11 a.m. eastern for another critical look at the media. state of the union with candy crowley begins right now. the shooting death of a florida teen ignites national outrage and scrutiny on matters of race and the law. today -- >> it is absolutely imperative that we investigate every aspect of this. >> the trayvon martin case with florida governor rick scott. then health care, republicans and 2012 with senior white house adviser david plouffe. senator lindsay graham on this stubborn 2012 republican primary season and the meaning of the santorum victory in louisiana with two washington bureau chiefs, susan page and mike duffy from "time" magazine. i'm candy crowley and this is "state of the union." first our news of the day. former vice president dick cheney is recovering from heart

transplant surgery at a northern virginia hospital. joining me now for the latest from the hospital is cnn's athena jones. athena, do they have any idea how long he might be there? >> reporter: well, we understand that most heart patients who go through a surgery like this end up staying in the hospital for about a month, certainly several weeks while they under observation. i should mention that vice president cheney at 71 is on the upper end of the age range of people who get heart transplants, at least according to the international society of heart and lung implantation. most people who get these transplants are in their 50s. his age could play into how long he's kept here under observation, candy. >> certainly, this is not the first time, as we all know, he's been hospitalized, maybe the most serious, as far as i can tell, but nonetheless, he's had a long history. >> reporter: absolutely. he's had five heart attacks over the course of his life. the first one back in june of 1978 when he was just 37 years old. we know that in 2001, he had a

pacemaker implanted. and he was also hospitalized more recently back in june of 2010 when he had what's called a left ventricular assist device, or an lvad, put in as part of endstage heart failure treatment. it helps the heart pump and it's the kind of device that's used as a precursor often to this sort of heart transplant. >> athena jones covering the dick cheney heart transplant story. thank you so much. on to our show. george zimmerman, the neighborhood watch captain in sanford, florida, told authorities he acted in self-defense when he shot and killed unarmed teenager trayvon martin, bringing into focus a seven-year-old florida law that reads in part, a person has no duty to retreat and has the right to stand his or her ground and meet force with force, including deadly force, if he or she reasonably believes it is necessary to do so to prevent death or great bodily harm. since stand your ground was enacted in florida, the annual number of florida cases found to

be justifiable homicide has nearly tripled from 12 a year to 33. this week, florida governor rick scott appointed a special prosecutor to oversee the case and a panel to review the stand your ground law. joining me now for an exclusive interview, governor rick scott from florida. rick scott, thank you for joining us. >> your heart goes out to the family. i had the opportunity to meet with the parents thursday night to let them know i appointed a new state attorney and introduced them to the florida department of law enforcement agents that are working on the case and you're just -- you know, your heart goes out to them. you just -- no family ever imagines this could ever happen to their child. >> you must have -- with the stand your ground law, which may or may not apply to this case, but certainly, you must have had questions about the state law before you appointed this task force. >> what you want to make sure, you just -- you want to make sure that everybody feels comfortable with public safety

in our state. and so as you know, i put together a task force led by my lieutenant governor, who's african-american, and i'm going to have different elected officials appoint individuals, but we'll look at all of it. the first thing we're going to do is really do a thorough investigation to see what happened here. no one can imagine this happened to their family. we've got to find out exactly what's going to happen. the florida department of law enforcement, state attorney, angela cory, is going to do a great job knowing what happened and make sure justice prevails. we have to do that. >> governor, does this look like a race thing to you? >> well, you know, there's nothing i know about that. i know we'll find that -- i think we'll find that out in the investigation. you hope it's never the case, but we'll look at all these things and find out what happened. there will be a thorough investigation, justice will prevail. we have to make sure there's justice for mr. martin's family and also justice for george zimmerman.

