good evening, everyone, i'm john king. tonight, the largest lottery jackpot in history. $640 million. well, it could be a long wait in line if you still want a chance at the mega prize. president obama escalates sanctions on iran, a move that could add to your pain at the pump. and is wisconsin rick santorum's last stand? the gop presidential candidate joins us as his rival, mitt romney, scores yet another big-name endorsement. we start with a quick look at something everyone's talking about today. a country in the grip of lotto fever. tonight's lottery drawing worth a world record $640 million. so from new york to san francisco, people in long lines outside grocery, convenience and liquor stores waiting to buy mega millions tickets. wait times hit two hours outside the blue bird liquor store in hawthorne, california, near los angeles. why are people waiting there?

well, it sold $20 million worth of winning tickets over the years. and st. mary's, georgia, population 17,000, bursting at the seams today thanks to people driving across the border from florida. florida's one of eight states that don't take part in the mega millions lottery. but in 42 states, it's a day for big dreams. >> a new house for my family and my kids and my grandparents. >> a lot of people would benefit. >> a lot of people would be happy. >> our mary snow tracking lotto mania in new york city. mary, what's it like there? >> reporter: well, john, so many dreams of early retirement and people pondering the what-ifs. there's been a steady stream inside this 7-eleven on west 42nd street here in manhattan. and you know, this store alone has sold nearly 8,000 tickets. you compare that to an ordinary day when they sell about 800. it just gives you a sense at just how many people are

shrugging off the long odds to buy tickets. and in new york state, we just got an update from lottery officials in the state. and they're reporting sales of $4 million an hour. and they expect to that to keep up. >> everyone thinks they have the one winning ticket. they're going to win the prize all by themselves. the odds against an actual single winner, right? >> reporter: we talked to a couple of economists. they say because this jackpot is now so big, the odds are they expect at least three to four winners in tonight's jackpot. right now they say the chances are about 5% that there will be no winner at all. then, of course, that would roll over to tuesday's jackpot. >> three or four winners are okay, as long as i'm one of them, right? >> reporter: exactly. and me, too. >> you've got a deal there, mary. mary snow on the cnn new york mega millions mania. inch moving to an international developing story. today president obama okayed

actions that could push gas prices even higher. he's hoping to increase economic pressure on iran and persuade its leaders to give up their quest for nuclear weapons. so the president gave the go-ahead for possible u.s. sanctions on any country that buys oil from iran. let's bring in our chief white house correspondent jessica yellen. china is a big buyer of iranian oil. is the administration really ready to stand up and impose sanctions and have a standoff with countries with which it's very important to do business? >> reporter: the answer right now is yes. they are officially on the list of 12 countries that have to give up either their policy of getting oil from iran or stop doing business with the u.s. by june 28th. now, i should say, john, that there are 11 other countries that are exempt from this policy. and we're told that that list could grow. and in the meantime, senior officials say they'll be studying how these other countries are working to wean themselves off of iranian oil,

and they'll be examining whether they should add to that list. but as of now, both china and india are on that list. still you and i both know that it seems very unlikely that the u.s. would say to china, we're going to stop taking your money. so we'll see what happens on june 28th. >> we'll keep an eye on that one. the president knows there's pressure to increase sanctions. at the same time, if he does so, he may hurt himself at home. gas prices may go up higher. why the decision to go forward? >> reporter: first, this is a requirement by law. congress passed this 100-0 in the senate. and he was mandated to make a decision by today. he did decide in a letter, he said he assessed, after talking to many oil analysts, that the market was ready to bear this. and in this letter, he said, quote, there is sufficient supply of petroleum and petroleum products from countries other than iran to permit a significant reduction in the supply of oil from iran." he added that he will, quote,

closely monitor the situation to assure that the market can continue to accommodate a reduction in purchases of oil and oil products from iran. but, john, it's worth pointing out that iran is the third largest oil exporter in the world. and even though their production is up in the u.s. and there's enough around the world in the white house's assessment, it is hard to imagine that taking this much oil off the market would not have a negative impact on our prices at the pump. john. >> very important story to watch here at home and reaction around the world as well. our chief white house correspondent jessica yellen. jess, thanks. getting tougher with iran is a constant theme of the republican presidential candidate, rick santorum. senator santorum joins us from the campaign trail today in wisconsin. senator, the president's deciding to go ahead with the next wave of sanctions against iran. hopefully will reduce its ability to sell its oil on the international market. on this day, did the president deserve some credit? >> that's a positive step in the right direction, but in the last

