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The Contenders 2012; Two Arrested in Tulsa Shooting; Mike Wallace Dead at 93; How Romney Can Become a Uniter; Train Keeps Tradition Alive

Aired April 08, 2012 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thanks for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. We'll get to an hour of politics in a moment. But first we want to take you straight to Tulsa, Oklahoma, where there's an investigation under way after five people were shot randomly. Two people have since been arrested. Let's listen in to this press conference now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many tips were received?

CHIEF CHUCK JORDAN, TULSA POLICE DEPARTMENT: I want to say scores. That's how it was described to me. Obviously we were going through the tips very fast, trying to look at the credibility of all of them, trying to see how they matched up with other tips. I would say in excess of 30 or 40. Which was a pretty big deal to be that specific to this crime.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: About what percentage were accurate and leading you to the suspects?

JORDAN: I really don't know that. But I know there was at least over 10 that were confirmed or go back to those same suspects.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you think was the tip that led you to them?

JORDAN: I really can't discuss that issue. I apologize. That's going to be part of our investigation. And I don't want to take a chance on divulging the possible identity of those persons.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What's your reaction to this type of crime happening here?

JORDAN: It sickens me, it angers me. This is not what Tulsa, Oklahoma, is about. Our hate groups are very spotty. We have them over the decades occasionally. They're not something we have to even - we don't have them here to monitor them on a regular basis. And we feel fortunate about that. I think I've got the same feelings as any Tulsan has, we were very distressed. Again, it sickens you and angers you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, it seems yesterday you were very desperate for leads. You kept mentioning it (INAUDIBLE) at times.

JORDAN: We were.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that because you were desperate? You did not have a lot of leads? That you were surprised? Or was it because you felt like with this many shootings, we must have more leads than this out there?

JORDAN: I can say that tell you that we were desperate for leads. And that's why we made some very pointed requests of our community to come forward. And they did.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will this be designated as a hate crime? Do we think we have the actors in custody?

JORDAN: Every investigation we always assume there may be more people involved. We're exploring all those angles in our investigation, yes, sir.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, do you believe this was racially motivated?

JORDAN: That's way to premature for me to make that comment. Again, I said, you can look at the facts of the case and certainly come up with what would be clearly a logical theory. But we're going to let the evidence take us where we want to go. There are other motivations in race, sometimes, in these types of incidences. We're going to look at all of it. But I certainly couldn't make that determination right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are the suspects cooperating?

JORDAN: I don't - I couldn't guess on that, Burt (ph). But I sure couldn't say that I know they wouldn't. We can't take a chance. Regardless of whether they continue their spree or not, we still got three of our precious citizens are gone.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are the suspects cooperating?

JORDAN: I can't speak to that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) Do you have a sense at all of why this happened?

JORDAN: Again, that goes back to the motivation of the suspect. That part of the investigation, we're going to explore any possible motives.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, what is the suspects' relationships to one another? Are they friends?

JORDAN: They were certainly acquaintances. And I apologize, Brandon, I don't know whether there's any familial relationships or not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Were they together when they were arrested?

JORDAN: I can say that, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief, there was disturbing postings on one suspect's Facebook pages. Have you had a chance to look at his Facebook page and your thoughts of what he had posted just hours before the shooting?

JORDAN: My thoughts on that are that investigation always includes social networking sites and that any information such as that will also be included in the prosecution.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Have you seen the Facebook page?

JORDAN: I have not.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you suspect there will be any federal charges, chief, at this point? Or is that too early to say?

JORDAN: I think it is to early to say. I don't know where it's going to lead us. I do think that that would be kind of unlikely at this point. We're talking about murder charges. And that's about as serious as it gets. You know, we often go federal to try to get enhanced sentences, things like that. In this case, I'm not sure we could get any enhanced sentences out of a federal offense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Could you talk about what weapons you have recovered and whether any of them might be the suspected murder weapon or weapons?

JORDAN: I can't talk about that, I'm sorry.

