forward here. >> you are right. >> waving the flag. can you see it? >> i see that. >> coming through the top of the cockpit. pretty awesome. i'm sorry. 0 go ahead. >> you are right about that. look. it is actually the past meeting the future. without discovery and the other space shuttles. we wouldn't evolve in to the space where the commercial side of things take the risk and spend the money and redirect taxpayer dollars to other things. i hope it involves deep space exploration and the things that changed our lives and our society in technology because in tough economic times like this, support for these kinds of big spending dreamer visionary space programs does recede and we are in one of those times. you are heard the presidential debates where they think that less money should be spent on this and just the private sector. the private sector couldn't do what nasa did in this shuttle program. you know? i make this comment sometimes. maybe the smartphone in the hand has more technology than the

first space shuttle had going in to space. we have gained so much from the programs and as you know we are not fully competitive in the united states and programs like these watching that thing take off and land that makes little kids want to be astronauts. >> you make a good point on the note of smartphone. you can go and look at the list of everything that we can be thankful for due to space exploration. it is not just about, you know, launching and getting in touch with the heavens. there have been so many things that you and i use on a regular basis due to that. you know what? i need to try to find that list. i know that nasa has a list out there. >> yeah. so many things. >> i'll try to log on and find that list. it's remarkable. >> people talks about nonstick pens. teflon and things like that. it's really the technologies that enable us to do so many other things. not just the little things in the house. transportation.

fuel efficiency. the ability to conduct heat in an environment that's getting hotter. it takes the dreamers to get to mars and speak to the heavens and want to see other, you know, galaxies to get us the innovations because we don't build programs like this just to get a nonstick flying pan. we build them to reach the heavens and in the process we learn so much and we become so much smarter. so it's still there and very exciting projects and space x. that's one of them. rockets out there. great things are happening but this is inspiration. this is america. this is the -- not only just america, i mean, the world was involved in so much of this space shuttle and the international space station. this was a symbol of when you think nothing holds you back and there are no bounds and that's what you're looking at right there. right under it, that boeing 747, unveiled in 1969 after more delays than any aircraft and all we talk about is delays and

delays. one of the most successful aircraft. those two things, they don't make too many of the 747s anymore either. you are looking at the picture. when's america all about? what's it good for? take a look at this picture. a space shuttle on top of a 747. >> a moment there on the ground at dulles. lizzie o'leary giving us the perspective from there. you listen to the crew sounding mellow and you know the hearts are beating as shuttle "discovery" coming to, you know, this iconic part of the shuttle fleet coming to an end. i'd love to know what's going through their minds right now they're slowly taxiing up. >> well, absolutely. and john zarrella down in florida was telling us there's a six-person crew inside that 747 cockpit. maybe the best analogy is something that one of the

producers pointed out to me. listening to the air traffic controller, you heard that call sign of the plane, pluto 9-5. pluto once identified as a planet, now no longer a planet. an ironic analogy for the final flight of a space shuttle and a space shuttle program that was once an emblem of american space exploration is no longer. you have that call sign that's sort of goes along with part of the narrative of the space shuttle program. certainly some of the astronauts who flew on "discovery" described the moment. used the word bittersweet a million times on the air today but one of them, joe allen said he was watching this with a tear in his eye seeing the first fly-by and probably would again when he saw the final landing, kyra. >> what are we going to see next? will the crew comeconference? >> yeah. what comes next is a bit more

technical, frank cli. what happens is what they call the phrase for this is the de-mating of the two aircraft. essentially, it is a great big crane that will do in reverse what was done to actually get that shuttle on top of the 747. they'll lift it off and it will be moved in to the hangar here at the smithsonian, an extension of part of dulles airport. right now, the "enterprise" is here. that shuttle which never flew in space will go up to new york eventually as they're sort of a merry go round of shuttles going to different places across the country. one in new york. one in california. >> there you go. hit the smithsonian. >> exactly. exactly. you can go hit them all. >> and if you want, you can go out -- i was just -- as you were naming the places to go, if you want to go old school, lizzie,

