thanks for watching. tonight the $200 million myth. made up claims that president obama's trip to asia is costing taxpayers $200 million a day. more than the daily cost of the war in afghanistan. who's spreading such a false story? it's not just right wing radio talkers, at least one u.s. congresswoman is pressing it hard. tonight we're keeping them honest. keeping them honest on their promises, you've heard all the politicians talking, can they spell out what they would cut? see for yourself tonight. and later, a picture on twitter, a preacher's sign calling obama a taliban muslim. sarah palin sees it and lists it as a favorite. now she's reportedly calling it an accident, saying she's never purposely favored anything. how does she explain all the favorites taken down from her page? we'll examine that tonight. we begin as we do every night keeping them honest. tonight a made-up story about the president of the united states and politicians and pundits spreading it. let me start by saying it's not our job to defend the president

of the united states. we don't take political sides on this program. we're not liberal, we're not conservative. we try to hold all politicians accountable on fact and truth. there's a lot of reasons to oppose this president, there's a lot of ways our government wastes money. no one needs to make up any stuff or spread false stories about waste but that is exactly what's happening right now. perhaps you've heard the story that president obama's trip to asia will cost you $200 million a day. about $2 billion for the entire trip. perhaps you've heard or read online that 34 navy ships will be diverted for the trip. it sounded outrage. a multi billion dollar boondoggle, a slap in the face to recession-weary americans, an imperial presidency, as michele bachmann said last night on this program. she was on to talk about balancing the budget and my first question was about medicare but she clearly didn't want to talk about that and went right to the president's alleged $200 million a day trip. republican paul ryan has

suggested sharp cuts in medicare and social security. are you willing to make cuts there? >> well, i think we know that just within a day or so the president of the united states will be taking a trip over to india that is expected to cost the taxpayers $200 million a day. he's taking 2,000 people with him. he'll be renting out over 870 rooms in india, and these are five-star hotel rooms at the taj mahal palace hotel. this is the kind of over the top spending. it's a very small example. >> i challenged her on the numbers, i told her the white house says they're wildly inflated. she didn't back down, though. she said, quote, these are the numbers that are coming out in the press. sort of sounds legitimate, the press. newspapers, networks. they check facts, they have multiple sources. but it turns out the only press this story was coming out was an indian press report and the $200 million a day figure, where did that come from? that was in a quote by an alleged indian official by india's press trust, their

equivalent of our ap or reuters. we have no idea who this person is, no name was given. it was an anonymous quote. some reporter in india wrote this article with this figure in it, no proof given, no followup reporting done. you'd think if a member of congress was going to use this figure as a fact, she would want to be pretty darn sure it was accurate, right? but there hasn't been any follow up on this indian story. it was picked up by the drudge report and other sites online and quickly made its way into conservative talk radio. >> two days from now he'll be in india at $200 million a day. >> have you ever seen the president ever seen the president go over for a vacation where you needed 34 warships, $2 billion. $2 billion. 34 warships. we are sending -- he's traveling with 3,000 people. >> but the idea that you're going to take 3,000 people and

you're booking over 500 rooms in a hotel and you're taking 40 airplanes. >> $200 million. >> a day. >> $200 million? >> a day. >> no president has ever, 3,000 people, 500 rooms in one hotel, and that's just one hotel. for a ten-day trip. $200 million a day. it's never been done before. >> $200 million. $200 million each day on security and other aspects of this incredible royalist visit. 3,000 people, including secret service agents. >> do you think this many people, this many airplanes, the question is, are you coming back? >> again, no one really seemed to care to check the facts. for security reasons, the white house doesn't comment on logistics of presidential trips, but they have made an exception this time to say the $200 million a day figure is wildly inflated. this morning robert gibbs was asked about it at the white house. >> we have set the record straight with you guys. i am not going to go into how much it costs to protect the