>> let me ask you, one of the things that -- one of the criticisms has been it took more than a month for anyone to really notice this case, and that includes you, because this week was when you appointed -- or switched attorneys and when you appointed the task force. why did it take you this long? >> well, first off, i don't have the authority to appoint a new state attorney unless the existing state attorney withdraws. >> you could have pushed them out sooner. >> everything you do in life, i love to do things faster, and you get more information and you see about problems faster. i will love to do things faster. the right thing happened here and the florida department of law enforcement will do a thorough investigation. they're known for that. angela corey is a very good state attorney who i have none for a long time, she will do a great job. >> george zimmerman claims it was self-defense. there have been death threats against him.

does the state feel that it needs to protect him while this case moves on or do you know where he is? what do you know about zimmerman? >> you've got to make sure there's due process. you have to make sure there's due process for somebody that's accused of a crime. you've got -- >> which he hasn't been accused of yet. >> you have to make sure no one feels uncomfortable that's not been accused of a crime. if he feels unsafe, we'll make sure nothing happens to him. >> has there been any request of that sort? >> not at the governor's office. >> do you expect charges in this case? >> i'm not sure. we have to wait and see what the facts are. >> let me move you on to the state of florida and a republican ad for you that caught our eye that's running in the state. >> governor rick scott's cutting the red tape, getting government off the backs of businesses. over a dozen new pro-business initiatives passed by governor scott and republican legislators. >> let me tell you the political

interpretation in washington of this spot and that is you have two years before you would run for re-election, so the reason this spot is out there is that there is a worry that your approval ratings will be a drag on the republican ticket this year and the presidential race. would you like to disabuse me of that? >> i think what my job is to help the state get back to work. if you look at what we've done -- we've reduced tacks, reduced regulation, and the state is getting busier again. clearly, whoever wins this fall in all races, whether it's the presidential race in florida or in our other races, is going to depend on how they perceive the governor and how they perceive what -- that ad talks about what we've done and the florida -- republican florida legislature. >> why did you run that ad? >> well, to get our message out. we have -- unemployment has dropped considerably. we're at a three-year low. we're talking to companies all the time about getting them to come to florida.

this week, we're adding a research design center in florida. 7-eleven is adding stores in jacksonville, coming back. florida is absolutely open for business. >> your numbers have gone up in the approval rating. you're still sort of below water, as they say, but nonetheless, they have improved. i wanted to ask you about the unemployment rate. it is the lowest it's been in three years, 9.6%, which isn't anything to brag home about, but nonetheless, it is lower than it's been this three years. but this month job creation fell. like 36,000 jobs lost in florida, which is the biggest monthly loss of any state. what happened? >> the numbers don't make sense to me. we have 24 workforce boards and we track every month how many jobs they filled. they filled 35,000 jobs. when i came into office, 568,000 people were on unemployment. now it's about 360,000. we're making progress every

month. those numbers -- we dropped 0.3% unemployment in one month and lost jobs. >> haven't figured that out yet. >> i assume february will be different and we'll see what happens over the year because we had a great 2011. >> let me ask you, i want to move you to the republican race. you haven't picked -- endorsed anyone publicly yet. do you think it's time? we saw jeb bush come out and say mitt romney. time to bring the party together. do you feel that it's time for this republican race to end? >> look, i think it's great. we're learning more about these candidates every day. i think the race is great. i think that if it goes on, we're going to learn more about all the candidates that are up there. it creates a lot of interest. it looks like we'll have a nominee by the time of the convention which, of course, will be in the great state of florida. but i think it's great they're having a race. >> you know, all of the figures sort of run against that.

when you look at what has happened to mitt romney and to newt gingrich and to rick santorum over the time, it has been that independents, who are quite valuable in florida as you know -- >> very valuable. >> are walking away from these candidates at this point, that this has become damaging to the image of the republican party because it's been so fierce. and that the theory being there has to be some time for making up this image deficit. >> you know what i think? i think the election will be about one issue. whoever has a plan that the american public believes is going -- i won my race because they believed i had a jobs plan. that's why i won. that's who is going to win this fall. whoever has -- when you go to the ballot, you're going to say who is going to make sure that there's a greater chance i'm going to have a job next year? that's who is going to win. and i believe the republican nominee will be that, but whoever -- that's what they're going to have to do. i'm glad now they are talking about jobs. i don't think they talked about jobs enough in the early primaries.

