a messy republican primary season and a better looking economy have improved democrats' spirits. once facing long odds, they now talk confidently of maintaining control of the senate. today, policy and politics. >> not everything around here should be a knock down, drag out fight. >> with senate democratic leader harry reid. then -- >> there's an old saying. campaigns don't end. they run out of money. >> it's not going to come together. >> calling it quits. when you've been all in. with two-time presidential candidates deck gephardt and steve forbes. and -- >> the economy is getting stronger. >> he may be right. but we have passed this way before. sorting it out with alice rivlin, former director of the office and management and budget. stephen moore of the "wall street journal." dan balz of the "washington post." i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." presidential campaign and democratic sources confirm members of the president's re-election team told top congressional leaders this week, no re-elect money will go to

house or senate democratic election coffers. at least until after the election. although the president and top officials will help in other ways. sounds like every man for himself. joining us this morning, one of the lawmakers who spoke to the president's campaign team, senate democratic leader harry reid. thank you so much, senator, for being with us. >> my pleasure. >> i want to start out, though, in an entirely different place in the world. that is in afghanistan where this morning we are learning that an american soldier went off base and opened fire on civilians, young, old. we're not sure at this point of how many -- cnn's reporting is that 14 people were shot. we don't know yet how many of them fatally. he is now -- he turned himself in, apparently, after this. i know that you have supported the president's plan for withdrawal. i want to first get your reaction to this soldier going rogue, which is what it appears to be. and then ask you whether over time you have rethought whether we ought to speed up that withdrawal time. >> well, of course, our hearts

go out to these innocent people. one of our soldiers went into a couple of homes and just killed people at random. very, very sad. especially following that incident dealing with the korans. just not a good situation. our troops are under such tremendous pressure in afghanistan. it's a war like no other war we've been involved in. but no one can condone or make any suggestion that what he did was right because it was absolutely wrong. i think that we're on the right track to get out of afghanistan just as soon as we can. there's a way we have stabilized some of the provinces there. there's conversations going on with karzai now. we've turned over the big prison to them. in the next six months, we'll turn that over to them. so i think -- i think our timetable is pretty good. we're moving out, as the president said. i think that's the right thing to do. >> have you watched? there was -- or there were those riots in the street, kandahar in particular was hit hard after the burning or the accidental

burning of the koran by american personnel. watching that, we don't know what will happen in the wake of this. hopefully the commanders over there can calm things. but, nonetheless, have you ever thought, we need to do this more quickly? >> i think we're moving pretty quickly right now. i think some of the things that are going on we didn't expect would happen this quickly. there's peace talks starting in qatar. taliban have set up offices there. there's conversations going on. i think we're going to find out that hopefully we can get out of there as scheduled and things will be stabilized when we do that. >> let me move you back to this country and domestic things, particularly domestic politics. you did have a meeting with some re-elect people for the president. i wonder what your takeaway was from that meeting. what did they tell you? >> well, i had a meeting with jim messina, who is a wonderful friend. he's a senate guy. spent a lot of time with him.

david plouffe, who is the brains of the campaign operation for the president. >> did they tell you no money? >> well, there are many ways they're helping us. everyone should know that. i'm pretty proud of my campaign organization i have in nevada. i think people would recognize that the reason i was re-elected is because of the campaign operation i had on the ground. obama has that same campaign operation on the ground. that's important. i don't know why anyone's concerned about the conversations that we had. it's the same conversation i've had with presidents over the years. they have to guard their money. i didn't expect them to bring their checkbook with them. >> right. i guess the reason this sort of becomes an issue is because if you talk to some of your democratic colleagues on the senate side, they will at times voice some displeasure thinking -- saying, listen, the white house, the president, just even on routine things, isn't in regular contact, sometimes isn't in semicontact. this feeling there's a