president. its costs are comparable to when president clinton and when president bush traveled abroad. this trip doesn't cost $200 million a day. >> even the pentagon knocked down the idea that so many navy ships were being redeployed. >> i will take the liberty this time of dismissing as absolutely absurd this notion that we're deploying 10% of the navy and an aircraft carrier in support of the president's trip to asia. that's just comical. nothing close to that is being done. >> let's remember, the war in afghanistan costs, according to the congressional budget office, about $190 million a day. so the idea that a president's trip might cost more than the war in afghanistan, that just doesn't make any sense. i want to bring you to the data wall, because even though we don't know the final number for how much this trip is going to cost, we do have hard facts to go on. and by the way, these facts could have easily been checked by anyone who is spreading this story. take a look. president clinton made a trip to

africa in 1998 that gives some sense of what presidential trips cost. clinton's trip was to six countries in africa. he crisscrossed the continent over 11 days. it involved 1300 people. according to the gao, the cost adjusted for inflation was about $5.2 million every day. so that's what that trip costs, $5.2 million every day. let's look at comparison. president obama's trip will be going to four countries in nine days. fewer days, fewer countries than president clinton. we don't know the number of travelers, we don't know the final price tag, but there's no reason to believe it's even close to $200 million a day. the guy from the pentagon you saw earlier, he said this is comical. well, it would be comical if it wasn't being used by a powerful congresswoman and powerful pundits. there are plenty of reasons to oppose the president, plenty of things to point to government waste and overspending. you don't have to make stuff up. joining us, james carville and former bush white house chief of staff, andrew card. you've been a former chief of

staff. you've been on these trips, even the remote possibility of it costing $200 million a day, does that even pass the smell test to you? >> it doesn't to me, but i think the white house is appropriate in saying they don't talk about what it costs for the president to travel. we want our president to be safe wherever he goes. i can't imagine it would cost $200 million a day. if it costs anywhere close to that number, the president should be asking tough questions of the defense department and the secret service and the state department, but he should also be paying attention to keeping his entourage as small as creditably possible and still do the job that he has to do for the country as he travels around the country. >> apparently a number of people are going with him to push american businesses in asia. by the way, has anyone like the talk radio world or congresswoman bachmann's office called you to confirm these numbers? >> no. i have not heard from any of the so-called pundits or personalties in the media, including you, anderson.

i didn't hear from you as to what the numbers might be. >> well, we're here, you didn't hear it from us. >> at any rate, you know, there are lots of exaggerations in the political world. i think this is an exaggeration. i don't think that you should be hyping it as much as you are because it's not as big a deal as you're making it out, but, yes, people are worried about the government spending too much money. >> see, the reason i do mention it is because michelle -- the reason i mention it is because michele bachmann used up our air time last night, rather than answering questions about medicare -- >> it's not your air time, she was invited. >> she chose to spread a story which is blatantly false. >> and you're flogging the heck out of it and that's -- not very responsible, either. there are bigger issues to talk about. >> i have no doubt about, it but she brought it up. >> and you're bringing it up again. >> i wanted to check the facts. >> let's talk about the government spending too much money. the government is spending too much money. >> sir, we're going to talk about that in the next segment. james? >> you've got to defend yourself

but i might point out to mr. card you asked about medicare cuts and medicare costs and that's what she responded. i'm sure mr. card would agree that medicare spending is a big issue and obviously a big cost. but i have a conflict because i endorsed ms. bachmann on "good morning america." >> i'm sure you did a lot of help for her. >> a lot of help for her, i think she'll be great out there. >> mr. card, i want to play you something that john boehner has said about the key priority for him moving forward in the next two years. let's play that. >> there's a lot of tricks up our sleeves in terms of how we can dent this, kick it, slow it down to make sure it never happens. and trust me, i'm going to make sure this health care bill never, ever, ever is implemented. >> i also want to play for our viewers something that senator mitch mcconnell said a goal of the gop is to basically get the president out of office.

