know each other personally, work better professionally. >> i won't always be here. but i hope the legacy of civility that i've worked with the other women to create will remain. >> reporter: dana bash, cnn, capitol hill. >> thank you so much for joining us. i'm candy crowley in "the situation room." the news continues next on cnn. good evening, everyone. i'm john king. tonight afghanistan's leader accuses the united states military of not telling the truth about the massacre of afghan civilians. and he warns the u.s.-afghan relationship is in his words at the end of the rope. also the implications of today's guilty verdicts in the case of a college student who used his webcam to spy on his gay roommate. and actor george clooney goes to jail in order to bring attention to a crisis halfway around the to a crisis halfway around the world. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we begin tonight with the latest round of accusations in the tense relationship now tenuous relationship between the

united states and afghanistan. today the afghan president hamid karzai met with the relatives of some of the 16 civilians who died in sunday's massacre which u.s. officials blame on one u.s. army staff sergeant. president karzai spoke with president obama. he said he doesn't believe the u.s. version of events. and he says he's running out of patience. >> it is by all means the end of the rope here. the end of the rope. the end of the rope. nobody can afford such luxuries anymore. >> choon >> cnn's sarah simon. did president karzai convey that end of the rope atmosphere to president obama? >> reporter: i'm not sure that he did. but he certainly said that mr. obama was upset with him. he talked in talk together people that were there that he was there to listen. to he told them that he was upset with him because mr. karzai had asked for this

transition from having nato forces in control of many parts of the country to having afghan forces take control by 2013 as opposed to 2014. and so you can see that there was some frustration there on both sides if indeed mr. obama was upset with him of over that statement that was made. and it seems that maybe they weren't expecting it. the u.s. perhaps not expecting to hear that from mr. karzai when mr. panetta was here visiting and having talks with him at that time, john. >> sarah, we know u.s. officials hoping to tamp down the outrage over this massacre. has shown afghan surveillance video of the alleged gunman. u.s. officials saying this should prove the actions of just one person. what's president karzai's reaction to that? >> reporter: interesting. we asked him about that directly at the presidential palace today as he was about to leave after he had sat for more than an hour listening to villagers tell their stories of what happened on sunday. and he said "i'm not convinced." he said that his investigative

team did see that surveillance video, but there's a lot of skepticism surrounding that video. and a lot of people saying that they're not quite sure if that was actually the night it happened, north quite sure if this is actually the soldier. they're not quite sure if there were other soldiers perhaps involved. all of the villagers talked in sentences like "we do not believe one soldier could do this, could pull off this massacre" that was in several homes and in a couple of different villages. it sounds to me like mr. karzai's reiterating that by saying, well, based on what these villagers are telling me, that it was not one soldier. so interesting comments coming there. certainly going to make some tension, at least the tensions will grow between the u.s. and afghanistan if more statements like that are made by mr. karzai. john? >> tensions, distrust and more. sarah simon for news kabul. the still unidentified u.s. army staff sergeant accused of this massacre is being flown to the detention center at fort

leavenworth kansas today. that statement coming from his attorney. our pentagon correspondent chris lawrence has been working his sources. chris, so because of the suspect here the staff sergeant arriving at fort leavenworth, where does that take news the process? does that mean we're closer to charges or he has a new place for detention? >> reporter: we've been told him coming to fort leavenworth is separate from actual charges being filed. but we are told that it's likely that he will be in fort leavenworth probably within the next few hours or at least by later on tonight. but again, charges we may not see those until possibly tomorrow. however, there is a good chance we may know exactly who this man is by the time he actually lands and is taken into fort leavenworth. >> interesting. that's one of obviously the big questions we're trying answer who is the suspect. chris as we try to get this information, as we watch the transfer a lot of theories floating around out there what