couple weeks, he's taken some backward steps. he's agreed to negotiate with the iranians, really outside of the conditions that have been set forth by the u.n. resolutions which have said that there should be no negotiations with iran until they cease the enrichment of the uranium. and the obama administration has set aside those preconditions, allows iran to continue to enrich uranium as they talk. this is exactly what the iranians want, which is time. they're buying time, and the idea that you can convince a radical theocracy that they're going to give up this quest, this irrational quest from the standpoint of what they say publicly that they're using it for, which is nuclear power, this irrational quest of this country that has hundreds of years of oil and gas, that they would somehow need nuclear power any time soon, this is the obama administration not doing what's necessary to stop them from developing these weapons. >> as you know, in part, because

of the showdown with iran, the uncertainty about the region, that's one of the reasons gas prices in the united states are going up. the administration is now talking to france, to great britain, japan about the possibility of a coordinated release from the strategic petroleum reserves of those and perhaps a few other countries, an effort to drive prices down perhaps at least a bit in the short term. good idea or bad idea? >> you use the strategic petroleum reserve, and i've said this consistently under democratic and republican administrations, when there is an interruption, when there is something that is a serious supply interruption, we are not at that point. using it right now would be, i think, unwise. particularly given the fact that even under the obama administration, we're ratcheting up things against iran, i think it would be unwise for us at this point in time to tap into that reserve. >> i want you to listen to the president in the rose garden yesterday. he was saying that the congress should act, and he wanted them to act yesterday to take away

the tax subsidies that go to big oil companies. he also said something about the current consternation about prices. listen. >> as the economy is growing, the only time you start seeing lower gas prices is when the economy is doing badly. >> he wasn't saying higher prices are good, but he was almost saying higher prices are somewhat understandable because in his view the economy's getting better. on the subsidy issue, is he right or wrong? >> look, i'm for eliminating all tax subsidies, special ones, oil, gas, but also to the folks he wants to take this money that's, quote, saved by -- or taxed on oil companies and redistribute it to his friends in the green energy business. meanwhile, american consumers right now are -- of those states that have green energy requirements are paying one-third higher energy prices than states that don't have these requirements. it is all part of president obama's and the left's radical environmental ideology that is driving up electric costs,

driving up oil costs and gasoline prices. >> more of our discussion in just a moment including whether senator santorum thinks his campaign can survive a romney sweep in next week's primaries. and later, the latest in the trayvon martin investigation. we'll be joined by florida's top law enforcement official, the attorney general. c'mon dad! i'm here to unleash my inner cowboy. instead i got heartburn. [ horse neighs ] hold up partner. prilosec isn't for fast relief. try alka-seltzer. it kills heartburn fast. yeehaw! is moving backward. [ engine turns over, tires squeal ] introducing the lexus enform app suite -- available now on the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. see your lexus dealer. [ male announcer ] get it now at red lobster's lobsterfest. 12 tempting choices like lobster lover's dream or maine lobster and shrimp. but only for a short time. now at red lobster.

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back to my conversation with republican presidential candidate rick santorum. he knows the stakes couldn't be higher for him in tuesday's wisconsin primary. as you know, senator, at the moment as you're campaigning in wisconsin, there's a kbit of what i'll call a rally around romney movement in the party. former president bush on the other end of the generational spectrum, senator marko rubio of florida in the past 24 hours or so. and today in the state where you are in wisconsin, a moon who's quite popular among conserves, paul ryan. let's listen to chairman ryan. >> what we need is a leader who sees this moment for what it is. what we need is a leader who has the courage of conservative principles and conviction, who has the integrity and the tenacity to do what it takes to get america back on track.