detachment between senate democrats and the white house. do you feel that same detachment? >> i really don't. i've worked with a number of presidents. i've been fortunate to do that. of course, my relationship with -- because of my being the leader of the senate has made it a little closer than some of the other presidents. but i can place a phone call any time. it's returned immediately. he's got staff around him that i care about a great deal. pete rouse, his new chief of staff, is a wonderful man. rob nabors who works with him. we meet every week for at least an hour. i feel very good about my relationship with the white house and the senate's relationship. >> i want to put up some numbers for our audience, and the question, you've seen the polls, how is congress handling its job? the approval rating for congress right now is 10%. the disapproval rating is 82%. i wonder if you believe at this moment that you will hold on to the majority in the u.s. senate

on the day after the elections. >> first of all, if they could poll me, i would have been with the majority here. i think -- i think congress looks bad. i think the obstructionism we've had over the last two congresses, especially this one, has turned the american people. what the republicans have done, stopping us from doing the most simple things -- >> is it all their fault? >> as i indicated, what you had when you introduced your show, why does everything have to be a fight? there shouldn't be a fight. we should be able to get things done that are routine. we haven't been able to do that. but we feel really good. we've had some tremendous -- we've had some good fortune in north dakota, in massachusetts, in nevada, in arizona. we have good candidates all over. i feel very comfortable about where we're going to wind up in november. >> you think you'll wind up with the majority? >> i sure do. most of the pundits are saying so now. especially in light of the fact

that snow has stepped down. my friend bob kerrey is going to run in nebraska. we have some good things going on around the country. >> your friend bob kerrey has dropped some pretty broad hints that you sort of put some sweeteners in this to get him to decide again that he would come into this race. what did you tell him you might be able to do for him if he would run for the senate. >> anyone that knows bob kerrey knows you don't need to make a deal with bob kerrey. he's running because he wants to run. he loved the senate. he's coming back. bob kerrey and i had conversations not over a few days, but over many, many months. and the things we talked about were between the two of us. but bob kerrey was promised nothing. >> you didn't say i'll give you seniority, i'll put you on a committee, none of that was promised? >> no. and not only that, it's determined after the election when our steering committee meets. i can make recommendations. but i've learned a long time ago -- for example, when arlen

specter switched parties, he's writing in his book, reid didn't deliver what he thought he would do. i told arlen i'm going to try to do something that helped you. as things worked out, more senior members of the senate didn't want to give him seniority. i learned my lesson then. don't make any promises. >> i want to get back, backtrack a little to something you said. that is that you do blame republicans for the low rating of congress. is there nothing that the democrats are doing to add to this? >> well, you know, there's a lot of things -- >> by "this" i mean the stalemate. >> oh, sure. we've really tried. i'm there. i try. i try -- you know, why should we have right now more than 20 judges held up, many of them from the last year, reported out unanimously. these are things that have never been done before. we've had -- we have had on the most mundane, simple, routine matters, they've stopped us. and as i said, if i were being

polled, how do you feel about congress, i would -- i would be with the 80% saying not very good. >> let me ask you, 11 of your democrats defected and went over and voted for building the keystone pipeline. what is the message to the white house from the democrats as a result of that vote? >> the message is pretty simple. the pipeline, half of it's being constructed as we speak. the owners of that pipeline have filed new applications to get rid of some of the contention that's in the original application. i think it's very clear that the amendment that we have, we'll vote on this coming week, says that if -- if they want to build it here, they have to sell the product here. and so i think -- and many exaggerations about tens of thousands of jobs. half of it's being built right now. this is something that the republicans have raised as an issue, to lower the price of oil. it won't lower the price of oil. construction won't be complete for a long, long time. under the way it's constructed now, all the oil would be sold

elsewhere. we can't have that. >> let me ask you -- >> when i say elsewhere, i mean to some other country. >> right. let me ask you something about -- something the attorney general said recently. he was giving a speech to northwestern university law school. and he was suggesting -- he said, you know, people are arguing that for some reason the president needs to get permission from a federal court before taking action against a u.s. citizen overseas who's an operational leader in al qaeda. he says that's just not accurate. that due process and judicial process are not one and the same. do you have -- this is creating quite a stir. do you have any problem with that? do you understand what that means exactly? >> no, i don't. but i do know this. the non -- the american citizens who have been killed overseas who are terrorists, and frankly if anyone in the world deserved to be killed, those three did deserve to be killed. >> these were the three killed in yemen. i understand that. are you slightly uncomfortable with the idea that the united

