that's it for this edition of "reliable sources." i'm howard kurtz. happy father's day. here's some breaking news. if you missed our program, you can now go to itunes on mondays and download a free audio podcast or buy the video version. we'll see you here next sunday. "state of the union with candy crowley" begins right now. this is cnn breaking news. >> we begin with breaking news. rodney king, the man whose beating by police led to a trial of four policemen who were later found not guilty that then led to 1992 riots in los angeles has died. rodney king died this morning in. in the last hour i spoke with the captain of the rialto, california, police department. >> the rialto police department received a 911 call from the fiancee of rodney king this morning about 5:25 a.m. the rialto police officers responded to the scene.

they arrived. and they found rodney king at the bottom of his swimming pool. the officers jumped into the pool and removed him and began cpr with mr. king. mr. king was unresponsive. rialto fire department paramedics arrived on scene and immediately transported him to the arrowhead regional medical center where he was later pronounced dead at about 6:11 this morning. >> we are joined on the phone now by "los angeles times" columnist pat morrison. pat, thanks for joining us. basically, this was a californian who was clocked by police as speeding. they tried to pull him over. it led to a car chase, topping speeds of over 100 miles an hour. when he was finally stopped, there was a brutal beating, a fight was then tape-recorded by someone who was watching and

then led to a year-long tension in los angeles. i wonder if you can put this death and this man's life into perspective as far as history is concerned of race relations. >> i spent a lot of time with rodney king at the end of april, the anniversary of the riots. and here was a collision of an unlikely person with the course of history. it's just kind of a happy-go-lucky ne'er-do-well guy. he had had his own problems with the law already. and the fact that there was a video camera recording this resonated with so many people in the black community who thought this happens all the time, but finally the rest of the world gets to see it. and that was the resonance of the rodney king case. and he was a big guy, but even he acknowledged that his shoulders maybe weren't big enough to bear the burden of that history. >> he also had, while the riots were ongoing and the deadliest riots, i think, in l.a. history, said the famous phrase "can't we all just get along?"

and it was his attempt -- in fact, it occurs to me he was crying at the time because these riots were so awful as so many people died in them. that he was this unlikely player in a much larger story. >> he was. and he said that his lawyers -- he told me his lawyers had written the script for him, but he said he wasn't going to read that. this was very spontaneous. he said growing up he went to jehovah's witness hall around latinos and asian people, and they were working together. and that, he said, is where he got that "can we all just get along" speech. >> pat, this life just never came together. as you sort of alluded to. this was a man who sort of was in and out of trouble after that. and i think cnn also did some work on the anniversary. he also talked about having a drug problem that he still had yet to beat. >> he had a drug problem. i think he had pretty much done

a good job with that, but he drank. he enjoyed fishing and drinking and those happy-go-lucky pursuits that he was still doing in his 40s. he had talked often about being stopped by police officers who would see his name, or if he didn't have his driver's license, which was often the case, find out it was rodney king, and they'd just think oh, boy, i pulled over rodney king? so he did get a bit of a pass on some of those things. >> and let's talk a little bit about the riots that were ensued. this was a year later, a year after the police officers were found not guilty of wrongdoing. and it sparked days of riots in l.a. and as far as i know, are they not the deadliest riots in l.a. history? >> i believe they are. i believe they are. there's something more than 50 people killed. the exact number, i think, was never found. and it really exposed a lot of fissures in cultures and ethnic

divisions in the city and showed for a lot of people who are unaware of it how angry people still were, and it changed forever, the way the los angeles police department does business. >> and pat, if i could as a final question, what is the legacy of rodney king, do you think, to history to race relations? >> we talked about this. and one cop told him once, you know, 100 years after the rest of us are dead and gone, people are going to know your name. his name is a symbol of somebody who was victimized by a corrupt system. and he never really thought of himself as that when people compare him to, say, rosa parks. he was simply abashed by it. but the name rodney king is going to resonate for a long time as a watershed in the history of the city and even in this country with race relations and police conduct. >> patt morrison of "the l.a. times," thanks so much for helping us put this in perspective. >> my pleasure. >> cnn, of course, will continue to follow the details of this story. today, 2013 through 2017 --