>> if our primary legislative goals are to repeal and replace the health spending bill, to end the bailouts, cut spending, and shrink the size and scope of government, the only way to do all of those things is to put someone in the white house who won't veto any of these things. >> and finally i want to play something that president obama said at his press conference yesterday about bipartisanship. >> i told john boehner and mitch mcconnell last night i am very eager to sit down with members of both parties and figure out how we can move forward together. i'm not suggesting this will be easy. i won't pretend that we'll be able to bridge every difference or solve every disagreement. >> a lot of liberals are using these quotes saying this is a sign the president is reaching out, but conservatives aren't. do you think, a, that's fair, and if it's not, do you think there is room to actually work together? >> well, first of all, the quote from mitch mcconnell was a little bit old, not contemporaneous to what happened

tuesday. republicans do want to bring more discipline to government. they do want to repeal and replace the health care package that the president put in -- that jammed through congress. i think the president is obligated to make significant steps toward cooperation with republicans now that the american people have spoken so loudly, and i think that's what can happen. clearly it's going to be very, very tough. and if president obama wants to be part of the solution, he's got to take the steps to be part of the solution. if he doesn't want to be part of the solution, the republicans will put things on his desk and i don't know whether he'd veto them or not. but he should be working with republicans as he promised to do when he first took office, and he did not do. >> the sound bite from mcconnell was from this morning at heritage foundation. james? >> i thought what mr. mcconnell said is speaking the truth, is that if you want to do nothing on climate change, if you want

to tax cuts for the rich, if you want more deficits, if you want to do all of these things, yeah, you need a republican president to do that. and i didn't really -- if he would have said something else, i would have thought he was being kind of phony about it, honestly. i thought he was being truthful. but the democrats, one of the things we tend to forget here, is before it gets to the president's desk, as i understand it, it has to go through the senate and there still is a democratic majority in the senate. so all this that john boehner has to negotiate with the house, but i think if you're a constitutionalist, which these republicans claim they are, i think the senate has some say so in this. >> andy, do you want to respond to that? >> well, the republicans in the house will have to work with the senate. i want government to work. the american people say, we're frustrated. we are doubly frustrated. we are frustrated with president obama, we're frustrated with democrats, we're frustrated with republicans. we want the government to work. perfection will be introduced

into every debate in congress. i pray perfectly good is the result. so i want republicans and democrats to find a way to work together so that government can work, and i want the president to be a leader in that effort. if the president is not a leader, it's not likely to happen. but i know how the constitution works, and i know speaker to be boehner understands the role of the house. he also respects the role of the senate. and i have every reason to believe that he will try to be constructive as we move forward, but he's going to stand on principles and the republicans that were elected on election day are standing very tall right now on some very solid principles. >> james, stick around. mr. card, stick around. a lot of promises have been made about cutting taxes, cutting the deficit. where are the specifics? we're keeping them honest and our guests will join in on that. the live chat is up and running, if you'd like to weigh in. and later sarah palin's taste in tweets. she called this her favorite, then took down all the favorites from her site. now she's telling abc news she

never purposely favored anything, it was an accident. we'll discuss the story that just occurred a short time ago. what are you looking at? logistics. ben? the ups guy? no, you see ben, i see logistics. logistics? think--ben is new markets. ben is global access-- china and beyond. ben is a smarter supply chain. ben is higher margins.

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kit, brochure and dvd, so you can decide if hair restoration is right for you. call 1-800-660-hair. call now. there have been a lot of promises made on the campaign trail about cutting, cutting taxes, cutting spending, cutting the budget. a lot of promises but few painful specifics. take a look. >> to help our economy get back on track, we have to stop all of the coming tax hikes and cut spending. >> cut spending to limit government control over our lives and to make america stronger. >> we need to cut spending now. >> we can't say we're going to just freeze spending, we have to cut spending. >> cut spending, don't just simply slow down a spending spree. >> we have to obviously cut spending. >> well, for starters, continuing the bush tax cuts as john boehner said there, would add $700 billion to the deficit. that's according to the congressional budget office. supporters argue it's going to spur growth and make up the

difference, a lot of economists say there's no guarantees on that. many of the people calling for cuts don't seem willing to cut defense, social security and medicare spending which leaves only 15% chunk left over to make cuts to. nowhere near enough to make a serious dent in the more than $1 trillion deficit. so what specifically would they actually cut? that's what i asked michele bachmann last night. here's more of that interview, just trying to get an answer. >> in terms, though, of actually cutting the deficit and, you know, cutting spending, you're going to have to make very specific -- you're going to have to come up with specifics. >> we need to begin quite frankly with the general budget. we saw huge expansion. president obama increased spending at the federal level almost 25%. that's an amazing expansion. >> so you're not willing to say whether you'll cut medicare or social security? >> what we need to do is reform the system because this year we're spending more on social security than what we're taking in.

