let me bring in jessica yellin. so jessica, why the 180?er: the republicans are borrowing a line from the obama campaign's talking points, saying the president will do anything to get reelected. essentially the campaign says the president had no choice because they were facing an avalanche of outside spending on the republican side. my sources in republican super pacs project they'll spend up to $400 million between the super pac and outside arms to try to defeat the president. the president's campaign says they cannot unilaterally disarm when they face those odds, they had to join it. >> so the obama camp has also vowed transparency saying they will not take money from lobbyists. what happens to that? >> reporter: gone. gone. the campaign won't take money they say, but the super pac will take money from lobbyists, from even corporations. they can take unlimited amounts of money from any kind of organization, as long as it's a u.s. organization. the new policy means that now cabinet members, staff in the white house, and senior campaign off

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i want to go to the white house with jessica yellin standing by. we know, john knows, everyone in washington knows that the obama re-election campaign for a long time simply assumed that mitt romney would get the republican nomination. they've been fighting him for a long time. >> they have and this has been a good week for them on that front, because mitt romney essentially handed them a series of campaign commercials. they want a contrast campaign, as we've been talking about on the economy. where they can say that mitt romney is out of touch with regular folks, and by giving that interview with soledad, no matter what the romney campaign wants to say about taking it out of context, it locks in this narrative that he is out of touch. and no matter what they say, they can at least replay those sound bites in a stream with, i like to fire people, and i'm not worth that much money or whatever he said in a campaign ad that will be played over and over you can bet, wolf. >> we're going to be coming back to you, jessica. we're standing by to hear from

. >>> and we begin with jessica yellin live at the white house. ssica, let's start with this homeowner deal, all about foreclosings and banks and so on. tell us about that. >> first of all, i applaud you for doing this story. it matters to millions of americans, and it is whether the state and the attorney general will sign this across the country and sort of forgive them for robo signing when they basically signed foreclosure papers with an auto pen without any checking on the documents behind them, and sort of releasing them from liability from it. it looks like that's going to happen with most of the states in the country, and that will happen at the end of business today, but in exchange, banks would then have to put on a big polt of mon pot of money to help out some ailing homeowners, so you can see why there's some controversy behind it. >> politics apply in everything, let's face it, but where is the white house in this? are they in support of the deal? and have others been holding off for various reasons? >> administration has been pushing

jessica yellin, cnn, washington. -----end----- cnn.script----- straight ahead...he bill that's being eowners..- drafted... aimed at helping you keep your home. recieving government assistance.hoo many families... are getting weefare. ((break 3)) [ mom ] hey guys. guys... [ female announcer ] pillsbury cinnamon rolls with cinnabon cinnamon are an irresistible sunday morning idea. nothing calls them to the table faster. sunday morning ideas made easy. how to solve a brother-sister standoff. ♪ pillsbury chocolate chip cookies, warm out of the oven. another sweet idea for bringing families together from pillsbury. --reportee pkg-as follows -- reports that a deal on greek debt is near. the dow gained &p33 to close aa 12- thousand-878. theenasdaq and the s&p 500 also closed higher. underwater homeowners could have some help soon.more than 40 states signed on to a draft settlement with the country's largest banks.about a million homeowners could get as mmch as 20-thousand dollars cut from theirrloan principals.but several key states with high foreclosure rates, have not

jessica yellin, some of these republican groups are vastly outraising the democrats at this moment, anywaythis attack now? >> reporter: first it's because the gop primary is ongoing. you see these republicans clobbering each other. and these republican outside spending groups are sitting here with all this money on their hands. they figure they may as well use it to imprint voters with the message early that president obama in 2012 isn't the same man who promised to change washington when he ran in 2008. take a look at some of these ads and mitt romney's response. >> a big government fiasco infused with politics at every level. 500 million to sill solyndra now bankrupt. >> the government gives solyndra half a billion. >> his view of a free economy is to send your money to his friends. >> reporter: so romney's picking up on the attack and repeating it frequently now, john. >> romney is repeating it. how does the obama campaign respond? >> reporter: ads prompted the obama campaign to do something a little surprising. their first ad of the election season was a reaction to one of the solyndra

jessica yellin is joining us right now in washington. jessica, you look at these three states that are voting tonight, especially colorado. this is a state that if president obama's going to be re-elected he desperately needs. >> he's counting on winning it, wolf. they argue that they can win the white house again without it. but you know he picked it up last time around. it's nine electoral votes. one of their maps says that they need to pick up 19 battle ground electoral votes. if they can just get, for example, colorado plus minnesota or colorado plus another state like north carolina and iowa, that could be the springboard that gets them to the white house. it's going to be a hard win for the president because he's lost some of the support there that he gained at the last four years ago. but we're going to see a lot of the -- i'm going to be spending a lot of time in colorado covering the president. let's put it that way in the next year, wolf. >> you know they'll be watching what happens tonight not only at the white house throughou