states president, whoever it may be, can decide that this or that u.s. citizen living abroad is a threat to national security and kill them? >> well, i don't know what the attorney general meant by saying that. i'd have to study it a little bit. i've never heard that term before. but i think the process is in play. i think it's one that i think we can live with. i think with the international war on terror that's going on now, we're going to have to make sure that we have the tools to get some of these people who are very bad and comply with american law. >> you think that the president should be able to make that decision in conjunction with the folks in the administration without going to a court, without going to you all, anything? >> there is a war going on. there's no question about that. he's the commander in chief. and there has been guidelines set. and if he follows those, i think he should be able to do it. >> senator harry reid, majority leader in the u.s. senate, come back and see us again. thank you so much. >> you're sure welcome, candy. how do you know when it's time to quit, when you've poured your heart and soul into running for president? former house majority leader

dick gephardt and steve forbes have been there twice, and they're next. imagine if you could always see life [music] in the best light. every time of day. outdoors, or in. transitions® lenses automatically filter just the right amount of light. so you see everything the way it is meant to be seen. maybe even a little better. experience life well lit, ask for transitions adaptive lenses.

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everyone who gets in starts at the same place. >> i believe we're going to win this. >> i will go all the way to the convention. i expect to win the nomination. >> i intend to be the nominee that defeats barack obama. >> but after that first heady i'm in it to win it moment comes everything else. under the broad heading of reality. >> last night, the people of iowa spoke with a very clear voice. and so i have decided to stand aside. >> with a lot of prayer and soul searching, i am suspending my presidential campaign. >> today, i am suspending my campaign. >> i'm going to be ending my campaign for president. >> camp romney has spent the week trying to convince anyone who's counting that none of mitt romney's rivals can win the delegates needed to get the republican nomination.

so far, no sale. >> we feel great. that's all i can say. we feel great. we're in this race. we're in it to stay. >> there are lots of bunny rabbits that run through. i'm the tortoise. i just take one step at a time. >> knowing when to hold them and when to fold them is not just a poker skill. it's a skill every politician needs at one time or another. steve forbes and dick gephardt faced that decision twice in their political careers. despite early signs of success, both ended the same way. >> in a democracy, the candidate who wins the most votes wins. it's that simple. >> we were nosed out by a landslide. >> i accept the results with the knowledge that i gave this campaign everything that i had in me. today, my pursuit of the presidency has reached its end. >> ceo steve forbes and former house majority leader dick gephardt are up next. my daughter's grabbing some yoplait.

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joining me now, two former presidential candidates very familiar with the campaign trail. former house majority leader dick gephardt and steve forbes, chairman and editor in chief of forbes media. thank you both so much for trying to sort of shine some light on where we are now, at least it appears, in the republican primary race. we're hearing a lot of chatter about whether newt gingrich ought to get out, that it's impossible for actually either he or santorum to win this nomination. walk me through, first to you, congressman gephardt, what that process is like when you've kind of thrown your whole life into the campaign trail and when you wake up one morning and go, uh-oh, i've got to get out. >> well, you know, in the past it's a little different than it is today. because in the past we didn't have the super pacs -- >> ran out of money. >> there's an old saying. campaigns don't end. they run out of money. so when you ran out of money, you couldn't buy an airplane

ticket to go to the next stop. so that's when people usually got out. so that's what happened to me in my races. we just -- we weren't winning. and when you're not winning, you're not raising money and you can't keep going. but that may be a little changed today. >> yeah. steve, like the congressman, you ran twice. and both times pulled out after you couldn't put it together. how -- what goes through your mind when you're making that decision? was it a monetary decision? because you could have self-funded probably all the way through november if you'd wanted to. >> yeah. you get the perception very quickly whether you're going to have a chance to be one of the two front-runners. in 2000 it was clear after a couple of early setbacks, even though we did well in iowa, that it was not going to come together. and in 1996 bob dole was clearly going to get the majority of delegates, so there's no point in carrying on. even with the super pacs today, there does come a point where you lose credibility. for newt gingrich, for example,