there was a lot of other issues. this is about jobs. in our state it's education for your child, it's jobs, and keep the cost of living low. that's what's important. >> so can i just extrapolate from that? we are seeing improving economic figures in your state but nationwide that certainly is going to benefit the president this fall. >> absolutely. but in the end, it's going to be tell me what you're going to do to make sure our country is the number one place in the world to build businesses. i'm doing that in florida. we'll make sure florida is the number one place in the country if you want to build a business. >> at least i know you will have activity in august with the convention. thank you so much governor rick scott. we appreciate your time. president obama's health care reform is more than just a law. it's a rally cry for the right. >> obama care defines the obama presidency, and it is the number one reason why barack obama should not be returned to office for a second term. >> but that may be a fight obama's team can't wait to have. david plouffe, a senior adviser to the president, is next. is this what we're doing now?

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the supreme court is set to take up a challenge to president obama's health care law. probably not what the doctor ordered in an election year. when president obama signed the patient protection and affordable care act two years ago, the debate did not end, it went on. it goes before the u.s. supreme court monday, tuesday and wednesday. it has been on the campaign trail from the beginning. >> one of the things we're going to repeal right out is obama care. >> we absolutely have to repeal obama care. >> i will repeal obama care and i'll kill it dead on its first day. >> of particular interest to court and campaign watchers, that provision in the health care law that requires americans to buy health insurance and fines those who don't. a high court ruling against the individual mandate would be a sizable blow to the president's signature issue, but it won't be all that helpful to former massachusetts governor mitt romney either. >> as many have noted in both

parties, the individual mandate provision of the president's affordable care act bears striking similarities to the individual mandate that was put in place in massachusetts. >> a high court ruling is expected in june. senior obama adviser david plouffe is next. full of calcium and vitamin d. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. this reduced sodium soup

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joining me now is senior white house adviser david plouffe. david, thanks for joining us. a big week for you all, watching the supreme court at any rate. not much you can do but have your folks argue your case. but let me ask you, what happens to health care, the health care law, if the supreme court should decide that the federal government cannot mandate that someone buy health insurance? >> well, the oral arguments haven't even started, they start tomorrow, so i don't want to put the cart before the horse. most of this law doesn't take effect until 2014 but many parts have. over 2 million kids between 24 and 26 on their parents' health care. we've got people getting preventative care. this law is making a difference already in really important ways.

we believe that democratic and republican appointees to the bench have upheld the law, including two very important conservative jurists. we are confident this is going to be upheld. what we're focused on is making sure this gets implemented properly and it's making an enormous difference. >> to the question, it a mandate is thrown out, that's one of the primary ways you were going to fund a lot of this. what happens then? does the whole thing get thrown into question in terms of being able to actually carry it out? >> well, again, i don't want to get ahead of the court. we haven't even had arguments yet. obviously -- >> you've got to be thinking -- >> i don't want to get into -- we're focused right now our solicitor general is going to put forward a very powerful case for why this law is constitutional and why it's important. i think where the american people are right now is they don't want to go refight this battle again. let's implement this law, let's

make sure we improve it as we can, give states as much flexibility as they need. this law is making a difference on costs, seniors saving money on prescription drugs, kids getting coverage. very, very important coverage with the american people. >> i don't want to bicker with you so i'll let the abc news/"washington post" poll on health care do that for me which is the question was what actions should the supreme court take? uphold the entire law, 26%. throw out the entire law, 42%. throw out the individual mandate, 25%. that is not the overwhelming kind of support that you're talking about. >> listen, i have seen a lot of polls on this, as have you. when you ask people, you know, should we go back to square one? people don't want to do that. >> but they want to throw out parts of it and you're right, there's some very popular things in this. >> very popular things in this. >> but overall, it's been problematic. >> you saw our campaign on friday, the most active tweet in the world around "i like obama care." i think by the end of the decade as this law is fully implemented we're going to be very glad they call it obama care because the reality of what's happening here is so different than what the opponents claimed.