our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. jess, thanks. >>> moving overseas now, snipers, mail bombs and constant shellings. activists say at least 60 people have died today alone in the bee sieged syrian city of homs. they say not even infants, hospital patients or doctors now are safe from these attacks. chris lawrence joins me now live. chris, one activist calls this a huge crime against humanity. you've been reporting the pentagon now drawing up contingency plans. how detailed are these plans? how serious is this? is the pentagon really thinking about military options or is this designed to presht regime? >> reporter: john, the plans are very serious but they're also very preliminary and would need the president to call for them and authorize them. two administration officials confirmed to us that these plans have quietly been in the works for a couple weeks now. military official looking at options. and what that means is, they look at the other military commitments in the region and then they see what assets are availab

jessica yellin is following that. what are they saying?> they're saying that this is a sign that mitt romney does not have the trust of the republican party, which is something you heard ari fleischer say earlier. and that he should be at a point where he can lock up the nomination now. i would add that candidate obama wasn't able to lock up the nomination at this stage himself in 2008, so it was a different dynamic, but we should keep that in mind. what is true is this entire dynamic is great for the white house. if mitt romney had swept tonight, intstead of having thi discussion, we would be turning our attention to president obama and talking instead of this about the fact he has done a 180 on his position on super pacs and his clash with the catholic church on birth control. so because we're having this fight inside the republican party instead, that keeps the focus off the president and the longer that continues, the better it is for the white house. >> you all agree with that? >> yeah. to ari's point about not overdoing this, and the

>> let's bring in our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin with more on the president's strategy a feisty president there, a more personal tone questioning not just the positions but the values of the republican candidates. is this more of a departure from the president? he seems to be getting a bit more feisty. >> reporter: a very high octane speech by the president today, john. but also a departure as you say because you'll recall he said he wasn't going to get involved in electoral politics until they picked a nominee on the other side. and without naming any one candidate, the president really took aim at mitt romney in this speech. and he said, you know, some folks say let detroit go bankrupt. that was the title of an op ed mitt romney wrote at one point. then he really tore into some of the republican positions on the bailout. so without naming any one candidate, he clearly waded into gop primary politics here on the very same day of the michigan primary, john. >> jess, the president then senator obama had 57% of the vote in michigan back in 2001, butted his head, tough eco

wolf blitzer is in washington as well as our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin. to convince conservatives he's the guy. what does he need to say? >> he needs to shore up their support by signaling that he's going to share their values and beliefs, not just during this primary season, but if he's elected president. so he's already signaled that -- is that him live? >> i think that was him earlier speaking. >> okay. i didn't want to -- sorry. he's already signaled that he's going to talk about the contraception issue that you and i and the president has been talking about. and show that he's with them on that issue. and talk about his economic record. and talk about his firm commitment to the sort of religious values and moral values that this community holds. and that he's going to be unwavering in it. you know, mitt romney was the conservative alternative, amazingly, to john mccain four years ago. >> right. >> it's amazing how four years can make a difference. >> right, right, right. so, wolf, to you, i want you to get the final word on this because you're coming

i'm jessica yellin, you're in "the situation room." just into "the situation room," brand-new poll numbers confirming a new lineup in the fight for the gop presidential nomination. the cnn/orc survey has just been released and shows a two-man contest at this point. the poll shows 34% of republicans asked say santorum is their choice. 32% say romney. with a sampling error, that means it's a statistic cal tie. ron paul and newt gingrich are far behind at 16 and 15%. first big picture, ron, what do you make of santorum's rise? >> i think this continues the extraordinary, even unprecedented volatility of this republican race. jessica, if you look back to your cnn/orc polls, rick santorum is the sixth different candidate to be ahead in the national polling, the seventh different candidate. he is up 19 points sin january alone in the survey and it underscores probably the most unformed in deep in the contest since 1940. >> you're always good with the historical data, ron. this one that takes you to my next question. this number jumped out at

chief white house correspondent jessica yellin is on the case. the president on. why are they focusing so hard on this particular failure? >> right. outside republican outside groups have spent $9.4 million on solyndra ads since the fall, don, and the answer is it's called in politics attack the strength. let's look at the message and then we can talk about it. look at this. >> a big government fiasco infused with politics at every level. $500 million to solyndra, now bankrupt. >> investors raised campaign money for obama. the government gives solyndra half a billion in taxpayer money. >> president obama's view of a free economy is to send your money to his friends. >> reporter: so don, on the face of it, it would seem ta they might be attacking, oh, what critics call government, big government, big spending. but really what the emotional message in all of this is from the conservative -- from conservatives driving this is that the president is scores well with undecided voters on ethics and honesty. they're trying to send a message that he's just