and in my humble personal opinion, as a guy from janesville, what we need is mitt romney to be the next president of the united states of america. >> senator, chairman ryan right there just said mitt romney is everything you say he isn't. a man of conservative principles and conviction. >> well, he has his own personal opinion, and he has a right to that personal position. i think the facts bear out a very different story on governor romney. we've laid that out and laid it out clearly and we've laid out the importance of having someone that can present a strong contrast and will not be a focal point of this election. we've seen the separate piece in this election is obamacare and the enormous burden it is on our economy. what it's doing to drive up unemployment, explode the federal budget as well as to explode the deficit. and, of course, the impingment upon both economic liberty and our religious liberties. this is a colossal issue.

and it's the issue that governor romney is the least qualified to make because he was the author of the blueprint of obamacare. so i respect congressman ryan, but i think on the most central issue of the day, he has it all wrong. and this is -- this is a major problem when the huge achilles' heel of this president, where three-quarters of the american public disagree with this mandate. and yet governor romney has started the ball rolling in massachusetts and then advocated for this mandate at the federal level. frankly, i think he'll be destroyed by president obama on this issue come the fall. and it should be the biggest issue that helps us win this election. it will be turned into a negative under mitt romney. so, you know, i obviously couldn't more strongly disagree. i respect paul and the work he's done for the conservative cause, but i think on this issue and on this vital issue, he's got it wrong. >> and yet he gives governor romney his endorsement in the state you're in today, wisconsin, which is viewed as your best chance on tuesday. the new nbc/marist poll out

today, romney at 40%, senator santorum, 33%, congressman paul and gingrich at the bottom of the pack. if you are 0 for 3 on tuesday, senator, can you continue? >> well, our plan is to take this all the way. we believe that a conservative will be the nominee of the party coming out of the convention and that if we don't have a conservative, we'll end up with the same situation we've had over the past 100 years. there's been over 100 years now. there's only one republican that's ever defeated a sitting democratic incumbent president, one. and it's the one time we ran as a strong conservative. in the face of the party saying no, no, no, we need a moderate. we need to win. we need to win. they always say that. and we always lose. and the one time we didn't listen to the establishment, the washington insiders, we had ronald reagan. not only did we win, we changed the country. >> as you know, romney has a convincing lead in the delegate race. if he won all three states on

tuesday, many say it would be impossible. that's why some conservatives, even allies of yours say this is rick santorum's last stand. do you agree? >> well, you know, they've been saying that about me -- my epitaph has been written many, many times throughout the course of this campaign. so i'm just going to take it a day at a time, and we're going to keep working very hard and go out there and articulate the principles that i think will win this election in the fall. >> governor romney and his allies are not letting up on you. i was watching a basketball game here in d.c. last night. obviously maryland and d.c. both vote on tuesday. they were beating you up during an ad. governor romney has a robo call to people in wisconsin. >> i wouldn't normally make these calls but i was shocked to find out that rick santorum repeatedly supported big labor and joined with liberal democrats in voting against right-to-work legislation during his time in washington. >> are you a friend of big labor, senator? >> well, the head of the afl-cio

in pennsylvania said calling rick santorum a friend of big labor is like calling mitt romney a conservative. neither are true. i mean, for mitt romney to suggest that he's the conservative in the race and that i'm not is actually a little laughable. but, you know, when you have millions of dollars, you can go out and try to paint a picture that isn't -- that's surreal, and we'll wait and see whether the voters of wisconsin are going to buy it. >> senator santorum, appreciate your time tonight. >> thank you. >> take care, sir. coming up, the truth, a dramatic step the president could take to help lower gas prices. but next, a school bus caught in a tornado. see what happened to the driver and the children. we need the jobs. [customer:] we need to protect the environment. [worker:] we could do both. is that possible? [announcer:] at conocophillips, we're helping power america's economy with cleaner, affordable natural gas. more jobs. less emissions. a good answer for everyone. well, if it's cleaner and affordable. as long as we keep these safe.

