joining me professor james peterson, director of african studies at lehigh university and a blogger for the "huffington post." it's nice to see you with me today. let's talk about arizona and michigan. these are a done deal in the win column for mitt romney. but it's on to super tuesday. the crucial state of ohio. we saw those polls. he's got some real fighting in front of him right now. how much çmitchmentum does he t out of last night? >> not that if you have. clearly santorum still has the momentum here. ohio demographically is a state he'll play to better. remember, mitt romney does well with older folk and wealthier folk and ohio will have more of those sort of the folk in western michigan, those kind of people will be there to support him, as well. part of the reason why romney is asking for money is because he's going to need more resewerses to put out the nav ads against santorum. >> rick santorum gave a lengthy speech talking about what they would say a dog whistle for the bible belt. take a listen. >> our founders had a fundamentally different understanding of that word. hap

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the indoctrination at university level -- >> they are hiding behind tenure. >> santorum things university educated students are a harm to our economy and country. this may be the most radical conspiracy theory we have ever seen from a presidential candidate. rick santorum is staying the president wants your kid to go to school and lose his or her faith, the connection with god. he's basing his indoctrination argument on a bogus survey. he says 62% of college students lose their religion? he is quoting a survey from the cardinal newman society the catholic group that led the failed effort to stop president obama from speaking at notre dame university in 2009. of course the expert on bogus analysis is on the board of directors of that society. rick santorum relies on false information to push his obama bashing anti-university conspiracy theory. it isn't the first time he's mentioned it. he went on the attack as soon as president obama said this in the state of the union address. >> higher education can't be a luxury, it is an economic imperative that every family in america should be able t

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in addition to that, the university of miami has a great engineering program, which president obama did tour today. he seemed quite impressed although he admitted he understood only 10% of what the students were working on. that's why miami. in terms of gas price, president obama has been hammered recently by republicans who are saying that the high gas prices are a result of president obama's energy policy. today president obama was able to answer some of those critics and he said there's no magic solution to this immediate problem. what we have to do is look to the long term and invest in things like wind, solar, nuclear energy. he's made the point he's opened millions of acres for exploration. he's had a bit of reality check with the students. right after the president finished, we got a slew of e-mails from republicans who said that the president is trying to distract voters during an election year because the price of gas is so high. this is something that will stay with him in the coming months. i think the president trying to get out in front of the argument, and making the point

james peterson, director of africana studies at lehigh university. we're talking contraception, faith, talking abortion, bob, what is going on, why are they going down this road and what about santorum? >> santorum reminds me of something pope john xxiii said at the opening of the vatican council, denounced prophetz, they burn with zeal but lack common sense. he's wrong on the theology and politics. you can't turn america in a special precinct of heaven. this is a country, not a church. you can't confuse the secular with the sacred. listen to commentators going crazy. there is much or more against santorum as they were against newt gingrich they think he's a loser. the irony is romney, to compete with santorum has taken many of the same positions, just without the white hot rhetoric and what he thinks will redeem him in a general election is people they he's not telling the truth. the fact he lies all the time becomes a defense mechanism. >> dr. peterson, your take on santorum's talk about satan and putting it in current terms. >> doesn't he sound li

you're at the university of the kentucky on this college leg of the tour. why and what are you hearing from young people? >> first off, to answer your question in reverse order, the young people of america are the one group who fully understand the power of the network. they understand that modern problem solving is done through the incredible ability to identify unique assets inside of communities whether it's on the -- whether it's through the social network or the community networks that exist in our college systems and they know how to exploit that to solve problems. it's very difficult for them to do that in the context of the onerous student debt which reduces their ability to take risk and their options and their ability to conduct experiments if you will but there is no group of people in this country or around the world than the young people of this country and really the young people of the world, who understand how powerful, how the new capital for all of us is the power of the actual community, the ability to harness that network. the reason we

live from the university of kentucky in lexington, kentucky. we'll hit the airport after the show