you've probably been there, oregon where the spruce goose is. you can go and tour that aircraft, as well. so heck, we could even put together a whole tour of the famous vehicles of sorts. but so all right. so it's -- it's a technical breakoff i guess we could say. can we watch that, lizzie? is that all something that will happen within the hangar? >> it will happen slowly over the course of the next two days and see some of that but one of the most amazing things is people will be able to' "discove "discovery" inside the museum hangar here on friday so it takes a while to move the thing off but visitors will be able to come and look and look at a shuttle that i think one of the folks described as lived in and loved. this thing has flown a lot. it's been essentially a year in space when you total up all of the different missions and the

kids who are out here in the parking lot today watching this will be able to come in to the museum and look at it come friday. >> all right. i don't know -- i try to think that any question is an okay question. but i'm curious and you tell me if this is impossible. do reporters, have you ever been able to go inside of the shuttle? if so, can you describe it? have you been able to do that in your many years of covering this? >> i haven't but john zarrella has. he has been inside i believe two shuttles. and one of the things that astronauts will tell you, despite the fact that shuttles themselves are very large, the quarters inside are extremely small so the cargo bays are large but the part where human beings go is very little and astronauts have to squeeze in and out of the little parts of this. but zarrella is the one i'm jealous of because he's been inside. >> of course, he had to detach and no longer with us for the

live coverage but that's okay. i'm sure he'll be turning a number of pieces on this. ali velshi, you still with me? >> absolutely i am. can't get my eyes off of this. >> of course. all right. as we are at a stand still here, lizz lizzie's giving us the perspective on the ground at dulles, we were talking a little bit about space x. so what can you tell us about as we kind of wait to see what unfolds here with shuttle "discovery"? space x starts with taking cargo to the station, right? and then maybe -- >> cargo and people. >> when will the people -- will astronauts be able to head there, what, within five years? >> well, probably -- as you know, astronauts that need to get to the station now have to go up on a russian vehicle. by the way, many of the astronauts complain as lizzie said inside the space shuttle is tight quarters. on the russian vehicle, it is much tighter. it is like economy versus business class. that's how they get there for a

few years and then space x picks up cargo and sending it up and virgin galactic. it's an offshoot of a prize winner and virgin galactic and starting about $250,000 a pop. that's sub orbital. that just gets you within orbit. in to space. on a spaceship. there's going to be growth on the commercial side of things, assuming the economy is such that it supports that. there's a very long waiting list of humans to go on. there have been humans who have gone up in space already and paid for their own -- meaning nonastronauts publicly funded astronauts and people paid to go up. cargo is most important. space x will take that over in the course of two years from now and within five years see the entire operation, commercial, astronaut and cargo going up in commercial spacecraft.

>> we are going to continue to monitor the live pictureses. we have lizzie o'leary there on the ground with us at dulles. stay with us. the beauty of ali velshi, the renaissance reporter. talking space, aviation. also going to be talking about president obama under pressure to bring down the high price of gas. we are looking at live pictures of the rose garden where the president will speak in a few moments outlining the plan of rising costs and impact you at the pump. ali joins me for that right after the break. i got mine in iraq, 2003. usaa auto insurance is often handed down from generation to generation. because it offers a superior level of protection, and because usaa's commitment to serve the military, veterans and their families is without equal. begin your legacy, get an auto insurance quote. usaa. we know what it means to serve.

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live pictures of the rose garden. the president under the pressure to bring down the high price of the gas. the president and eric holder coming out with a proposal to increase federal supervision of the oil markets in an effort to bring down gas prices. hold these oil companies accountable. my guess is the president who was supposed to speak about ten minutes ago was holding off because of this live event that's happening. what you are seeing there is space shuttle "discovery" the workhorse of the new defunct program. our lizzie o'leary is there. our ali velshi also standing by watching the live pictures

because he is going to talk about the president and oil and high gases prices in a moment. lizzie, let's go to you. the shuttle is moving in to final retirement. what a life it's had. >> it's had a real life, about a year when you count up the days been in space. about a year in space. 39 flights since 1984. it's carried hundreds of people up in to orbit. and one of the things to note, kyra, is "discovery" came in on the back of that modified 747 and had a fly-by here out at dulles and then all the national mall, all the green space in washington, d.c. it did a low buzz of monuments and lots and lots of people looking up. barbara starr was telling us that the folks at the pentagon came outside to look up and get a glimpse of "discovery" flying over and then over the next couple of days taken off of that 747 and rest here.

