please catch my old friend courtney reagan's new show on "luxury spenders tonight." you don't want to miss it. okay, a couple days of weakness off of china. the minerals and the oils will be going down. try to find a spot to buy some oils if you don't old one and stick with gold. there's always a bull market somewhere. i try to find it for you. i'm jim cramer, i'll see you tomorrow. >> good evening, everyone. i'm larry kudlow. this is "the kudlow report." we talk taxes, rough politics and the economy and there's this conventional wisdom from the beltway media that an improving economy means the election is over. take a listen.

>> income has risen. gasoline prices are high. the idea that everyone is fine in america comes from people who are detached in america. >> and then we have sizzle number two. we have positive economic news from the ism services that beat expectations. but china's down revisions at 7.5% growth seemed to undermind stocks and commodities. we'll cover it. and sizzle number three, senator john mccain, this afternoon, calls for the bombing of syria. this on the day of a crucial meeting between president obama and israeli prime minister. here's the president today. >> as i've said to the prime n minist minister, in every single one of our meetings, the united states will always have israel's back when it comes to israel security. >> the president may say that, but we have a guest who questions does israel think this is an election ploy to win back jewish voters? we will track the whole story. all right, we begin tonight with

my interview of mitt romney. i sat down with him this morning in canton, ohio. ohio is the battleground state. governor romney and his new 20% tax cut plan snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in michigan. and i began asking whether he sees the same thing playing out 24 hours now in ohio. governor mitt romney, welcome back to "the kudlow report." we appreciate it very much. >> thanks, larry. good to be here. >> some people believe that your 20% reduction there the personal tax rate really helped snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in michigan a week ago. is the same scenario going to play out in ohio? you're catching up in the polls. have you stayed with your tax cut message? >> there's no question about that. this is about getting the economy going again. and getting our economy going, putting people back to work, means getting our marginal tax rates down. the president wants to take the other direction.

i think as long as we're talking about the economy and jobs, and, by the way, shrinking the deficit, we're winning. when we're talking about all other sorts of issue that is come up, all of these extraneous ideas, that puts us behind. focus on the economy? that's where the president has failed the american people and they know it. >> your plan, you've got 20% income tax cut. but you've got spending cuts, you've got time. how fast can you get the deficit and the debt, for example, as a ratio of gdp to where it was precrisis, prefinancial melt down. is it one term? two term snuz h? how does that work for you? >> you don't want to actually balance at day one because that would cause a massive decline and the spending of our nation and we'd go into session again. but we'd actually take that action of eliminating programs, sending back to states so that by the end of four years, you've got federal spending as a

percentage of the gdp from 25% today down to 20% and then by the end of the second term, a balanced budget. the decision is made in the first hundred days will determine whether we can hit those targets. >> now, let's turn to rick santorum. he says your economic plan, you're late to the party. that's what he said. he says you're tinkering. you've called him an economic lightweight. so i'll just ask, first of all, why is your plan better than santorum's plan? >> well, my plan talks about a marginal tax cut across the board. i want to get our marginal tax rates down. at the same time, i'm limiting deductions and exemptions for high-income individuals so that we maintain progressivety in the code. and, so that we don't add to the deficit. his plan is estimated to at about $900 billion to the deficit. we can't increase our deficit.

we have to bring down the deficit. bring it down to a balanced budget at the same time we encourage growth. i do both. >> he says on the point of limiting the deductions, which i agree, is a consensus point among tax reformers. but he says in response to you that you're taxing rich people. that your plan that it's 1% versus 99% and that you sound like obama. how do you react to that? >> president obama wants to raise taxes from 35% to 40%. i want to take the top marginal rate to 28% and i also want to maintain progressivety in the code. i'm not looking to punish anybody. but i want to maintain a code that's regressive and to pay for this reduction without going into massive deficits, you have to bring down the reductions and the exemptions. >> so he also believes that we should have a corporate tax for manufacturing. that's part of the reach out to blue collar workers. i just want your thought on that

and your thought on connecting with blue collar workers. i guess that's especially the case here in ohio. >> very, very important. and, clearly, the right course is to get our corporate tax rates and our top marginal tax rates down to encourage enterprise. but we don't want to pick winners and losers. we don't want to decide that there's a certain part of the economy we like and the rest of the economy we don't like. that's a mistake. that's the kind of thing europe has done. it's one of the reasons why their productivity gains have been so much slower than ours. it's why their income per person is about 50% less than ours. you don't start choosing places to decide to get special breaks. if we're going to have breaks, bring it for all businesses, particularly small business. that gets the overall economy going, puts people to work. don't try to pick one sector over the other. that's the obama approach. >> last one, an economic question. a lot of conservatives led by the wall street journal editorial page were horrified when you said you want to index the minimum wage for inflation.