. >> let's turn to msnbc political analyst michael eric dyson, professor at georgetown university and author of the book "can you hear me now"? >> that is an appropriate title, can you hear me now, we have a learning curve that has to get straightened out. sort it out for us, professor. >> it's steep, brother ed. the reality is jeremy lin has taken the nba and world by storm. there is global awareness, international acceptance, there is profound asian pride, and yet it seems to be this stingy refusal among some people to acknowledge that this is a phenomenon all should embrace and some of these ugly stereostipes reassert themselves. they are more vicious because they are unconscious, i don't doubt the people crafting those phrases or who talk about that offensive phrase used by espn, meant anything harmful but that is the point it's so deeply steeped in our own traditions, that we're unconscious and not aware, which also points to the fact we need to have more people of color not only in front of the camera but behind it as well making decisions. >> the commentator is an employee of m

we've tried to convince our universities to cover contraception and students at many other universities around the country have tried the same thing and they've turned a deaf ear to us. this is our hope. this is what we hope will help the women that i wanted to talk about this morning. >> sandra fluke, i appreciate you being here tonight. i know they watch on capitol hill. great testimony here on "the ed show." i think you'll probably get an opportunity to talk more with people who will be in a position of making a decision that will affect the lives of women. i really appreciate you being with us tonight. thank you so much. >> thank you for having me. >> you bet. the testimony sandra was going to give can be found on our blog. now, let's turn to caroline heldman. your reaction to that, professor? >> well, ed, i'm wondering what darrell issa is so afraid of. he's afraid of a young woman in her 20s testifying about this? he's afraid of dissenting opinion? i think it is sham politics. it's politics partisan politics being played out on women's bodies. and frankly, there is no issue here.

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a lot of people think this is a good step toward universal health care, which i know you and i would be very much in favor of. i like the idea that poor women in this country are going to get an opportunity to move forward in life because obviously, it's hard for them economically especially when they get pregnant and have children at an early age. everybody is in favor of this. but when you see that the insurance company is saying that this is -- this sets a tough precedent, the precedent the proposed rule would set, doesn't that mean they are ready to fight this? >> i don't know, if the republicans and insurance industry is on one side, and women and the catholic health association and all the health care experts are on the other side, i think that is a pretty good team. i would rather be on that team. >> congresswoman jan schakowski thank you for being here. melissa harris-perry, whose new show starts february 18:00th at 10:00 a.m., great to have you with us. >> thanks. >> did the president do the right thing? >> absolutely. in fact it was a classic sort of presidential moment, in

i've been a dairy farmer, a worker as a nurse's aide, i taught at the university level. i have a background that is nothing like the world that scott walker lives in right now when he's down in florida. that is the kind of candidate we need, a candidate that will bring wisconsin together. we have to stop pitting business against workers. we have to stop pitting the private sector against the public sector. >> senator,ive to ask you --. >> it's about bringing us together. >> one of the big issues is collective bargain, would you veto any bill that has an attack on collective bargaining? >> i went toil noil over collective bargain, didn't i? you bet. >> that is an absolute 100% you won't change it? >> no, no, no. i stuck my neck out on this long ago. >> here is another one. how are you going to counter the money, the koch brother money coming in, super pac money dropping in almost to the tune of a million dollars and probably a heck of a lot more. how will the democrats or any candidate fight against that? >> well there is no way we're ever going to match his money. it's n

period that's been built into this decision which will allow the administration to work with catholic universities and hospitals to try to, and i'm going to quote from the atd mrgs, allay some of their concerns. when pressed about what that meant, we didn't get a direct answer. it's not clear what that means to allay some of their concerns. there does seem to be a willingness to compromise that's coming out both yesterday and today. as you pointed out, martin, pressure is mounting on this white house from members of the catholic community with clergy all over the country urging their condition agrgregates to . >> this seems like it was bound to occur. >> reporter: i think they knew it was going to be an issue no matter how they decided and ruled in this instance. a lot of political analysts say they were choosing between catholics and women. that point can be debated. a couple of statistics that are interesting to think about that may have informed the administration's decision. one is that statistics show the majority of women who are sexually active do use contraception including about 98% of ca

he said the message is sufficiently universal and neutral. that it should be appealing to everybody in this country and i sincerely hope that it doesn't get utilized as a political fodder in a debate. you know what, it is, that is the way it is. conservatives believe the auto loan was the wrong thing to do. they are on the wrong side of history. and their only hope politicize like the talk last friday when the job numbers came out. but the message of this ad is just too strong. >> come from behind, how do we come together, and how do we win? detroit is showing us it can be done. and what is true about them is true about all of us. this country can't be knocked out in one punch, we get back up again and when we do the world will hear the roar of our engines. yeah, it's halftime, america. our second half's about to begin. >> yeah, the big question is how do we come together? this ad was about the the strength of the of american spirit. but it also a love letter to the people who stood behind american workers to make this rescue possible. the am