>> i ask you to stand with me for a second term as president. >> what would obama phase two look like with senior white house adviser david plouffe. and ten -- >> he's been president for 3 1/2 years. and talk is cheap. >> sizing up mitt romney with former republican presidential hopeful rick santorum. plus, days away from a supreme court decision which could gut the health care law. is there a plan "b"? doctor and senator john barrasso and congressman chris van holland join us. the economy, immigration and the presidential race with cnn chief white house correspondent jessica yellen and matt bye of "the new york times" magazine. i'm candy crowley, and this is "state of the union." there was a showdown of sorts this week. romney v. obama giving dueling economic speeches in ohio, a campaign hotspot if ever there was one. weakening economic growth

following tightening polls, white house adviser said the president would use the speech to reframe his economic argument. he tied mitt romney tightly to george w. bush and outlined his goals. >> that's my vision for america. education, energy, innovation, infrastructure. >> flash back almost four years ago to the day, candidate barack obama. >> it's time for a competitiveness agenda built around education and energy, innovation and infrastructure. >> joining me now is white house senior adviser, david plouffe. david, thanks for being here. let me start with the first big question, which is is the fact that the president is saying virtually the same thing that he said four years ago when he was campaigning a recognition that he has not been able to achieve his goals? >> no, the president laid out this week in a very important speech in ohio the choice facing the country about the right things we need to do to grow the economy, strengthen the middle class. and we have a lot more work to do. we have to rebuild --

>> is that the -- is that your economic message, we have a lot more work to do? >> no, candy. the point is what direction is the country going to take? i think we all would admit the economy needs to strengthen. we have to create a lot more jobs. the question is what's the best way to do that? our approach is let's reduce the deficit in a fair and balanced way. let's have an economy where hard work is rewarded and everybody gets a fair shot. and as we reduce the deficit, we have the ability to invest in things like rebuilding this country, a new energy future, make sure we continue to lead the world in innovation. but the important thing is there's a choice here. governor romney and his allies in congress, they want to go back to the same policies that created the recession. we know that won't work. and so really the american people have to die which direction they want to go. >> so those are goals that he's setting out, but it's not a plan. what does the next four years look like? what's the biggied that people are going to vote on in november? >> well, it is a plan. it's about what the right way to get $4 trillion in deficit reduction. >> but you've had had four years to do that.

>> first of all, we've accomplished a lot. obviously, education reform, a lot of progress on energy, health care reform. we've cut taxes for the average middle-class person, $3600. so we need to build on that. so the plan is an all of the above energy strategy, make sure we take advantage of our resources here, but doubles down on the clean energy future. make sure that we have an education system that's producing the kind of workers and innovators. >> what makes you think that these things you're talking about -- i take it there's no big idea that's different from what you're doing now. it's stay the course. it's a stay the course message. >> these are all big ideas. this is the direction the country needs to go. >> these are big ideas that he has been trying to do for the last four years, right? >> some we've accomplished, some we haven't, some we need more work to do. >> what makes you think you can accomplish in the next four years that you haven't been able to accomplish now? >> first, some of these challenges predate the recession. this isn't just about recovering from the recession. it's about making sure we have more security and stability for the middle class. so this is going to take a long time. >> how do you do that is i guess why people say what's the plan here? >> how do you do it, you focus

on education, for instance. we've engaged in a lot of reforms and a lot of republican support. we need to continue to make progress to bring college costs down. energy, we should be able to come together and make sure that we're doubling down on a clean energy policy. >> but you haven't been able to do that. so my question is what's different -- >> candy, that's not right. we've gotten a lot done. this president has led resurge ebs in a clean energy future, education reforms, health care reform, cut taxes for the middle class. so the suggestion we haven't gotten it done, we've got a lot more done. it was amazing this week. there was a story that republicans in congress were openly saying we're going to basically take the rest of the year off. we're not going to do anything to help the economy because we want to help mitt romney. it's remarkable to see at a time of great need in the economy where we can make a huge difference, the president's job proposals, every independent economist said they'd create a million jobs. these members of congress are sitting on their hands. we've gotten a lot done. we need to get a lot more done.