next week alabama, mississippi, two southern states right near georgia. and if he doesn't do well or carry both of those, he's just not going to have the credibility he can carry on. he's not going to be taken seriously as a possible winner. >> and who makes -- at least take me into your decision making process. who makes that decision? does someone come to you and say, you know what, congressman? this is over. or do you wake up -- because you've got people around you that want to continue. i'm assuming that both of you all wanted to continue. so how does that come about? >> but you have a large group of people that you're paying to help you do this. and when you can't make payroll, it's obvious that you need to get out. because you don't want to hurt these people. and you can't really ask them to be volunteers for month after month when you can't pay payroll. so your campaign manager, you know, you're talking every day, every minute of every day.

so you pretty easily come to the decision that's right. >> it becomes organic after a while, right? >> exactly. >> steve, let me ask you this. looking at the race where it is now, and you think maybe tuesday might be a marker, at least, for newt gingrich. in general, do you buy into the current theme in the republican race that this really is beginning to hurt republican chances in the fall because it's been so contentious, clearly they're draining money from romney and money he could be collecting for a general election if this were all settled at this point? >> well, i think you've got the change of roles this year, candy, where a lot of delegates are being back ended. oftentimes in the past it was front ended. so the thing would end because somebody was near the majority of delegates. the process itself in terms of hurting the republican party, yes, it has. a brawl like that never makes the fighters look good.

but i think at the end of the day, if romney does emerge as the nominee, it'll make him stronger. he's done things on the tax side that the base wanted him to do from the beginning but which he refused to do until a couple of weeks ago. he's going to have to do the same thing on health care and perhaps one other issue to reassure the base that he can carry the banner in november. and then once the process is over, even though it reminds one of bismarck's phrase, you shouldn't see two things being made, one is sausages, the other one is laws, perhaps if he was around he would add presidential contest. but this thing will be over in june. and then the public will start to focus in later summer. and what happened earlier this year is going to be largely forgotten. the key thing is what kind of program, principles the nominee puts out. i think it's going to be pretty much a fresh contest. i wouldn't take the brawling out as something that's going to

kill the republicans in november. >> i know you were an early supporter of rick perry. who do you like now in this race? >> rick perry backed the flat tax. so i liked him for that. but i haven't backed anyone. i'm still looking over the field. i like certain parts of each candidate's platform. less enthusiastic about other parts. so i'm waiting to see how the thing goes out. i thought for a moment if you had a different result in ohio and michigan you might have seen another candidate yet emerge. but if romney wins in illinois the following week, that's going to make it less and less likely even though probably rick santorum will stay in for a long time and ron paul is going to stay in to the end. no matter what happens. >> gentlemen, i need you to stand by. we're going to talk about the state of the race and the state of the economy. the last time steve forbes was on the show, he wasn't that impressed by the pace of recovery. >> that's why this recovery we're like an automobile going 25 miles an hour when at this stage we should be on an open highway, be going 70, 75 miles an hour. of general mills big g cereal, there's more whole grain than any other ingredient. that's why it's listed first.

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welcome back. here with two former presidential candidates, dick gephardt and steve forbes, who have gone on and found that there is life outside politics. i think steve forbes already knew that. it's a new life for you, i know. i wanted to ask you about the president's poll ratings in a particular group where you

showed great strength both when you were running for president and when you were in the house of representatives for so long. blue-collar workers and white voters without college degrees. in general the president ranges in the 34%, 35%, kind of mid-30 percentiles with those. who does he do to bring them on board? >> i think he's really doing it by helping to help pull together an economy that really is moving in the right direction finally for the middle class, for all of the american people. the job numbers that recently came out are positive. manufacturing jobs have come back for the first time -- >> overall 200,000-plus added to the economy this month. >> plus manufacturing jobs which are the people you're really talking about, for the first time since 1997 have started to increase month by month. so that's very good news for the president's hopes of getting those votes back.