you're going to see more people covered, savings in the health care system, you're going to see free preventative care for people, women treated equally in the health care system. i think the important thing right now what we can control is implement this law well, make sure we continue to try to educate people about what's in the law, and obviously, you know, the supreme court process will play out. >> why the 42% want the supreme court to just throw this out? >> well, again, i think that we've had hundreds of millions of dollars spent in propaganda against this law, just a torrent of money distorting it. by the time we get to the middle of the decade, it's not going to matter what you or i say. everyone is a health care consumer. it will have made a big impact. the things they have been told to fear will not come to fruition. it's an important thing not just for the country but an important political accomplishment as well. >> is the president going to

open up part of strategic oil reserve and let some of that out to try to bring down gas prices? >> he's spoken of this. obviously, the country has done that previously. we had to do it last year. i'm not going to add to that today, but obviously, it's an option that remains on the table. our focus, the president toward the country this week to talk about an all-the-above energy strategy. we have oil exploration at an eight-year high, 13% more exploration happening on public lands. we're doing a lot of production here, but our political opponents sadly want to leave it there. >> if you are doing a lot of production, why would you even consider opening up the strategic oil reserve? >> a lot of factors go into the reserve, and, you know, it's not just, you know -- it's not a political decision. it's are there supply disruptions? >> are there? >> again, i don't want to get into that decision -- >> the reason i ask though is that you all have pretty much argued it's not a supply problem, that it's the market, it's the speculation, it's what's going on in the middle east, and yet you're considering opening the strategic oil reserve.

>> we've not taken that option off the table, but, listen, there are supply disruptions in places like sudan, you still have oil not at its peak in places like libya. the sanctions are working, the crippling sanctions are working, but there's no doubt what we have to do in this country, with he have to use less oil. the president not with congress, with the automakers, has put in place fuel efficiency standards. middle of next decade average car in this country 56 miles a gallon, going to save the average family $8,000 and save us billions -- >> the average family right now is more worried about the immediate problem. >> of course they are, but what we have to do -- we've been having this discussion for decades. you have been covering this issue for decades. okay? we all have in politics. it's been going on president after president. the question are we finally going to have an energy strategy, not one centered in the last decade? which is doing all we can to get oil and gas out of this country but also wind and biofuels and solar.

>> let me play for you, this is about the trayvon martin case. let me play for you the reaction from a couple of republican candidates. now, mind you, all of them said this is tragedy, we need to look into this, this shouldn't have happened. but in referring to the president saying if i had a son, he would look like trayvon, a couple of the republican candidates. >> is the president suggesting that if it had been a white who had been shot, that would be okay because it wouldn't look like him? that's just nonsense. i mean, dividing this country up, it's a tragedy this young man was shot. >> and then his, again, politicizing it. this is again not what presidents of the united states do. what the president of the united states should do is try to bring people together, not use these types of horrible and tragic individual cases to try to drive a wedge in america.

>> your reaction? >> i don't think there's very many people in america that would share that reaction. you know, this republican primary at some points has been more of a circus show and a clown show and those two comments are really irresponsible. i would consider them reprehensible. i think the president spoke movingly about this tragedy as a father, made it clear there's investigations going on. i think those comments were really hard to stomach really and i guess trying to appeal to people's worst instincts. >> david plouffe, senior advisor to the president, thanks for coming by. the voting goes on for the republican presidential nomination and not everyone believes the outcome is inevitable. >> it doesn't provide the clear choice that we need in order to win this election. >> for a guy who has been dead since june, i'm doing fine, and i have no incentive to get out of the race. >> has the elongated process put the white house out of the republicans' reach? republican senator lindsay graham is next. i am loving this greek yogurt.