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welcome back. here's kate baldwin with the latest news you need to know right now. happy friday. >> happy friday. a well deserved friday, evening, afternoon, wherever you are. hello, everyone. we start off with long-awaited good news for your 401(k). the dow industrials and s&p 500 just posted their largest first quarter gains in more than a decade. as of tonight, the dow is up 8% for the year. the s&p 500 has gained 12%. and the tech-heavy nasdaq soared 19%. we should just end it right there, all on good news. in other news, today wisconsin officials set june 5th for the recall election targeting republican governor scott walker. democrats will pick a candidate to go up against him on may 8th. the recall is part of the backlash against governor walker's efforts to cut spending by limiting the power of

unionized state workers there. and the odds aren't nearly as bad as winning the lottery we've been talking so much about, but it's getting tougher to get into the nation's ivy league schools. harvard, for example, accepted just 5.9% of the 34,000-plus applicants for classes this fall. that's an all-time low. princeton, dartmouth and cornell also report record lows. but good luck, everyone. congratulations if you got in. finally, this is what it's like to be inside a tornado if you ever wondered. a dashboard camera on a school bus took these pictures. just look at these amazing pictures. earlier this month in henryville, indiana. just seconds before it also recorded the bus driver counting the children as they got off the bus. listen. >> everybody stay together. our group together right now. go, go, go, go, go, go! one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine. come on!

10, 11, go, go, go! >> everyone including the driver is okay. i'm just amazed by how calm she actually sounds. her presence of mind there. >> total urgency but not panic. get going. >> that's just amazing. she's an amazing woman. >> god bless her. she's a hero to a lot of parents. >> a lot of parents. my goodness. coming up, the latest on the trayvon martin shooting. we'll speak with the florida attorney general. and a former cia director looks at why there's such concern about north korea's plans to join the space race. >> literally, john, this is rocket science. this is hard to do. and the north koreans have not had a history of very successful high-end activity. see life in the best light.

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this half hour, the brother of the man who admits to shooting trayvon martin calls the story he's hearing a myth. i'll ask florida's attorney general about that. most americans say high gas prices hurt their bottom line. the truth about how the president can try to bring prices down. and the shaky video shows president reagan the day he was shot. that was 31 years ago today. we reexamine the moment that could have changed the course of history. it's just about every day we get new details about the investigation into just what happened the night george zimmerman shot florida teenager trayvon martin. now some are raising doubts whether state investigators can do a better job than the local

police. here's the suspect's brother sounding skeptical in an exclusive conversation with our piers morgan. >> ms. corey's investigation has been compromised. some details have been leaked, and that's why we can talk as a family more about now what george told us was the truth. this fantasy or this mythology of that he chased a person is just absolutely false. >> joining me now is florida attorney general pam bundy. general pbundy, you appointed te special prosecutor. when you hear the brother questioning her credibility, how much does this public debate from both sides undermine the sb integrity of the investigation or public trust of the investigation? >> it completely undermines the integrity of the investigation. you know what we care about is justice for trayvon's family right now and for both sides. and what's happening, john, is, just to let you know what happened, was originally i spoke with the local prosecutor on the

case. and he believed that he should just -- the appearance, based on appearances, should remove himself from the case, and he did. and it's actually governor scott who appointed angela corey after discussing it with me. she is ethical. she is honest. she is tough as nails. she's compassionate. and if any leaks are coming out of this investigation, it is certainly not from angela corey's office. also, instead of the sanford, the local police department on the case, florida department of law enforcement, they're also looking into this as well as the justice department and the united states attorney who i've been in constant contact with as well. you know, my office, we don't have jurisdiction over this case unless it crosses county lines. and so that's why the governor appointed angela corey. but you know, john, i can tell you, whenever you have a 17-year-old boy shot, walking home and all you have are questions, we had to have answers.

and we have to have an ethical, like you said, protect the integrity of the investigation, and that's what angela corey's doing, and that's what the florida department of law enforcement's doing. and they're going to conduct a thorough investigation. i've spoken to trayvon's parents. they're amazing people. and his lawyers who are friends of mine. and that's all -- that's all that we can wait and let happen now. >> you say wait and let happen, but then you also have the public interest in the case, global attention it is receiving, and public record laws in the sense that the police have released what i'll call a surveillance video, of mr. zimmerman arriving at the police station and getting out of the cruiser. if you look at the video -- again, i know it's not your job to get into the details, but this has led people to say, wait a minute. this is a man whose family that say his life was threatened. that he thought he was going to die, and that's why he used his gun. if you look at the video, yes, i know you received first aid at the scene, but he doesn't look like a man who just escaped life-threatening injuries. >> yeah, and john, let me tell