this congress is standing in the way. by the way -- >> are you going to get a better congress? >> yeah. well -- >> there's nothing that looks in the cards to me as though somehow there's going to be a big change in the mix of congress. in fact, you might have a republican senate. so why do you think what the president has been proposing since last september has any better chance in february? why isn't there some need to kind of step back and say, look, here's plan "b," let's go with this in the second term. >> let's start with mitt romney's plan "a." the american people have to make a choice. he will rubber stamp the republican agenda which would take us back to the policies of the great recession and do great harm to the middle class and short change our future. by the way, we've gotten a lot done with congress. we've cut taxes, we've done good things for end partrepreneurs l patent reform. the american people said we need to break the stalemate. i think the message that sends is okay -- and you're beginning to see some compromise potential coming out of the republicans.

you see more republicans in the senate in particular talking about, well, maybe they'd be open to higher revenues through tax reform. so i do think that how we reduce our deficit, listen. you have republicans and democrats in both parties in both chambers now, more democrats saying they're open to the kind of entitlement reform, more republicans saying they're open to revenues. we have a great deal of confidence. the american people are going to render a verdict on the direction. we're going to make progress on some of these things building on what we've already done. >> let me ask you about the immigration decision that was made friday. and read you something from george washington university law professor jonathan turley who said the president is using executive power to do things congress has refused to do and that does fit a disturbing pattern of expansion of executive power under president obama. in many ways, he has fulfilled the dream of an imperial presidency that richard nixon strived for. this is a president who is now functioning as a super legislator. why did you "a," wait this long

to do this? and "b," isn't the appropriate place to make these decisions congress which passes the laws? immigration law, in particular? >> well, first let's start with this is a decision the department of homeland security made. this is -- so that they have the discretion and enforcement so that we focus on criminals, those that cause or could endanger our communities. that's where the focus of our immigration enforcement efforts need to be. these kids who want to serve in our military who are going to college, who are working in our businesses, they now can apply -- this is not a permanent fix, by the way. >> to go around congress is the point. i understand the policy, the reasons for it. >> we'd be happy to sign the dream act tomorrow. >> but there's three branches of government. you know how this works. >> well, this is fully within our ability. again, this was an endorsement discretion decision. so this is not some permanent -- this is not amnesty. this is not citizenship. this gives these hardworking kids who are here through no fault of their own who are going

to staff our labs, start our businesses, serve our military, the ability for a two-year period to apply for a work authorization. we need a permanent fix. the only way to do that, where he we agree, is for congress to pass the dream act. romney said he would not pass it. >> as it currently stands, he was looking at a different one that marco rubio was putting up. let me move on. governor romney and some of your democratic friends said there was a political move. you all wanted to infuse some enthusiasm into the latino voting base. >> this is not a political move. this builds on a lot of steps we've already taken. >> you could have done it last year or the year before or the year before that. >> we've been trying to get the dream act done. we've been trying to pass immigration reform. this builds on a series of steps the homeland security department has already taken. again, this gives our law enforcement personnel the ability to have more discretion and to focus the resources where they should be focused, which is on criminals. >> got it.

>> which by the way our deport tags numbers amongst criminals are up over 80%. >> you cannot say it was not done with some political consideration. >> it was not. >> five months before the election. >> listen. who knows how the politics will turn out? >> probably pretty good. >> this decision was the right decision. well, we'll see. i've ceased making predictions on things because we'll see how they turn out. >> let me ask you some quick questions about some other issues. are you confident -- can you say right now that no one in the white house leaked any information about the so-called kill list, the cyberspace attack on iranian nuclear facilities or the presence of an al qaeda mole? >> listen. i'm not going to speak specifically about classified information. i think the author of that book has said that, you know, any of this information didn't come to the white house. there's going to be an investigation. >> do you know that, though, for sure? >> there's going to be two united states attorneys who have been appointed by the attorney

general, including an appointee. the president has said he has zero tolerance for any leaks. he relies on information. he's got to have the ability obviously to make sure it's secure. so this investigation will be t thorough, and obviously people need to be accountable if they did something wrong. >> thanks for stopping by. happy father's day. rick santorum seems to have warmed up a bit to mitt romney. >> the concern i had -- i did -- i was very frank about it. was that governor romney would track to the middle. >> but this immigration reform issue might complicate things. of buttons on your tablet. isn't it time the automobile advanced? introducing cue in the all-new cadillac xts. the simplicity of a tablet has come to your car. ♪ the all-new cadillac xts has arrived. and it's bringing the future forward.