(CROSSTALK)

JORDAN: Yes, let me - we talk about investigating the issues. I'll leave it to the major. Do you have anything outside the actual investigation that you want to talk about? He's better briefed and he's - again, he's been on this from moment one.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chief, did you have a fear that there could be some kind of reaction, uprising, riot over this?

JORDAN: A riot?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you have any fears that there would be some type of reaction?

JORDAN: I have much more faith in my fellow Tulsans than that. I think they let us do our job. And trust and faith that we would do our job, and we did. I'd like to introduce Major (INAUDIBLE), he's our detective division commander. He was also the commander and architect of the task force.

WHITFIELD: All right. You've been listening to an update as a result of two now people arrested in the random shootings of five African- American men. Three of whom died. You heard the police chief there say that "it sickens me and angers me," that the shooting may have been motivated by hate. Two people arrested, are now being questioned.

Of course, we'll continue to follow the developments there out of Tulsa and bring you the very latest.

All right. Meantime, here are some of the other top stories for this Sunday. CBS News called him their "60 Minutes" pitbull reporter. Mike Wallace epitomizes dogged interviews and fierce reporting, a mainstay on the magazine show for 38 years. Mike Wallace passed away last night with his family by his side in Connecticut. Next hour, I'll speak with Leslie Stahl on his life and legacy, and her friendship as a colleague there on "60 Minutes." Wallace was 93 years old.

The U.S. and Afghanistan have reached a landmark deal on special ops raids. The deal gives Afghan authorities veto power over them. A NATO official said the deal prevents its international security assistance force from conducting raids without the permission of Afghan officials. If they authorize the operation, special ops forces would operate under Afghan law.

And it is Easter Sunday. And the Obama family walked to church on a sunny Washington, D.C., morning. The first family attended Easter services at St. John's Episcopal Church just across Lafayette Park from the White House. At about the same time, half the world away, Pope Benedict XVI delivered his annual Easter mass in Vatican City. The Pope prayed for a renewed peace effort in the Middle East.

All right. Let's go forward now with this political hour, recapping Mitt Romney, a big primary win in the Wisconsin, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Several caucuses will be held next weekend. Then more primaries on Tuesday, April 24th. Here's where the delegate count stands right now. Mitt Romney has 659, Rick Santorum stands at 275, Newt Gingrich holds at 140 and Ron Paul with 71.

GOP hopeful Newt Gingrich is reassessing his chances in the Republican presidential race. In an interview on Fox News Sunday he said rival Mitt Romney is the likely Republican nominee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NEWT GINGRICH (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: You have to be realistic, given the size of his organization, given the number of primaries he's won. He is far and away the most likely Republican nominee. And if he does get to 1,144 delegates, I'll support him, and I'll do everything this fall to help him defeat Obama. The primary goal of the entire Republican party has to be to defeat Barack Obama.

I'm glad I did this. For me, it was important as a citizen to try to do some very hard things, to try to bring new ideas and new approaches. It turned out to be much harder than I thought it would be. But it was the right thing for me to do at that point, both in my life and where I thought the country was. I have no regrets. But it's clear that Governor Romney has done a very good job of building a very substantial machine.

And I think Santorum is discovering it in Pennsylvania right now. It's a challenge. I hit him as hard as I could, he hit me as hard as he could. It turned out he had more things to hit than I did. And that's part of the business. He's done the fund-raising side brilliantly. We have both - and I think Santorum would agree with this, we are absolutely committed to defeating Barack Obama. If Mitt Romney ends up as the Republican nominee, I will work as hard for him as I would for myself.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Mitt Romney is spending more of his time attacking President Obama than any of his Republican contenders. The former Massachusetts governor is accusing the president of flip-flopping on key issues as he seeks re-election.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Now, in the middle of the weakest economic recovery since the great depression, the president purports to have experienced a series of election year conversions. As president, he has repeatedly called for tax increases on businesses. Now, as Candidate Obama, he decides that a lower corporate tax rate would be better.

As president, he's added regulations at a staggering rate. Now as Candidate Obama, he says he wants to find ways to reduce them. As president, he delayed the development of our oil and coal and natural gas. Now as candidate, he says he favors an energy policy that adopts an all-of-the-above approach. Nancy Pelosi famously said that we would have to pass Obama care to find out what was in it. President Obama has turned that advice into a campaign strategy. He wants us to re-elect him so we can find out what he'll actually do.