you, i've prosecuted for over 18 years before i ran for attorney general. and that's why we have an excellent state attorney on the case. and all these questions that you raised are very valid questions, and i can guarantee you angela corey and the florida department of law enforcement and the justice department, they're all looking at those questions. and they're going to be sure they're answered. and here's the problem. you don't want to make an arrest too soon. you never want to make an arrest too soon. we need justice, but you never want to make an arrest without having all the answers because speedy trial starts running. and a defendant can demand speedy trial. so what the state attorney's doing, what law enforcement's doing, and they've stopped talking about this publicly, which i think is very wise. they're going to conduct their investigation as fast as they can because they know we need answers. and the family wants answers. and that's going to be done in a timely fashion but also in an ethical way. >> general, i want to change subjects. you were in washington this

week. you're one of the attorneys general in the country who are challenging the obama administration's health care law. to anyone in your state who's watching, what happens to somebody who, say, 25 years old and is on their health insurance now because they can stay on it longer because of their parents, or someone who has a preexisting condition, the supreme court says adios, has nothing. should congress, in your view, be planning for a transition, or are those people out of luck if the court agrees with you and says it's unconstitutional? >> well, john, let me tell yo, i'll be one of the first ones to say, we need health care reform in this country. i firmly agree with you that we need health care reform. but as a chief legal officer for the state of florida and 27 other states agree with me, 26 in our lawsuit and two others separately, we believe that it has to be done in a constitutional manner. and this was not done in a constitutional manner. 2700 pages of documents were read. you've heard admittedly many

members of congress didn't even read it before they passed it. and the bottom line is the federal government cannot force us to purchase this product by doing nothing. if they were able to do that, their power would be limitless. and we cannot have -- we operate under a constitution, and that's our last line of defense. and we operate also under a federal government with limited powers. and that's what this is about. and, of course, we need health care reform, but we've got to do it in a constitutional way. >> pam bundy is the attorney general of the state of florida involved in a very major federal lawsuit and controversy about health care at the moment and watching over a very controversial investigation as well. general, thanks for your time and best of luck in the days ahead. >> thank you, john. >> join our soledad o'brien hosting a very important town hall, "beyond trayvon: race & justice in america." there's an important new threat today ahead of north korea's upcoming test of a long-range missile. japan's prime minister says his

country will shoot it down if the missile violates japanese airspace. the u.s. military is rushing its most advanced radar system to the region just in case. pentagon officials call next month's scheduled test troubling, provocative and dangerous. >> i don't know if we have any confidence on the stability of the missile or where the actual impact will be. a number of countries are potentially affected. this could fall on -- the debris could fall on their countries, could cause casualties. >> with me to talk about the latest threat from north korea, the former cia director, general michael hayden. general, good to see you. let's zoom in on the region and take a peek. the tower here. but then you see some new activity. if you pull the slider across, you see all this. what are we seeing here? >> we're seeing apparently preparations for a launch. they're bringing equipment in. they've got to stack the missile. you can see clearly from the activity, and they know we can see. so this is being done for our

benefit as well as trying to meet their schedule to celebrate the 100th anniversary of kim jong-il's birth. >> so they want the attention. north koreans say it will fall harmlessly here. how advanced is their technology? how much do you trust that they can do what they say they're going to do? >> well, i can see why general thurman and peter lavoy yesterday in their testimony were a little doubtful and a lot nervous. this is rocket science. this is hard to do. the north koreans have not had a history of successful high-end activity. thief had two nuclear tests. our assessment is neither of them worked as planned. they've had missile launches. they claim they've put things in orbit. we are very confident that did not happen. >> let's look at one of those. this is a launch they had -- close this one down -- launch they had back in april 2009. the taepodong-2 was a failure. the north koreans say it was a grand success. what kind of technology we talking about? >> this is very old technology for us but not easy technology for a third-world impoverished country like north korea. i think they can get the raw energy needed in each of these

stages. but they've had difficulty managing the separation and ignition of subsequent stages after the first stage. i think that's what failed in their last missile launch. and clearly, john, whatever it is they claim this is, what they need to do is to test their technology. so they can claim it's for peaceful purposes, but fundamentally, they're perfecting the technology of an intercontinental ballistic missile. >> and you say "they." they have a new leader. we don't know much about him. he's the young son of the former leader. is this him? is this the military showing that it's in charge? >> we don't know. and what follows now in my commentary is going to be in the form of an assessment. one theory, could be a good one, is that this acorn hasn't fallen very far from the tree. and what you're seeing in kim the younger is what his father and his grandfather did in order to protect this syndicate -- crime syndicate state of north korea which is to conduct a periodic provocation to get the attention of the world. >> when do you think they'd be able to launch a missile that could reach?

