i was trying to figure out why stephanopoulos was pushing like that. he had been contracted by the democrats to lay a hit on romney. to get romney to admit to say that he favored banning contraception. >> bill: here is where you fall off the cliff. your explanation is logical, all right? certainly george stephanopoulos is obsessed with contraception. obsessed. we don't know why. but he is. you are right. he asked the question. he brought it up and up and up. okay. fine. then, by coincidence, maybe. maybe by happenstance, maybe by plan, this big catholic church comes out. but you can't say he is on the take. he is in their pocket. you can say gee, it's an eerie coincidence and, gee, he was a democratic guy under clinton and maybe he is getting stuff. you can't say is he in their pocket. taking money from them or whatever. come on. >> bill, you neglect to realize that he -- i worked with him and for a year he basically worked for me. >> bill: yes. >> we were constantly doing that we were constantly -- doll was going to be interviewed and we would get wit

. >> a newcomer to our weekly format is george stephanopoulos of abc posset this week. he dishes it out, let's see if he can take it, turning the table. welcome. we're talking friday morning the jobs figures just coming out, good news for the economy. i am curious reaction how these will echo in the political world. >> the biggest political news of the week, by far. this was a lot better than people forecasted. as you know, the economic recession gets taken a vote earlier -- the economic projections gets taken able earlier in the voting year, and this is at the right time for the obama administration. increasing use in january and february go south in april. if that happens, that will be bad news for the president, but this is the best news he has had in a month. this is something that republican candidates, mitt romney will have to deal with if this continues to improve on the economic front. he will have to calibrate his economic message a little bit. >> and some new rationale and his candidacy and contrast he hopes to draw in the general election. on sunday, what is

on surrender i'm watching "this week with george stephanopoulos." >> that was not my fault. i did not tell him to do that. >> rose: that was embarrassing. >> charlie, charlie -- >> this is a man who was a senior adviser to president clinton. this is a man who wrote a very good book. this is a man who has great gravitas as a political journalist, and on his show, his wife makes him-- >> his wife was as surprised as everybody else. >> rose. >> rose: he's holding it up. what did you say say to him? what did you threaten him with? >> i e-mailed him right airfare saw it on tv i said you're crazy. you're going to get killed for this. >> mary: do you think itm going to believe that? he was selling your book. >> look, the money i earn is for both of us. i guess he's just madly in love. >> rose: look me in the eyes. >> yes. >> rose: you were surprised by that? >> yes. >> rose: you did not know he was going to do that? >> i did not know he was going to do that. i'm pretty savvy about the tv world and i would have told him, that is just-- you can't do that. it will be the reverse effec

. >> also the unpredictable ali wentworth on her life with george stephanopoulos. this is "piers morgan tonight." >>> good evening. tonight a candidate on the rise. people being slaughtered by their own government and a hollywood star breaking with the pack politically. but first rick santorum winning contests proving every pundit wrong. listen to a confident rick santorum just a few moments ago in texas. >> i feel blessed, truly blessed, to be here at a time when our country needs us. lots of generations don't get the opportunity we have right here to be a generation that reclaims the greatness of our country. >> rick santorum, mitt romney, newt gingrich and ron paul are fighting for the soul of the republican party. who has that special formula for keeping america great? joining me is man who says he never endorses anybody. the best oddsmaker outside of las vegas. welcome. this has been one hell of a roller coaster ride, this republican race. are you really as a party any nearer to knowing who will be the nominee? >> no. santorum's confidence reminds me of romney

. >> joining me now, george stephanopoulos.k santorum blew past expectations, sweeping the primaries. newt gingrich has said that this is a two man race. who was he talking about? >> it is a very good question. what of the only bright spot to the romney campaign is the fact that they believe that this knocks gingrich out. as the conservative alternative to -- what a night santorum had. you cannot take it away from him. he took the opportunity by going into colorado and missouri and he is rocking it. a lot of operatives think that mitt romney is the likely nominee. he is going to have to earn it. the obama campaign bets on a romney being the nominee. they think this primary process is about running. >> president obama decided to endorse a superpac, something he has opposed. do you think i t was a wise decision? >> it was necessary. it should not have been a surprise. the president, then candidate said he was for public financing. we saw how much he could raise and how much he would meet in the campaign. he busted through that pr

george stephanopoulos has a well-deserved mortgage off. just one week away from the crucial michigan primary and michigan is mitt romney's home state where his dad was governor. and both the romney and santorum camps there consider that be a game-changerer in this battle. to discuss that fight and more, senator john mccain joined us just a few moments ago from afghanistan. senator, i'm going to get to foreign relations and international policy, this week has been dominated by politics. you have become part of the conversation. i want to play rick santorum in columbus, ohio, yesterday, talking about romney's leadership about the salt lake city olympics. >> salt lake city olympic games by going to congress and asking them for tens of millions of dollars to bail out. john mccain called it potentially the worst boon dogle in earmarks history. >> does the word hypocrisy comes to mind? because santorum is right, he did request that money ahead of the olympics. you did criticize that and now mitt romney is criticizing romney for earmark spending

george stephanopoulos, thank you. george has a big show this morning. he'll be talking to rick santorum. that's coming up later this morning. be sure to tune in for that. >>> a kennedy under arrest is fighting back this morning. robert f. kennedy's youngest son douglas was caught on tape in a confrontation with a couple of maternity ward nurses trying to stop him from taking his newborn baby outside. abc's dan kloeffler has the latest. we have video. >> douglas kennedy's wife was recovering from c-section. when he decided his 3-day-old son needed some fresh air. what exactly is happening? in this hospital surveillance tape recorded january 7th. a kennedy heir, newborn, cradled in his arm. is caught on camera in a clash with nurses at a new york hospital. douglas kennedy, son of the late robert kennedy, said that he was trying to take his 3-day-old son out for some fresh air. when nurses tried to stop him. one nurse said she called two codes. code pink, child abduction in progress and code purple, a combative party. but nurses hold the door and determine