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joining me now, senator lindsay graham of south carolina.

good to have you in the studio. >> glad to be with you. >> i want to start with a couple of your colleagues, newt gingrich and rick santorum talking about the trayvon martin case. both saying it was a tragedy, but going out after the president saying that he is raising the race issue by saying if i had a son, he would look like trayvon martin. do you have a problem with that comment? >> i don't think it was overly helpful to the debate. we all know there's a racial component with this and when the president highlights it, i don't think it adds a whole lot but nobody subjects that the president is insensitive to the 17-year-old if he had been white. i think the criticism by our guys was a little off base and i don't really think the president added a whole lot by interjecting himself into it. so this is a situation that's very emotional, and justice will be done. it's good that we're looking at the actions of the man in question because the young man who lost his life wasn't armed and apparently running in the other direction, not exactly a classic self-defense case in the initial impression. >> let me move you on just from other things that are going on out there.

in particular, there's a republican primary race. >> you noticed? >> one of our colleagues, a close one as a matter of fact, senator jim demint, was out the other day talking about mitt romney. >> i'm not only comfortable with romney, i'm excited about the possibility of him possibly being our nominee. >> that's -- >> jim demint. >> that's pretty big. where is lindsay graham is on this. >> i think when it's over romney will be the nominee and we'll win the white house if we can run a good fall campaign. won't be easy, but i like our chances. the president's 3 1/2 years haven't produced a whole lot in terms of good policy, obama care, the stimulus package. none of his big issues have seemed to work very well and gas prices going through the roof. i like our chances but it will be romney. the elephant hasn't sung yet but she's warming up. >> and he's your guy and you're happy -- >> i haven't endorsed anybody but i'm very comfortable with him. the other two candidates have

run phenomenal races. rick keeps exceeding expectations, but romney won five delegates in louisiana. he'll get to 1144. the last thing i want is a brokered convention. i want us to come out of tampa united behind romney, conservative socially and fiscally working together with libertarians and independents to take back the white house before it's too late. you know, obama care is going to the supreme court. if for some reason there's an obama second term, this thing becomes etched in stone, obama care does, and the only way you can repeal it is to get back the white house. >> let me talk then, since you bring it up, about health care. as both a court watcher, you're a lawyer, as well as a campaign watcher -- >> right. >> this is certainly the nexus of the two. >> absolutely. >> how does this affect the debate in 2012 if the supreme court says, listen, this individual mandate forcing people to buy health insurance for themselves or face a fine is okay with us. what if it's the whole law stands?

>> well, you know, i think a lot of democrats hope the law gets stricken down if the mandate is ruled unconstitutional because the political issue sort of is watered down. i don't know what the court is going to do. from a political point of view, this is probably the centerpiece of the debate in the fall, the proper role of government. did the obama care live up to its billing? the way it was passed in the dark of night behind the 60th vote behind closed doors. the process was bad. the substantial is going over like a lead balloon. the vice president whispered to the president when they signed the bill two years ago, this is a big "f"'ing deal. well now it's become a big "f"'ing mess for the democratic party and the country as a whole. obama could win the argument that the fine is really just a tax and we're going to tax you to create a centralized health care system. i think the public will not like the substance anymore if the supreme court agrees with the obama administration on the tax. >> as david plouffe pointed out,

there's some very popular parts of this bill that you can keep an adult child on for longer now if they don't have insurance, that children cannot be denied insurance simply because they have a pre-existing condition. it's helped seniors with prescription drugs. there are a lot of places and a lot of things that people like about this. >> sure. let's take those things that we all could agree on and sit down and pass a bipartisan bill, actually negotiate in a bipartisan way that's not going to bankrupt the country. premiums are $2,500 a person and climbing. it's going to bankrupt states. medicaid expansion under this bill is dramatic. 31% of the people in south carolina will be medicaid eligible. it will wreck our state budget watch for the court to strike down the medicaid expansion as an overstep. they could say the fine is