With all the challenges the nation faces, this is not the time for President Obama's hide-and-seek campaign. President Obama has said he wants to transform America. I don't want to transform America. I want to restore to America the values of economic freedom, and opportunity and small government that made this nation the leader it is. It is opportunity that has always driven America and defined us as Americans. Free enterprise has done more to lift people out of poverty, to help build a strong middle class, to help educate our kids, and to make our lives better than all of the government's programs put together.

If we become one of those societies that attacks success, the outcome is certain, there will be less success. That's not who we are. The promise of America has always been that if you worked hard, and took some risks, that there was the opportunity to build a better life for your family, and for the next generation. I'm offering a clear choice, and a different path. And unlike the president, I have a record that I'm proud to run on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So what can we expect from a potential Romney versus Obama race? Joining me to talk strategies, senior political analyst Ron Brownstein from New York. So Ron, you know, Romney not holding back there, attacking the president on what he calls the president's government centered view of America. But at the same time the White House is acknowledging maybe what Newt Gingrich is acknowledging, that Mitt Romney may be the nominee, by attacking Romney. I mean is this smart for the White House to do at this juncture?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, there's some very - sorry, there are some very interesting signals in that Romney clip that you played about the way they are thinking about this election. First of all, that classic new kind of Jujitsu which is common in campaigns is to take your weakness and project it on your opponents.

Certainly one of the biggest problem Romney has faced both in 2008 and 2012 and the primaries has been the sense that he has switched positions for political gain. So you notice him in there accusing the president of the same thing. The other important thing in that clip you played is that you saw in Mitt Romney really an echo of what the president's own speech is, book-end perhaps to the president's own speech before the newspaper publishers in which each of them signaled that they are comfortable framing this as a stark ideological choice of the role of government.

Barack Obama's speech the day before was not Bill Clinton in 1996 saying the era of big government is over, as he went into re-election. Barack Obama was defending an activist role for government, both in policing the marketplace and trying to create opportunity. Mitt Romney drew a very sharp line on the other side saying, "Look, we have to retrench government in order to expand opportunity." The gap between them in their vision of the role of government will be at least as wide as any race since 1980.

And so that will be a big part. The irony, though, is I think it will not ultimately in the end be decisive. Because the last 10 percent or 12 percent of voters vote who ultimately decide presidential elections both more on results and personal assessments of the candidates in these broad philosophical divisions.

WHITFIELD: In the meantime, can we analyze Newt Gingrich for a moment, too, listening to him this morning? I mean I heard a few things out of him. One, he was saying it is likely that Mitt Romney is going to be the Republican nominee. But then at the same time he then says if he gets that, you know, that 1144 and if he becomes a nominee, I'm going to support him. Were you - as you examined him, were you of the same kind of a demeanor in Newt Gingrich? Is he essentially throwing in the towel? Or is it still a wait-and-see for him?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, it would definitely take more than a few minutes to analyze Newt Gingrich.

WHITFIELD: Let's try, in 30 seconds.

BROWNSTEIN: I think clearly it was a change in demeanor. I think that was very much - you know, a month ago, both he and Santorum were talking very aggressively, not so much about overtaking Romney in delegates. That really hasn't been realistic for quite a while. The question is, could they prevent Romney from getting to 1,144 himself, deny him a first ballot victory. After that, of course, the delegates are more free to go with whoever they want, and in that kind of environment, perhaps they would turn to one of the other contenders. I think Gingrich today was very much signaling that he believed that it is inevitable and (INAUDIBLE) that Romney will get there sooner or later. If not by the end of the primaries, very soon thereafter as the last RNC members rally around him. So yes, I think that was a pretty clear signal of a different tone from Newt Gingrich.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ron Brownstein, thanks so much. We're going to see you again a little bit later on in this hour and talk about why gender matters, and it may in a very big way, this election year.