this is part of the smithsonian. it's where they have a lot of the big parts of the air and space museum so a lot of the stuff that doesn't fit in to the museum you may have visited on the national malcolm l comes ou here. the aviation geeks look at things like "discovery" on display starting friday. as a capstone of the 30-year shuttle program. >> we're all -- all of us geeks and nongeeks who have been watching the live pictures will be pretty excited to make that visit once you're able to actually get inside look at the shuttle. once it becomes a part of the smithsonian. lizzie, thank you so much. we'll continue to follow the live pictures and live pictures from the rose garden waiting for the president to step up and talk about what he plans to do to lower gas prices and while we wait on the president to speak, we'll bring you up to speed quickly on other things making

news this hour. congressman jeff denim vowing where crimes have been committed, quote, people will go to jail. heating up on the hill right now on the second day of an oversight hearing, the republican congressman says he is ready to rip apart the gsa over its junket that cost us the taxpayers $800,000. >> i'm here to tell you the buck stops here. we're not going to hold up any longer. the american public demands to see the budget on the public buildings fund, the federal buildings fund and how that money's been spent. this slush fund is no longer going to be used for personal uses. >> and that boondoggle bragged about in this video boasts of the exploits and even pokes fun at president obama. george zimmerman's attorney is laying the groundwork for the

defense. the biggest move yet involves the judge assigned to the case. the attorney wants a new judge to preside over the trial because the current judge's husband happens to be a law partner of the man that publicly commented about zimmerman's case and has recently been hired by cnn as a legal analyst. he says he's confident that judge will be replaced. >> the court should grant it. she could have an inquiry if she wanted to. i don't think she will. i think she'll grant it and move the case on to another judge. >> several news organizations including cnn's are fighting a ruling to seal the court documents. zimmerman will be in court on friday for a bail hearing. a key witness is expected to testify. three are accused of planning to bomb if new york subway system in september of 2009. a co-defendant is expected to

take the witness stand today. prosecutors say that those men were trained by al qaeda in pakistan and described them as terrorists. the lawyer says he is not a terrorist and the government is wrong. let's get to our ali velshi standing by for us in new york city. we have a two-minute warning. looks like. actually, let's let the president take it away. here we did. >> speaking a lot about the need for an all of the above strategy for american energy. a strategy that produces more oil and gas here at home, but also, produces more bio fuels and fuel efficient cars, more solar power and wind power and other sources of clean, renewable energy. this strategy is not just the right thing to do for our long-term economic growth. it is also the right way for us to reduce our dependence on foreign oil right now. it's the right way for us to put people to work right now. and ultimately, it is the right

way to stop spikes in gas prices that we put up every single year. the same kind of increases we have seen over the past couple of months. obviously, rising gas prices means a rough ride for a lot of families. when you're trying to get to school, work, do some grocery shopping. you have to be able to fill you have that gas tank and there are families in certain parts of the country that have no choice but to drive 50 or 60 miles to get to the job. so when gas prices go up, it's like an additional tax that comes right out of your pocket. that's one of the reasons we passed a payroll tax cut at the beginning of the year so the average american is getting average $40 in every paycheck right now. but i think everybody understands that there are no quick fixes to this problem. there are politician who is say

that if we just drilled more gas prices would come down right now. what they don't say is we have been drilling more. under my administration, america is producing more oil than any any time in eight years. we have opened areas for exploration. quadrupled the operating rigs to a record high. added enough new pipelines to circle the earth and then some. but as i've said repeatedly, the problem is we use more than 20% of the world's oil and we have 2% of the world's proven oil reserves. even drilling every square inch of this country, right now, we'd still have to rely disproportionately on other countries for their oil and paying more at the pump with instability in the middle east. that's what's happening right now. it is the global trends affecting gas prices. even as we're tackling issues of supply and demand, even as we're looking at the long-term, in