might have led to this tragedy. what are your sources telling you? >> reporter: they're all telling me, don't look for that one size fits all explanation to say that's exactly why he did it. they're looking at his medical history, how he was evaluated before he was sent back to deployment. they're looking at what happened to him while he was in afghanistan. he and his unit, members of his unit. they're looking at his personal life. i was told that when you look at something like this it's easy to point to one cause, assign a motive and move on. he said the source that i talked to said that when you really get down to it what i think you're going to see is a set of factors so to speak. a number of things that may have contributed to what happened that night. >> chris lawrence live for us tonight at the pentagon. chris thanks so much. also tonight a fascinating footnote to the death of osama bin laden. new details of what bin laden was plotting before u.s. forces killed him. among other things he wanted to

assassinate president obama. according to the "washington post," newly translated documents seized during the raid on the compound in pakistan quoted al qaeda leader as saying "obama is the head of infidelity. killing him will make biden take over the presidency. biden is totally unprepared for that post which will lead the u.s. into a crisis." the documents also revealed bin laden was worried that al qaeda had tarnished its image by killing so many muslims in the midst of its jihad against the united states. a former rutgers university student was found guilty today of using a webcam to spy on and intimidate his roommate, tyler clementi. dharun ravi did not flinch as the jury read off a string of guilty verdicts. tyler clementi his roommate killed himself after his intimate encounter with a male was streamed on the internet. >> to our college, high school and middle school youngsters i would say. this you're going to meet a lot

of people in your lifetime. some of these people you may not like. but just because you don't like them does not mean you have to work against them. >> let's analyze this important case. our cnn legal analyst jeffrey toobin is with us. the defendant in this case again, dharun ravi guilty of privacy invasion, bias, intimidation, witness tampering and hindering arrest. up to ten years in prison, possibly deportation. the verdict make sense to you? >> well, it does. but this is a very difficult case. it's very unusual to have a criminal case where the facts are not in dispute. the defense and the prosecution agreed what happened here. the only issue really in this case was what was ravi's intent? what was going on in his head? his defense was, look, this is a knuckle-headed kid basically pulling a prank. whereas the prosecution said no, this was no prank, this was a targeted hate crime. and that's what the jury believed. >> and you say targeted hate crime. part of the issue here is

obviously tyler clementi killed himself. i want you to listen to prosecutor trying to explain one of the things they wanted to say he was intimidated by this. let's listen to prosecutor. >> the investigation of this case provided very, very unique challenges. such as we did not have tyler to assist us in the investigation. we did not have tyler to tell us in his own words and in person what happened. >> so how then to get to a state of mind question? did he feel intimidated when obviously he was deceased? >> well, this was a case where there were enormous numbers of e-mails, twitter posts. i mean, there was just a tremendous amount of electronic record of what people thought. and some of it was contradictory. there were times that tyler clementi was sort of laughing off what was going on, and there were times when he was obviously heartbroken. and the fact that he killed himself obviously speaks louder

than anything. so i mean, it really was a case reconstructed from the electronic records. and those, you know, those didn't lie. everybody -- you could tell what was happening in real time with all of the people involved in the case. >> it was obviously a highly publicized case. received attention all the way up to the president of the united states. set aside for a minute the high profile of the case. anything unique or interesting about the law of this case? >> oh, yeah, absolutely. i mean, whether this is actually a hate crime is something that i think an appeals court is going to take a very hard look at. i mean, hate crimes are the classic ones dragging a gay guy behind a truck because you hate him. i mean, those are what the law was designed to do. whether showing a real-time video is a hate crime is something that i think some courts may say is simply not a hate crime. i mean, this is a -- if this were just a peeping tom case,

that would be a misdemeanor. this becomes a ten-year felony because of what the prosecutors said his state of mind was. and may be right. but i don't know if it's right. and i think it's going to be an interesting, tough call for an appeals court. >> well when you say you don't know, it's interesting tough call, take us through that process. what will the questions be when you get to the appeals court level? >> the question will be, did the new jersey state legislature have this kind of conduct in mind when it passed the hate crimes law. because given the -- this was not a traditional crime of violence. in fact, one of the peculiar aspects of this case is the background to the case was what everybody knows and what is so heart-breaking and awful about this case is that tyler clementi kyled himself. but ravi was not charged with participating or causing the suicide. he was just charged with the hate crime. and so whether that activity of