and they said, look, that's just going to raise the minimum wage. that's going to raise the unemployment rate, especially for young people. especially for minorities. it's a little bit of unfinished business. why do you want to raise the minimum wage? >> well, actually, when i was governor, the legislature passed a law raising the minimum wage. i vetoed it and i said, look, the way to deal with minimum wage is this. on a regular basis, i said in the proposal i made, every two year, we should look at the minimum wage. we should look at the jobs level throughout the country, unemployment rate, competitive rates in other states or, in this case, other nations. so, certainly, the level of inflation is something you should look at. and you should identify what's the right way to keep america competitive. >> it's very minimal, so far. >> so that would tell you that right now, there's probably not a need to raise the minimum wage. so what i can tell you is had one indexed the minimum wage back to 1990, the minimum wage would be lower now than it actually is.

democrats make big hay of this. oh, we're going to raise the minimum wage and get a lot of hoopla for it. frankly, the right way to process it is to look at the minimum wage, look at how unemployment rates are. the need of the job market and, of course, what's happened to inflation? >> would it be better on the indexing front to index the capital gains tax for everybody? that's a pro-investment tax. >> i'll give that some thought, larry. but one thing you do know that i want to do is for people of middle incomes to have no capital gains tax at all? no interest -- >> which is controversial in conservative circles. >> i want to get rid of those tax on dividends. >> you're firm on that. you do not want that to extend to everybody. >> someday, i'd like us to pay no taxes at all. of course, you have to make sure that what you're doing is something you can afford? so when i look at tax cuts, i look to make sure that i can continue to hold down the deficit or to bring the deficit

down and, at the same time, encourage growth. so i'm trying to find those cuts that are the most effective, that encourage growth and that don't add to the deficit. >> all right. very interesting. he said he would look at the idea of indexing the capital gain's tax which supply sideers like me have wanted to do for years. anyway, much more of my exclusive interview with governor romney is coming up later in the show. next up, what does romney's plan mean for stocks and the economy? we've got some cracker jack experts to break it down. and, later, president obama attempts to ease tensions with israeli prime minister. this over iran's nuclear ambitions. please, take a listen. >> i reserve all options and my policy here is not going to be one of containment. my policy is prevention of iran obtaining nuclear weapons. >> all right. much more on this important story later in the show. and please, folk, don't forget,

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now, let's turn to our investors.

investors rbis not political pun dantes, to break down what mitt romney's plan means. we'll have the punned ants later in the show. cnbc's own contributor. mitt romney said he'd look at it, but he didn't exactly jump into it. and i want to ask you about that point and the indexing of the minimum wage, which i don't think is so hot. >> you know, larry, it was great that you got that in. for 30 years, really, since the 1970s, since the high inflation rate, people have pointed out that if you have a tax that's based on inflation, then it's very detrimental to growth. and so if capital -- if the basis for capital gains could be indexed, it would be a huge, new

area of growth generation for the economy and for stocks. i think the fact that he said he'd consider it is good news. i'd like to hear that question put to obama. would you consider stopping the double/triple taxation of capital gains the way we do under the current system. >> yeah, that's very interesting stuff. jack, you heard that segment. what did you hear in terms of the stock market? did you hear a growth message that could boost stocks? i know nothing in life is perfect. did you hear something that might change the outlook for the stock market in the economy? you tell me, jack. >> i heard two things, larry. number one, i heard him embracing supply side. i really did. with a couple of literal missions. what you braulgt up, obviously, is very important. i think when we're talking about capital gains down the road, that's going to be the bigger of the issues. but when we're talking about what he just said, listen to what he just said. he talked about larger market rates. he talked about creating jobs, which is the antithesis of

what's coming out of washington today. the market is going to like that message. it's a question of whether it's electable or not. and i think that's the other part of what i heard. i think this is the beginning of holding hands and really getting the message across. >> dave, i would dare say most investment people coming on the show do not believe that they're having an effect on the stock market so far. i want to get your thinking on that. is there any kind of romney effect? is there kind of santorum effect? is there an effect? >> i think it's too early for

people to make too much of it because we don't know who the republican candidate is. and we also don't know what their full vision is. people -- i think markets understand that a primary process is very hard because you're pitting republicans against republicans. one thing i liked that i heard was romney being engaged. one of the huge frustrations on obama is that he's not meeting with his cabinet. not talking about programs where there could be spending restraint. and i think the biggest thing markets want to hear is some into this nightmare of ever-growing government spending, romney was certainly giving that tonight. >> the fact is he had on the tip of his tongue a lot of answers about that. shares of gdp, first hundred days, first term, second term.

