than what you're seeing. it is just -- it seems so hard to believe. >> yeah, so many people believe that they know more. candy crowley, thank you so much. and you can catch "state of the union" right here on cnn. >> make some great memories. inside politics with john king starts right now. a golden moment for a president desperate to stage an election year recovery. >> his holiness has the capacity to open people's eyes. >> can a papal blessing and much better numbers help the president escape? >> i certainly don't have a crystal ball. >> just don't expect him to admit he is worried one bit that bridgegate is hurting his 2016 standing. >> i'm the governor of new jersey and i have a job to do.

if i do in job the future will take care of itself. >> and if you want a senate seat, don't pander to trial lawyers in texas. >> you may have a farmer, never who practiced law, serving as the next chair of the judiciary. >> is sarah palin right that this, brace yourself, is the gop's best hope? >> i'm joany earnst. >> inside politics, the biggest stories sourced by the best reporters now. welcome to "inside politics," i'm john king, welcome and thank you for sharing your sunday with us, now, everyone loves a good comeback story, but not every politician has the skills to engineer one, especially in tough times. we're watching two critical efforts, one involving the

sitting president of the united states, the other featuring the republican governor of new jersey, chris christie. he has a week on the stage, they put out enrollment numbers for obamacare that are much better than people expected. and yet even democrats think that when you ask them is this the seeds of recovery, can the president come back in a mid-term election, even democrats are skeptical, why? >> because he needs more than a golden photo op, especially one that is not taken domestically. the obamacare numbers are fine but not fantastic. this is reduced expectations. and we don't really know what it means. concern is a big deal with voters. it will take a lot to turn the tide. >> the white house has pushed saying they don't get enough credit for the turnaround. they acknowledge how disastrous the rollout was. what don't we know, i guess that

is where the skepticism comes from, how many actually paid, how many actually had insurance? are they new people getting access, is the white house right, should we give them a bit more credit? >> well, i think that is how you look at it. if you think we gave them too much blame for the way the rollout went then perhaps they deserve the credit. we know there is incremental good news, but is this program going to be a success in the long-term? we don't know that. and the fact remains that obamacare sort of top line is unpopular. and so people seem to have internalized a lot of conflicting information about this. they like some aspects of it and don't like others. what sort of came out of that big machine of voter opinion is a negative, and i think democrats are muddying it as well when they try to change the subject. you see them trying to run away from obamacare. there certainly is not a feeling on the campaign side that this has turned into an unmitigated

positive. >> not just run away, but a lot of the vulnerable senate democrats want to keep the debate going. they want to say i stood up to the president and changed obamacare. how much does that muddy what the democrats would help for national message to help rebound, saying we made changes and fixed it. but it is working. >> they can't say we never said it was perfect. we're going to go in and propose fixing and do certain things that want to make the program work. they want to sound practical. but the problem is they don't want to actually engage in a debate in the senate on this that would open this up and bring it in the national spotlight. the republicans would propose tougher amendments that would put the democrats in a tougher position. so they want to sound like they're making practical, reasonable changes, and sell it to voters. >> republicans can motivate their base by saying we're

against it, democrats, standing up, confusing them. margaret, you invite big clinton to a convention to sell the policies. you hope standing next to the world's most popular figure, pope francis, helps? what did they do, take us behind the curtain of why they were so desperate to get the meeting. >> the pope was so popular in 2008. and they had touch stones that jibed domestically, the immigration reform and income equality. as they put together this trip, they thought wow, this is grabbing the brass ring, making the stop at the vatican. there was more in it for president obama than there was for the pope and sort of the negotiations behind scenes, how many press get in the room to witness the meeting. very much the white house is getting the maximum coverage.

in the vatican's interest to say we have this guy who is -- i mean, i want to tread carefully on this because i know he is not a politician, he is a pope. he is an important commodity right now. they need to dole him out carefully. >> let's move on to governor chris christie, he commissioned a report to say hey, do i do anything wrong? the governor's lawyer says no, they're not. the governor not only has a press conference, he is out west on the campaign trail. listen to the governor here with abc's diane sawyer. >> for some people they love him. that is the thing they love the most. >> and what about iowa? i called an immediate charm offensive, maggie.