show showing the naked or seminaked pictures that were taken from the webcam in his room amounts to a hate crime is something i think an appeals court may have trouble saying it is. >> senior legal analyst jeffrey toobin, fascinating case. we'll watch as it goes forward. jeffrey thanks so much for your help and insights tonight. breaking news we told you at the top of the program. we're still waiting to go identify the army staff sergeant suspected of committing that massacre last week in afghanistan. a military source now confirms he is staff sergeant robert bales. his name has not been officially released by the military. but barbara starr told it was robert bales. chris, now we have the name of the staff sergeant. obviously it's easier to look at his record and all that. >> reporter: we just confirmed with a second pentagon source it

was sergeant robert bales. he did a lot of work with the tribal elders there. actually i've been online just in the last minute or two. saw some photos of him working with some of the afghans with some of the work that he was doing there in the short time of the past few months that he was there. the next step is for him to arrive at fort leavenworth. we're told that will likely happen sometime tonight, maybe within the next few hours or so. once he gets to fort leavenworth, the usual procedure is he will be given a lengthy physical and psychological exam to see where best he should be placed at fort leavenworth. and then you start to get into the legal process. first step obviously down the road would be article 32 hearing in which sort of a -- think of probable cause hearing in a civilian court. from there the ball just keeps rolling. the one caveat to this case, this is getting way ahead of ourselves, but if this is referred as a death penalty

case, the one caveat is going to be in that sort of case the prosecution cannot use sworn statements or depositions. they have to actually produce the witness. and the defense has the right to look at his accusers and to cross-examine those witnesses. how that would play with these afghan villagers in a very remote part of afghanistan possibly being brought here to the united states, that's something to keep an eye on down the road, john. >> fascinating question. chris lawrence, thank you for reporting live at the pentagon again. just to recap sources telling chris lawrence and barbara starr identifying the army staff sergeant in that massacre that killed 16 afghan civilians is sergeant robert bales. on his way to the detention center at fort leavenworth tonight. coming up here cnn's fareed zakaria explains what this week's massacre in afghanistan means for the future of u.s. troops on the ground there.

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the afghan president isn't convinced the u.s. military is telling the truth about the shoot mast kerr last week that killed 16 afghans. today he criticized the u.s. military for what he calls a lack of cooperation in this investigation. >> the afghan investigative team did not receive the cooperation that they expected from the united states. therefore these are all questions that we'll be raising and raising very loudly. it is by all meanses the end of the rope here. >> here to discuss this fareed zakaria the host of fareed zakaria gps. fareed, president karzai says he's at the end of his rope. i'm sure a lot of people in this country would say for years they've been at the end of their rope. you look at this is a horrible tragedy but would we be in this position if there weren't so much corruption in the karzai government, inertia in the

afghan government. and the question are the afghan troops ready to take on the security challenge. is this relationship done? >> this relationship has always been very tough. and i share the frustration that a lot of people have. i've always felt that we needed a much smaller mission in afghanistan. it was focused on killing bad guys rather than trying to nation build in afghanistan. but in this particular case, let's be clear. we are at fault in the sense that this was a terrible tragedy done by an individual soldier. but let's hope that president karzai is just kind of exaggerating to get attention. but we should be cooperating. and we should be trying to provide whatever assistance we can. >> and so as part of the paulout here, president karzai says he wants the troops out of the villages and bring them back to their bases. as you know a key element of counter snujsy is to get into those villages, to try to build the trust so when the troops eventually do leave those people have enough trust in themselves and the local security forces