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joining me is former republican presidential candidate rick santorum. greetings. >> thank you, candy. >> good to see you. >> it's great to be here. >> i want to start out with the news of the week of immigration. you said in a written statement, in part, president obama blatantly ignored our constitution, the role of congress in making laws and the separation of powers. this action today -- these actions today are part of a disturbing and arrogant pattern where he believes that this administration knows better than those who we elect to represent us in congress. now i want to play you what mitt romney had to say. >> well, marco rubio said it

well when he said we all agree that we've got to find a solution to kids who came here through no fault of their own, but at the same time people are looking for a long-term solution, and not something temporary through a executive order. >> a big tonal difference here between the two of you. are you happy with his answer? >> well, let me say this. my big concern -- what governor romney was addressing more of the substance than he was the actions of the president. >> the process. >> yeah, the process, and to me, the most outrageous thing was the process in which he did it. the president said i will selectively enforce the law in this country. >> i want to get back the mitt romney, but the laws are always selectively enforced. there are lots of times when police overlook a violation of the law because they are looking to do something -- something else. immigration has a huge, you know, number of things on its plate, so why is this any different? >> well, there is a difference

between someone who is out there on the street making a call as to whether to charge someone with a crime or not than have a policy at the top saying that we are going to carte blanche order people not to enforce the law. >> back to mr. romney, do you wish he had been more forceful on that note? it seemed to me that clearly -- >> he is trying to walk a line. >> exactly. >> he's trying to walk a line. and i understand that. my father was an immigrant to this country. and i'm pro-immigration. and i don't like the rhetoric and the tone i hear from some on our side with respect to immigrants and even the issue of illegal immigration. having said that, it is illegal. >> what line is mitt romney walking? >> well, he's trying to walk a line that's not to sound like he is hostile to latinos. >> swing voters. >> and very important states. but at the same time, i think you need to -- you need to hammer the president on this now habitual abuse of power saying

that he is not going to defend the defense of marriage act and not even going to go to the supreme court to try to stand up for the law that, you know, i'm charged as the chief executive to do. so you are seeing a pattern where the president has said, i will pick and choose what laws to enforce and what laws i'm going to stand up and fight for in court. that is not the job of the president. >> now, i think that people would say to you that george bush and other presidents used signing ceremonies to sometimes say i object to this law. >> and he did it, but he enforced the law. there is a difference of saying i don't like the law and i wish that the law were different, but i'm the president and my job is to faithfully execute, and he is not faithfully executing. >> let me turn you to the senate race randomly in utah where senator hatch is running against ann lillenquist who is a tea party supported and a rick santorum-supported republican. here is orrin hatch.

you served with him in the senate. didn't raise any objections to him at the time. why would you sort of walk into this race and side with someone trying to unseat a sitting republican and sort of create quote trouble in the race? >> well, i don't know -- it is a primary. you know, it's not trouble. i mean, it is not orrin hatch's seat, and not my seat when i was in the united states senate and nobody owns it. your name's not inscribed on that seat. you know, the people of utah just like the people of every other state have the opportunity every time to assess who is the right person at the time. and orrin has served this country well. he is a good man. i have nothing personally against orrin at all. >> but he compromised too much as far as you are concerned about the conservative principles. >> well, we need a different kind of actor in washington, d.c. we have reached the point where we need people to say no and have the backbone to say i am not going to do less of a bad thing anymore. we are going to start doing good things instead of compromising doing less bad.

>> but the legislative process -- and we saw the same thing play out in indiana with dick lugar who had conservative principles and willing to work with other side -- >> hold on. what does that mean, willing to work with the other side, and this is the key of the tea party folks and the conservatives in general have had enough with. and willing to work with the other side means in this town means doing what the other side wants, but doing it slower instead of doing what is necessary for the country which is scaling back government and instead of growing government less fast, we want government to get smaller. now, we're willing to compromise on how we do it, but the idea that we need people to slow down the eventual growth and that is the answer is wrong. we need people who say that is the wrong direction, and we need a fundamentally new way of looking at things in washington. and i think dan lillenquist can