terms of how we can structurally make ourselves less reliant on foreign oil, we still need to work extra hard to protect consumers from factors that should not affect the price of a barrel of oil. that includes doing everything we can to ensure that an irresponsible few aren't able to hurt consumers be illegally rigging or manipulating the energy markets for their own gain. we can't afford a situation where speculators artificially inflate markets buying up oil, creating a perception of a shortage driving prices higher and then flip it for a quick profit. some spectators reap millions and families get the short end of the stick. that's not the way the market should work and for anyone who thinks this cannot happen just

think back to how enron traders reaped huge profits at everybody else's expense. now the good news is my administration's already taken several actions to step up oversight of oil markets and close dangerous loopholes that were allowing some traders to operate in the shadows. we closed the so-called enron loophole that let traders evade oversight with electronic or overseas trading platforms. in the wall street reform law, we said, for the first time that federal regulators will make sure no single trader can buy such a large position in oil that they could easily manipulate the market on their own. so i'd point out that anybody who's pledging to roll back wall street reform, dodd-frank would roll back this vital pra text with it. i've asked attorney general

holder to work with chairman leibovitz of the federal trade commission and other enforcement agencies to make sure that acts of manipulation, fraud or other illegal activity are not behind increases in the price that consumers pay at the pump. so today, we're announcing new steps to strengthen oversight of energy markets. things that we can do administratively, we are doing. and i call on congress to pass a package of measures to crack down on illegal activity and hold accountable those who manipulate the market for private gain at the expense of millions of working families. and be specific. first, congress should provide immediate funding to put more cops on the beat to monitor activity in energy markets. this funding would also upgrade technology so surveillance and

enforcement officers aren't ham strung by older and less sophisticated tools than the one that is traders are using. strengthen protections for american consumers, not gut them. and these markets have expanded significantly. chairman genzler said imagine if the nfl quadrupled the teams but didn't increase the number of refs. you would have havoc on the field and it would diminish the game. it wouldn't be fair. that's part of what's going on in a lot of these markets. so we had to properly resource enforcement. second, congress should increase the civil and criminal penalties for illegal energy market manipulation and other illegal activities so my plan would tuchb penalties tenfold and impose them not just vie lags but for every day it occurs. third, congress should give the

agency responsible for overseeing markets new authority by making sure that traders post appropriate margins which means that they have the money to make good on their trades. congress should do all of this right away. you know, a few weeks ago congress had the chance to stand up for families already paying an extra premium at the pump, congressional republicans voted to keep spending billions of americans' hard earned tax dollars on more unnecessary subsidies for big oil companies. so here's a chance to make amends. a chance to actually do something that will protect consumers increasing oversight of energy markets. that should be something that everybody no matter their party should agree with. and i hope americans will ask their members of congress to step up. in the meantime, my administration will take new executive actions to analyze and investigate and quickly

implement the tough consumer protections under wall street reform. let me close by saying, none of these steps by themselves will bring gas prices down overnight. but it will prevent market manipulation and make sure we're looking out for american consumers. and in the meantime, we are going to keep pursuing an all of the above strategy for american energy to break the price spikes year after year. keep producing more bio fuels and fuel efficient cars, keep tapping in to every source of american-made energy. these steps are helped put america on a path to greater energy independence. our dependence on foreign oil has actually decreased each year i've been in office. even as the economy has grown. america now imports less than half of the oil we use for the first time in more than a decade. so we're less vulnerable than we

were but we're still too vulnerable. we got to continue the hard sustained work on this issue and as long as i'm president we'll keep placing the bets on america's future, workers and technology and ingenuity and american-made energy and solve this problem once and for all. thank you very much, everybody. >> president of the united states there at the rose garden laying out his proposal on how to deal with the high price of gas. ali velshi, i think the first thing that everybody wanted to know, how immediately -- how immediate could this impact on gas prices be? right there towards the end, the president basically said, it's not going to happen real quickly but i can tell you that market manipulation, something will happen in that regard right away. >> i wish he wouldn't say things like that. that's how we're going to solve the problem.