that the balance dan does not come back. is president karzai right? is it time for us to pull back? >> the president doesn't want us. the local chiefs don't want us. the villagers don't want us. what are we doing that? building trust but that trust is not being built if they don't want us there. we've been in afghanistan for ten years. they're tired of having these foreign troops in their country. it's understandable and we should be moving to a much lower profile mission that is really devoted to trying to attack and destroy al qaeda and associated terrorist groups. this whole task of trying this unending nation building project in afghanistan is just not going to work. you know, we may stabilize kandahar or places, but trust me five years from now after we've left, those places will look a lot like they've looked. they will revert to their historical destiny. >> very sober assessment. let me change the subject. you have a big special coming up this weekend, gps road map for

saving healthcare. in the current presidential campaign the obama healthcare is a subject of huge debate. not fully implemented yet. republicans say it's a disaster. too much bureaucracy. takes away personal choice. demes say it will be a great thing in the end. >> the swiss found they had a system much like ours. private doctors, private insurers, private hospitals. but everyone was having the same problems, which was the healthy wouldn't buy insurance. the insurance companies were trying to throw anyone who was sick off their rolls. you were getting into this downward spiral. so they passed an individual mandate. they basically passed obama care 20 years ago. the results have been very positive. lower costs, better quality. so you end up once you look at it from the point of view of facts rather than ideology, you end up recognizing that to make healthcare work it's very difficult to do it if everyone is not insured, if everyone isn't in the system. because otherwise the healthy people don't want to buy insurance and the insurance companies want to take the sick

people off their rolls. so i don't know whether obama care is constitutional. that's above my pay grade. at some level i would say it's inevitable looking at healthcare around the world. >> looking forward to learning about that and more, fareed zakaria, thank you. >> a pleasure. >> and fareed's special "global lessons, the gps road map to saving healthcare" airs sunday night at 8:00 eastern. mitt romney is in -- santorum campaign accusing him of pandering. pedestrians crossing the street while texting or listening to music. a group wants to stop it. does that mean you? is this what we're doing now?

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welcome back. lisa sylvester is with us tonight. she's got the latest news you need to know right now. >> reporter: north korea wants to joint space race. its government just announced plans to launch an earth observation satellite in april. the u.s. quickly labled the idea highly provocative and says the launch would violation international agreements. back here in the united states, the president of the university of southern milz is apologizing after her school's pep band shouted an ugly chant at a latino point guard during a march madness game. listen closely. >> together you see mills trying to come over and draw the charge. rodriguez has already let the ball go. he's a freshman but he's about as cool as they come right now. >> that was directed at angel

rodriguez, a kansas state point guard. he's from puerto rico. no green card needed. in the end rodriguez scored 13 points for kansas state which won 70-64. actor george clooney is free after being arrested outside sudan's embassy in washington today. clooney was among a group of human rights activists, faith leaders and several democratic congressmen arrested while protesting what they say is the sudanese government's random bombing and killing of civilians. >> how did they treat you in there, by the way? >> it was really rough. you can imagine. you ever in a cell with these guys? >> reporter: none the worse for the wear there. something you and just about everyone else probably has done at some point in time. it could get you find here in washington if a group of concerned citizens gets its way. according to the "l.a. times," group members are among d.c.'s city council asking them to ban pedestrians from texting, talking or listening to mobile

devices while crossing the street because they say that they're so distracted that it isn't safe. that is something i'm sure we've seen. we've probably seen a number of pedestrians cross right in front of us on the cell phone? >> i would applaud such a law and applaud even more so enforcement of it. you worry about the safety of these people. they just walk right into traffic. >> you're right. and bingo it's going to be the enforcement of it. that's going to be the key thing. if they don't ticket for jaywalking will they as well? >> a lot of places don't enforce this while driving, either. coming up if none of the presidential hopefuls can garner enough delegates there could be drum roll please a broerked convention. that puts my next guest republican national committee chairman in a tough position. the best part of any great meal?