do that, and i think that while orrin did good in slowing down bad, he has never been able to really turn it back the other way, and that is not in his constitution in my mind. >> no room for moderates. and jeb bush complained this week saying, look, i don't think that there is any room for my father or ronald reagan. >> what does moderate mean? >> that perhaps you would reach across the aisle and say, i get where you are coming from, and here's -- >> no, moderate in this town, and moderate understanding is doing more -- in other words, we're still going to grow government. we're just going to grow it less. we need to stop that. >> let me ask you two quick questions before we leave, and the first is, is there any position in a romney administration that you would like? attorney general? i know you have been asked the veep question, but as you look forward in your life, can you see yourself serving in a romney administration? >> i want to help mitt romney get elected president, and i'll be happy to help and advise him if he wants my advice as president, but my objective right now is to serve my family and provide for them. i've got two kids in college --

>> is that a flat no? >> yeah, it is pretty much a flat no. it is not because i don't want to help governor romney. i don't want to be part of being him having a successful presidency, but it is just for me, it's a matter of my priorities and my time of being a husband and father. i sort of have to take care -- i have to take care of them. >> finally, a lot of of things were said in this campaign that have been played back to you. and you know things that you have said about governor romney and others in the race. >> he doesn't have the convictions, the authenticity nor record that is necessary to win this election. >> we might as well stay with what we have instead of taking a risk with what may be the etch-a-sketch candidate for the future. >> we already have someone in office who is not being truthful with the american public on a variety of different things. >> when you talk about this race to your children and your grandchildren and you look back and is there anything you think, i went too far here?

i wish i hadn't done that? >> well, not really. a couple of comments, if you will, where i, you know, i have said publicly already when i called the president a snob, and my wife really gave it to me that day. and you know, you get carried away and maybe say things that you wouldn't -- but the point i was making i don't back away from, the point that we need to focus more on people who don't go to college and make sure they have career opportunities, too, was the point i was making, and that college is not the only answer, but sometimes the rhetoric might have gone over the line. >> and the authenticity and compared him to president obama. >> yeah. i have no problem questioning authenticity, and those are all things that i thought were legitimate differences between us as candidates, and the same thing with president obama. i mean, there were differences between us. i don't back away from any of those things, but at the same time, clearly the difference between president obama and mitt romney is a chasm, and i have a great degree of comfort in supporting governor romney as the choice between the two. >> former senator and

presidential candidate rick santorum, happy father's day. >> thank you. and happy father's day to all of you out there, too. and what will the supreme court decide on health care reform? >> at the supreme court, those who know don't talk, and those who talk don't know. >> with insights like that, we are still wondering what will happen and how congress will act. [ woman ] for the london olympic games, our town had a "brilliant" idea.

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i'm joined by republican senator and dr. john barrasso of wyoming and democratic congressman chris han van holland. i want to put up for our viewers what is currently in effect for health care. children up to the age of 26 may stay on their parents' insurance. children with preexisting conditions and some adults have to have coverage. it bans insurance companies from dropping sick people from their rolls. it eliminates lifetime limits on coverage for the critically ill. and it has drug rebates in it. what happens to those particular

very popular elements if the supreme court should say you can't have mandates, you can't force people to buy health insurance? what happens? >> well, let's just take, for example, the current prohibition on denying kids who have preexisting conditions like asthma or diabetes, health care. if the supreme court were to knock down the individual mandate, that whole piece is in jeopardy just like some of these other pieces. now, we don't know exactly what the scope of the supreme court decision will be or, of course, what it will be. but the reality is, those very important protections are at risk if the supreme court knocks it down. and of course, the irony here is that people like mitt romney knew that, which is why romneycare in massachusetts requires everybody be in the pool. because then you pool your risks. and then you don't have discrimination against people with preexisting conditions, whether they're kids or adults with cancer or other diseases.

that's the whole idea of getting everybody into the pool. >> well also, the idea is it's hard to afford to have these sorts of provisions if you don't have healthy people in the pool. if all you're ensuring is sick people, you can't afford to continually not have it, that kind of thing. senator, the question here, certainly we can say that the obama administration front-loaded the great things about this, at least as far as patients are concerned. what do republicans propose to do if the mandate is dropped and insurance companies say sure, we'll keep it, but it's going to cost you double or triple? what happens? >> well, first of all, candy, i believe that this is unconstitutional. i believe there's going to be a stinging rebuke of this president's centerpiece legislation when the supreme court rules later this month and they should rule that this is unconstitutional. if not, republicans want to repeal everything that is left standing. but you raised the interesting point because several times you said affordable.