. >>> let's go straight to the white house to chief white house correspondent jessica yellin.epublicans, churches, they're lining up against this new birth control policy from the obama administration. first question, might we see any compromise from the white house? >> yes, brooke. in defense, i've been speaking to my sources who are saying the administration is looking for a way to essentially thread the needle. there will be no compromise on the fundamental principle that women will get contraception at no pay, and that won't change, from their point of view. but organizations, charities and institutions, they'll make sure they have a plan where they are uncomfortable. for example, women who work for catholic institutions, they're offered a separate contraception plan on the side, and insurers won't charge women for that plan. that won't work on a national l l level, but owe fiblz sfficials e looking for a solution like that, brooke. >> is there any evidence yet that it's hurt president obama mil politically yet? >> this cuts both ways. while a majority of catholics object

i'm jessica yellin and you're in "the situation room." >>> this is just coming into the situation room. a major development that will impact the paychecks of 160 million working americans. >> congress needs to pass an extension of the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance without drama and without delay and without needs to pass this without drama and delay and without linking it to some other ideological side issues. we've been through this before, remember? we've seen this movie. we don't need to see it again. the time for self-inflicted wounds to our economy has to be over. >> let's go straight to cnn congressional correspondent kate bouldan. kate, this is a surprising turn-around. what are you hearing there? what made them decide to make this move? >> jessica a surpriseding turn-around and sharp and surprising reversal by house republicans on the issue of the payroll tax cut. as you know, one of the demands house republicans have been making all along during this month's long battle over extending the payroll tax cut is their incidentses that the payroll tax cut and other meas

. >> jessica yellin.rn tn, the hr the unemployment rate. >> most of the caucus sites in nevada are closed. we going now to carson city, nevada. paul, they've been counting numbers. you have new votes that have just been tallied. >> yes, on a piece of paper i was handed the final numbers out of carson city. there are about 12,000 republican voters here. the turnout wasn't as high as they thought. the raw numbers are mitt romney wins here with 656 votes, 37%. newt gingrich comes in second in carson city with 32% of the vote, 562 votes. then ron paul has 268 votes. that's 15% and then santorum 252 at 14%. so here in carson city many of the people, and can you hear this in the room today waying in for different candidates, all of them wanting to show their support for the four different candidates and suggesting they will all have some sort of voice in republican politics in nevada. what's interesting here to a person after some of this healthy debate all of them would say, this stay unified we shall do not w

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in fact you can watch our entire report coming up with jessica yellin in "the situation room."et's continue here talking about this special date, that date being february 14th, it may just be another day on the campaign trail for the republican presidential candidates, but there's no excuse for missing valentine's day. in fact one candidate has big plans for tonight, and he's not keeping them secret. joe johns, good to see you back again, by the way. nice to have you back. busy, busy on the political trail. okay. newt gingrich. hot date? >> valentine's day, one of those days. some guys don't like it, some guys don't care. newt gingrich is one of those guys that doesn't know how to talk about it. he can talk your ear off about almost anything, but when it list to valentine's day, he seems almost, almost at a loss for words. check it out. >> i really need to know what will you do for your beautiful wife tomorrow on valentine's day. [ laughter ] >> after that question, i need something stronger than water. >> that's a great question. all i can promise is i believe she'll be quite

. >> the white house we go, and our correspondent jessica yellin. is the obama administration claiming credit for this? >> sure they are. and they did work hard to get this deal done. in fact, they preyed attorneys general for a year to cut a deal that a lot of attorneys general, don, resisted because they thought it went too easy on the banks and a lot of attorneys general got the carve out you just heard the attorney general of the united states bragging about. so, there was a lot of the negotiating going on. here is how the president took the victory lap a little earlier today. >> under the terms of this settlement, america's biggest banks, banks that were rescued by taxpayer dollars, will be required to right these wrongs. that means more than just paying a fee. these banks will put billions of dollars towards relief for families across the nation. >> reporter: make this deal a lot tougher on the banks than it initially would have been, don. >> listen, housing market is in terrible fix right now. this is one thing. jessica, does the administrati

i'm jessica yellin infor john king. tonight iran's president defiant as he declares progress in developing nuclear fuel rods. plus it's an all-out war for votes as rombo storms michigan's airwaves. santorum hits hard in romney's native state. >>> and new tonight, the world will be able to watch whitney houston's funeral. details on what we'll see as loved ones say goodbye to the super star. >>> iran is one step closer to being able to build a nuclear weapon. the iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad claim as breakthrough, claiming they've now made their own nuclear fuel rods. but he says they're for peaceful purposes. this is much more than just a photo op, certain to case late already heightened tensions with israel. it could mean even higher gas prices for you. barbara starr is at the pentagon. barbara, it's a lot to make sense of. put all of this in context for us. >> well, good evening, jessica. when you look at those pictures coming out of iran today, there's a lot of facts and a lot of messages behind those pictur

