the real -- >> i think i've got to jump in there for a second, robert zimmerman. >> i was wondering.> far be it for me being an accountant here, but i think he could pass the senate confirmation hearing with those accounts. all those tax returns were squeaky, squeaky clean. >> timothy geithner passed the senate hearing. i think mitt romney could do pretty well himself. >> what do you think, robert? >> let me tell you, i think the bigger problem is like everything else, mitt romney's paying -- he's paying a tax rate that a family making $70,000 a year would pay. i think you get some pretty tough questions, have to be accountable to it. but i think -- >> perfectly legal. >> the bigger question, ana, realistically is this. no one's questioning he beat the rap. the bigger question simply is this. by playing to that crowd and taking on -- carrying on the war against contraceptive rights for women, advocating deportation of people who are undocumented workers, taking on, you know, certainly engaging in homophobic rhetoric. he may win that crowd. he certainly is losing independent voters. >

robert zimmerman, patricia murray, and cnn contributor will cain. irst question, cpac getting going today. can any candidate make up some ground here, robert? >> this is got to be rick santorum's moment and barack obama's moment, because as we watch the cpac events unfold, any time newt gingrich gives a lecture about the sanctity of marriage and family values, that's a great day for democrats, and if, in fact, the cpac participants follow and go further to the right after they've declared war on contraception, advocated keeping our troops in iraq and afghanistan, advocated ending medicare for future retirees, they'll lose independent voters, that helps barack obama. >> will? >> it's probably going to be a place where rick santorum can make up ground, where he can continue his momentum he's had this week. i would like to say this, how can mitt romney begin to make up ground, obviously, he now needs to, he can't assume to be the frontrunner. robert and i talked about how he needs to give voters a reason to vote for himself, he needs to find himself. i

robert zimmerman, gentry collins that is fair game. >> thank you, zoraida. >> all right, a registeredex offender could live right next door to you and you may not even know it. so coming up an insed look at u.s. marshalls tracks down those sex offenders. early stages of cancer, and it's something that we're extremely proud of. you see someone who is saved because of this technology, you know that the things that you do in your life matter. if i did have an opportunity to meet a cancer survivor, i'm sure i could take something positive away from that. [ jocelyn ] my name is jocelyn. and i'm a cancer survivor. [ woman ] i had cancer. i have no evidence of disease now. [ woman #2 ] i would love to meet the people that made the machines. i had such an amazing group of doctors and nurses, it would just make such a complete picture of why i'm sitting here today. ♪ [ man ] from the moment we walk in the front door, just to see me -- not as a cancer patient, but as a person that had been helped by their work, i was just blown away. life's been good to me. i feel like one of the luckiest guys

let's bring in robert zimmerman and will cain.ally going after the president after defense secretary leon panetta said that u.s. and nato would like to end the combat mission in afghanistan next year. here is romney. >> secretary of defense said that on a date certain, the middle of 2013, we are going to pull our combat troops out of afghanistan. he announced that. owe announced that. so the taliban hears it, afghan leaders hear it. why in the world do you go to the people that you're fighting with and tell them the day you're pulling out your troops? >> robert, you first. mitt romney obviously sees an opening here. is the president vulnerable on this issue politically? >> well, what mitt romney should be aware of, not only did the afghanistanis and pakistanis know that we are phasing out of our mission, every american knew that. at one point mitt romney used the word naive but what is truly naive is to see him go back to the dangerously incompetent policies of the bush administration. what does he propose? to have an unended invo

. >> lets a bring in cnn contributor will cain and democratic strategist robert zimmerman. how will this translate with voters? robert, you first. >> in the short term as rick santorum outlines the tax rate he paid at and of course the challenges he faced like many americans with his mortgage situation, in the short term it helps him against mitt romney because in every political analysis, in every polling data you look at two key questions. does this person relate to my problems? does he care about me? it helps rick santorum make the case. the problem, of course, is in the general election both romney and he are locked into the same unfair strategy of protecting the top tier earners against the middle class. >> will, does he better relate then to voters? >> he's pulling this off very well, fred. look, he plays this economic populism, economic man of the people very well. some i begrudge him. blue collar industries, manufacturing, offering to have a lower tax rate on manufacturing than other industries. that's favoritism i'm not really excited about hearing, but when he does

playing democratic strategist robert zimmerman, patricia murphy, georgetown professor chris metzler.he rumors mitch daniels says he has no plans to run for president. >> i really would not be interested. i would be interested if we get to that point, interested in finding someone who can present a really credible and winning alternative to where the nation is going right now. but i still think it's very unlikely, these things have a way of resolving themselves. >> all right, so he says no go, but could we really see someone coming in at the 11th hour, robert? >> you know, choosing delegates through proportional representation from the grass roots changes the dynamics entirely. i used to marvel as a democrat watching the republican conventions when the establishment shows the delegates, they sat there in ties and jackets, applauded on cue versus my party, we do proportional delegates can everyone is in tee shirts, some on yoga mats, rest in group therapy, the delegates are chosen on the grass roots basis do not necessarily respond to the party leadership or establishment. that what is

robert zimmerman joins us from new york. good to see you. hill" in washington is shari hill. let's listen to what newt gingrich had to say about this just last night. >> president obama surrendered twice today. and i think that deserves to be brought to the country's attention. there seems to be nothing that radical islamists can do to get barack obama's attention in a negative way and he's consistently apologizing to people who do not deserve the apology of the president of the united states, period. >> who is right? who is out of line? newt gingrich or president obama? >> well, look, clearly i'm not speaks as a democrat, clearly it's an offense to all americans by newt gingrich to our servicemen and women in battle. there are some issues that used to be and should be above republican politics. for example, when president bush apologized because soldiers damaged a koran in during his administration. it was, one, because it was the right thing to do and secondly, most importantly, it protected the security and safety of our service members.