i don't know what he's talking about. if you determine the price of $100 price barrel of oil right now, due to speculation, some people say it's 10 bucks. maybe it's 20 bucks. there are three reasons oil prices are high. number one, world demand continues to be high for oil. we consume 20% to 25% of the world's oil but the demand is flattening out. people that produce oil manage their output so that oil prices stay high enough that people -- that they make a lot of money. not so high that people say i'll use less oil. so, you know, the opec and the saudis sort of decided that 100 bucks a barrel is about where that works. we export a whole lot of our gasoline now in the united states because we get more money, companies that make gasoline get more for selling it other places because it's more

expensive almost everywhere else in the united states thworld th states. while i applaud the words, i get that. the oil trading market is much bigger than 10 or 15 years ago. we haven't kept up. that's a symbol of american lack of regulation. that i agree with. wants to increase the amount that you have to put down when you buy oil. the margin. increasing the margin. that might have some effect. kyra, to buy general electric stock, you have to put down all the money it takes to buy it. so 100 shares or whatever you want to buy. for oil futures, you put down a percentage of it and creates more volatility. in the end that speculative part of the oil price is a very bumpy and somewhat disconnected line to what we pay at the bump. but for the president to walk away, that's how we solve the problem, i would have to say, if

i'm the political people, i would say, almost pants on fire. >> wow. well, it's the spectators profiting off the volatility of what we're seeing, right? >> sure. three people buy oil. there are producers of oil who would like to get a certain amount of money for their product and they short oil. they bet that oil is going to go down in price so that if it does and doesn't make as much money selling it, they buy oil on the futures market and then consumers who worry that oil prices are going to go up. they buy oil long. consumers meaning people who buy oil for something that they do, those are the two sides of the equation that are normal and then third party, investors. they never touch it, never make it. they buy it because it's like real estate or the stock market or something else. it's an investment. within that group of investors are spectators and we wouldn't have a housing market without

speculators. we wouldn't have a stock market if you didn't have some people betting it would go down and up. that is not illegal but makes the market. >> you are seeing this as more of a political move than anything else? >> yes. yeah. look, i won't discount the entire thing as political because making sure regulation keeps up with the market that it's trying to regulate, absolutely makes sense. there is some discussion about whether raising the margins or the amount to put down to trade oil will help the situation. that's for people smarter than me to discuss. it's not entirely political but the way the president -- by the way, the president's critics draw the lines between oil supply and speculation and the price you pay at the pump. it shows a remarkable lack of sophistication and understanding of how the oil markets work and it is a sophistication you know the president has and you know his critics have. the whole conversation of prices and gas prices has been dumbed down in to bumper stickers so that people get mad about it and don't understand it and speeches

like this don't help. >> one more question before you go. i made note of one of the points the president made. he's wanting to boost spending on technology to improve better oversight and surveillance of energy markets. what type of technology? >> one of the biggest problems we have in the world today including in stock markets is high frequency trading where traders have gone so far as to get the super servers and physically move them closer to the server which does the trading to get like a one or a half a second advantage in trading. there's such great sophistication in trading. when you saw that flash crash and things like that, nothing to do with what they believe the price will be. but the highly manipulative instant trading. the way the market is going. regulators probably don't have the servers and computers and this type of software. i think that's absolutely right. if you're going to regulate something, be as smart and well equipped as the people to try to

regulate. >> thanks so much for talking space and talking gas prices and everything in between, great to see you. >> my pleasure. >> all right. d-day for taxes. if you're one of the lucky ones, only one thing left to do. spend that refund. but there's a smart way to do that. straight ahead. [ wind howling ] [ technician ] are you busy? management just sent over these new technical manuals. they need you to translate them into portuguese.