george stephanopoulos will be here in just a few minutes. we'll talk about that. >>> new twists this morning, a mystery that we talked about -- that florida fireman that vanished in maine, his firefighting colleagues have joined the search. and who is the mystery woman he may have been visiting? >> the guys from florida traveling up the way up to maine. we'll get to that? just a few minutes. >>> we're going to start with ron claiborne. with the headlines of the morning. including this manhunt in afghanistan. >>> the afghan man who shot and killed two u.s. military officers in afghanistan is still on the loose this morning. all american advisers have been recalled from afghan ministries after that brazen attack on what was supposed to be one of the safest places in that country. abc's nick schifrin joins us from kabul with the latest. nick? >> reporter: ron, it's one of the most chilling cases of fraticide in the ten-year of war. today, the shooter is still on the loose. a massive manhunt in kabul for the chief suspect. 25-year-old abdul sabo

. >> bob: you're right, i think stephanopoulos was over the line. >> dana: or he had a crystal ball.andrea: it's hostile and -- >> kimberly: it's hostile and aggressive. you see a difference between the way they question and talk to democratic candidate versus republicans. >> dana: the heritage debate they had was the best, substantive, especially for a republican primary. >> eric: where was the gasoline price? it's top most in americans' mind. >> bob: it's their responsibility to raise it. >> eric: are you kidding me? this is cnn in the tank -- >> bob: it's a big issue. why didn't a candidate raise it? >> eric: why didn't cnn raise it? it's their job. >> dana: because they don't think -- >> eric: ask the right question. >> greg: unless you don't want to hear the answer. my point is 80%, 80% of those in the media vote democratic. clearly they have some antipathy toward -- >> bob: the republicans don't have a clue about it. >> dana: now to the "b" block to talk about that. >> bob: talk about eric's speculation. >> greg: over here to me. >> bob: you. yes. >> greg: president obama said

with george stephanopoulos, jake tapper filling in. david muir on "world news." have a great day.

there was a moment in which the gossip tress presssaid there are strains and tensions in the stephanopoulos marriage. and you said. >> george was embedded with troops in north korea, and i was not savvy about the press. i was not-- never been talked about my personal life. no one cared. and i -- >> you were not savvy about the press? >> in terms of for one's self. i had been written up because of a project i was in. a movie or a show. but no one ever cared who i went out with or anything. so when i opened the "new york post" and saw we were on the brink of two, that was-- that was how i fought back. i fought back with humor and with -- >> that was a perfect line. >> with a whiff of anger. and george was very, very angry at me. and so i -- >> because you said that? >> because he doesn't want me to talk about sex. but i felt-- i said -- >> he doesn't want you to talk about sex? >> just not to use that when it came to us. >> rose: he likes to do it and not talk about it. >> i guess not talk about it in the press. i said, listen, nobody else on the sunday morning slows doing it twice a day. >>

remember the earlier debate when abc's stephanopoulos asked about contraception? romney said, "what the hell is this about?" settled issue. instead of doing the kennedy thing, i am a catholic but i don't take orders from the vatican, end story -- he does not say end of story, he keeps talking about it. when santorum is out of the race, unless he wins the nomination, i hope it will buy as an issue. >> santorum had a golden opportunity. this was a chance for him to talk about manufacturing, his grandfather story, speak to blue-collar republicans. instead, a series of unforced errors, from "phone etiology" of the president to contraception and all of these questions of prenatal testing. it absolutely took the focus from what was working for him to issues that don't work for him. i cannot agree more. abortion is a serious, grave decision. contraception is a settled matter. >> the bloodbath in syria and the protests in afghanistan. >> anyone who gets on the streets, if they are not hit by a show, there are snipers all around. the sickening thing is the complete mercile

will say, look, we'll get to obama eventually, but right now deal with this moderator, george stephanopoulos, john king, whoever and gets big applause from the republican audience. >> jon: ellen, we're at a time period in this country. tremendous unemployment and soaring deficits and yet most the questions in that debate were designed to elicit, you know, g.o.p. infighting that had nothing to do with the president and the problems facing the country. >> i'm not sure they should have to do with the president, but they should have to do with the problems facing the country. and i do agree the debates have become a reality show. they've become something that they have this sort of following, i think they had 4.3 million people watching the debate this week in arizona and it's become its own sort of show. but i think that it is time, probably, to quit the debates and really get to issues. >> jon: judy, are you agreeing that 20 debates is enough? >> well, no, i still say, i know we're talking about mud wrestling here and people like to talk about that, too, if people find these debates illuminati

remember they're really a debate where abc's stephanopoulos asked about contraception?athe hell is this a about, who talks about this, it is a settled issue. it is a settled issue. santorum, instead of saying that the john kennedy think, i am a catholic but it will not influence how might gern, i don't take orders from the vatican, end of story -- he does not say end of story. he keeps talking about it. once santorum is out of the race, unless he wins the nomination, i hope it will die as an issue. >> santorum had his golden opportunity. the microbe came to him, this was the chance for him to talk about manufacturing his grandfather story, working in the mis, speak to blue-collar republicanans. instead, a series of unforced errors come from "phony theology" to contraceptn and to questns of prenatal testing. it took the focus from what was working for him to issues that don't workrk for him. i cannot agree or r more. abortion is a seriouous, grave decision. contraceptioion is a settled matter. [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable and enjoying it less