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ahead this half hour, bilingual bickering on the campaign trail. puerto rico votes sunday. republicans are fighting over the island's official language. obama's team rolls out an ad worthy of hollywood. the truth over whether it will win over voters or remind them they're still waiting on the promise of hope. we're going inside the senate's zone of civility. senate women who cross party lines to support one another. we'll talk politics in a moment. first we're going to get back to breaking news. we now know the name of the u.s. soldier accused of last sunday's

massacre in afghanistan. you're going to see first photos of him right here. military sources tell cnn that staff sergeant robert bales is the one accused of killing afghan civilians including nine children. we'll bring you more on this story as soon as we get i-. more news by the second here. tonight shifting back to politics, mitt romney is in puerto rico this evening campaigning in advance of sunday's presidential primary there. no surprise as soon as he stepped off the plane this afternoon romney was asked whether he agrees with rival rick santorum that english shoulded be puerto rico's principal language before it can gain statehood. >> english has been an official language of puerto rico for 100 years. and i think selecting the words of your governor, spanish is the language of puerto rico's heritage. english is the language of opportunity. i would hope that young people would learn both languages, but particularly english. >> santorum camp now accuses governor romney of flip-flopping on the language issue.

cnn national correspondent jim acosta is in san juan. >> reporter: john as you can hear they're striking up the band behind me for this mitt romney event that will get started add few moments from now. the former massachusetts governor had no choice but to wade into the politics of language here in puerto rico earlier this afternoon when he arrived here on the island he held a brief press conference where he was previously pressed on the issue whether or not puerto rico should adopt english as its official language as a condition for statehood. he said during that news conference there should be no preconditions. the santorum campaign immediately jumped on that and accused romney of a flip-flop on the issue, noting that earlier this year at a cnn debate romney said that english should be the official language of the united states and that according to the santorum campaign that should extend to puerto rico. the romney campaign responded very quickly to that and said, no, this is not a reversal. whether or not english is the official language of the united states should have no bearing on puerto ricoen statehood. that's the response from the

romney campaign. all this goes to show you that all politics is local, even in puerto rico. and nobody knows that more at this point than rick santorum. he invested two days of his time campaigning down here before this primary on sunday. and he stumbled on this issue, telling reporters earlier this week that he does believe it should be a condition for statehood for puerto rico to adopt english as one of its official languages. that did not go over well here in puerto rico and could cost him in the primary on sunday, john. >> the candidates are literally all over the map today. you saw mitt romney in puerto rico. rick santorum is campaigning in missouri and illinois. newt gingrich is in louisiana. they're talk gas prices, foreign policy. but one topic that keeps coming up, the possibility of a brokered convention. the frontrunner governor romney plays that down. >> look. we're not going to go to a brokered convention. >> we're not. >> no. one or the other of us among the three or four that are running is going to get the delegates necessary to become the nominee. >> but if it did come to that, a brokered convention, the

chairman of the republican national committee, boy, would he have an interesting job. that chairman reince priebus with us now. on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely? >> honestly, john, i don't think it matters. the i think that in the end it's not going to be about a brokered convention or what we do there. i think what it's going to be about is whether or not people believe this president deserves to be re-elected. it's going to be a referendum on barack obama no matter which of our candidates becomes the nominee. >> in the modern times the conventions haven't mattered. it's essentially a big campaign ad for the nominee of either party. they show up, have the delegates locked up. have you as the chairman, are you yourself looking at the rules? ask the attorneys to look the a the rules just in case? you would be the man in the middle. >> i know the rules pretty well as general counsel of the rnc, john. we live the rules every day. and we'll be prepared for anything. we've got four great candidates running for president. one of these four candidates will be our nominee. in the end this will be a