the whole goal of health care reform was to get patients to get the care that they need from a doctor they choose at lower cost. this health care law did nothing to deal with the fundamental problem, which is the cost of care. >> sure, but now we have people that are getting benefits that i think you would sign on to, that you don't throw sick people off health insurance. that even if you have a preexisting condition, you should be provided some sort of health insurance. so we have these sets of rules already in place. and the supreme court decision, if it throws out the mandate, jeopardizes those popular provisions, doesn't it roll back onto republicans who have fought so hard to get this thrown out? >> well, the supreme court may rule that just the mandate falls, or the supreme court may rule that the whole health care law falls. >> and then what? then what have you got? >> you are not going to see, coming from republicans, a 2700-page bill that is james

madison said you shouldn't -- >> who will? >> you'll see a step-by-step common-sense solutions. >> when? >> so voluminous it cannot be read, so incoherent that it cannot be understood, and you'll see republicans coming out saying people buy insurance across state lines. have people -- >> but when? because we're throwing out something that exists for -- >> a law that is unconstitutional. >> okay. >> that is going to break the bank of the united states, that continues to be very unpopular because most people, candy, if you go to a town hall meeting in wyoming and ask for a show of hands, they say under this health care law, they are paying more for their care, and there's either lower equality or less available of ca availability of care, and that's why it's so unpopular. >> i want you to answer what comes forward. weigh in on this. >> that's why there's no answer here because the republicans say they want to repeal it. and then in the house they said they're going to get to work with their replacement. we haven't seen any replacement because while they say they want to make sure that kids are not

denied care because of preexisting conditions, the only way you do that is by getting everyone in the pool. everybody used to understand that. with respect to the cost of health care, john knows very well that the main provisions to bring down those costs, put people in the exchanges, don't even kick in until 2014. at that time the congressional budget office, our nonpartisan referee, has said that for a given set of benefits, the costs in the individual market could go down by as much as 20%. so those parts of the law haven't even gone into effect yet. >> right. the painful parts haven't gone into effect, actually, the taxes and that kind of thing. >> but the parts that also will allow millions of americans who are uninsured or underinsured to get affordable health care. >> let me ask you as i ask the senator, let's say this mandate goes out. what is plan "b" for democrats? >> well, the reality is, this was our plan. i mean, this was the proposal we put together. >> but you don't have a contingency plan?

>> the irony is republicans were for the plan before they were against this plan as president obama for this plan. that's why it was modelled after mitt romney. candy, the answer is that we put this plan in place. it makes sure that kids who have preexisting conditions are not denied care. it allows kids up to the age of 26 to be on their parents' insurance plan. if they strike that down, there is no other easy answer which is why republicans from newt gingrich to mitt romney were in favor of this approach. this was their alternative to medicare for all. this was the republican idea. >> what i'm hearing from the two of you, in sort of response to direct questions, is neither the democrats nor the republicans have a contingency plan for if the supreme court strikes down really what's the funding part of this health care law. >> it's a step-by-stretch approach, let people buy insurance across state lines, deal with junk lawsuits that drive up the cost of care because of all the unnecessary testing that is being done. that's the way -- >> but when do you do that?

are you ready for it? are you going to throw it on the floor? >> the court of public opinion is going to be right there the next day. this will be part of the campaign debates. >> after the election, though. >> going into -- this will be a big part of it. you continue to use and chris talks about medicare for all. it's medicaid for all, which is the program that right now half of the doctors in the country won't see people on medicaid because the reimbursement is so low. but that's the answer of the health care law. it throws 17 million more people on medicaid which is why 26 states have sued the federal government say don't make us do this. we can't afford it. it takes money away from the republicans and a lot of things. >> in the minute i have left, i need to know if there's any thought inside the democratic party of saying whoa, we've got to figure out a way to save at least these benefits that are already in existence. have you talked to the white house? is there a plan "b"? >> we don't know what the supreme court is going to do. >> no, i know. >> this was our plan, candy. >> right. >> the republicans have been against it. they said if the court strikes down even a part of it, they

want to repeal a remainder. the answer to your question of what republicans would propose is what we saw between 2000 and 2006. they did nothing. premiums in the major insurance companies doubled. it was the status quo. it was unacceptable. and the american people rejected it. they want to go back to the status quo. we've got our plan. >> the presidentproposed if you pass this, families have seen the rates go up higher than that. >> in fairness, it hasn't all kicked in, but i have to call a time-out here simply because -- i want you to come back because this argument doesn't go away. senator barrasso, congressman van hollen, thank you so much for joining us. we'll see you after the supreme court rules. ahead, a check othe morning news. and later, an unexpected legacy of watergate. 7 anti-aging therapies for younger looking skin including an even skin tone, instantly. from olay.