All right. So if Mitt Romney becomes the nominee, how can he win more support from the base. We talk to a Republican strategist when we come right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to this special hour of the "CNN Newsroom." We're talking about the race for the White House. We're taking this time now today to let you hear from the 2012 presidential contenders in their own words out on the campaign trail. So if Mitt Romney becomes the nominee for the Republican party, how can he win more support from the base.

Republican strategist Rich Galen is in D.C.. He is the former press secretary to Dan Quayle, and Newt Gingrich and now a prominent Republican strategist. Rich, good to see you.

RICH GALEN, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Prominent?

WHITFIELD: Yes. Prominent? Because you are with us, right? You are prominent. You have five tips that you say could really turn, you know, Romney into a uniter in the GOP. You wrote about this in "The Daily Beast," beginning with, he ought to focus on fund-raising for candidates in debt and for the Republican National, you know, committee. Are we talking about once or if he were to become a candidate or should he be doing that right now, to be a uniter?

GALEN: I think he could start doing it fairly quickly. There's a couple of other things in there, too. One of the things that happens, first of all, let me wish everybody a happy Easter, or happy Passover, whichever suits to you and all our viewers.

WHITFIELD: Thank you. Same to you.

GALEN: But the political parties, the national party's more into extensions of the campaign, once a nominee is either chosen or becomes so presumptive that everybody just throws up their hands and says, "OK, he's the guy, or she's the woman." And so yes, I think there's probably pretty sophisticated plans afoot between the Romney campaign proper and the Republican national committee, to begin a process of raising money for the RNC, which the president has done on behalf of the DNC.

So that the money can be spread not just spent on the presidential campaign, but also on governors' races, and state and house races as well. That will be a good signal, I think, to conservatives who may not have been in favor of Romney. But he's in this game not for himself, but for the party. And I think that will have a major impact.

WHITFIELD: And you say number two, that he ought to be forging ties in the House and the Senate. Would some consider that to be a bit too premature and that might be kind of like shooting himself in the foot, or no?

GALEN: Well, I'm not sure why he would be shooting himself in the foot.

WHITFIELD: By being presumptive.

GALEN: Well, look how many endorsements Romney's gotten from the House and Senate as opposed to all the other candidates combined. I mean, I think that's a given. My point was that he needs to forge personal ties with the members of the House and Senate. He's been a governor, he's been on the campaign trail. He doesn't know too many of these people one-on-one personally. And I think spending some - in the House Wednesday mornings at the conferences, and Tuesday at noon, with the Republican policy lunches in the Senate, I think a few of those would go a long way to spend some time with these folks, let them ask him questions, let them get to know him one-on-one.

And then when they go home to campaign either for themselves or they go out and campaign for other people, they'll just feel much more comfortable in endorsing the presumptive Romney candidacy.

WHITFIELD: OK. Right now, he's too much of an enigma perhaps to some of those -

GALEN: He just hasn't - he's operated in a different orbit, governors just don't operate the same way.

WHITFIELD: All right. Number three and four, you say appoint convention managers, and court conservatives, especially the Tea Party, and particularly Dick Army who has been with the Tea Party.

GALEN: Yes, there's really not one - first of all, there's no Tea Party per se. And there's really no one spokesperson for all of Tea Party adherence. But Dick army is, you know, a pretty well-known guy, former majority leader in the U.S. House, a congressman from the Dallas area. And he talks to a lot of people every day. So getting those two together I think might have a very positive effect.

And also, appoint a conviction manager, because as what Newt was doing, I believe, in the segment before that you had with Ron, one of the things I think Newt is doing is positioning himself to get a really good speaking slot. And a lot of people need speaking slots. A lot of people - it sounds so mundane, but somebody's got to make sure that Santorum's campaign manager has a hotel room, you know, near the Pennsylvania delegation. Those sorts of things, and having - appointing convention managers seems to me will help just that transition into an active candidacy so that we're not - we don't have people sniping at each other when they get to Tampa and they're sleeping on a blue chair at the airport. WHITFIELD: Oh, no, especially if you're trying to position yourself to be that uniter. And so, of course, in your promise, the last tip that you would like to offer is yes -

GALEN: I like that. And so your prominence. I think I'm going to go with it.