>> last week he was calling out reporters by name, saying ask the question again, get to the question. it was the old christie, the chris christie that the country came to know. and i realize that his aides think this is where he needs to be and they basically project we are turning pages, answering questions, why we're not doing the press conference before. there is still a u.s. investigation going on, and at the end of the day this is going to drag for many months. >> the perception he is trying to portray, i've had a guy scrub the books, stop looking at this, whether it at home or on stage. one thing in the report, it goes after one of the former key players, the former deputy chief of staff, bridget anne kelly, saying she cracked. she was unpredictable. she was volatile. her lawyers file back saying the report is venomous, and has the

sexist remarks, has no place in what is supposed to be an independent report. might they in trying to clean it up, have created a bit of a mess? >> i think this report is a strange mistake on christie's part. he didn't have to commission the report. it was a lose/lose, if the report came out looking good for him as he tried to do, it was going to be dismissed. if it came out looking bad it would be oh, my gosh, it is a bad report. instead it takes a story that was starting to die out a little bit on its own and revives it and puts it back in the news. and there were the attacks, very personal depiction of somebody who didn't even speak to the investigators, being seen accessist by a lot of people. now she is coming out of the wood work saying she will

cooperate. >> if you have three key people at the port authority and your campaign manager, they have yet to testify, do you really want to pick a public fight? >> there are two investigations going on, the federal investigation as well. christie may want to get past this and say i'm taking charge and i'm firing people and cleaning things up. but at the end of the day things are still going to come out. he is still going to have to answer questions, and it is not going away soon. we'll sit tight, don't go away, and combine this gaffe with a textbook example of how to hold devastating opposition at just the right moment. you know, 11 million people living in the shadows, i believed are already american

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♪ ...as it is being there. ♪ [ birds chirping ] away is where the days are packed with wonder... ♪ [ wind whistles ] ...and the evenings are filled with familiar comforts. find your away. for a dealer and the rv that's right for you, visit gorving.com. welcome back, our puzzle this week is a mix of politics 101 and captain obvious. you may call this the how not to run for a man who may show better. let's start with this map, you have seen it before if you watch the program. 12 states with blue traces around the state barriers. these are 12 seats held by senate democrats that republicans are targeting in this year's elections, the republicans need a net gain of six, so they have 12 targets

where they think they have a decent chance. a week ago we would have said that iowa leaned democrat, we'll watch it closely, not because of anything that bruce brailey said at home, but because of a trip 90 miles south to corpus christi, texas. >> to put it in stark contrast, if you help me win this race you may have someone with your background, your experience, your voice, someone who has been literally fighting tort reform for years, in a visible and public way on a senate judiciary, or you might have a farmer from iowa who never went to law school, never practiced law serving as the next chair of the senate judiciary committee. >> lot of mistakes there. we could start number one, he travels out of state to insult the state's senior senator who

was a republican. then he tells trial lawyers, i've been your guy for 30 years, send me to senate, i'll be your guy still. what does it do when people are cynical of politicians when you tell a special interest group, i'm your guy? >> it is not a good thing, the iowa senate race is volatile right now, there are five republicans vying for the republican nomination, and the polls show that bruce braley is ahead, but it is kind of soft support of the. there are many who have not formed an opinion about bruce braley. this is not going to help when a vast majority of the constituents are farmers who may not have law degrees. republicans have thought that he is not the candidate that democrats have sold them on. >> when house members run statewide they often run into trouble. that recording was made in

january. but it was released just last week. the filing deadline in iowa was march 14th. so the republicans, the conservative group, molly, that shot it, held it until the filing deadline, so the democ t democrats couldn't get somebody else in the race, cynical? >> well, it is effective. and in 2010, the republicans had a shot and failed to take the senate. there is a lot more strategic thinking going on. there is a lot more of settling on the right candidate in advance of the primary and avoiding some of the destructive fights. there are a lot more sort of establishment candidates who appear more electable, who are pulling ahead and evading some of the more flawed tea party candidates we had in the past. so here is another -- i was not inside this america rising, i don't know what went into it. but if indeed it was the thinking it is another example of republicans getting their stuff together as it were.