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this coming out of california. rodney king has died. police say king was found dead at the bottom of his swimming pool early this morning.

king was tied to the 1992 l.a. riots, one of the worst in u.s. history which followed the not guilty plea of four police officers who had beaten king a year earlier. cnn's soledad o'brien recently spoke with rodney king. >> the officers who beat you were eventually acquitted, and that is what triggered the l.a. riots. what was it like that moment when you saw pretty much everything in your neighborhood start to erupt? >> it was like -- it felt like the last days on earth, you know? our whole city was just like in turmoil. and i had never -- i had seen it happen in the '60s on film and in classrooms, you know, what they show on tv, but i didn't -- i never thought that i would see it happen in my lifetime. so it was a total shock to me. >> rodney king, dead at the age of 47.

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i tell mike what i can spend. i do my best to make that work. we're driving safely. and sue saved money on brakes. now that's personal pricing. this is one way to spend father's day. mitt romney, father of five boys, is in brunswick, ohio. he is on part of a six-state, five-day bus tour making a stop in ohio, which is the state this year getting all the attention. he is with senator rob portman often thought to be on the top of the list for number twos for mitt romney. rainy day. happy father's day to all those folks still out there working and to you as well. matt bye, thank you so much for joining us, "new york times" magazine political reporter. our own jessica -- i was going to say jessica simpson, sorry. >> i'm flattered.

that's nice. i like it. >> our chief white house correspondent. thank you. my brain was someplace else. okay. can we start with who won the week? i'm very confused about this week. they both gave those dueling ohio political speeches, and everybody panned both of them. i thought, well, this is a loser week for both. >> i think that president obama had a more worse week. worser, up through thursday night. up until his immigration announcement. because -- only because he set the expectations for that thursday speech. he was the one who said, i'm going to frame my message. and on that thursday economic speech, and then he gave this meandering speech where this is the man known for sharp messages. and it just didn't cut through. and so it was a loss for him. and then the immigration story really turned things -- i know we'll get to that, so i'll put that on pause. maybe you have a different take, but i thought that speech by the

president was not his finest moment. >> a lot of people sort of felt that way, but mitt romney also got some flak. basically what i took away from both speeches were please don't elect that guy. >> that was the message. what you saw was a decent framing of the argument. one side's going to say too much government has throttled free enterprise and the president saying not enough government traditionally has allowed free enterprise to run amok. it's a 100-year-old argument, basically. >> it's a classic argument. it's a classic republican/democratic argument. >> most voters will tell you believe that both institutions, public and private, have basically failed. ill served the society and failed to keep pace with change. and i think barack obama understood that and embodied that in 2008. and to this point, neither candidate seems to be on that more future-oriented plane. >> neither candidate is also saying look, we could be in for a long slog. and this -- you know, a re-election or an election of this guy might not change that. >> right.

and one of the things earlier in the week, there was some discussion certainly at cnn and i know elsewhere of what would they do -- what would either one of these guys do to change the economy? and then there's a couple of realities here. presidents can't change the economy. i think it was taft who said presidents think they can make the grass greener and the sky bluer, and it doesn't just happen. "b," neither one of them seems to be saying my plan to make the middle class stronger is the following. it's all just these kind of basic overarching issues. >> yeah, i think it becomes quite difficult because i think mitt romney's running a classic referendum campaign. he doesn't want to get boxed in between his base. he wants it to be, are we better off than we were four years ago? and the president has found what he wants to do is politically unpalatable, striking a deal with both his own base and republican voters, taxes. they like all first-term presidents tell themselves that