WHITFIELD: Embrace it. You are prominent because we said so. And others said so, too. You said that he really needs to be courting the conservative press, getting more familiar with them, and them getting more familiar with him. That's not happening?

GALEN: No, it's not. I mean the - we're in the campaign - in the campaign season, it's very difficult to sort of come off the field and have lunches with reporters, or bloggers, or columnists in Washington or New York or North Carolina or wherever they are. But now that the active campaign is going to drop back a little bit and become more strategic, it just seems to me it would make some sense for Romney, the same reason that I said he ought to meet with the Republican members of the House and Senate, just so these folks get to know him a little bit better, one on one, they can see what he stands for, they can ask him questions, and I think become more comfortable in most cases, it would seem to me, in supporting a Romney candidacy against Barack Obama.

WHITFIELD: All right. Rich Galen, giving up some free tips there for Mitt Romney or whoever else might get that nomination. Thank you, Rich. I appreciate it.

GALEN: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: From D.C..

All right. It's got a style, it's got class, and it's a train fit for a king, or president. We'll take you inside right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. We continue to delve into the issues on the presidential campaign. We're spending this hour of the "CNN NEWSROOM" to allow you to hear from the contenders as they spell out their ideas for the future for the United States.

So forget about Air Force One. Presidents of the United States sometimes prefer a different kind of ride. He's got style and it's convenient. Sandra Endo hitches a ride.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JACK HEARD, OWNER, GEORGIA 300: Welcome to the Georgia 300. It's a nice car that I've owned about 30 years.

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Step aboard Jack Heard's private rail car and it takes you back to a different era.

HEARD: Here we go. ENDO (on camera): Look at that.

HEARD: Private cars are mainly focused on the long distance, leisurely travel with scenery. And here again, it's not so much the getting, you know, getting there on time, it's the enjoyment of getting there.

ENDO (voice-over): The historically restored car has been keeping political tradition alive.

HEARD: We haven't had many whistle stops over the last 20 or 30 years. And I think the campaign of 1992 sort of brought that back.

ENDO (on camera): This is kind of like the presidential train.

HEARD: Yes, it is. It is.

ENDO: Presidential car.

HEARD: It's been used by several, several campaigns.

ENDO (voice-over): This rare look inside the Georgia 300 shows the original details preserved from when it was built in 1930. The car caught the eye of presidential candidate George H.W. Bush in 1992.

HEARD: They wanted to use it for the presidential (INAUDIBLE) train. And I was very excited and, of course, I could go along.

ENDO: And the trip showed traditional whistle stop campaigning was not a thing of the past.

HEARD: It's a way to bring the candidates to the people much more so than probably any other way, because it's the grassroots. They step out to the platform at the end of the car and they speak. It just brings back the image of Roosevelt, Truman.

ENDO: In 1996, incumbent Bill Clinton and four years later, the Kerry-Edwards team got on board the Georgia 300 for their campaign. President elect Barack Obama chose the Georgia 300 to mimic Abraham Lincoln, riding into Washington, D.C. from Philadelphia for his inauguration.

HEARD: So I'm very honored that it plays a part of American history there.

ENDO: As for the presidential contest, gearing up now, Heard says the Georgia 300's gears are greased and ready to roll.

HEARD: Always ready. It's always ready. We'll see what happens.

ENDO: Sandra Endo, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And President Obama would love it if women voters got on his re-election train. And a new poll shows he does have an advantage among women who go to college. But what about the rest?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: Welcome back to the special hour of THE CNN NEWSROOM. We're focusing on politics, allowing you to hear from the 2012 presidential contenders.

First up, President Obama. He mixed in a bit of a reelection stumping as he spoke at a forum on women's issues. During the event on Friday, the president said Republican policies would reverse progress his administration has made on their behalf. He said the focus should be ensuring equal opportunities for women both in the workforce and in society.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Right now, no issue is more important than restoring economic security for all our families in the wake of the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression. That begins with making sure everyone who wants a job has one.