six years ahead of the projections on when that would occur. >> so you are willing to look at cuts in medicare, cuts in social security? >> well, for cuts we need to begin with the general budget. >> later in the interview she did say she would look at saving money by looking at eligibility, she didn't say whether it was for social security or medicare. she's not the only one long on promises but short on specifics. >> reporter: can you be specific, what in the government, what programs, what agencies, are you going to cut to get back to those levels? >> it's not rocket science. let's start with all of the t.a.r.p. funds. let's get the t.a.r.p. money back and use it to pay down our debt. let's bring all the unspent stimulus back. >> you're talking about unspent money but there is money that has been spent. look, you talk about the rebellion out there. part of what those rebellious voters want to know is, they want you to be specific. >> name a painful choice republicans are prepared to say we have to make. >> first of all, we need to make

sure that as we look at all that we're spending in washington, d.c., with not only the entitlement spending, but also the bigger government, we cannot afford anymore. we have to empower the free enterprise system. >> those are not specifics. >> oh, they are. >> voters get tired of that. >> why not make a single proposal that cuts social security, medicare and medicaid? >> chris, this is what happens here in washington. when you start down that path, you just invite all kinds of problems. i know. i've been there. >> what painful choices to really deal with the deficit is social security on the table? what will republicans do? >> the president has a debt commission that reports december 1st and i think we'd all like to see what they come back with, and my hope is they'll come back for the bipartisan solution to the debt and particularly entitlement reform, as you've mentioned. >> wait a minute, conservatives need a democratic president's debt commission to figure out what it is they'd want to cut? >> back now with our panel,

james carville and andy card. mr. card, have republicans to your mind been specific enough about what they would cut, what specific programs they would cut? >> i think they've been just as specific as the democrats that were calling for cuts. the process will work in the following way. republicans just had a big victory. they'll caucus and they'll come up with their own plans, they will write them as a body and then present them. i think it's too early for any republican to say, speak for all of the republicans or all of congress in terms of what would happen. i do think it's appropriate to wait for the wisdom that might come from this debt commission. they're going to have to make some tough recommendations and see how the president reacts. i think it's much too early to be talking about specific program cuts that are only designed to inflame the debate rather than be constructive and really bring discipline to the government. the president is the one that will have to propose a budget. congress will have to react to it. >> why would specific cuts, naming them, inflame the debate?

>> did you hear any democrats offering very specific cuts they would make in the budget? >> well, no, but that doesn't make -- my question to you is are you satisfied with republicans -- are you satisfied with any specific cuts that people are calling for. >> tell me what cuts you are recommending, anderson, and i'll give you a reaction to it. >> i'm not -- i'm not recommending cuts. james? >> you don't recommend any cuts? i think that's part of the problem. >> well, actually i'm just a reporter, i'm supposed to ask questions, i'm not a pundit that takes positions and tries to shove them down viewers' throats. james? >> we do have some guidance from republicans in the pledge to america, which was a campaign document which they pledged to cut $100 billion out of the 477 in discretionary spending that comes out of health research, environmental programs, education, parks, drug enforcement, law enforcement and things like that. so i don't think it's asking too much for them to say, this is

the pledge you made to people, what cuts are you going to make? >> what about, boehner has suggested the idea of returning spending just to 2008 level. what about that? >> then vote on it. i mean, that would be pretty substantial substantial. they ought to bring it to a vote that can pass the house. they have the votes in the house to pass it. once the legislation gets to the senate, they can say we did this and the democrats stopped it. but they have pledged by 20%. >> 20%. >> is that asking too much for them to specify those cuts or is that too volatile in the political discourse to say this is the 20% we're going to cut? >> i think it's appropriate for them to set out their objectives. they've been pretty specific about what their overall macro objectives are. getting there will be hard. it will be hard within the republican caucus to get there. but they have the will to do it. we haven't found the will in washington to do that. >> they've pledged to do it. so i'm saying, isn't it fair,

andy, to just be honest. you said you were going to do this, how are you going to do it? you have the power now. >> they just got the power yesterday. >> okay. all right. let's give them two months. i agree. let's give them a couple months. >> what timetable do you think is appropriate? >> first of all they haven't even caucused to determine their leadership. they have to determine their leadership, get committee assignments. the democrats have to do the same. they will have to assign offices that -- there's a lot of work that has to be done to get to the point that you can start to work. >> i think he makes a fair point, january 4th, two months, when they come back, let them specify the $100 billion cuts out of 477. i think that's reasonable. we ought to come back on this show on january the 4th. >> he's not giving that day and he's saying, look, even once they get in office there's still a lot of work. >> give them three months. do it february 4th. by the super bowl. that's fine.