referendum on barack obama and whether the words coming out of his mouth came to fruition and whether he fulfilled the promises to the american people. and the good news for the republicans are is that if you look at the real clear politics average, no matter what you look at we're in the margin right now and we're breaking records for money coming in the door at the rnc. so all of this discussion hasn't amounted to us losing ground against the president either in polling or in money. so i like our chances. >> you said one of these four candidates is going to be our nominee. as you know, and you travel the country quite a bit, mr. chairman, there are people out there in your party who say, if we get to a brokered convention. aha. that's how we get chris christie. that's how we get jeb bush, mitch daniels. you say impossible? >> impossible is a pretty big word. but one of these four candidates will be our nom knee. these are the four candidates that are standing. these are one of the four people who put their name out there to go through the process, to make

their case to the american people. i like what it's doing for our party. >> i want to ask you a broader question, an issue that has come up both in the presidential context and the congressional context is part of the healthcare debate. coverage of contraception. whether the government should be involved. whether the government should be funding planned parenthood. a number of different questions that have come up. some people look at the polling data and certainly look at what the democrats are doing and they think perhaps there's an opening here. perhaps the republicans are being hurt a little bit. mr. chairman, it's not just democrats saying this. i want you to listen to here republican senator lisa murkowski of alaska. >> i think that was an unfortunate place for us to be. i think that my party is in an unfortunate place right now as viewed by many, many women in this country who are feeling very anxious about what they believe to be attacks on women's health. >> senator murkowski have a point? >> i mean, sure, if you restate a lie enough times on television then obviously you have to undo a lie that's out there.

and the fact that the democratic party says that we have a war on women doesn't make it so. i mean, the reality is that what this is and what this started as is whether or not the obama world of big government could tell the vatican and the catholic church what types of religious practices they could engage in or not. and it's an affront to the first amendment. and james madison. and the bill of rights. that's what we engage. in in fact, vice-president biden said, hey, we screwed up. those are his words, not mine. [ overlapping speakers ] >> has anyone in your party in your view overplayed their hand in response? senator murkowski referred to the blunt amendment which would be a blanket opportunity for businesses to deny contraception. did it go too far? was the timing maybe bad? >> i'm not going to comment on lisa murkowski's comments. she can say whatever she wants. my point is that the democrats, if they claim that we have a war

on one group or the next doesn't make it so. that's my point. my point is that this is about obama care, which republicans and democrats have rejected. and it will be on the ballot in november. and the war on women is a war that this president has perpetrated in regard to the economy, jobs, getting people back to work, getting gas prices to a place that we can afford them. that's a war on women. i mean, maybe we should ask anita dunn whether or not there's a war on women in the white house. i mean, this is just silliness. it's a distraction. it's small ball. this is about liberty, freedom, and getting the american economy back on track. and this president's failed at every level. and that's what this election is going to be about, not based on lies coming from the democratic party. >> this debate will continue as will many others, mr. chairman. appreciate your time tonight. >> thank you. the obama campaign has a new ad out and it's a long one. 140,000 views already on

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team obama calls it a documentary. his critics call is propaganda. it is an extended campaign ad. as such it is not meant to be

objective. >> not since the days of franklin roosevelt had so much fallen on the shoulders of one president. and when he faced his country, who looked to him for answers, he would not dwell in blame or dreamy idealism. >> it's already a hit on youtube. the idea is to use it at obama house parties this campaign year to inspire local democratses. that's good politics and perfectly appropriate. you have to tip your cap to team obama for a well-hyped rollout getting "the road we've traveled" a ton of media attention. here's tonight's truth. there's a risk here. this well-produced film that no doubt inspires democrats could if they see it also raise questions in people less sure about supporting the president when he asks for re-election in november. this opening scene, chicago's grant park on election night, is both an uplifting flashback. but might it also not be a reminder that three plus years later some are still waiting for the promised hope and change?

