with us from washington, chief reporter for politico, ken vogel. in our intro, we played santorum discussing the issue of welfare. he seemed to use the word black, but then he went on to bill o'reilly's broadcast and seemed to want to correct himself. what did you make of his correction? >> i really honestly wanted to give rick santorum the benefit of the doubt and i listened a few times. it's hard to figure out what else he could have been saying. there is the fact that before he went on o'reilly he had a few different explanations of what it was and he was trying to justify the comment. his narrative on that shifted a bit. it's hard for me to explain it in any other way. >> was it blah or black. >> for sounded to me like black. >> you are an investigative reporter, he is up to third in new hampshire and a distance 30, but still are we going to see a closer examination of his history? everything from the money he made after the senate and his voting record to some of the more extreme things he said. i think of things like leak information to john

ken vogel and ned martell. coming up here on "the d.r. show," the mega panel gets their say on the caucuses. >>> plus, the showdown with iran intensifying. and at the center of it, a u.s. aircraft carrier. >>> and a little later, listen to this book title, "how do you kill 11 million people?" the author with the answer will join us, and let's just say it does tie into the politics of the day. we know $16 million can buy an election in iowa, but all this hour, i'll also be showing you what else $16 million could buy iowa, including 592 new teachers. you're watching the dylan ratigan show on msnbc. [ male announcer ] wouldn't it be cool if you took the top down on a crossover? if there were buttons for this? wouldn't it be cool if your car could handle the kids... ♪ ...and the nurburgring? or what if you built a car in tennessee that could change the world? yeah, that would be cool. nissan. innovation for today. innovation for tomorrow. innovation for all. ♪ we have to thank you for the advice on phillips' caplets. magnesium, right? you bet

karen finney, washington post opinion writer, jonathan capehart and ken vogel. karen, i want to start with you. newt is clearly not listening to the republic establishment who says he's an inconsistent bafoon and should get out of the race. he is listening to the brain trust and sarah palin and herman cain. explain this to our viewers. >> he's also not listening to common sense that says maybe the weekend before a big election m and maybe that's the part you're not trying to emphasize and you're already losing with women voters. newt is free willing here. he's apparently calling the shots. he said a while ago, he fired campaign professionals and now he's doing it his way. it's representative of the same kind of bizarre, erratic behavior that got him in trouble in the building right behind me. >> you have to admire his self-confidence. he says he was responsible for developing supply side under ronald reagans and led to the defeat of communism. he would like to take credit for the reconstruction of the great wall of china in 1368. this man has confidence. >> yes,

ken vogel believes it's a conflict of interest for jon huntsman's father to fund his super pac, as ift's some kind of a conflict of interest. what is your view, not on the republicans or the democrats, because it's obviously everybody is playing poisoned ball here on the momentum around the get-money-out movement that ranges from montana to l.a. to new york. 14 amendments. multiple organizations. it seems the temperature is only rising. >> well, i think it is, dylan. ken and i may not be too far apart. all of us in this game of politics play with the rules we're dealt. the problem is for the american people and our democracy, the rules are all wrong. if we didn't know if before, we know it now. you knew it, dylan. the supreme court got it completely wrong in citizens united. they unleashed something that is taking a completely out of our control. i mean, the idea that several candidates can remain in a presidential race when the super pacs are spending more than the candidates are able to spend or to raise is really outrageous. it distorts politics. the difference between what the pre