>> do you think that they will? >> of course not. >> because? >> because they can't do it. you can't cut $100 billion from 477, some of the most essential parts of the federal government, but they pledged to do it, so let's see if they can do it. >> i think they can make a lot of progress to bringing discipline to the government and the president should be working very hard to help them accomplish that objective because the american people spoke so loudly. if this had been a parliamentary form of government, there would be a new government getting sworn in in a matter of weeks. but we're not a parliamentary system. >> if we were a parliamentary government, the government would have failed after katrina, but we're not a parliamentary government we're a constitutional government. the tweet that sarah palin listed as a favorite, a picture of a preacher's sign calling the president a taliban muslim. palin saying this was an accident and the media is lame for even talking about it. we'll talk to the guy who took the picture and sent the original tweet to ann coulter.

we'll talk to the politico reporter quoting gop insiders saying they hope to block a palin 2012 presidential run. we'll talk to andy card and james carville ahead about that. ♪ i hate suburbia and the bourgeoi-sie ♪ ♪ but i really love my bank ♪ i hate-- didn't quite catch that last bit. i said i really love my bank. right... is there a problem ? it's not really raging, man. uh, we were hoping for more raging ? well, you said write from the heart.

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here's what happened. sarah palin is obviously a big user of twitter. tonight she's caused a stir with a tweet sent to her that she favorited. here's palin's twitter page. she has no favorite tweets listed and that's because it's been wiped clean. this is what it looked like last week, and then she did have a number of favorites cited. the top was one by ann coulter, culture's tweet says, my new church, standing in front of pastor manning a church. look at this sign. this is the sign she was referring to, posted at the outside of atlah world missionary church. the message reads the blood of jesus against obama, history made november 4th, 2008. the a taliban muslim illegally elected, president usa hussein. the pastor is james david manning. in the past he's called president obama a liar, pimp and trash. the tweet has been picked up by a number of news organizations. we reached out to her office and no one responded. palin told abc news she never

purposefully favored any tweet, it was accidental and she's had to check her blackberry to even see if favoriting was an option. but how do you explain the other favorites? one insisted to a reporter that anything that goes out on twitter under palin's name is in fact from palin. so let's talk to the man who started all this, mark lamont hill, professor at columbia university, who took the photo of that sign and tweeted it to ann coulter. you did this basically as a joke, i guess have you, what, some running thing with ann coulter? >> yeah, there's one thing in the world that ann coulter and i agree on and that is that pastor manning is nuts. one of the things we do is make jokes about pastor manning. so i was walking through harlem and i took a picture of the church and sent it to her because the sign was obviously absurd and xenophobic, i sent to ann and we were both laughing about how absurd the sign was.

lo and behold, sarah palin favorites it. sarah palin, however, wasn't in on the joke. >> she retweeted the picture saying this is her new favorite church. did she say that or did you say that? >> ann coulter said, this is my new favorite church as part of the joke. >> she's obviously saying that tongue in cheek. she says a lot of outrageous things but she does have a sense of humor and clearly there's a sense of humor in that tweet. >> right. >> then it gets on sarah palin's favorite list. we don't know if it was put on that list because of sarah palin thought it was funny or somebody in sarah palin's group thought it was funny or didn't get the joke, i mean, just to be completely fair, we have no idea why it was put on there. >> right. we don't know what sarah palin was thinking. do we ever know what sarah palin is thinking? but safe to say she wasn't in on the joke because i had no communication with sarah palin about the joke. >> she might have been in on the joke because it was from ann coulter and clearly coulter saying sh this is my new favorite church, you could be interpreted as those who like ann coulter and think it's