there's no question he's really thought about that. jack, let me go to dave malpass. i'm going to use entray. that's the stock market of political forecast. intrade says the phonilying. >> that's about a 13 or a 14, regardless of what the earnings tell us. and if we were to get a romney victory or a republican victory, then more than likely, we're going to see america react the way it should. and you're going to see that market react to a record s&p earnings and corporate america that's cash-rich and leaner and meaner than ever before.

this market has got all the fundamentals. i really believe that they're absolutely right. so it's more a question of unleashing. what's going to be the catalyst. really, it's a question of time. >> dave malpass, you're looking for 1% or so gdp in the first quarter. let's see, that's a number that will come out in about the third week of april. that's a lot worse than the 3% gdp of the fourth quarter. david, will that affect expectations of this race? will that lower the probability for obama? >> i think the jobs numbers will matter more. people realize that the gdp goes up and down quarter by quarter. >> so i think he'll be able to run on some job growth and a gdp number that's still positive in november.

so what romney has to do is make the distinction that it could have been much better. and that for one, the level of debt that we're having. the dollar is weaker than it should have been and that means we have a lower per capita income than we should have had. that's the case to make. not that the country is falling off a cliff. i think that my view is that we -- that that case won't be there in november. >> all right. we're going to leave it there, gentlemen. thank you. appreciate you weighing in on the interview. up next, noted financial analyst dick bovey. he thinks our secretary of treasury may have some amnesia himself. later, more of my exclusive interview with mitt romney. take a listen as we go to break.

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those who are opposing the bank regulatory reform have financial amnesia. my next guess says geitner is

the guy with the amnesia. dick, welcome back. dick, i don't want to pick up the threat exactly and redo geitner's story. i want to ask you of points related to the story. that is this. many people believe, and i hear this from conservatives a lot, that the big banks are too big. and if you're too big, you're too big to fail and you need to be broken up. >> i think it's certainly true that we have huge banks in the united states. there are very big banks that dominating the banking system in those countries. the banking system in the united states still has, you know, close to 7,000 other banks out there. you need big banks in the united states.

you must have them if you're going to generate an economy which is going to grow at the rate that you'd like to see it grow. >> all right, must have them. this is the point that geitner. it's a soar spot on the campaign trail. even democrats. i don't think this is is much of an issue. he doesn't deal with a lot of things. but when you say we must have these big banks in order to grow the economy, why do you say that? what if those big banks were split up and we had more banks, not quite as big, maybe for diver diverse, maybe better managed, maybe better stocked. >> yeah, well, let's think about just the simple one. the federal treasury. in other words, the government owns what? it's going to lose about a trillion and a quarter this year. who's going to raise the money to pay for that? right now, we have primary dealers and two-thirds of those

primary dealers are foreign banks because we don't have enough big banks of the united states to raise the money and assist the treasury and funding the deficit. if we go to north dakota where we've got this huge find in oil shale. if we're going to find $6.3 million delores in oil shale, we need huge investments. if we're looking at significant projects that the countries around the world are involved in, whether it's china or india or these brazil and these countries that are competing with the united states, they amass the money to deal with these projects. >> a lot of people say let's take the north dakota shale. that's coming from local banks and regional banks that the big banks wouldn't go near it in the first place. a lot of people believe because of mr. geitner's reforms and 2500 pages, there's not a lot of

risk-taking going on in the banking system, which is another strike against what he's proposing. >> i agree with you a hundred percent that the risk-taking has been cut back dramatically. but think about it. the small banks or the mid-sized banks may get small pieces of what's going on in north dakota. but if you're going to bring it to a sizable industry, like a 7-sister oil operation, to use a name from the past, you're going to have to raise money from global markets. you can't go to a bank in one or tallahassee florida. you've got to go to the big banks in new york. you have to have the access to raise the money and achieve what you want. you must have big banks to raise big amounts of money. >> all right, we'll leave it there. i have some concerns about that. but, dick bovey, thank you for coming back on. next up on kudlow, much more of

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welcome back. at the top of this half hour, more of my exclusive sit down interview with mitt romney. i met him this morning in canton, ohio. it's these voters that are up for grabs. listen closely to this key part. i asked the governor whether he might change strategy if the economy continues to get better and better. what then would he run on? >> there's this new conventional wisdom offered. okay, the economy is looking better. the dow jones, 13,ah 000. they are now saying that the election is over because your main issue is the economy and obama is benefitting from the little bump up. what's your reaction to that conventional wisdom.

