. >> reporter: winning the backing of current michigan governor rick snider. romney has a delicate balancing act to maneuver, fighting union leaders in a state where they are historically strong, as he said he would as president, while trying to connect with blue collar republicans. >> this auto industry can continue to lead the world and must continue to lead the world to keep detroit with a vibrant and prosperous future. >> reporter: with 12 days to go to the michigan primary, both campaigns are courting the same group of voters. mitt romney is scheduled next week to speak with the group rick santorum met with today. >> it must feel like a ground combat campaign tonight. it's impossible to understate how important michigan is now. >> reporter: michigan is a very important state to governor romney. he was born here and grew up here. to think he could come back to his home state and perhaps lose the primary could be a big psychological blow, if anything, with super tuesday looming beyond that. this primary february 28th is critical, brian. >> ron mott from mic

michigan's republican governor rick snider today expressed support for the obama administration's efforts to help the auto industry, saying the big three auto companies may not have survived otherwise. he was joined by connecticut's democratic governor daniel maloy. he said as many as 50 now thou people in his state would be affect philadelphia congress doesn't extend unemployment insurance. the two governors are followed by a panel including jarrod bernstein. >> a quar yum being present, the committee will come to order. good morning. and welcome to the first educational workforce committee hearing of the new year. i'd like to thank govern ors snyder and maloy for participating at this hearingment your experience tez state level offer really importance insight to this committee in congress and we appreciate having you here with us. and i just talked to both of you before the hearing. and thank you. i want to thank you again. it's always very special for us when we have leaders here who can bring their experiences to us. a year ago the committee met to examine the state of the workforce.

the man of the moment, rick santorum and plus romney supporter, rick snider. >>> then -- >> and the oscar goes to -- >> what to watch on this oscar sunday. and our powerhouse roundtable. george will, cokie roberts and two former governors from the michigan battle ground. jennifer gran hom and john eng ler >>> good morning, everyone. it has been a rough and tumble week on the campaign trail. all eyes now on the midwest battleground, michigan, the big question, will it be a decisive tipping point in this race? mitt romney and rick santorum neck and neck right now. and rick santorum is our headliner this morning. good morning. >> good morning, george, how are you if. >> i'm okay. it looks like the tough week is taking a toll. the latest gallup poll, you started a you have the week plus-ten, yesterday it was a dead heat. the same kind of trend in michigan, what's happening out there? >> oh, you know, look, this is going to be a long race and there are going to be some ups and downs. what happens when you get that position out in front, we just stayed focus, we stayed focus here in michigan in

. >>> michigan governor rick snider is throwing his support behind the presidential hopeful. he's fighting santorum to win the michigan primary. a loss would be a significant embarrassment for romney who grew up in michigan and whose -- michigan and whose father was governor there in the '60s. >>> and the blog tweets are blowing up over chris christy's decision to fly flags in half- staff in honor of whitney houston. he's defending the move calling her the daughter of new jersey. meantime, the singer's family is finalizing preparations for saturday's private funeral. karen gray houston has the latest. >> reporter: chris if they -- christy is taking a lot of heat. he's getting e-mails and calls from people who say that kind of honor shouldn't be awarded to drug addicts. the governor is sticking to his guns the church is become a shrine to whitney houston. fans are flock there to leave flowers, stuffed animals and meets and even -- and moats, even as new jersey's governor is being bombarded with hate mail. some say lowering the flag flag should be reserved for members of the mi

republican leaders out tlrks including governor rick snider are not backing romney up on the union bashinghey are saying we have some disagreements because they know the stat that you just put out there. 18% of the voting electorate are union households. so what he's doing is making a bid for a very small group of people. republican primary voters who can't stand unions. why? because rick santorum from pennsylvania, a good union state, has voted against right to work laws. this is where he thinks he can be more conservative than rick santorum who is widely seen as more conservative than him. >> i don't think he's known as antilabor. >> he's not. this is one of the few places. >> you can't survive in pennsylvania politiciitics and to be antilabor. >> this is what he said about the auto industry. let's watch. >> i love the businesses of this city. i love the auto industry. i want to see it thrive and grow. i recommended for it to get its footing. in had my view, this auto industry can continue to lead the world and must continue to lead the world to keep detroit looking at a prosperous futur

michigan governor rick snider will endorse romney today in michigan. the governor is expected to appear with the presidential candidate to date at an event. this is a huge endorsement for romney who grew up in michigan but is trailing rick santorum in the polls. with just 12 days before that state's primary. meanwhile, santorum released four years worth of his federal income tax returns. he chose the former pennsylvania state senator did quite well for himself after losing a re-election bid in 2006 and learned $660,000 in 2007. going up to $1.19 million in 2009. most recent survey shows santorum in a slight lead over romney among registered republican voters. >>> prosecutors are pushing for former prince george's county executive jack johnson to pay a $100,000 fine before entering prison. "the washington times" is roaring prosecutors file the motion requiring he pay the fine in one lump sum rather than in payments. they say he has more than $200,000 in various bank accounts so he has plenty of money to pay the fine, they say. johnson was sentenced to m

peechlt hoekstra in 2010 ran for governor and lost to a man named rick snider. he had a very successful ad campaign called "one tough nerd." and the person behind that ad was fred davis. so now, he says to his people, get me davis. i want him to do a hard-hitting ad for me and this is the result, wolf. will it have the same impact. >> we'll say that people are certainly talking about it, wolf. >> they talked about the "i am not a witch" ad of christine o'donnell in delaware. didn't work out too well for her. >> fred davis, a mixed record. one hand, a successful campaign in the michigan governor race. i don't know how this ad will play out. there's been a lot of criticism about this particular ad, wolf. >> i suspect that criticism is not going to go away. thank you very much. >>> iran is flexing its military muscles with a new round of military exercises and israel's openly talking about military action. the frightening reality of what could happen after an israeli strike. >>> and 19 americans including the son of a prominent member of president obama's cabinet,