actually a tax and we're going to wait to see how that happens -- >> they might keep the individual mandate. >> they might say it's too early to judge the fine because it hasn't gone into effect yet, it's really a tax. they could say this medicaid expansion is a federal government takeover of state budgets. i don't know what the court is going to do but the public doesn't like obama care they don't like the way it was passed and they don't like the substantial and it would be a signature item for the republican party. >> somewhat of a split issue at this point. let me move you on to a couple of overseas issues. one of them is afghanistan. we heard two of the republican candidates out there, santorum and gingrich, saying it might be time to just get out of there. this was after the massacre. >> and i shot back very hard at newt. i like newt. he's a smart guy, but listen to the general. we don't need a punch of politicians trying to create a

military exit strategy. we're withdrawing from afghanistan. the question is how. do we listen to general allen or do we listen to politicians who are trying to get a soundbite. rick santorum has never said that. romney would listen to general allen. and here is my hope that president obama will too. it is my hope president obama will follow general allen's withdrawal plan and a strategic partnership agreement between us and afghanistan. it's the last card to play. i wish the president would do an oval office address and tell us why afghanistan is important. it is the center of gravity in the battle in the war on terror. it's the place we're attacked from, where the 9/11 attackers had safe haven. it really matters that we get it right. general allen has a plan to get us home with honor. this would be an insurance policy against the taliban ever taking over afghanistan. it would be a signal to the pakistanis, quit betting on the taliban. it would be telling the iranians america doesn't abandon its allies.

so, i would like to, in a bipartisan way, support general allen as he withdraws our forces, and support a strategic partnership agreement being negotiated by the obama administration which i think is the trump card to be played, the way to end the war with security and honor. >> to get that agreement. >> yeah, i hope so. >> senator lindsay graham, as always, we appreciate your coming. rick santorum had a convincing win in yesterday's louisiana primary but mitt romney still has a 2-1 lead in delegates. can santorum get enough broad appeal to win the nomination? [ male announcer ] it's surprising what your mouth goes through in a day.

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mike duffy, executive editor and washington bureau chief for "time" magazine and susan page, washington bureau chief for "usa today." last night, big win for rick santorum. he will pick up at least eight delegates. so is the race -- is this -- you know, is the race flopping on the deck of the ship and it's over or is there still a possibility here? >> he'll pick up at least eight delegates, you know. i mean, a big win, right, like 49%. almost got to the 50% point. but not a race we're paying a lot of attention to.

the last primary in the deep south, which is his home base, the place where he's done well. i think you saw even senator graham on your show just now saying he believes that mitt romney will be the nominee. that's what haley barbour said yesterday. these senior figure in the republican party who are not big romney enthusiasts say this race is essentially over. >> and yet it goes on here. and i think if anybody for santorum were sitting at this table, they would say, wait a second, he had a big win yesterday. it's your choice to ignore this. why does it seem that this -- okay, big win in louisiana, but -- >> it does feel like we're about to roll the credits on this movie. but there are some things that are worth just mentioning really fast about louisiana and santorum. he went down there while mitt romney was in illinois and he spent a lot of time with evangelical protestant preachers and he's in churches preaching, praying. he's put together, and i don't know that this matters in the

long term, but he put together a coalition, even as they are losing, of catholics and white evangelicals that romney will have to pay attention to. that's a group of people who matters. >> are you saying that rick santorum is now playing for number two? >> i think he's trying to win by losing. he's trying to stay in as long as he can, maintain his influence, and trade for something at the end. these guys don't know how to quit. >> playing for 2016. you know, a lot of republicans think they had this big ripe opportunity to defeat president obama. now it looks like a tougher slog to the november. maybe they will still win but a tougher fight than they thought. rick santorum reminds me a little of huckabee last time around where he did better than anybody expected, he appealed to the base of the party in a way the nominee failed to do so and if mike huckabee had run this time around, don't you think he