. >> cnn chief white house correspondent jessica yellin and senior congressional correspondent dana bash. they're trying to to say they didn't but they botched this one at the white house, the handling of it. do they think with this compromise now they could calm the storm? >> they think they have calmed the storm. they actually were pleased that the catholic church came out with a response that was more positive than they expected. they think that the women's and progressive groups that are aligned with the catholic church and on the left are happy. and they think that this is now going to quiet down. at least they're crossing their fingers and hoping thought does from here on out. >> take us inside the deliberations. just a couple weeks ago they said we're right we're holding firm. >> right. then they saw that this was a firestorm that was growing and the heat was increasing and it wasn't going to quiet down. that conservatives were accusing them of a war on religion. then that was going to be a battle that they weren't going to win unless they changed their position a little bit. and

jessica yellin, walk us through the president's plan. >> reporter: they call it a framework that begins process of corporate tax reform. the big picture points of this plan, they propose reducing the current tax rate for corporations from 35% to 28% for most companies. but for manufacturing companies the effective rate for them would be 25%. it would also under this proposal create a new tax for companies that have overseas profits. the goal of that is to encourage companies to invest and hire here in the u.s. the administration also says it would simplify the tax code and keep all these changes deficit neutral. in big picture, john, they say the goal is to eliminate subsidies and loopholes so that certain companies like oil and gas companies would in the end see their taxes go up but other companies that are now paying the full 35% would end up seeing their taxes go down. john? >> and jessica, the administration says it would love the congress to move on this as soon as possible. but they understand the political environment that's most unlikely. is the president instead more drawing a

our chief white house correspondent jessica yellin did some fact checking for us.ess, before we start this is not the first we've film we've heard that. rick santorum from last year. >> think about that. any child born prematurely according to the president and his words can be killed. now, who's the extremist in the abortion debate? >> so jess, take us through what's going on here. >> reporter: okay. this dates back to the president's time in the illinois state senate when he was presented with a born alive bill three times. one time he voted present, two times he voted against it. here's what the bill said. a live child born as a result of an abortion shall be fully recognized as a human person and accorded immediate protection under the law." at the time, john, then state senator obama opposed those bills. he said once "essentially this would bar abortions, because the equal protection clause already does not allow somebody to kill a child." later he said that unlike a federal version of this same law, the state measure lacked federal language clarifying that it

i'm jessica yellin in for wolf blitzer today in the situation room. the news continues next on cnn. >>> good evening. i'm john king. tonight no big public memorial for whitney houston. a quiet private funeral at the church where she grew up singing new. details about how her family will say good by. >>> then error rorz pulls ahead of mitt romney in -- rick santorum pulls ahead of mitt romney. >>> the cover girl thissee on "sports illustrated" has ties to capitol hill, family ties. >>> whitney houston could have filled the stadium with a public memorial. instead she'd have a private funeral in newark. her body was flown home yesterday. from a plane to the golden hearse to the funeral home. we're told houston's mother was waiting inside. jason, you just had a chance to speak to the pastor there. what did he tell you about the funeral arrangements? >> reporter: right. that would be pastor joe carter, john. pastor carter was very gracious. he allowed us inside the very same sanctuary, inside the church where the services will be held on saturday. when i a

. >> cnn chief white house correspondent jessica yellin joins us from washington. jess, you asked the white house press secretary, jay carney, about franklin graham's comments this morning. what did he say? >> reporter: well, john, he essentially dismissed the entire question and tried to stave up the fight. he said that he asked the president -- he talked to the president this morning. and "amazingly the president didn't address the franklin graham comments". and he said that the president is focused on the job at hand, which is focusing on the economy, the issues that are important to the american people. he was asked earlier about some of rick santorum's comments on the campaign trail as well about the president's theology. and to that he said that, you know, the president has made it clear that he's a christian, and that it's up to news reporters, producers and our editors to decide whether these are stories or not, essentially turning it back on the media whether this is something we need to be talk about, john. familiar. >> jess, they can turn it back on us.

i'm jessica yellin. john king is off. tonight the high-stakes fight that brought political passions to a boiling point this week. we'll tell you who blinked in the battle between two of the country's most recognizable players in women's health issues. >>> also mitt romney isn't letting up as the race to the nevada caucuses goes down to the wire. >>> plus a battle among super heroes who did not live up to their reputations. ? we dpin with a major retreat into what's turning into a surprise issue on this year's presidential campaign. the politics of women's health. in a ferocious backlash one of the nation's biggest players in the fight against breast can'ter announced it will not cut off money tomanned parenthood. cnn's lisa sylvester has more on today's about face. >> reporter: the susan g. komen board of directors and ceo began with saying sorry. "we want to apologize to the american public for recent decisions that cast doubt upon our commitment to our mission of saving lives. we have been distressed at the presumption