The policies we put in place over the past three years have started to take hold. And what we can't do now is go back to the policies that got us into so many of the problems that we've been dealing with in the first place. That's what's at stake.

When people talk about repealing health care reform, they're not just saying we should stop protecting women with preexisting conditions. They're also saying we should take about 1 million young women off their parents' health care plans. When we should get rid of Planned Parenthood, they're not just talking about restricting a woman's ability to make her own health decisions, they're about denying as a practical matter the preventative care, like mammograms, that millions of women rely on.

Now, there's been a lot of talk about women and women's issues lately as there should be. But I do think the conversation has been oversimplified. Women are not some monolithic bloc. Women are not an interest group. You shouldn't be treated that way.

(APPLAUSE)

OBAMA: Women are over half this country and its workforce.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So, women will hold a lot of power in the voting booth come November. And as you just heard, the president say, they are not some monolithic bloc. Who they vote for and why may come down to education and economics according to some analysis.

Senior political analyst Ron Brownstein joins us once again from New York.

So, Ron, the vote among women will be pivotal. In a new Gallup/"USA Today" poll, President Obama leads among white college educated women. So, what is the explanation behind that?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, you know, Fred, the president could double as a political analyst, because he did get it exactly right, women are not a monolith. It's too kind of sweeping to talk about them in one fell swoop.

You really have three important fault lines, race, education and marital status. Non-white women overwhelmingly Democratic. Have been, all polls are they continue to be very strongly in the president's corner.

When you look among white women, the two important fault lines are education levels and marital status lines. Republicans actually run quite well with the working class non-college women, what some women call the waitress moms. They've won them in five of the past six presidential elections. And even amidst the controversy going on now, as you pointed out, the latest Gallup national polling, and also Quinnipiac polling in the key swing states, like Florida, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia. It shows Romney is still leading with those blue collar women.

It's when you get to the white collar, college-educated white women who tend to be more socially liberal, tend to be more open to activist government, it's there that Republicans have clearly been hurt by the social debate in this primary. Obama has a big lead among them, both in the swing state polling and in the national polling. They are the most receptive to Democrats. He won 52 percent of them in 2008, and he seems today at least on track to do very well with them again.

WHITFIELD: So, when you hear these distinctions, college, educated, non-college educated, white, non-white, who leads among I guess -- who makes up the majority of the female electorate? Because that will certainly determine who these candidates or the incumbents are going to be vying for?

BROWSTEIN: Well, it divides, right? In the white electorate are probably evenly divided -- just about evenly divided at this point between the working class or non-college white women and the more upscale white women.

And there are a lot of differences between them. I mean, you know, it's part of a broader thing that we are seeing happening now in the economy, which is really a divergence of experience between kind of the working class and more white collar, professional, upper middle class.

The unemployment rate for example among Americans with a college education, only 4.4 percent. It's more than double that among Americans without a college education.

The college-educated also tend to be more socially liberal and more likely to respond to issues like the Republican vote in the House this year, and last year, to cut off funding for Planned Parenthood, federal funding, the effort to allow employers not to provide contraception on their health care plans, of the defense, their moral beliefs. They are going to be more responsive to those issues. And what you've seen in some of this polling are very big numbers for the president with those white collar white women, but not really any movement or improvement for him with the blue collar women who I think are suffering more on the day to day strain of this economy.

WHITFIELD: You mentioned contraception, you know, reproductive rights. Is the Republican Party fighting itself an uphill battle, because recent debates/discussions about women's reproductive rights and the Republican Party's point of view on those things?

BROWNSTEIN: The short answer is -- with this one portion of the electorate -- I think it's clearly yes. With the more upscale white women, no question, I think it's very hard to look at the data and say that is not hurting them. Obama's lead with that group as I've said is quite big now, both in national and some of the key state polling.

Less of a factor I think, kind of more -- in the more economically strained communities. Both those women tend to be more socially conservative to begin with. But they are also more focused on the economy. But there is no question with the portion of the electorate that has been the most open to Democrats, ands where I think Romney has to make end roads -- part of his potential promise as a candidate is he could be more acceptable to the suburban voters. It is hurting them there. I don't think you can look at the numbers any other way.

