facing local charges. oh, flying high in the sky. >>> cbs "moneywatch" time on a friday. signs of a recovering economy in the u.s. are sending stocks higher here and around the world.

foster freese, a businessman who has donated hundreds of thousands to the campaign, was on "andrea mitchell reports." in a response to the debate over birth control, he said, "back in my days, they used bayer aspirin for contraception. the gals put it in between their knees, and it wasn't that costly." later, santorum refused to denounce the comments saying he disagrees with the use of contraception. he did say, however, that birth control would still be available if he were to become president. >>> right now the controversy isn't hurting santorum, who's leading mitt romney in michigan with a week and a half to go before the state's primary. santorum leads romney 34% to 30.4% among likely republican voters, with newt gingrich and ron paul a distant third and fourth. this primary is a big one for romney, who was born in michigan. if he does not win the wolverine state, it could spell big trouble for his campaign. >>> the murder trial of a former university of virginia lacrosse player is set to resume today after it was postponed because of george huguely's -- one of george huguely's attorney

santorum's got foster freese, financier, behind him. and in some ways, these super pacs are prolonging the race by keeping candidates who might have been just happening to give up at a certain point earlier if they didn't have the money, a chance to keep going. so you're seeing another result of the money, i think, also here. >> john harwood, what are we seeing in the president's position on super pacs? and my first question to you, john, about this is why are we seeing it? why did the president feel compelled to let it be known publicly that yes, he acknowledges that the super pac created for him last year that we all know about, he actually would be happy to see people contribute to that? why not just let the word go out in the more -- that put less of a focus on some sense of inconsistency in the president's position? >> well, because that's what they did in 2011. and the money didn't exactly come rolling in over the transom. if you compare how much priorities usa action and other democratic-associated super pacs raised, it was a fra

. >> rick santorum and foster freese. multimillionaire backer of the super pac associated with rick santorum also likes to -- >> if he is willing to make me the way he's backing -- i will reconsider. >> since we are talking about rick santorum, i thought we would stay on the topic we played this bitter of sound yesterday that was uncovered by people for the american way. and it was rick santorum speaking to ave maria college. let's play that sound first just so people can hear what we thought was the most jaw-dropping moment in a speech that was quite a remarkable speech overall. here he is speaking in 2008. >> we all know that this country was founded on a judeo-christian ethic but the judeo-christian ethic was a protestant judeo-christian ethic. sure the catholics had some influence. mainstream, main line protestants and, of course, we look at the shape of main line protestants in this country and it is in shambles. it is gone from the world of christianity, as i see it. >> gone from the world of christianity as i see i

freese, which is the rick santorum vest. one that was sold on his website but here you see with members of his family, rick santorum. there's his oldest daughter who has traveled with him quite a bit. again, a crowd that knows rick santorum. many have supported him since his days in the u.s. senate, fought very hard for him. still, to this day, in spite of the huge loss he suffered have suggested that, in fact, he lost because he was targeted by democrats because of his strong conservative views. now, as jim said, getting a serious second look by a lot of people after the three wins this week, has had a cool and at ease demeanor. obviously, in front of a crowd that is behind him at least in terms of the kinds of issues he spoke so forcefully about. let's listen to rick santorum. >> it's great to be here at cpac. i will not be telling any jokes. foster cornered the market on that. thanks for that wonderful reception for not just me but for most of my family that is here. first, the folks that are walking with me today and wal

that is when his supporter, foster freese made this comment about birth control. >> this contraceptive things, back in my days, they used bayer aspirin for contraception. the girls put it between their knees and it wasn't that costly. >> i'm just trying to catch my breath from that, quite frankly. >> a lot of women were going, huh? does this feel like an enduring moment to you? do you think it is? >> unfortunately for rick santorum, i think it is. when i heard that, it reminded me of the whole thing with romney and the dog on top of the car. >> right. >> one of those things that it may be trivial in the grand scheme of things, a trifle, it may not be fair to the candidate in question, but it just catches fire in the public imagination because it does, it sort of gives you whiplash, makes you turn around and go, what? anytime rick santorum is talking about his views on birth control, i think he's losing. i don't think most people agree with his personal view that birth control is bad and is damaging to women. now, he says that he wouldn't legislate that, that he wouldn't try to make eve

it says the foster freeses of the world, who's funding the campaign, it says to other donors, you canmoney to rick santorum particularly and he's going to be viable. >>> coming up, we'll get back to maine and get the lay of the land there. we await the results of the maine caucuses, which will be announced in about 30 minutes. stay with us. the employee of the month is... spark card from capital one. spark cash gives me the most rewards of any small business credit card. it's hard for my crew to keep up with 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. 2% cash back. that's setting the bar pretty high. thanks to spark, owning my own business has never been more rewarding. [ male announcer ] introducing spark the small business credit cards from capital one. get more by choosing unlimited double miles or 2% cash back on every purchase, every day. what's in your wallet? this guy's amazing. >>> i fought against long odds in a deep blue state, but i was a severely conservative republican governor. i understand that the battles we as conservatives must fight because i have been on the front l

. >> well, in -- on the question of haunting statements, look, patricia, we all heard what foster freesead to say about contraception and aspirin between knees. he said later it was bad joke. santorum said he should not be responsible for what his supporters say because he did not say it. do you think this will be a problem with female voters? can people separate it was not said by him. >> oh, yeah. it is a huge problem for him. it is not just what foster said. when he said that it did put a spotlight, i think, on what a lot of women voters did not know about rick santorum is he personally is against contraception and women's use of con are a exception. as a catholic that's not a surprise. but to hear somebody like rick santorum who we think would govern the way he believes, his supporters love him for that reason. to hear a man say it is dangerous for society, for women to have access to contraception and bad for women, that's scary to a lot of women, independent voters and independent women in particular who make up a huge, huge swing portion of the vote and the majority of women voter

. >> freese was there last night. he is energized and ready to write more checks.find this crowd to his liking. >> he had some huge crowds in oklahoma over the last couple days. i tell you, there's a difference probably between gingrich and santorum which is romney is coming after santorum now. the super pac hasn't geared up with tv ads yet but they're going to come after him. he handles when people come after him much better than gingrich has so far. >> yes. >> in the senate, in pennsylvania politics, he is a cool customer when it comes to stuff. he knows what's coming at him. he doesn't have the infrastructure, opposition research and massive number of surrogates to defend him but from a personal point of view he will not be intimidated or rattled. >> let's go to some clips and of course today presidential hopefuls mitt romney and rick santorum and newt gingrich as we've just said are going to be on the stage at c pac in a few hours all vying for the support of the conservative base but yesterday kentucky senator rand paul focused his remarks on the importance of