i think the economy will be the big determinant of this election. i've thought that for a long time. if the economy keeps going forward, if jobs keep getting created, i think the president has a great chance to be re-elected. if, on the other hand, it goes in a different direction between now and november, then it could spell trouble. >> steve, would you -- i assume you would agree that the economy, barring some horrible international thing happening, is going to be what folks vote about. the last time we had you on late last summer, you said this was a -- you know, a terrible recovery. and that it really, you know, could be going at 70 miles an hour, instead was going at about 25. is it still a terrible recovery, or is this a real recovery and you trust it? >> well, the recovery of 25 miles an hour may be last summer. i think we've got it up now to about 40 miles an hour. still below what it should be. that's why that unemployment rate's going to remain stubborn. because a lot of people if they

see hope are going to come back into the workforce. we're still about 6 million jobs behind from when this crisis hit us. and there's another issue, though, obviously related to the economy that i think will emerge, i think. and that is health care. there is still a lot of opposition, a lot of real worry about what health care's going to mean to having people have freedom for control in their lives. and i think that's going to be a big issue certainly on the senate and congressional level and probably on the presidential level. that's why it's very important for republicans who emerges as the nominee to have a very reagan-esque program on tax reform, stabilizing the dollar, health care and the like so people know this is not just an election about hoping the economy is good or bad, but will really get this country back on track and not have these fragile recoveries. which is still the case today, still fragile. >> let me pull you both back into the race itself in the fall. do you think, congressman, and put on your kind of analyst hat

instead of your democratic hat. do you think rick santorum is electable in your state of missouri which right now sort of shows the president running about even, maybe a little under 50%? >> i think rick can make a presentation in a fall campaign that would be able to win in a state like missouri. >> how about overall? >> overall, i -- i don't think so. again, i take it back to the economy. if the economy is still going forward, even at 40 miles an hour, 50 miles an hour, i think most people will stick with president obama. i think people look at politics like they hire a plumber. i hire you to fix the bad pipe. if you fix it, i'll rehire you. if you don't fix it, i'm not going to rehire you. >> joe the plumber should get you as his campaign manager. steve, let me ask you, do you think rick santorum can beat president obama in the fall, assuming the economy stays roughly on the path it's not

on right now? >> he could. and i hope if he emerges as the nominee, i'm not sure -- in fact, i don't think he will. but if he emerges as the nominee, i hope he's learned lessons from his mishaps in the last few weeks. this is where you get your mishaps and get your muscling up done rather than in the fall. and to focus on the issue of a health care, the idea of being able to control your life. focusing on tax reform and the like. if he does that, he has a shot on it. but he's raised a lot of questions in people's minds about where his priorities are. and he's going to have a lot of explaining to do if he's not careful about issues like contraception, which is sort of a side show. you go anywhere, you can buy the things. they're not that expensive. but he's got to be careful not to let the democrats set the agenda. he's got to learn to set the agenda the way ronald reagan did in 1980. >> let me quickly -- you said that you didn't think he would be the nominee. can i assume that you believe the nominee will be mitt romney?

>> i think, yes, he's likely to be the nominee. but he's going to -- at the rate he's going, he's going to limp over the finish line. santorum, i think, is going to have a good week on tuesday. i think he's beginning to get his footings in terms of national campaign, painful though it's been. so i don't think it's going to be a knock-out blow any time soon. so i see this going right into june. >> oh, my goodness. pack our bags. congressman gephardt, a wrap-up question for you. if rick santorum, who seems somewhat likely to emerge as the challenger to -- we don't want to -- we don't want to preclude what's going to go on in the election. right now at this moment that's how it looks. could republicans take control of the u.s. senate with rick santorum at the top of the ticket? >> i think it makes it less likely. i think the senate with olympia snowe stepping out makes the senate tougher for the republicans.