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you think tax day you probably think of stress or dread. alison kosik says for those getting refunds, this is like christmas so what are people doing with the extra cash? >> exactly. if they get a refund, here's what a capital one survey found they'll do with it. 33% said they plan to spend at least part of the refund. one in four say they plan to save at least part of their refund. 17% say they'll use the refund to pay down some debt and a whopping 5% plan to invest the money. kyra? >> considering where we are in the economy right now, what's the smartest way to spend this

money that the point? >> good question. we spoke to the founder of the financial advice blog ask the money coach.com and she told us you don't need to take the fun out of a large refund but does recommend saving some of the money, at least 10% or 20%. she says there are smart ways to spend. for example, advance your career by taking a class or prepay our annual car insurance premiums and told us that refund time is a great time to plan for next year's taxes. checking in with an accountant or tax prepayer earlier in the year to cut next year's bill. kyra? >> what do you think? is it better to overpay in the year to get a refund or get the money before, have that money prior to that, don't overpay? >> okay. so we asked this and refunds may feel good getting them, the check, but what it really does mean is that you have had too much taken out of the paycheck in the first place so instead of waiting for a refund, she says

fill out a w-4 form to adjust your with holdings. the average refund is almost $3,000 and by adjusting the with holdings, boost the takehome pay by $250 every month. that's what i would like more of. the money up front every month, kyra. invest it and make money off that money. right? >> yes. exactly. >> everyone's got their different opinion on that. alison kosik, thanks so much. >> you got it. president obama and mitt romney are fighting it out for the female vote. when's winning and who's losing? it's fair game next. first, the political junkie question of the day. president getting a $400,000 salary. how much does michelle obama make?

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>> i asked you how much michelle obama makes per year as first lady? the answer -- zippo. so basically she does a lot of volunteer work. she does get a pretty good place to live rent free. congrats to darren in los angeles tweeting me the answer. today is equal pay day, symbolizes the extra four months women have to work to earn as much as their male counterparts. democrats and republicans working hard to get women on board but only one side seems to be succeeding. republican strategist sherry and democratic analyst join me. let's start with the numbers, give me your take. our cnn poll asks registered voters about their choice for president. among women only, president

obama leads mitt romney by 16 points. when asked who is more in touch with women, the president doubles up on romney, 55-27. sherry, i know where you're going to go. to the gallup poll showing romney leading by two points overall. 6 points with the critical independent vote. does he need worry about women? >> i think any candidate running for anything should worry about women, independents. i want to make a couple points. a week or so ago we found out that barack obama is paying women in the white house 18% less than men for the same job, so if you want to talk about pay why don't we start with the president. but his numbers are still high so maybe he doesn't have to. a couple of months ago mitt romney was beating barack obama in the polls with women. obama beat mccain in 2008. romney is ahead without doing anything special so the white house panicked and that's why they launched this thing about the faux gop war on women.

the good news for mitt romney and for republicans is that these numbers are fluid and soft because they are changing and at some point women were definitely more for romney than obama without any special targeting or condescending talking down to them. they preferred romney. i think they need to find out why that was and go back to that message. >> keith, i knew this would get cheri fired up. i'll let you address the numbers. this is your job. >> first, i feel comfortable on a panel and i'm the only guy and we're talking about women's issues. i feel like the republican panel they put on earlier this year when they were talking about choice issues but had no men on the panel. i think that the problem here for mitt romney is that people just don't like him. the women don't like him, the majority of voters don't like him. the poll numbers from cnn are stunning. not just the gender gap because that gender gap has been there for practically every presidential election. women are the majority of the population and we see that in

terms of their reflection what if the vote is going to be. if you look at the numbers across the board mitt romney is not likable. the only group he is winning is senior citizens and i'm not sure that's going to hold up into the general election. i think he's got real troubles. last week they tried to push book on the ann romney. he's talking about it's okay or he wants poor women to go and make them work. he thinks it makes them more dignified. >> what's -- of course. work is dignified. poor people would want to work. no problem with that. >> the inconsistencies, cheri, you can't say on the one hand we love mothers and it's a wonderful thing if people can stay home but we insist poor women must go to work even if you have a child as young as 2. >> that's what helps you stop being poor. you're wrong. keith, keith. that's a whole point of not being poor.