in a second materiaterm, it wil much easier to do all that kind of stuff. >> david plouffe, what makes you can pass in february what you haven't been able to pass since last september? he said, well, the republicans are showing signs of coming around. they may go for some tax increases. >> well, the president, at a fund-raiser last week, i think it was last week, time morphs, said their fever will break. he believes that if he's re-elected -- >> the light will come on. >> the republican fever will break because they won't be fighting to keep out a one-term president anymore to paraphrase what mick tch mcconnell said. >> the problem is you get about eight months to solidify your legacy before the midterms kick in. and then past that you're a lame duck and nobody in your party wants you. >> pays any attention to you. >> this is a shangri la that somewhere out there over the horizon is the moment where you can do tough things and pay the price for them and people will

follow you into the abyss. >> the debt ceiling comes into play and the fiscal cliff. yeah. >> social security, taxes and all that kind of stuff. >> there's no easy time to make tough decisions. they never materialize. >> my candidate. >> that's right. let me show you a gallup poll recently. it was asking folks, who do you blame a great deal or a moderate amount for the economy? 52% said barack obama. 68% said george w. bush. and i want to play you something that newt gingrich had to say when he was talking to the faith and freedom conference in washington. >> he campaigned in 2008 on the slogan "yes, we can." he's running this fall on the slogan "why we couldn't." >> so i think actually newt gingrich who has a way of framing things pretty accurately is, in fact, on to something with the obama re-elect campaign, and that is, i don't

think they're trying to blame george bush. i think they're blaming mitt romney by os momosis, right? it's well, if you want to go back to george bush, then go ahead and vote for mitt romney. aren't they trying to use those figures in some way, shape or form because there's such a lingering blame that is placed on him by most americans? >> they are. and i have to believe that that is a starting point in the debate for them because they have to know that that's not -- that's not a sum political winner. in other words, you can't -- it's not really -- it may not be fair. it may be that the last ten years of governance led to what obama inherited and that he's had to deal with a very difficult set of circumstances. it's not that the american people blame him for the economic mess, but you are the president. you've been the president for three-plus years. you're not going to be able to win a re-election campaign, i think, based on the notion that you didn't create the mess and then can't be held accountable for it. >> you've got about 15 seconds here. 52% do blame president obama

somewhat or a lot. that can't be good news at re-elect. >> they do but they also feel they can make a case that the other guy is worse, and that's what they're doing with this george bush equivalence and also trying to tie mitt romney to republicans in congress. >> matt, jessica, come back again. up next, how a 40-year-old white house scandal changed our lexicon. in your car. introducing the all-new cadillac xts with cue. ♪ don't worry. we haven't forgotten. you still like things to push. [ engine revs ] the all-new cadillac xts has arrived, and it's bringing the future forward. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 let's talk about that 401(k) you picked up back in the '80s. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 like a lot of things, the market has changed, tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 and your plans probably have too. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 so those old investments might not sound so hot today. tdd#: 1-800-345-2550 at charles schwab, we'll give you personalized recommendations

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and finally, today is the

40th anniversary of the arrest of five burglars for breaking into the headquarters of the democratic national committee. sound familiar? well, try this. it is the 40th anniversary of watergate. that day watergate was the name of a building complex housing the dnc offices. in the history books, it's the name of a scandal that brought down rich add nard nixon. the oxford dictionary devotes considerable space to the word including the modern use of just the suffix, -gate. it shows how english speakers have welcomed the means to describe any sort of scandalous event with a snappy suffix. indeed, there's been travelgate, billygate, monicagate and -- >> obviously someone got access to my account. that's bad. they sent a picture that makes fun of the name weiner. i get it. touche. >> weinergate. >> today i am announcing my resignation from congress. >> yeah!

pervert! >> there's been chinagate, naftagate, koreagate -- >> i think any one of us would be pretty angry. number two, that the cambridge police acted stupidly. >> henry louis gatesgate, the one about the harvard professor, cop and a president who stepped in it. an awkward photo op closed the books on that one. and a search turns up 120 gates, contragate, memogate, nannygate. there's nipplegate, tigergate, camillagate and -- >> if there's one thing that's followed you negatively -- >> tasergate, right. >> you call it tasergate. >> we sure do. >> troopergate, whatever. >> palin's troopergate is not the same as clinton's troopergate. that dealt with four arkansas state troopers, an alleged extramarital affair and federal jobs. r