there are a lot of tough races. democrats have more seats up than the republicans. before she stepped out and bob kerrey came back in in nebraska, it looked like republicans would have a good chance. but i think if they don't have a really dominant presidential candidate, it doesn't look like they'll have that, this will be a close presidential race. i think the senate probably stays in democratic hands. >> comparatively, is it better to have -- for republicans to have mitt romney at the head of the ticket or rick santorum at the head of the ticket in so far as the senate is concerned or the house? >> i think to do well in the presidential campaign, they've got to have a strong economic message. and to the extent that rick santorum has been talking more about social issues and less emphasis on the economic issues and maybe that romney could fulfill that role better. but, again, reality, what's happening in the country will, i think, determine this election. >> dick gephardt, steve forbes,

thank you both so much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> thank you. job market shows sign of growth. but the republicans may have another achilles heel for president obama in gas prices. t. how'd you do it? eating right, whole grain. [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who don't. multigrain cheerios... five whole grains, 110 calories. so i wasn't playing much of a role in my own life, but with advair, i'm breathing better

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we may be seeing some signs of recovery. but facts are funny things. 227,000 new jobs were added to the economy in february. the third month in a row with

job growth over 200,000. still, it was not enough to sway the unemployment rate, which stands at 8.3%. but the president was bullish during a tour of a jet engine plant in the swing state of virginia. >> more companies are choosing to bring jobs back and invest in america. manufacturing is adding jobs for the first time since the 1990s. and we're building more things to sell to the rest of the world. stamped with three proud words, "made in america." >> on the campaign trail, the republican prism is different. >> this president has done everything humanly possible to slow this economy down, to stop it, to create headwinds, to put a yoke on the businessmen and women of this country. >> this president, how many months ago was it? 37 months ago told us that if he could borrow $787 billion, almost a trillion dollars, he would keep unemployment below 8%.

it has not been below 8% since. >> the only reason it's down to 8.3% is people have quit looking for work and dropped out of the workforce. >> if you are wondering whether the economy is half empty or half full, you raise the question that may decide this year's election. up next, "the wall street journal's" stephen moore, "the washington post"'s dan balz and former office of management and budget director, alice rivlin. when bp made a commitment to the gulf, we knew it would take time, but we were determined to see it through. today, while our work continues, i want to update you on the progress: bp has set aside 20 billion dollars to fund economic and environmental recovery.

we're paying for all spill- related clean-up costs. and we've established a 500 million dollar fund so independent scientists can study the gulf's wildlife and environment for ten years. thousands of environmental samples from across the gulf have been analyzed by independent labs under the direction of the us coast guard. i'm glad to report all beaches and waters are open for everyone to enjoy. and the economy is showing progress with many areas on the gulf coast having their best tourism seasons in years. i was born here, i'm still here and so is bp. we're committed to the gulf for everyone who loves it, and everyone who calls it home.

joining me now, dan balz of the "washington post," alice rivlin, former director of the office of management and budget, and stephen moore, an editorial board member with "the wall street journal." let's start with the unemployment figures which sound really good. i want to break them down just a little and show our audience who gained the most jobs. it really was the professional and business services, 82,000 jobs gained. down the line, manufacturing, construction, even construction where we've got so many empty buildings and houses that need to be sold. but 13,000 new jobs added. what do the inside of the numbers tell you, alice rivlin? >> well, it was a solid jobs report. more than 200,000 jobs added for the third month in a row. that's significant. and some upward revisions in the prior month.

so it looks quite solid. and even the fact that the unemployment rate didn't come down is, in a sense, good news. the reason it didn't was that there was some increase in the labor force. people came back into looking for work. >> discouraged people thought, oh, there might be a job out there for me now? >> that's right. and that's good. and we'll see more of that if the economy continues to -- to pick up. manufacturing actually went up, which is unusual. it's been trending down for a long time. it's now being one of the good-news stories. and i think the other important thing about these jobs is that they're private sector. we're still seeing a downturn in the public sector employment because state and local governments are still in trouble and are still laying off people. so this is pretty solid. now, it doesn't mean it's going to continue forever. we had solid numbers a year ago that didn't continue.