now, one shouldn't expect the president's team to be anything but positive and complimentary. but this from the filmmaker davis guggenhemi borders on arrogant. >> what are the negatives in your movie about barack obama? >> well, i mean, the negative for me was there were too many accomplishments. i had 17 minutes to put them all in there. >> might not surprise you the republican frontrunner mitt romney takes issue. >> mr. guggenheim said that he could find nothing wrong with the president. nothing negative to say in this documentary. it's obviously an infomercial. and i thought, well, i'll give you some help, mr. guggenhemi. >> now trooit is, it's a tricky balance. promoting an incumbent president in the middle of uneven and uncertain economic times. of course the president is proud of his accomplishments. and the film makes a strong case about the economic ditch the president inherited. tom hanks is the narrater. >> time and time again, we would

see rewards from tough decisions he had made. not for quick political gain, but for long-term and enduring change. >> now again an auto worker who credits the bailout for his or her job might nod or even cheer there or a 24-year-old now covered a bit longer on a parent's healthcare policy. but the overall unemployment rate is higher now than when the president took office. the number of americans living in poverty is also up. not everyone sees or feels the rewards the movie promotes. president obama isn't the first incumbent to face the challenge of selling himself in tough times. he is, though, first to turn to hollywood for such high profile help. the early reviews of "the road we've traveled" they tenth tend to break not surprisingly among partisan lines. truth is the review that matters most 235 days away. let's talk truth now. joining me cnn contributor and former speech writer and cnn contributor and democratic

strategist. first it's a campaign year. they're supposed to be promoting the president. but there's a little bit of a line there, no? >> well, sure there is, john. but like you said in your intro, this is focused on making sure to get the base riled up, fired up and ready to go as the president likes to say. but i think it is also to your point. when independents see it, yes, they see the beginning of it as wow, we remember this what happened. but if they see the whole thing, i think it's also intended to explain exactly the difficulties that he inherited and the tough decisions that he had to make. and frankly, the media's talked about this, a lot of times his decisions weren't meant to be politically expedient but they were meant to -- he has done what he thought was right regardless of that political expediency. i think in the mind of independents that's going to help. >> now your republicans and conservatives to maria's right, appropriately, i guess. but to the idea of just the narrative. it looks back. we're in march. if the obama team is looking

back and explaining what was the situation once they took office, they have a pretty powerful case here about the economy was a mess. but as bill clinton your former boss used to say, bill clinton used to say no, don't ever look back. elections are about the future. >> they wallow in it. this is a 17-minute-long pity party. >> tom hanks? >> i could not get through all 17 minutes. i think peace a pavlovian response. but i like tom hanks better in "the polar express." and the line, "we don't dwell in blame" when they spend how many minutes of that documentary talking about how it's everybody else's fault. so i think that's a real problem. and a lot of the critics are starting to say, what did you do about the debt? what did you do about the deficit? you mentioned unemployment. we could go on and on. so i'm not sure it makes the case. and i don't think it works with independents. >> david, this is your business. you're a words guy and a message

guy. this is the beginning of their re-election narrative. >> yes but what is fascinating, words tell us about ourselves. they reveal who we are. you talk about appealing to the base, who are the democratic base? if you're a donor, one of the wealthier top 5% or 1% of democrats, this message is going to be very compelling. your portfolio is up. your recession is over. you are getting the catalog alive in some zip codes today offering the $70,000 private jet tour of africa. that's fantastic. things have begun to turn around. but the old democratic base, the people who work for a living, their recession isn't over. it's been unrelenting, grinding misery. and what is of course you put your best foot forward. but it seems so disconnected, this video, from the people who used to be the democratic party. >> you mean like the 1 million auto workers whose jobs were saved by what the president did? >> well, i think the different parts of the country. the presidents used to get this

better, davis guggenhemi an interview with piers morgan saying there were too many accomplishments. the president does seem to get. this let's listen to president himself. this is today at a fundraiser. >> it's not as trendy to be involved in the obama campaign as it was back then. [ laughter ] of you have you kn rolled up those hope posters and they're in a closet somewhere. but i am r more determined and more confident that what drove us in 2008 is the right thing for america. >> now, again, that's preaching to the choir. that's more calibrated, is it not? that i understand not all of you have that, you're not all celebrating hope anymore. >> look again who he's talking to and for.