would probably be the nominee. >> mike huckabee went on to become a talk show host. there's life after these campaigns, even when you lose. >> i want to point out the daily tracking poll where mitt romney has hit 40%, i believe that's the highest point for him. rick santorum, 26%, newt gingrich, 14%, ron paul, 8%. how much damage has been done -- if mitt romney becomes the nominee, how much undoing does he have? >> the republican nominees have done damage. the president's poll ratings have fall an little bit as gas prices have begun to climb and i think the other factor that is in romney's favor is as the president begins to campaign and begins to get more overtly political, people see him once again as a political guy which isn't his normal strength. i think he's narrowed the gap a little bit but it's still the

white house's race. >> here is the challenge for romney. i think he needs to be a better candidate than he's been. >> in some ways, they might be right, this long campaign might be helpful to him. >> in that way, maybe so. what's going to be the most critical moments, the debates. who has had all this practice debating, mitt romney wp. we will have more in a moment. unless you are living under a rock you have probably already heard about that etch-a-sketch this week. it got us thinking about some of our favorite political props. see if your favorite made our list. or creates another laptop bag or hires another employee, it's not just good for business, it's good for the entire community. at bank of america, we know the impact that local businesses have on communities. that's why we extended $6.4 billion in new credit to small businesses across the country last year. because the more we help them, the more we help make opportunity possible.

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we are back with mike duffy and susan page. let's set up the general election. if you are the republican nominee, where's the vulnerability of a president who appears stronger as the economy gets better? >> i think you could hear it in david plouffe's comments to you a few minutes ago when he talked about gas prices. he was talking about, well, we're drilling here and drilling there, and he obviously was in oklahoma over this week talking about part of the keystone pipeline he was going to build after having said with some drama earlier in the year that he wasn't going to build the new piece. i think they really do feel vulnerable there when this white house is talking about drilling.

that's just a good sign. >> plus, they talk about how -- they say all the time that the president has very little control over gas prices. the president has been on sort of a gas price tour for a while. and yet they're talking about maybe we could use some strategic oil reserve, you know, to put into there to bring down the gas prices. in some ways, they argue against themselves, but it tells me the gas prices striking a chord. >> true, but i think there are two vulnerabilities, one is the level of unemployment. it's falling. that's a good thing. it's still higher than it's been for any president that's won re-election in modern times. about the role of government. why do so many americans want the mandate struck down? it's not because of the details. it's a concern the government has gotten so big and expensive and intrusive in people's lives -- >> kind of a how dare the

federal government tell me what to buy. >> exactly. i think that's an issue he has to talk about. some of the expansion of government was a result of dealing with the economic crisis when he came in, but it's an issue that resonates with not just republicans but some independent voters, too. >> they made a bet when they said let's hurry this back to the supreme court and get it litigated. let's do this right in the middle of the election year. it's a fairly high-risk play, which if is tossed out by the court, or a piece of it tossed out before the end of the year, it will give them a bigger had i will to climb in trying to explain why they need a second term. >> what do you make of senator graham saying i think some democrats would really like this mandate to get thrown out because then they could say, well, the supreme court ruled and they don't have to defend it? >> you know, they do not live at 1600 pennsylvania avenue. that is not the sentiment of the obama white house. >> if mitt romney is the

nominee, isn't it mitigated a little bit? here's a man who was governor of massachusetts. yeah, everybody has to buy health insurance. >> and every time that question comes up in the white house briefings, jay carney talks about obamacare. i mean, massachusetts, romneycare. in some way their fates are tied. if we go down, he goes down. you can see that they are concerned about that in the context of the fall campaign. there is a possibility that court won't uphold it but will find a way to postpone the rulings until actually more of the law takes effect. the arguments begin tomorrow. >> and there's an argument if it hasn't taken effect, there's nothing to rule on, right? >> we'll see if they go that route. >> we've seen the president's fundraising numbers are down from '04 and that might be a high watermark. who knows. but what relates to that? is it the independents sort of