but i think for where we are, it's very good news. >> you know, dan, i'm thinking if i'm the re-elect team for president obama, i would really like to move these numbers and put them into july, august, september. >> yeah. that's exactly right. but you want them any time you can get them. certainly they would like them, i would say, may, june, july, august would be the ideal period. but if this does continue at this pace, it will be very helpful to the president and his re-election. as alice says, we don't know that. this recovery has been in fits and starts. there are external events that can happen whether it's europe or gas prices or whatever. so i think if you're the president's re-election team you feel better about things today, but you don't feel comfortable. >> let me ask you, stephen, when you look at this, what's the fear? these are great numbers. >> yeah. it's a good news/bad news story.

first, alice is exactly right. very positive. and alice is right, we've had three strong months of employment growth. labor department does two surveys. the households survey looked even better with about 1 million jobs over the last three months. there's no question in my mind that the economy is doing well right now. the point that republicans are going to be making over and over is the one you just made. it could have been much better. it is true this is still by far the weakest recovery we've had out of a recession. don't foreget, it's been four years now we've been in this kind of recession, recovery. a lot of people don't think it's a recovery at all. the question, really, ties into what dan was talking about, how this is going to impact the election is whether this is a durable expansion. whether the economy can continue to create jobs in august, september, october. that's where i have a question because i do think there are some things that are going to hit the economy later this year that are going to be very negative. and the big one -- the big one that i keep talking about is

what i call the tax time bomb that's going to go off on january 1, 2013. the biggest tax increase in 50 years in this country with higher capital gains, dividends taxes, payroll taxes, business taxes. i think that could cause real problems for the president as investors and businesses look into that coming tidal wave of taxes. >> let me play -- just give our listeners a little burst from the campaign trail and ask you something about it on the other side. >> when obama was sworn in, the day he was sworn in, gasoline was $1.89. >> since this president has been president, the cost of gasoline has doubled. >> and then he blames everybody else that gas prices are high. >> let's call this at the moment plan "b." how big a problem are gas prices right now, and every economist i've ever talked to says $4 is about when people start to really draw back, when businesses seize hiring. how big a problem is this? >> it's a problem. it's interesting.

i talked to people, ceos at places like walmart, people who run restaurants, and they tell me when they see a higher gas price, they see in the weeks that follow a decline in store sales because people are living paycheck to paycheck. candy, if they have to pay $10 more to fill up the tank, that's $10 less they pay for buying diapers or clothes at walmart or going out for dinner. so yeah, this has a negative effect on the economy. higher gas taxes are like -- gas prices are like a tax on the american consumer, so it's a negative. >> would you agree -- when does it hit the economy to the extent that we see growth going down or it taking an effect on unemployment? >> i don't think we're likely to see growth going down. it's a question of whether the growth will be slower than it would have otherwise have been. and we're actually not going to know that. and the other question is, do people really think presidents control gas prices? >> i think people think presidents control everything, actually, but, you know. and they control very little.

>> that is the whole question here. we had a very deep recession, much deeper than usual. do people think the president could have done something to purpose that around faster? and for heaven's sakes, presidents don't control gas prices. does anybody think they do? the answer is probably yes. >> dan, it's one of those issues that people get. it's like not having a job or having your home foreclosed. gas prices totally hit home. isn't this something that people tend to blame on a president? >> well, people do tend to blame it on an administration in power and on a president. and i think this white house has been very sensitive to the political impact of higher gas prices, even if there isn't much that they can do about it. i mean, when we've seen spikes in gasoline prices in the past during this administration, the white house team has been very, very fixated on that, worried about it. in a sense to the exclusion of some of the other elements of

the economy because, you know, look. people fill up their tanks all the time. and they're very sensitive to exactly what the price is. you can go into a gas station, and it's in big numbers. it's not like going into a grocery store where you're not quite sure what the price of milk may be. >> there's a good reason for that. carter lost the election because of high inflation. and that was reflected in food and gas prices and so on. i'll disagree with alice a little bit. i do think presidents do have an impact on costs. i think the president is vulnerable on the energy issue. i think republicans are going to go after obama where he's spent billions on companies like solyndra that failed. >> i have to close it off but i hope you guys will come back. thank you all so much. appreciate it. up next, deja vu on the campaign trail. have we heard this one before? >> i know that gasoline prices are high. but i have a word for you. algae. algae. algae. and our "sound of sunday." highlights from the other sunday morning talk shows. and then "fareed zakaria