funny. >> it's also on the outside she might have believed it because she's known for saying outrageous things. >> i just don't want to assume -- i know you're not a fan of sarah palins, i don't want to assume what was in the mind of anyone when they posted that, they could have been in on the joke, they might not have been, right? >> sarah palin insists that everything comes there facebook or twitter is directly through her and from her, not from a handler so at the very least we know she's the one who did it, based on her own words. >> they've clearly now taken that off the page, so clearly somebody who controls that page has a sense that we should just take this off it's not a good idea. >> that's exactly right. and in all fairness, she would probably say even if she had no ill intent because it's caused so much trouble it's better to take it off, but i suspect palin thought it was funny because it was addressed at president obama.

sarah palin's made -- developed so much power by playing to the xenophobic wing of the republican party, by playing to the tea party membership which has a xenophobic sector in it. it would make sense for her to do this not just as an inside joke but staying in touch with the base that preys upon people seen as outsider. >> i've got to rein you in a little bit on that. we have no idea why she could have made comments like this, she has not made comments like this about president obama, as radical as the statements on that billboard are. >> no, that's exactly right. and i don't necessarily believe sarah palin thinks it's true, but again, i think part of how she stays with her base is to play on these narratives. that's what i'm saying. i would doubt sarah palin believes he's a taliban muslim. i just think she doesn't mind other people believing it. if it gets sarah palin in trouble, i might tweet it more. >> earlier this week, politico.com posted an article in which anonymous republican sources said after the midterms are over, the goal is to derail

a palin candidacy in 2012. sarah palin criticized the article, i spoke with the co-author of the article a short time ago. jim, there's obviously the possibility that sarah palin herself didn't mark that tweet as a favorite, but her aides in the past have tried to make clear sarah palin is responsible for everything on that twitter page, in october's issue of "vanity fair" a palin staffer named rebecca mansour was quoted as saying, anything that goes after palin's name is hers. >> i'm skeptical that everything that goes out is hers, but if they're taking credit for it, they're taking credit for it. this is why the establishment in washington is so nervous about her actually running for president. and trust me, they think she is going to run for president and that she could win the nomination. and that scares the republican establishment. not one or two members, virtually every single person i talk to in washington is fearful that she'll run because think -- they think she would be an unmitigated zaz for the republican party because they

don't think she could control herself or that she could win the nomination. >> you author the article in which palin herself objected to and citing all these anonymous sources. but the people you talk to were mainstream republicans in the establishment, high profile people. >> right. and it's a worst kept secret this washington. there's nobody in the establishment that i've talked to on background that wants her to run for president. i think -- >> no one? >> nobody. and almost every person you talk to knows that, and i think it's a reason she went on fox business news the day after she was critical of that story and basically said, yes, the establishment doesn't want me to run because she knows it's sort of her against the establishment. that's her appeal. there's no doubt she's a force in republican politics. she could turn out a crowd like no other. she can generate news and controversy like no other. if she did run, she would be formidable but the establishment doesn't want her to run because they feel, you know what? she can't win the middle.

she could not win the country. she might win the primary but she would give obama the presidency. that's why they're nervous. >> and mark lamont hill tweeted this originally as a joke to ann coulter who retweeted it,. we don't know whether palin was in on the joke saying this was her favorite or not. do you think this is much ado about nothing? >> truth is i don't know the specifics about what she did with this tweet. what i do know is she's often on twitter, she's often sending out things and stirring up controversy. she's come after politico twice in the last week twice on twitter in very specific and direct ways and that's the way she operates. and her -- her supporters love it. they love it when she's attacking the quote, unquote, lame stream media. it's her against the establishment, her against washington. that's her appeal. >> we've obviously reached out to the palin camp on this whole twitter retweeting the picture thing as her favorite, no comment yet from them, although i'm sure maybe she'll say something on twitter about it later on down the road.

but clearly she recognizes something is amiss because they've now wiped clean that page. good to have you on. >> take care, anderson. and since we taped that, sarah palin still hasn't responded to cnn's request for comment but did tell abc news she never purposely favored any tweet, didn't even know she could do it, and it was an accidental favoriting. moving on, unnamed republicans concerned about a palin presidential run. could she win? a new poll sheds light on her chances. plus john king is at the magic wall, how close a race would it be if palin went head to head with president obama in 2012? james carville and andy card weigh in as well. [ male announcer ] your first day. you try to lie low, get the lay of the land. but then autoblog.com calls your interior lexus quiet. and automobile magazine goes comparing you to a cadillac. ♪ so much for the new kid fitting in