>> we sure hope the economy gets better. this president has failed us. it's taken much more for this economy to reboot. this president has a long way to go. >> incomes have risen. gasoline prices are now high. it comes from people who are attached in america. i've been campaigning across this country. they want someone who can see rising incomes, rising jobs and a bright future for their kids. his bail out of detroit and the car companies bailed out michigan and the whole economy. his argument is the bail outs and the payroll tax cut is what's doing it. reelect me. and, as i say, you've got all of these media saying that's it. there's no economic issue left. >> he's been in for three years. the economy is still struggling.

why didn't he put him in place at the beginning of his term? he had a democrat house, a democrat senate. he did not get the job done. and with regards to the autoindustry coming back, the reason he came back is he finally did what i said he hadded to do. once they did that, getting them back on their feet was a whole different story. they are overpromised in this case to the unions and overpromised to their distribution network. they had to go through bankruptcy. that's why they've come back. i'll be able to point out virtually everything the president's done has made it harder for this conmy to come back. obama care didn't create jobs. dod frank hasn't created jobs. this president's policies have hurt the economy. they haven't helped it. >> what happens -- just last question on this. but i'm reading this all of the time now.

if the numbers keep coming in better, i mean, we had for example 15.1 million car sales. that was a big number that came out last night. do you look for other issues? how does that work? >> well, the economy and the strength of america's economy and rising incomes people being able to count on the future. at the same time, talking about a brighter future includes understanding what the deficit is doing. this president has prodsed over four years with over a trillion dollars in deficit each year. we've got a government that's far too big, far too intrusive. so the message is straight forward. more jobs, less debt, smaller government. and he's failed at all three. i'm not going to light my hair on fire.

was that your way of saying that the economic issues have to be preeminent? was that your message? >> my message is i'm not going to say outrageous things about the president or his opponents. it gets you a number of days in the polls. i want to talk about the real issues americas face and talk with respect about people with different views. i want to bring us together with a government that's been kept into the box that it ought to be kept into. >> nbc news wall street journal poll out this morning, it says the primaries have taken their

toll, the negativism of the primaries have taken their toll. it's corroded support for the gop. >> you've slipped a little relative to president obama. first of all, can you get the independent support back, what would your strategy be? are these polls accurately saying the public is not happy with the republican party? >> we've got a long way to november, as you know. and anyone would be in it. we go through the rough and tumble process. i think it makes us tougher. it gets us ready for what's going to come with the obama team. >> you've described yourself in the debate as resolute. and you've had a bunch of come-from-behind victories. do you believe personally that this whole primary and debates and tough, negative campaign, has made you a better candidate than you were at the started of the process? >> absolutely.

i anticipate that i'm going to be more able to debate in the public square barack obama. i've also seen some of the, i'll say, less than accurate attacks and charges against me. i've been able to fend those off. i know where they're going to come from when the obama machine turns it on with a billion dollars of spending. i'm more ready to go after the president than i was when i got started. there's an advantage to having done this twice. first time you learn some lessons. second time through, you're also continuing to learn. i think that's one of the reasons i'm better prepared to go after this race. by the way, you are right. independent voters. that's what we have to be able to connect with. >> what do you say to them? as you move through super tuesday, how do you tailor -- you have two issues here. one is obama and economic recovery. you eve got to deal with that. now, the second one is a bump down in the independent voters. how do you strike thategyize to

with that? >> independents feel the same way. they don't want to have someone that is angry at them, that is mean-spirited. they want someone that loves the country that they can identify with. but they do want to see america become stronger. and they're concerned that the future is not as good for their kids. i want to bring back that america's promise. i want to reclaim the promise of a very bright future. good education, good values, hard work and a bright tomorrow. >> should kids go to four-year colleges? >> those that want to, absolutely. those that want to take a different course, that's their right, as well. but we'd like people to have tabt. opportunity. this is the quintessential american promise. the opportunity to achieve your dreams.

my view is for those kids that tonality want to college, and for those parents that want them to go to college, that's a terrific goal to have. my wife's dad came here as an immigrant. they couldn't afford four of them going to college. so they pooled their resources. wouldn't it be wonderful if in america everyone who wanted to go to college could afford it? >> i think it would be wonderful. absolutely. and i think it's a great goal to go to college. anyway, romney, great stuff. many thanks to governor mitt romney. folks, if you missed any part of my sit down interview, you can watch it now, cnbc.com. next up, governor romney with 24 hours before super tuesday. now the question is will he close down rick santorum or not?