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before we get to today's "sound of sunday," an update on today's breaking news. this is video from the scene where a u.s. soldier opened fire on and killed 16 civilians in

afghanistan's kandahar province. afghan president hamid karzai condemned the shooting as unforgivable and said nine children and three women are among the dead. the u.s. commander of the nato-led force in afghanistan vowed to hold fully accountable anyone found responsible for the killing spree. the soldier is in the custody of the international security forces. too awful to avoid, the incident pushed politics aside for a while on the sunday talk shows, obama campaign strategist robert gibbs called it a deeply regrettable incident. >> i know that the coalition forces over there are in the midst of an investigation. and our job is to do as much as we can to train the afghans to secure and protect their own country and to continue the transition of giving them that responsibility so that we can bring our men and women home. republican presidential hopeful newt gingrich who scorched president obama for apologizing for the accidental burning of the koran several

weeks ago says the deliberate killing of innocent afghans by a u.s. soldier does require compensation, condolences and apologies. but gingrich repeated his earlier conviction, the u.s. mission may no longer be worth it. >> there's something profoundly wrong with the way we're approaching the whole region, and i think it's going to get substantially worse, not better. and i think we are risking the lives of young men and women in a mission that may not be doable. >> there was an alternative view from senator lindsey graham who says the mission has to continue. >> this is tragic and will be investigated and that soldier will be accountable for his actions. unfortunately these things happen in war. you just have to push through these things. >> and now on politics, kansas caucus winner rick santorum went off front-runner mitt romney, walking right up to that line of calling him a liar. >> he's repeatedly had big-government solutions and then gone out and told the public boldface that he didn't

do the things that he did. and finally hbo aired "game change" last night, based on a book that paints a less-than-flattering image of sarah palin. the top of that ticket isn't interested. >> of course, i'm not going to watch it. it's based on a book that's completely biased and with unattributed quotes, et cetera. and what i don't understand, even in the tough world of politics, why there continues to be such assaults on a good and decent person, sarah palin. >> and that's today's "sound of sunday oicht deja vu is the feeling of familiar, that light-headed notion that you have already seen or experienced the exact same thing before. on the campaign trail, they call that the stump speech. there are to stumps anymore, but there is repetition. there is repetition. there is repetition. >> a man came up to us after the

rally and he said, i want you to tell herman cain that i know what the president's 9-9-9 plan is. and i said, all right. what do you think obama's 9-9-9 plan is? and he said, president obama's strategy is $9.99 a gallon. $9.99 a gallon. $9.99 a gallon. >> also, a staple in the gingrich repertoire, one of president obama's recent suggestions for an alternative energy source. >> does anybody here know what his solution was? algae. algae. algae. this is a "saturday night live" skit waiting to happen. i'm amazed that "saturday night live" hasn't taken that speech and turned it into a skit. you can't make this stuff up. >> to see and hear the former governor of massachusetts over and over again means leaving behind his foray into elective office and paying attention to

his real-world, real economy, real experience and don't you forget it. >> what i know is the economy. that's in my wheelhouse. i understand how the economic works. the economy is what i do. >> businessman romney says his fix will require some sacrifice including the one brought to you by the letters p, b and s. >> i like pbs, big bird and bert and ernie. big bird is going to have to get used to cornflakes. >> from cornflakes to the constitution, ron paul has what we like to call message consistency. he is a deja vu machine. >> the principles of liberty. personal liberty, civil liberties. the cause of liberty is on a roll, let me tell you that. >> and finally, the only candidate of the republican quartet who consistently preempts your deja vu. >> it's one of the things i say all the time. you talk about this in every speech. i've said it almost every stump speech i've given. that's about th