one of the things that is really terrible that has happened the past three years is the way the political class of both parties has detached itself. i think a lot of people in 2008 looked at barack obama and thought this is going to be a way to break through that disconnect. >> he's fundamentally a cerebral guy and is a bit distant and doesn't have a natural warmth. he has more of a natural cerebral aspect. to be as objective as possible, i didn't see that connect happen in this 17-minute ad and the question is, can he make it happen on the campaign trial. >> here's another thing this ad is intended to do and george bush did this in 2004. things are going in the right direction. for bush, it was about national security. so why change the coach in mid

game? that's why they showed the graphs they showed about unemployment and even though somebody's not feeling it, they see those numbers and say my job is going to be next. >> that psychology is the president of the campaign. ask president bush, even the statistics are changing, people don't feel it. >> bounce back from a recession and people are not in joy. >> and average pay is less than it was 12 months ago. >> thanks for coming in on a friday night. erin burnett coming up. the u.s. staff sergeant is robert bails, how are you dealing with that story tonight? >> we're going to have the latest. we've been trying to get more information on who this man is is. we can tell you a little bit about him. about where he was born and actually been looking at stories in kre cent, from the past couple of years that cite him as a part of battles that he was a part of in iraq. so, we have the very latest on

him and possiblily, what might happen to him. whether it will be a military type tribunal, so that's at the top of the hour. plus, osama bin laden. we have some information, things off that computer that was found in the safe house where he died. we've got that information and we're going to tell you exactly what he was planning against the president of the united states. all that top of the hour, back to you. >> see you in just a few minutes. thank you. coming up, we reflect on a moment that changed presidential politics. i was talking to arsenio hall and asked him about bill clinton. we always hear about jobs leaving america. here's a chance to create jobs in america. oil sands projects, like kearl, and the keystone pipeline will provide secure and reliable energy to the united states. over the coming years, projects like these could create more than half a million jobs in the us alone.

from the canadian border, through the mid west, to the gulf coast. benefiting hundreds of thousands of families throughout the country. this is just what our economy needs right now.

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lisa vester with the latest news. >> the situation in syria could escalate if it is not handled carefully. the u.n. says 8,000 people have died in the year long crisis. anon says he's doing his best to find a peaceful solution after meeting the asaad last weekend. president obama has been a very busy man today with five, count them, five campaign fund-raisers. he started the day with a pair of events in chicago, then on to atlanta for three more stops. all with big price tags and he is expected to raise more than $5 million by the time he gets back to washington tonight and that is a pretty good haul for one day. the third generation ipad hit the market today attracting

a flood of customers at apple stores across the country. the new version of the tablet will be the first to connect to the 4g network and you'll also get a 5 megapixel camera and higher resolution screen. the cheapest one will set you back about $500. and andy pettitte is planning a comeback after a one-year retirement. the yankees siped the pitcher to a contract that could be worth $2.5 million, but he'll start in the minor leagues. how about that? what do you make of that? >> minor league baseball team, what are those guys? i'm a red sox fan, but a big fan of pettitte. we'll see if it makes it back, then we'll beat him. finally, to want's moment you don't want to miss. you might remember arsenio had a

show in 1992. i was covering this campaign, bill clinton. the governor of arkansas running for president and he went on and played the sax phone in front of a live audience. ♪ i remember it well. it was a big debate about whether this was smart or not for governor clinton. i asked how he pulled it off. >> at this time, because he was a governor, i didn't really see the magnitude of what could happen. i tried to book a governor. when he said yes, i asked him to wear my tie. when he said yes, i asked him to wear my sunglasses. i said will you play sax phone, i even asked him for a reach around with hillary, but he said no to that. i just kept asking for things and i've learned to never assume there will be a no because it might be a yes. >> you remember that? >> a whole lot of folks remember that. i'm noticing the hair style. you obviously have a much