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let's put sarah palin's twitter incident aside and look to the 2012 presidential race which many people believe palin is eyeing. republicans were asked to name the top choice for the party's nominee in 2012. mike huckabee came on top with 21%. mitt romney, 20%, palin, 14%, and newt gingrich 12%. 2012 still a long way off, anything could happen. a lot will happen over the next two years. so the poll looked at a hypothetical matchup between palin and president obama. john king has those results. >> well, we put that hypothetical matchup, palin versus obama in our latest poll and the president comes out ahead right now. 52% to 44%. it won't surprise you especially when you look at this map and how red it became after the 2010 elections. the highest favorability ratings, among conservatives. where she struggles is moderate and independent voters. let's go to 2008 and look at the

presidential campaign and dig a little deeper into this matchup. the red states, john mccain, the blue states, barack obama. what about a palin/obama matchup? let's look first in the northeast. this blue was obama country. 55% for the president, 42% for sarah palin in the northeast. big democratic edge there. what about here in the mountain west? you see some blue. obama did okay but john mccain won a lot in the west. wow, look at that, a big lead, almost 20 points for the president in the west over sarah palin. that's good news for the president. how about the midwest? we know obama did very well especially in the big industrial states in '08 but the democrats struggled in those same states in 2010. what about 2012, palin/obama? dead heat. the president with a little edge in the midwest. and how about the south? the south is usually republican country in a presidential election. would it be for sarah palin? look at that. that's the biggest surprise in this poll, a dead heat in the south, 48% for the president, 47% for sarah palin.

but it is worth noting we're talking about the entire electorate. a general election matchup, the short term question for sarah palin, does she want to run in the republican primaries. we do know there, she has a very strong and very loyal base. anderson? breaking news, a plane carrying at least 68 people crashes in cuba. we're just getting details in. plus a possible new disaster in haiti, tropical storm tomas dumping rain on the already devastated country, forcing thousands of people that have been living in camps during the quake to search for higher ground. because of one word, imagination and reality have merged. because of one word, a new generation-- a fifth generation-- of fighter aircraft has been born. because of one word, america's air dominance for the next forty years is assured. that one word... is how.

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i don't always let the worry my pipes might leak compromise what i like to do. i take care with vesicare, because i have better places to visit than just the bathroom. ( announcer ) once-daily vesicare can help control your bladder muscle, and is proven to treat overactive bladder with symptoms of frequent urges and leaks, day and night. if you have certain stomach or glaucoma problems, or trouble emptying your bladder, do not take vesicare. vesicare may cause allergic reactions that may be serious. if you experience swelling of the face, lips, throat or tongue, stop taking vesicare and get emergency help. tell your doctor right away if you have severe abdominal pain or become constipated for three or more days. vesicare may cause blurred vision, so use caution while driving or doing unsafe tasks. common side effects are dry mouth, constipation, and indigestion. ( woman ) you have better things to join than always a line for the bathroom.

so, pipe up and ask your doctor today about taking care with vesicare. got a number of other stories we're following, joe johns has the news and business bulletin. >> breaking news in cuba, reuters is reporting that a plane carrying 68 people has crashed in the country's central region. there are no initial reports of survivors. airport sources say the plane was an atr twin turboprop aircraft that belonged to cuba's state owned aero caribbean airline. meanwhile, qantas has grounded its entire a-380 fleet the decision comes after part of an engine cover fell off one of its new super jumbo jets in flight today. no one was injured in that incident. haiti is bracing for a

possible new disaster, as heavy rain from tropical storm tomas pounds the country. the big fear is flooding and mudslides with up to 15 inches of rain predicted in some areas. thousands of people living in tents after january's earthquake are being moved to shelters. the connecticut man convicted of killing this mother and her two daughters in a home invasion would suffer more if sentenced to life in prison than put to death, that is what steven hayes' attorney told a jury during closing arguments in the penalty phase of the trial today. the jury will begin deliberating hayes' sentence tomorrow. in utah, a federal appeals court has halted the trial of a man accused of kidnapping elizabeth smart in 2002. the court is reviewing a request by defense attorneys for brian david mitchell. they want the case moved outside the state, claiming pretrial publicity tainted the jury pool. and david cassidy is out of