>> i -- john, i don't know. and they may not know either, but that's why these events, these kinds of events are so important. each time they do this, they learn. they perfect their technology. and that's why i think we are quite appropriately reacting so strongly to this peaceful launch. >> general, thanks for your time. >> thanks, john. >> thank you. you know what you're paying around $4 a gallon now for a gallon of gas. is there anything the president can do about it? tonight's "truth" next. lstate. their claim service is so good, now it's guaranteed. [ foreman ] so i can trust 'em. unlike randy. dollar for dollar, nobody protects you like allstate.

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it is as predictable as, well, deficit spending. had the price of gas goes up and you get mad, politicians start debating tapping reserves. white house officials i talked to just this evening insist no decision has been made. tonight's truth is it could happen soon. and if it does, you can thank election-year politics in france. yes, like president obama, president sarkozy is on the ballot this year. and like president obama, rising gas prices are making a tough political climate even tougher. for the french leader. consider yourself lucky, i guess. we're mad because gas here is bumping to $4 a gallon mark. already past that in some states. in france, 10 bucks a gallon. so the united states, france, britain and japan are working together on a plan to tap their reserves. remember, there was a similar move last spring when the crisis in libya caused a spike. supporters say even a modest impact on prices will help working families. critics say those reserves are supposed to be for major supply

crises like a war or natural disaster. now, that's a valid policy debate. truth is, this is a debate right now gaining steam for purely political reasons. more than seven in ten americans say rising gas prices are causing a financial hardship. that's a staggering number. and it's not lost on the president or his re-election team. there's not all that much any president can do to impact short-term gas prices. tapping the reserves is one of the few levers a president can pull. and trying beats doing nothing from a political standpoint anyway which is why the political advisers both to president obama and to president sarkozy say tap the reserves. let's talk truth, see if this is a good idea tonight with republican consultant and cnn political contributor alex castellanos and rick tyler, senior adviser for pro-gingrich super pac. congresswoman, a lot of working people in your district not happy with gas that's over $4 just about everywhere you go in maryland. should the president tap the reserves? >> well, i'm not quite sure. i think we should wait to see that. what i do know is that i went to

fill up my tank last night, it was $4.04 a gallon, i know 84 cents of that was attributable to the fact that people are speculating, wall street is speculating on oil sprisprices. that is causing the steepest rise. not demand, not supply but speculation. >> that's the market. should the government do anything about that? >> i think we can do a couple things. one, we can stop the speculation and allow the commodity futures trading commission to actually crack down on wall street speculators. in congress, we could actually pull away some of those oil s subsi subsidies. and three, if it's necessary, we could tap thestrategic reserve. >> 40%, not much, 15%, none, 20%. so 64% blame the president some or a lot. if it were a republican president, those numbers would be just about the same. is that fair? >> well, yes. >> because it's a democrat or

because he's the president? >> not just because i'm a republican. one of the things attributing to gas prices is that we've been printing a lot of money. the dollar has been devalued all over the world. you know, there's a reason gold prices have doubled since barack obama's been president. what that means is that the price of gasoline, really, and oil has gone up. not because it's more expensive but because our dollars are worth less. that does fall on the president's desk, plus, you know, the keystone pipeline, he said no. he really hasn't expanded exploration on public land. and long-term uncertainty does make people hoard, raise prices of what we have today. so yes, you can fault barack obama for that. >> one of the criticisms, rick, of any president, but of this president from republicans in an election year, is he does everything for political expediency. couldn't you make the case when he's toughening sanctions on iran, knowing that he's got a little courage because it could hurt him? >> look, the president's got to do something. the first thing he goes after