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the u.s. economy is back. the election is over. mitt romney told me still, the president has failed the u.s. and it ain't true. there's no over-election. let's talk to our distinguished political pundants. steve forbes, cnbc contributor, former white house deputy press secretary. i want to go to you first because i'm sure you eying disagree with me. it's great to have you back. i want to pause it throughout this process, this is my, i don't know, second, third or fourth interview with governor romney over the spouse of the year. he is the most under-rated guy in the republican primaries and, b, in the entire presidential race. underrated. >> you crack me up. >> i knew you'd love this. that's why i asked you first. >> given the economic problems this country is having, he

should be 20 points ahead of obama in the polls. he's 10-points behind. the public independent voters as you've noted, show that they're just turning off them by the droves. and, you know, it's not because of the primary campaign. it's because they've been watching him for five years now. >> that's completely unfair. steve forbes, the knock against mitt romney is not that he doesn't have details. he's got too many details. now he's starting to whittle that down into a coherent package led by the tax cuts. but, steve, my point is this. after all is said and done, he's basically running neck and neck with obama. the nbc poll, i think, had six

points, okay. four point social securis is th. romney lost in florida and he came back. he was down 15 in michigan and he came back. he's still in there fighting. and he's still toughing it out. so i'll ask you the same question. i stuck out with david corn, but steve forbes, is it possible that mitt romney is the rodney dangererfield of this race? >> well, in a field that wasn't the one that some of us would have liked. but putting that aside, larry, the fact of the matter is romney is a better candidate today than he was two or three weeks ago. so compared to where he was, this is immense progress. and i hope he makes similar progress, larry, in the weeks ahead on health care and put on the table, let's say he wants to get rid of obama care? what does he hope to replace it

with? if he comes with shopping for health insurance, another positive reforms, he will end upbeating obama in november, even though the economy is doing a lit beter than it was a year ago. >> that's the thing. tackle that issue, this new beltway conventional wisdom that the economy is doing better and the election is already over. that, to me, there's so many issues, values issues, fiscal issues, economic issues that are unsolved. i mean, who is this coming from? why are these beltway geniuses coming. >> i'm in the private sector, i want to believe it, too. it would be great for my person business. but i think what's clear is that we actually still have a fairly fragile economy going forward. we want to see it take off. and i think, you know, romney, i think is far more comfortable with his economic mess sang right now. i think it was very comfortable in his interview with you, larry. and he also knew to switch to

the more hopeful, optimistic message going forward, regardless of where the economy is. and i think he'll have that opportunity. >> david corn, i struck out with you on rodney dangerfield. let me talk horse race with you. do you think romney is going to have a good day tomorrow? do you think he's going to take out santorum? i'm specifically referring to ohio. but i want to kind of throw tennessee in there, too. that one hasn't gotten the credit -- tennessee is an important election. >> i don't like making predictions, but the trend line is that he's close in ohio. i agree with steve forbes. he's doing well, given a very, very weak feield? and when he wants to go out there and talk about college education, i'm from college education without backing it up with anything, it's kind of farcical. i wish he would have asked him directly, what do you think the government should do or should not do or should cut back on when it comes to giving people more opportunity to go to college? i think he's not near that.

that's the fields week. he doesn't have to get that specific. >> look, i'm stubborn. i think people should and want -- i believe they want, if they possibly can, to go to a four-year college. but is government assistance, pell grants the right way to go about that? i mean, i thought all of that stuff was driving up tuition sky-high. steve forbes, i believe you're on the board of pris ton for many years, if you're not still. is that the answer? >> no, proversely, you have a prime situation where the government tries to help and ends up making the situation force. you know inflation in terms of tuitions, going up four times the general price level, twice the health care increase. and i think you're going to see major changes in higher education the next few year, including in terms of undergraduate education. why not do it in three years instead of four years. and you're going to see state institutions that make it very difficult for kids to graduate if in four years because of requirements and shortage of classrooms.

so i think you're going to see a cut down in college administrative cost. and you're going to see a shortening of the time to get through. >> but subsidies make things more expensive. >> that's what i thought. i don't know, i didn't get that right. >> david corn, i tried, buddy. i'll keep on trying. we love having you. steve forbes, thank you very much. tony, thank you, i appreciate it. next up on kudlow, the president, once again, says we have israel back when it comes to iraq. but the president is asking israel to let sanctions work itself out. why are some saying israels don't a hundred percent trust on this subject. we'll be right back with the middle east. nice morning, scott?