jail tonight. the partridge family star was arrested on a drunken driving charge in florida. >> strange mug shot there. >> sure is. >> all right, joe, for tonight's shot, the man many people will be cheering during the marathon this weekend, edison pena, kept in shape by jogging in one of the mine's tunnels, earning him the nickname "the runner, also a huge fan of elvis. kept the other miners upbeat. in new york today, he talked to reporters. pena doesn't speak much english but sang "return to sender" for reporters. listen. ♪

>> i think there's a career for this guy. >> i wish him luck in the marathon. if he hasn't been training, though, i don't know. it's going to be hard. i've got a bunch of friends running this weekend and they've been training really hard. >> i've run a couple marathons and i've got to tell you, it's no joke. 26 miles, 385 yards, and the last two or three are pretty tough. >> i run like three miles every day and that pretty much kills me. up next, "perry's principles principles." receiving the bronze star, that was definitely one of my proudest moments.

i graduated from west point, then i did a tour of duty in iraq. when i was transitioning from active duty, i went to a military officer hiring conference. it was kind of like speed dating. there were 12 companies that i was pre-matched with, but walmart turned out to be the best for me. sam walton was in the military, and he understood the importance of developing your people. it's an honor to be in a position of leadership at walmart. i'm captain tracey lloyd, and i work at walmart. ♪

we report a lot of cases, too many cases of bullying over the years on this many practice. unfortunately a lot of those stories were about teens that took their own lives because they couldn't take bullying anymore and believed suicide was their only way out, their only relief. tonight's story, a teen that has been bullied but is fighting back. tonight's "perry's principles." >> reporter: for some, school must be survived. >> we don't go to school to get an education. we go to school to make it through the day without being killed or without being to the point where we feel the need to kill ourselves. >> reporter: joey's troubles started in middle school when word got out that he was gay. so what did the kids do to you? >> a lot.

a lot of threats. one kid said that he wanted to light me on fire, like the faggot i was. >> the child was not reprimanded? >> the child was not suspended. the child was not given anything other than a talking to. and then sent back to class. >> reporter: if i'm your son's principal, and this has happened, what can i do to help you as a mom feel like i'm doing my job? >> teachers need to be trained or be given permission in their classrooms to simply succinctly address intolerant comments and behavior. >> reporter: the 2010 middle school principal of the year, also joey's mom. together they're teaching current and future educators how to stop bullying. >> the culture in schools doesn't really change until the whole school community takes it on. >> most schools have a 45-minute tolerance assembly in their schools.

but if it's only once in the entire year, it's like trying to put a band-aid on someone that needs surgery. it's just not going to work. >> reporter: last year ee created a facebook page called the equality project. >> i really want you to keep up the amazing work. i wish i had the guts to help you without people judging me. >> i have over 5900 members, and of those 5900 members, the messages are all the same. schools across america do not know how to deal with the issue of bullying. >> reporter: but joey and his mom are hoping that will change. >> there is a part of me that is dead, and that no matter how hard i work will always be gone. and i don't want any other child to have to deal with that. when i get that diploma, it's not going to be about the

education i received, it's going to be about finally i can go through life in peace. and i can get out of that survival mode and move into my life. >> so what do you think schools can do to stop bullying? it's not just parents and kids, schools have to be involved. >> schools is where a lot of the bullying takes place. the first thing schools can do is educate students and faculty that it's not okay, because sometimes faculty members say, oh, they're just playing and they let it go. and then you find out too late that something bad has happened. the second thing we can do as educators is make sure that we act swiftly. not just on behalf of the victim, making sure that she/he gets the support they need, but the bully. the bully needs to understand that on no uncertain terms are you playing with them. they do this, it's going to hurt. >> it does seem in school some words are okay and other words aren't. if a child uses the "n" word a teacher will probably pay attention. if they use the "f" word, if