the oil companies because he says they don't need subsidies. truth is, they don't have subsidies extraordinary to any other corporation in america. second, if you do raise taxes on oil companies, that's only going to be more money at the pump. the president keeps telling us a factual error which is we don't have 2% of the world's reserves. the fact is we have a lot more. the fact is we don't know how much because we're not allowed to take an inventory of the reserves. but he's got to do that. yeah, he might have to, for political expediency, release some from the reserves. but the fact is, if barack obama did some things like open the keystone pipeline, like open up federal lands, not the national, obviously, but federal lands to drilling, that does have an impact on speculators. and it is the commodities market, after all, all these years that have kept prices fairly stable, not wildly fluctuating. >> this year the energy debate seems to be left/right, meaning democrat/republican. in years past, it was often not so partisan but it was geographical, where you live,

what's under the ground. am i right? it seems more political this year on party level as opposed to just where you live. if you live in a coal state, you like coal. if you live in a gas state, you're fine with gas. >> well, i think part of the reason is because republicans want to protect oil companies. they want to protect wall street speculators, and they don't want to clamp down on what really is driving the market. the reality is that under president obama, we're drilling more. we're exporting more oil. and the demand is not driving up this market. i know last night when i filled up my tank instead of paying $4.04, i should have been paying $3.16, and i blame it on wall street. >> i think the congresswoman is right in taking a more reasoned approach to tapping the strategic reserve. that makes all the sense in the world. it is an asset we save for that rainy day. however, the reason oil production is expanding is because of decisions made before barack obama's president. he has not expanded exploration on public lands. it's private lands that are driving the growth in oil production here in the united states. and he's made decisions like the

keystone pipelines that, in fact, shut it down for the future. so giving him credit for what others did is not exactly a good politics. >> everybody here at this table actually knows that if we were to start a keystone pipeline today, we wouldn't be producing oil to drive the market down. >> that's what i call the psychology of the market could change. i want to change the conversation to what i'll call demand who i'll call the rorschach test of american politics, paul ryan. he is the architect of the house budget. republicans love it. democrats not only don't like it, but they think it will help them politically. he endorsed mitt romney today. let's listen. >> we have the right kind of leader we're going to need to get this country right and to get this country back on track. and i want to ask you, fellow wisconsinites, to join me in welcoming who i hope becomes the next president of the united states, governor mitt romney. >> why do democrats -- why are they so gleeful about this? why do they think, aha, romney, we win? >> if mitt romney is signing on

to a republican budget introduced by mr. ryan and passed by republicans in congress, that actually is going to end medicare as we know it, it's going to slash pell grants, student loans, school nutrition programs and virtually everything that really supports the american people. and that's mitt romney's game? well, they're peas in a pod. mitt romney and paul ryan. and so i think, you know, this makes perfect sense to me. >> is that just today's world, if you're a demon to the democrats, you must be a hero to republicans? why is it when republicans look at paul ryan, they say yes? >> i think ryan is a rising star. i think his prospects go down. i think he's great for a rising star in the future. he's actually smarter than -- he's a very smart person. so, you know, i hope he has the political smarts to hold his fire because he has a bright future. and i don't want to see him get wrapped up in this. >> i think rick's right. in many ways, paul ryan is the new newt gingrich. he's the new ideas guy in the republican party. so that is somebody you do want to have on your team.

>> and he's the only guy who's laid out a path forward. it's too far for me. i'll be dead when his budget comes. >> by the way, he hasn't cut medicare. the only one that has running for president is fellow named, oh, barack obama. >> it's an election year, isn't it? i'm going to call a friday truce. coming up at the top of the hour, erin, what can we look forward to? >> we've got a show of dreams tonight, john. not just dreams of the lotto, although we have broken that down from every angle. one bottom line, if you haven't bought a ticket, you still have just enough time as you probably should. we'll explain why. plus, we have a lotto winner and the man who will be calling out the winning numbers tonight. we have fun with that and the show of dreams continues because something that many have always dreamed of is about to become a reality. that is literally a flying car. and we will take you in it. all that top of the hour. john, back to you. >> i want the flying car, i think, more than -- is that wrong, or is that a guy thing? i want the flying car more than the $640 million? i guess if i have the money, i

can buy $640, i can buy the flying car? takal money. i'll take the money. see you in a few minutes here. firefighters scramble to safetiy when a roof starts collapsing beneath them. unbelievable. show you what happened. 30 years ago, a gun ma tried to kill president ronald reagan. how his recovery helped shape a legacy. all right, let's decide what to do about medicare and social security... security. that's what matters to me... me? i've been paying in all these years... years washington's been talking at us, but they never really listen... listen...it's not just some line item on a budget;