WHITFIELD: Got it. All right. Thanks so much. Ron Brownstein, always good to see you. Appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: And happy Easter and Passover.

BROWNSTEIN: Happy Passover, absolutely, to everyone watching.

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much.

All right. Earlier in the show, we heard Mitt Romney slamming President Obama for playing to the crowd and flip-flopping on issues. But according to "Saturday Night Live," Romney has a similar problem.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NARRATOR: Mitt Romney spoke before a meeting of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or ASPCA.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In politics, we're often told that sometimes we simply have to compromise. But let me tell you here and now, there is one issue on which I will never back down, never cut a deal, never compromise, because it's the core of who I am -- cat spaying. It's simply the right thing to do and quite frankly, the reason I got into this race. I want to be known as the cat neutering president.

NARRATOR: Governor and Mrs. Romney were in Oklahoma, where they met with the Kiamichi Country Sportsmen's Association.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Unfortunately with our schedules, Ann and I don't get to nearly as many cockfights as we'd like. But let me tell you, cockfighting has brought us more sheer enjoyment in our marriage than anything we have ever experienced. And that's why, frankly, I want to be the cockfighting president.

NARRATOR: Friday morning, Governor Romney was in Chicago, where he spoke at a meeting of the American Diabetes Association.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, of course, no one wants to get sick, you now? But frankly, I've always thought that if I had to develop a chronic disease, I hoped it would be adult onset diabetes. What a fascinating illness, you know, when you think about it.

NARRATOR: Later, Governor Romney made an appearance at the 2012 Piercing Convention.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, when people ask me, Mitt, just how many piercings do you have? Well, I always say, more than I need, but less than I want.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. On "SNL."

All right. Straight ahead on the 2012 contenders, Rick Santorum reminds conservative voters why he is the best candidate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICK SANTORUM (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: Getting the right candidate is more important than getting the first candidate.

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WHITFIELD: CNN is bringing you the 2012 presidential contenders in their own words. Despite being behind in the delegate count, Rick Santorum is pushing forward. The Pennsylvania primary is just one several primaries coming up later on this month. He's campaigning in his home state, reminding viewers of what makes him different.

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SANTORUM: Barack Obama four years ago referred to this area of Pennsylvania, right here, as the place that holds on grip, clings to their guns and their Bibles. You're damn right we do.

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SANTORUM: You're right, we cling -- we cling to our faith, we cling to the rights that are God-given, that are guaranteed under our Constitution, including the right to protect ourselves and those we love with the Second Amendment, an individual right to bear arms. A very clear difference between me and President Obama on this issue, not so much with Governor Romney, the support of the Brady Bill, the support of the gun ban, who put increased taxes on gun licenses by 400 percent when he was in the state of Massachusetts.

Ladies and gentlemen, we want clear contrasts, someone who can go out and rally. As I said last night, rally the base of conservatives, rally the base of those who are free-loving people, who believe in limited government, and the unlimited potential of the American people.

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WHITFIELD: And Rick Santorum is taking Monday off from the campaign trail. His 3-year-old daughter Bella is being hospitalized.

Ron Paul remains committed to sharing his message to younger voters.

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REP. RON PAUL (R-TX), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: In the last ten years there's $4 trillion added to our national debt due to the wars going on in the Middle East. I want to end those wars, end them quickly. We just marched in, this is march home.

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WHITFIELD: We continue to delve into the issues on the presidential campaign we are spending this hour of the CNN NEWSROOM to allow you to hear from the contenders as they spell out their ideas for the future for the United States.

Ron Paul is sticking to his guns while out on the campaign trail. At a speech in Los Angeles, Paul touted his economic values.

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PAUL: I think the most important issue in the campaign, or anything that we do, has to do with the understanding and the promotion of individual liberty -- believing that if we truly understood that issue, we would have a lot less problems. But when you go on the campaign trail, not a lot of people, other than an audience like this, have a great deal of concern for personal liberty. They have concern for the economy, and rightfully so, because that is a reflection -- a bad economy is a reflection of a misunderstanding, or a poor understanding about what economic liberty is all about.