moving back and forth or is it just that hope is much easier to sell than policy? >> i think that's exactly right. what a time it was in 2009, what a privilege it was to cover that campaign. a lot of them were small donors to the obama campaign. he needs to energize those voters if he wants a second term. >> susan page, mike duffy, thank you. president obama makes his first trip to the korean dmz. what did he see through those binoculars? we have that and other headlines, next. rprising is that brushing alone isn't enough to keep it clean. fortunately, you've got listerine. unlike brushing which misses 75% of your mouth, listerine cleans virtually your entire mouth. so what are you waiting for? it's time to take your mouth to a whole new level of health. listerine... power to your mouth. also try listerine zero, for the clean feel of listerine with a less intense taste.

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now a check of today's top stories. president obama is in south korea where he had a chance to appear into north korea. koreans are marking 100 days of the death of kim jong-il. later in a press conference, mr. obama said he had not been able to assess north korea's new leader. >> i think it is hard to have an impression who have kim jong-un in part because of the situation in north korea still appears unsettled. it's not clear exactly who's calling the shots and what their

long-term objectives are. >> president obama is in seoul for a two-day international nuclear summit. united states gave $860,000 to the families of people in afghanistan killed or wounded in a shooting rampage that is being blamed on u.s. army staff sergeant robert bales. afghan officials said the money includes $50,000 for each of 16 people who were killed as well as $10,000 for each of six who was injured. bales has been charged with 17 counts of murder. there's no word on why only 16 families are being compensated. a prosecutor in paris says the brother of a gunman killed in a standoff should be charged with complicity in seven murders and two attempted killings. the prosecutor said abdel mer rah should face charges in connection with the wave of

shootings committed by his younger brother. he was killed after a 12-hour siege. former vice president dick cheney is in a northern virginia hospital recovering from heart transplant surgery. he was on a cardiac transplant list last october when i asked him about the possibility of having the transplant. >> i've got to decide on a heart pump now. i've got a piece of equipment inside me that supplements my heart. it works very well. i'm 14 months into the program and it's been functioning perfectly. >> a statement from the former vice president's office says although cheney and his family don't know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful. our inspiration for this week on the campaign trail you can the etch a sketch, that 1950s toy is enjoying a boomlet after a romney adviser compared campaign strategy to the easily erasable slate. it got us to thinking about props and politics.

on capitol hill, charts and stacks of paper are, let's face it readily available andthe preferred prop for lawmakers, especially while arguing proposed law is too own rouse and complicated. when spending gets out of control, nothing beats a big prop. the newest porker on the scene, mr. favors in the arms of candidate mark newman, protesting, what else, washington's pork barrel spending n 2004, john kerry flip-flops were all the rage among president bush's supporters. same song, different decade. in 1992 when then-president bush, the elder, accused bill clinton of waffling on his support of the persian gulf war. >> you cannot waffle. you cannot make the white house into the waffle house. >> and herein lies a political lesson, fight prop with prop. the clinton campaign laughed it off and happened out fake waffle house menus featuring rare delicacies such as iraq of lamb

and pay raise souffle. another prop lesson in 1988, michael dukakis rode in a military tank to prove his toughness, one of the most iconic misfires in political history. it was used to make him look week. >> the stealth bomber, a ground emergency warning system against nuclear attack. he even criticized our rescue mission to grenada and strike on libya and now wants to be our commander in chief. america can't afford that risk. >> and try as politicians do with flags and statues and impressive backdrops, nobody can outprop a president. start with that presidential plane, a sleek, impressive silent symbol of power. and nothing spores the commander in chief like a speech from an aircraft carrier. but even when you're president, the best props -- >> oops. was that my -- oh, goodness. >> can fall flat. an