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president obama today had a crucial meeting at the white house. the president is trying to convince israel not to attack iran. but he gave no signs of backing down from at least contingency planning for such an attack. let's bring our guest. we have senior fellow. wrote a great in today eats wall street journal. dan, before i get into that story, may i just get a comment from you, senator john mccain this afternoon, has made a speech i guess on the floor of the senate, calling for the united states to bomb syria. what's that all about? >> well, it's gotten to a point given the human catastrophe, which is what we're talking about over 7,000 casualties

combined with a real national security interest, which is the sense that the longer asad is in power, the weaker it is for the u.s. and israeli position in the middle east than it is for teheran. it seems there's no process we can get the international community to move with us on some sort of action. so mccain is trying to head off the bloodshed and hopefully weaken if not bring down the force. >> has he gotten any other backers, dan? >> i'm pretty sure you can see a number of cosponsors getting on board. people like lindsey graham and mark orubio, i think these are people who share the word view on these issues. the question is whether or not he can build some kind of bipartisan consensus. they're concerned that you're fuelling a civil war. there's some democrats who realize there is a bipartisan

consensus on weaking teheran and iran. and it's that action. >> let me go directly to the israel engagement by president obama. he sounded a, very hawkish regarding iran this weekend. and, b, very, very supportive, i've got your back, regarding israel. you today raise doubts about the consistency and the durability of those views. can you tell us more? >> sure. larry, well, first, president obama has not had israel's back over the last several years. i mean, that's just a fact. if you look at some of the statements, actually, what the administration has done in a very deliberate way is project sunlight, project daylight between the israel government and the u.s. government. probably about 15-20 years since there's been this perception n the world that the u.s. is as critical. the president has said, as such, to a group of jewish leaders a couple years ago, that there

needed to be some distance between the u.s. and israel. if you just look at the record over the last couple years, it hasn't been very good. the question, today, is basically two-fold. one, is he going to out source decision-making to the president of the united states about taking military action against iran? because they will reach a point soon when israel does not have the military capability to actually do what needs to be done. >> but there's a systemic draw on that point. obama says i've got your back. but he also says to israel, if you strike first against iran, it will be a distraction. you don't have the military resource to do so and it will make it all much more difficult. if you let us, the u.s. strike first, we do have the resources and we can take care of this for you if we go down that route. and he talked about a military effort. in other words, is there not logic to obama's position? i'm 234not going through the history here.

but i'm just saying. is he saying don't jump first? that will make it worse. >> the second part of what you said is the most important. if the president gave obama, today, in that oval office meeting, an ironclad commitment, that if diplomacy and sanctions fail, the united states will take military action. he has not said that publicly. he had an enormous opportunity yesterday to say that. if you notice, he chose his words carefully. he set a nuclear bomb by iran is unacceptable. he said containment is not his policy. he never said -- and he said, you know, people have called my bluff in the past, have been proven wrong. but what he never said is if i need to use military force to stop iran from getting a nuclear bomb, i will. now, if he gave that commitment to the oval office meeting today, that's something. and if yahoo blelieves him and thinks it has credibility, so much so that he can stake the future of israel's existence. that's something. >> in other words, we'll get the leaks or we'll get the

statements from the prime minister or somebody. but you're saying it's not ironclad? that if the central bank sanctions, the oil sanctions, if they're still building a nuclear weapon, which is kind of what everybody thinks. you want to see an even tougher statement by our president. >> now, is that ruled out, necessarily, a tougher statement? >> well, the president has not said anything along those lines yet. we'll find out. hopefully, we're more and more of what he said behind closed doors today to the prime minister. but if you look at what the prime minister said, in the opening of that meeting, what is the point he zeroed in on? the prime minister zeroed in on the point he made yesterday.

>> and if we don't believe in the next few months that iran is at the khi plum psi of iran, we'll have to take action. >> thank you. we appreciate your inputs very, very much on this. programming extended special coverage to super tuesday tomorrow night on "the kudlow report" followed by cnbc special. we will see you then. super tuesday. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about the cookie-cutter retirement advice ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you get at some places. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 they say you have to do this, have that, invest here ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you know what? ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 you can't create a retirement plan based on ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 a predetermined script. ttd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we actually take the time to listen -

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