So, we do have an economic crisis going on. But it was a predictable crisis. It shouldn't be that difficult to understand. We're in the midst of this. And yet the people in Washington have not come around to understanding what the real problem is.

And the problem is, it boils down to about one thing -- government is way too big.

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PAUL: The bigger the government, the less freedom that we have. And there's a lot of well-intentioned people. But you know we're good intentions might get you. Good intentions are not enough. The right ideas are critical.

So, there are a lot of good intentions that people want to do things to help other people, they want to spread our goodness around the world. But whether it's helping people here at home or making you behave in a certain manner, or improving the economy, you cannot do it with the use of force. If we want to improve on ourselves and others, it has to be done by setting an example and doing it voluntarily and not using force.

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WHITFIELD: The presidential candidates are wooing voters, but which big demographic do they need on their side in order to win the election? We'll tell you right after this.

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WHITFIELD: Women voters play a pivotal role in presidential elections. Candidates need them to win the race. And now, the men- only Augusta National Golf Club have them speaking up for women.

Candy Crowley has more.

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CANDY CROWLEY, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Fred. We tee off this week's campaign trail with something a little something off course, the all-male Augusta National Golf Club.

MITT ROMNEY (R), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: If I were a member and if I were -- if I could run Augusta, which isn't likely to happen, but of course, I'd have women in Augusta. Sure.

CROWLEY (voice-over): Newt Gingrich tweeted," I think Callista would be a great member #Augusta -- maybe she would let me come and play."

Rick Santorum, via email, "I encourage Augusta to accept women members."

President Obama via his spokesman.

JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: He believes Augusta should admit women.

CROWLEY (on camera): There are people who don't want Augusta to accept women members, but none of them are running for president -- talk about a courtship.

OBAMA: It's a pleasure to be surrounded by so many talented, accomplished women. It makes me feel right at home. Although usually I've got my wing man Bo with me.

SANTORUM: I think it's important for women both outside the home and inside the home are affirmed for the choices they make. ROMNEY: I think the biggest change is that women would be able to look at their children and say that the future's going to be brighter than the past.

CROWLEY: Did we mention that women vote in greater numbers and percentages than men? Historically, Democrats have done better with female reporters, and Republicans have done better with male voters -- thus the term gender gap. This year for Republicans, it's more like a chasm.

In 2000, George Bush lost the female vote to Al Gore by 11 points. As of late March, women prefer President Obama to Mitt Romney by a jaw- dropping election-losing 23 points. That is an eight-point drop for Romney since January.

He is paying the price for a Republican dust-up with President Obama over contraception and freedom of religion, a sexist outburst from a talk show host Rush Limbaugh, and a concerted Democratic effort to milk it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Preventing war against women.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: War on women.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: War on women.

CROWLEY: Let's just say no matter what is to blame in the game of politics and perception, Republicans lost this round.

REINCE PRIEBUS, RNC CHAIRMAN: The Democrats said we had a war on caterpillars and every mainstream media outlet talked about the fact that Republicans have a war on caterpillars, then we'd have problems with caterpillars. I mean, the fact of the matter is, it's a fiction.

CROWLEY: On the campaign trail these days, suffice it to say there is no war on women, there is a raging battle for women. There is time for Republicans to up their game this election year, in 2012, they are just teeing up for the back nine -- Fred.

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CROWLEY: All right. Thanks so much, Candy. Be sure to watch Candy Crowley every Sunday morning on "STATE OF THE UNION," 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

All right. After taking Easter Sunday off, the Republican presidential campaigns are back on the trail this week. We'll track them down after the break.

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WHITFIELD: Here's a look at where the 2012 contenders will be this week.

Rick Santorum is campaigning in Pennsylvania. He'll head to Missouri for the National Rifle Association's conference on Friday. Ron Paul will be in Texas, holding town hall meetings and attending fundraisers.

And we're still waiting to hear from Romney and Gingrich's campaigns for their schedules.

Thanks so much for tuning in to this special hour of politics. Now, stay right here for the latest news right here in THE NEWSROOM.