>> how could you think in this day and age that anything you say is not being recorded after mitt romney and 47%. remember, this is a four-term house democrat. he is not new to politics, number one, don't do a fundraiser in texas, when you're painted as a trial lawyer. then in trying to fix this, then in trying to fix this they put a picture up on the facebook page, bruce braley knows everything about farms, loves farms, that farm is in england. and buzz feed, what do you think, should we take the minimum wage? they post this photo, not in iowa, not in america, that gentleman is in mexico. this is -- politics 101 is how to do something, what would we number the book on how not to do something? >> really, a thousand and one, this is really an epic mess,

looks incredibly unprepared. as you say it is different running statewide. i don't understand them thinking it was not going to get recorded in the fundraiser. look, it is a brutal tactic but as molly said, very effective. there are groups on both sides of the aisle that do this. america rising had a big catch sn. >> and the question is, can republicans take advantage, they have a crowded primary. sarah palin endorsed a candidate this week, she already had mitt romney's endorsement. those are not are getting endorsements for her from the late night comedians, brace yourself, it is it. >> i'm joni ernst, i grew up on a farm in washington, cutting hogs, so when i get to washington let's make them squeal. >> she needs to stop right now,

you do the ad once, and try to redeem yourself. >> so you use it to get attention. >> what else could it possibly be for? and you get the feeling that sarah palin was dying to get a jab back, that involved the theme of a pig. because president obama at one time made a lipstick on a pig crack. >> probably part of the trick, she has not shown she can raise a lot of money, but if she can get a lot of name id by doing this, hey, a great idea. >> but don't forget what the kick is, mother, son, soldier -- these are ways you can run. if you have both sarah palin and mitt romney backing you, you can be a credible opponent to a candidate who has the money advantage, now you have a path. >> and it starts with joni ernst

conservative, what about sarah palin, she has a mixed record when you look at her endorsements and how they deliver. is she relevant, or just getting attention? >> a lot of it is about building her own brand, joni ernst has a couple of issues going, she is a female at a time when republicans are trying to rebrand themselves with women voters and have good candidates, for palin, it is as much about palin as much as anything. i don't think she moves that many voters. >> i don't know, republicans tell me in the primaries, particularly in a red state, and she made a point of endorsing karen handle. that is a field with debatable candidates. what my republican sources tell

me is she is still one of the bigger draws when you talk about an endorsement. because the sort of conservative base is not sort of necessarily responding to the republican establishment. they don't necessarily want to know who are the donors, she may not be a politician anymore, but she has that celebrity status. >> the one thing that the republicans think they have a chance, the mississippi race. and our reporters share nuggets, including what joe biden is up to keep him in good standing with the democratic base. geico motorcycle. see how much you could save.

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. we close each week with an effort to give and head start on the upcoming political headlines by going around the table and asking our great reporters to share something left in their notebook, margaret, you go first. >> joe biden may not be deciding on his next move, but look at what happened, gay rights, goes to new hampshire. where else would you talk about job training but new hampshire. and then within a matter of a couple of days he is hitting all the other consistencies for the base. soul food restaurants to talk about the base, and naval observatory, and even gets in a radio address when the president is out of town. >> joe biden this week, we'll keep an eye on that. >> polls in kentucky have mitch

mcconnell and allison grimes neck and neck, but the republicans have not gone on the attacking grimes, telling -- you know, going on the air on the offensive. what they're trying to do is save, preserve that money, potentially wait until after the may primary, because why? because they're worried about outside groups coming in and attacking mcconnell, ahead of the may primary so they can fight back. mcconnell, they're letting the primary work, waiting until after to let things move. >> and i'm tracking the democratic primary, they just lost a high profile special election, they even have scott brown back to torment them. so there is a question is this going to be 2010 all over again? i think we're in the chickens with their head cut off stage,

there is a little bit of denial, no, obamacare is going to be great, we'll run on it. the fact of the matter they haven't figured out what to do. >> the chickens with their head cut off base. >> christie's aides last week were very careful in their media strategy. they deliberately picked two women to interview him back-to-back. there was one on fox news, one with diane sawyer, the idea was to go with a softer tone. and they believed they were going to get heat for this report. but they felt it was important to get back on the media bike. a lot of his allies were surprised by the confrontational tone, this was not a national press conference. they're still trying to figure out how to modulate. >> and the big mega donor gets attention, great fundraisers in

the room, some were christie fans, jeb bush wouldn't say clearly if he was running, a lot of people getting other chances, marco rubio, and wisconsin governor. that is it for politics, thank you for joining us, "state of the union" with candy crowley starts right now. more planes, more ships, no leads. today, the sea is so big and the time is so short. >> we tried to find small bits of wreckage in a vast ocean while we're throwing everything we have at it. the task goes on. >> hundreds of objects identified by satellite and plane, but not a single piece of debris tied to flight 370. finding fishing nets and everything in between,