you're saying there cannot be a catholic university or catholic hospital that it will have to be subordinated to the rules of a secular government. >> what's interesting is the way he sounds so theologically robust. one wonders what he was thinking when he was committing adultery. here's the problem. the vast majority of catholics and evangelicals actually use contraception. according to a report, among sexually-active women, 68% of catholics are using a highly-effective method of birth control. the figure is 73% for protestants and 74% for evangelicals. according to newt gingrich, the president is waging a war against religion. of course, newt knows exactly what he's doing. he's trying to gloss over his serial adultery and to sound like a man who is standing firm on scripture and tradition. but which version of the bible does newt gingrich actually follow? last year marked the 400th anniversary of the first publication in 16 11 of the king james version of the bible. it remains one of the preeminent books in the english language. in 1361 the royal printers were asked to produce a reprint. ev

it, people will find out, it has defunded $12 million of grants to organizations like johns hopkins university, because johns hopkins does stem cell research. so what komen is doing is engaging in that same scorched earth politics of the sort that karen handle, the extremist politician. >> do you think she is the problem? >> i think she is one of the problems. i have read, i have been reading as much as i can. my understanding is there are a number of very extreme anti-abortion people on the board. of komen or have been on the board and certainly komen is feeling enormous pressure but they are feeling pressure from people who also are disingenuous in the way they advocate about this. komen needs to come clean. >> coming clean, let ee tas talt that, a board member says nancy brinker's job is safe. should it be? >> not as long as komen is a political organization so far it is and continues to be a political organization. i think they have taken a step going back to a health organization. if they don't get there, she shouldn't stay on. >> why don't they call for karen handle to be removed? >> we

penn state university is also under investigation, yet komen continues to fund cancer research there. tonight, at least one top official has reportedly quit in protest. and there are new concerns regarding what role komen's new vp of public policy karen handle played in the decision-making process. handle is a conservative activist. she ran for governor in the state of georgia in 2010 advocating to defund planned parenthood. komen ceo nancy brinker says handle had nothing to do with it. >> karen did not have anything to do with this decision. this was decided at the board level and also by our mission, andrea. everything we get up and do every day is about the mission to provide women, vulnerable populations with care, treatment and screening. >> since komen's decision, plan the parenthood raised $650,000, almost enough to cover the lost komen grants. new york mayor michael bloomberg pledged a $250,000 matching grant stating politics has no place in health care. i'm joined tonight by terry o'neil, president of the national organization for women. terry, thank you for joining us tonigh

i'm joined tonight by michael eric dyson, msnbc political analyst and georgetown university professor and caroline heldman, professor of politics at occidental college. welcome tonight, both of you. appreciate you being here. get this, romney is walking back his comments about the poor this evening. he told a nevada news program we don't have the tape, but we got the quote, it was a misstatement. i misspoke, he said. i've said something that is similar to that, but quite acceptable for a long time. now, here are some examples of what romney has been saying for a long time. >> we've got to provide help to the people who have been hurt most by the obama economy. and that's the middle class. it's not those at the very low end, certainly not those at the very high end. i'm not worried about rich people, they're doing just fine. the very poor have a safety net, they're taken care of. in our country, the people that need the help most are not the poor, who have a safety net, not the rich who are doing just fine, but the middle class. >> michael eric dyson, i'll ask you first, was yesterday

over the last four years, funding for state universities has been cut by 50%. yeah, that's right, arizona, arizona state, northern arizona. they are dealing with half the money they used to deal with. this is another case of the republican agenda being carried out by a radical governor and radical leaders. arizona republicans are trying to put the final nail in the coffin of unions. my question, did they campaign on this? the answer is no. democrats are virtually in this situation sad to report to you tonight, powerless to stop it. they have the smallest democratic caucus in arizona state history. this isn't what they campaigned on, but this is the popular thing. for radical governors and radical ledge i have bodies to go after the middle class because now that citizens united has passed, heck, they can do anything they want. they'll get the money to keep them in office to cut all these state budgets, cut the elderly, cut the public service, cut the law enforcement, cut the firefighters, go to public education, go to higher education and let the people dangle i