playing today, robert zimmerman, cnn contributor will cain, and lash, a cnn contributor. do you think? winners, losers? robert? >> well, i don't think anyone really had their breakthrough moment like gingrich did in south carolina. but without question, rick santorum lost. there's no doubt that he is a zealot when it comes to right wing. romney is looking like a washington insider and in fact someone who wasn't a true conservative. santorum was the real loser but i think all of them were big losers in terms of their ability to reach mainstream independent voters. as long as they chew to define themselves with the extreme right wing of their party, with extreme positions -- >> dana? go ahead. finish your thought. >> as long as they continue to define themselves with extreme right wing positions about immigration or women, or the middle class thanks will lose. >> i'm going have you give you guys an extra five seconds. da dana? >> i yield. >> i don't know where the anti-contraception thing comes from. it's not the 1960s and it wasn't related by any of the candidates last nig

thank you ana and robert zimmerman, good to see both of you. >>> all right.y he was with us and talked candidly about addiction. he says he has been sober for 13 months because of this -- >> it's called antabuse. it's a pill. it turns alcohol into poison. so can a pill be a help to addiction? dr. sanjay gupta will be live to explain. and you rent from national. because only national lets you choose any car in the aisle. and go. you can even take a full-size or above. and still pay the mid-size price. i deserve this. [ male announcer ] you do, business pro. you do. go national. go like a pro. diarrhea, gas or bloating? get ahead of it! one phillips' colon health probiotic cap a day helps defend against digestive issues with three strains of good bacteria. hit me! [ female announcer ] live the regular life. phillips'. have 46 grams of whole grains... mmmm. ...and a touch of sweetness. you'll be delighted to discover how good they taste. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares on facebook. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares like splenda® essen

playing today, democratic strategist robert zimmerman, patricia murphy, and the contributor to the dailyne. welcome, everyone. >> good morning. >> two important primaries, arizona, michigan, the coverage starts here, cnn 6:00 eastern. predictions. you first, will. >> me first. me first to do the impossible thing and predict what millions of people will come together today to decide on some outcome in a popularity contest. but i'll try. arizona, easy mitt romney win, the endorsement of jan brewer, the governor who has 75% approval rating among republicans should help, and he's leading every poll by like 10 points or more. michigan, the one that's impossible to call. i'll say this, i have no special insight, i don't know, but mitt romney is fighting hard, and usually when he's not doing well, he leaves smoke signals, that's not happening, so i'll say mitt romney wins michigan, as well. >> patricia, what are your predictions? >> very similar. i'm going to say arizona, mitt romney, not a problem. michigan, mitt romney by a pinky, and that could change, though. but the fact it is so close for

playing today republican strategist robert zimmerman around first questions, sources telling our mark or hurt the gop front-runner, robert? >> totally irrelevant. this is the political answer to groundhog day. every time donald trump has a tv series to hawk or a book to promote he makes another artificial political announcement, and the reality is as long as the republican party is going to let themselves be denied by characters like trump who couldn't get through a senate confirmation hearing or pass a citizenship test with his lack of knowledge they will continue to dumb down the conversation and hurt their own credibility? >> will? >> but he's a genius at this. first he says gingrich and now romney, how do you avoid talking about it sntd man is a publicity and marketing genius. twitter is the place to go along with cnn for this, and the wonderful loins, wonderful lines like is david axelrod behind this endorsement for romney and wouldn't it be you a sam if mitt romney said thank you, but no thank you, donald, i won't be accepting your endorsement. >> that could be interesting. patr

as one rams at two we are hearing they love robert griffin the third which could be a giant smoke screen i tell you who nationals love rye january zimmerman year -- ryan zimmerman, boy, 6 year extension, $100 million, how would you love to get that at 27. >> i would love a tenth of that. >> he will be around a long time. if he makes the team and stays up this year could be a very very interesting and fun year of baseball for your washington nationals >> i heard baseball commentary over the weekend and yeah, one of the come commentators was picking the nats to make the playoffs. >> they have a chance this is a team on the rise obviously, with zimmerman there, 10 years he is 27 you like to thing the future will be bright for nationals, ultimately he will be that guy could be a next level player, strausburg will be great but we have to wait on steven make sure he is number one ace i got to show you whacky golf highlights, westwood hit his tee shot it landed down this woman's shirt he walked over to her she apologized he said do you mind walking forward 250-yards to the green. he is distracted why? an umbrella, takes off like mary poppins. >>