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mega millions frenzy across country. 42 of 50 states lining up to buy

chances. why not? a jackpot worth $640 million. live pictures, hawthorne, california. new york city. and tickets selling at the rate of $4 million an hour. sorry, folk. we don't call it the magic wall for nothing. i'm going to win. sorry. you see the balls turning. people say, why is it so hard? take a look. why are the odds? 56 numbered balls in bin number one. 46 in number two here. all right? so here we go leer. how do we get the math how this works out? chances of winning. remember, 56 balls then 55 balls then 54, then 53, then 52. the first thing here. here's the calculation. 46 in the other bin. multiply that by 46. 1 in 175 million, so when i win tonight i know i have beat pretty big odds. the winnings, average american, average american, to earn the amount of money this jackpot is

the average american would have to work 10,800 years. however, your government would spend it in about one hour and 15 minutes. how about that? do that again. remember, you would have to work for 10,800 years to hearn this much money. your government, happy friday, would spend it in one hour and 15 minutes. that part's kind of depressing. here's kate bolduan with the latest news you need to know right now. hello everyone. more headline. french police arrested, an early morning raid seizing several assault weapons. the sweep come as week after a young french gun ma killed seven then took his own life after a long siege. police have not said if any of the arrests are linked to that gunman. rubber bullets, stun grenades and tear gas used against palestinians in gaza and protesters fought back with rocks. one man die and dozens injured in a face-off with police. marked land day, an annual rally

against what palestinians call discriminatory israeli policies. searchers in new mexico are trying to find one of the nation's elite runners. he never returned from what was supposed to be a 12-mile run last tuesday. he is 60 years old, director of an ultra marathon that goes 50 miles. he's also featured in the best selling book "born to run." and take a look at this. three firefighters in dearborn, michigan had a very close call. the video is amazing. when the roof of the building they were working on started to give way. you see them there. the firefighter who got across the short wall was able to pull the others, the other two to safety. no injuries reported in thursday's fire. extremely dramatic moment indeed. in canada's, they're phasing out pennies. officials say the one cent.cost 1.6 cents to make and elim eliminating them will save.

who thunk it and why do we keep having the penny, john. >> two cents at government. cost the government a little more to make it. time to phase it out, you think? >> making millions. yeah. i don't really know. >> a lot of money talk today. >> that tells you something. costs 2.4 cents to make 1 cent, houston, you've got a problem. >> and a lot less change clunking around in the pocket. >> instead of a moment you missed, tonight, a moment in history with the potential to change the course of our nation. 2:27 p.m. on this day, march 30, 1981, that's when president reagan was shot in the chest walking out of the washington hilton hotel. been 31 years now since john hinckley fired the bullet that collapsed reagan's left lung, just missing his heart. "washington post" reporter says

reagan's recovery gave america an unfiltered glimpse at the president's character. >> this guy is cracking one liners. joking. trying to comfort his wife before himself. that's what he was doing. trying to calm those around him. really revealing into someone's character, and it kind of create add shield around reagan for the rest of his presidency. like people said, i disagree with hi politics but like him as a person. >> reagan, secret service code name rawhide, rushed to a hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. the president's men not knowing what would happen too him were forced to face facts and consider worst case scenarios. >> reagan's two top advisers jim baker and ed meese are having a conversation about the historic transfer of power to the vice president while reagan's in life-saving surgery and they're having this conversation in a janitor's closet. >> transferred to vice president george h.w. bush and reighen in stable condition remarkably by

the very next day, even signing a bill from his hospital bed. remarkable it was so long ago. >> right. >> but it does, an excellent book, "rawhide down e" tells you something, whether you liked ronald reagan's politics or not the way he handled himself at that time and nancy handled herself during that time -- >> it takes those very scare moments to give, bring a lot of clarity toy what matters and how it kind of brings people back to acting respectful. he said it really well. you say, you don't like his policies but people really respected him as a person. >> admired his strength. can you imagine. we asked del about this. if that happened in this age. >> no kidding. >> in the twitter verse age, everybody's camera going online, a completely different event. >> different event. covered it completely differently. absolute