rick santorum when don "meet the press," yesterday. i want to get your reaction.hen saying -- by the way, we will tell you how to exercise that right. we will tell you, a religious and church affiliated group, that what you provide your employees -- if you do not like it, tough. our right to tell you what to do trump's your deeply held convictions about what you're dollars should be spent for. the idea that you could have an insurance company -- by the way, a large number catholic social service providers are self- insured. they will be forced to still provide. there is no compromise here. they're forcing religious organizations to pay for something that they find as deeply morally wrong. this is not what the government should be doing. guest: obviously, he has not listened to the national catholic -- catholic health association, just a colleges, and catholic charities, all of whom agree with the president. there is a disagreement amongst catholics. rick santorum himself said that states should outlaw contraception. so, he has a different view. 98% of catholic wom

rick santorum when don "meet the press," yesterday. i want to get your reaction.video clip] >> the bottom line is that you have the federal government saying that we will give you the right, and then saying -- by the way, we will tell you how to exercise that right. we will tell you, a religious and church affiliated group, that what you provide your employees -- if you do not like it, tough. our right to tell you what to do trump's your deeply held convictions about what you're dollars should be spent for. the idea that you could have an insurance company -- by the way, a large number catholic social service providers are self- insured. they will be forced to still provide. there is no compromise here. they're forcing religious organizations to pay for something that they find as deeply morally wrong. this is not what the government should be doing. guest: obviously, he has not listened to the national catholic -- catholic health association, just a colleges, and catholic charities, all of whom agree with the president. there is a disagreement amongst catholics.

that's a far cry from the rick santorum of iowa flying coach from new hampshire when he was carrying his own bags, and now he's soon to be surrounded by secret service agents, don. it's incredible. >> they've got the security sweep and it provides an extra layer of time as well. you're in a state that many thought would be a slam dunk for romney, but i'm wondering -- and it's tight now. people are wondering, why hasn't he pulled ahead? i'm wondering if it's premature because he hasn't really lived there for a long time, and most people don't know him. they know his dad. is it premature for people to think oh, this is a slam dunk for him? >> reporter: i think it is. he was the front-runner here for a long time. santorum closed the gap and took the lead just a few weeks ago. it's tightened, as you said. romney's been talking about his michigan roots for a long time, and it hasn't really helped him catch on. and this is a more conservative state than people think. there's a lot of evangelicals here, for example. listen to what rick santorum said today, really hammering home the fact that mitt romney is not conservative in his view, don. take a listen. >> he said h

don. this was a very well received speech from rick santorum. at one point, i think one of the highlights of the speech is when he referred to romneycare, the health care plan romney passed in massachusetts. he referred to that as a stepchild of obamacare. so some tough talk. i want to bring in now a key supporter, foster friess. you've been a key supporter for a super pac that has been very much supportive of rick santorum. at the beginning of your remarks, you told a joke and said that i'm paraphrasing her, that a liberal conservative and moderate walk into a bar and the bartender says, hi, mitt. there were some laughs, but also some boos. >> where do you suppose the boos came from? >> that was kind of tough. you think that was a good idea to tell that joke? >> i'm known to tell audience inappropriate jokes, so i became a christian a few years back. the downside, i have to maintain my best jokes at hunting camp. >> and let me ask you, this is a big day for rick santorum. why is it do you think that conservatives are taking a second look at his campaign because for a while there, it looked like he wasn't going to last long. >> i don't think they'