if you get a job you have a much less chance of being poor. if you are a single parent, if you find yourself -- it's greet stay home if you can. some people make sacrifices to do so. but at this point remember, the 1996, bill clinton signed welfare reform which limited welfare to two years and then a five-year lifetime but two years continuously. and there's this thing about limiting the the number of children if you are on welfare. and this helps people take personal responsibility and helps them get back in the work force so they aren't poor so there's really nothing wrong with that. very pro woman. >> let me ask you guys a question. >> i love the way you spin this. >> i'm going to spin you guys in a different direction. just before the break we asked our viewers how much does the first lady make? she doesn't make anything. she doesn't get a paycheck. >> no first lady has. >> but cheri, here's my question. you made a point of what the women are paid in the white house. let me ask you this. it's equal pay day today.

okay. should the first lady get a paycheck? keith? >> that's a great question. why did you ask me that first? >> because cheri has been dominating this conversation. you need to get something in here. she's going to get you again. >> i don't have an answer whether the first lady should be paid. i think the work that the first lady does is substantial. i worked in the white house in the clinton administration and the work that hillary clinton did. she not only worked as the first lady but was helping to push health care reform and legislative issues. i think she does a lot of volunteer work. whether it's hillary clinton or nancy reagan or laura bush or anybody else. the one thing i will say about this issue is that i really think it's important for republicans to stop this sort of attacking the democrats for saying, using the word war on women. the republicans accuse everyone of a war on everything. a war on christmas or democracy, you name it republicans are the kings and queens of making wars. so i think let's be realistic.

let's stop the war language, talk about what's going on. women are not happy with mitt romney. >> it got 25 seconds. cheri, should the first lady, talking about women and this war on women and equal pay. >> if it's not an elected position it's going to be hard to justify. they have budgets for the work they do and i think people are fine with that. but when you talk about elected officials they get paid, it's not an elected position or appointed position so it's probably not going to fly. on equal pay day maybe the women who work in the obama white house should have an opportunity to be paid what the men are. i think that would be great. i'm all for keith, you guys want to call off this big lie about the gop war on women we're all for it. for romney and his numbers with women, i think they are fluid. he was ahead in january. he can get ahead again. >> got to leave it there. i'm sorry, guys. i got to let suzanne plal vo come in. i know we'll be talking more about this. thanks for watching. continue the conversation with me on twitter or on facebook.

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live from cnn in atlanta, i'm suzanne malveaux. i want to get you up to speed for this tuesday, april 17th. president obama is blaming oil speculators for the soaring gas prices. he call forward tougher measures to crack down on the speculators. he wants to require traders to put up more of their own money and increase the penalties for manipulating the markets. republicans blame the president's policies for the rising prices but he says drilling alone is not going to solve the problem. >> politicians are saying if we just drilled more then gas prices would come down right away. what they don't say is we have been drilling more. my administration america is producing more oil than at any time in the last eight years. >> believe it or not there is a

cease-fire in syria. well, that's how it looks. government forces have been pounding one city violently trying to take over another, they say at least 47 people have been killed today. u.n. monitorings are trying to observe the cease-fire that was supposed to have started last thursday. the u.s. ambassador to the u.n. says ba shar's resheem lost credibility. >> they lied to their own community, and the biggest -- the biggest fabricator of the facts is assad himself. his representatives are merely doing his bidding and under probably not insignificant personal duress. words as we said repeatedly are meaningless. the actions are what matter and the actions have continued to disappoint. >> we are continuing to follow developments in the secret service scandal. 11 members have had their security clearances yanked

pending an investigation that includes military personnel. they are accused of bringing prostitutes to their hotel in colomb colombia, the agents range from relative newcomers to veterans of almost 20 years. >> tax day today. chances that you got money on your mind, we are following several major stories involving your finances and your tax dollars. going to go live to capitol hill for the outrage over lavish spending by the gsa. lawmakers are looking into the $800,000 conference that was held in vegas. president obama is responding to the rising gas prices and is calling for steps to manage the price when you pay to fill up. and the buffett rule. rebuffed. the fight over taxes, how much should you pay, and how much should millionaires pay. start with the gas prices. the price we're paying just to fill our tanks, it is now near record levels. republicans, they blame president obama for the rising prices. but today the president, he points the finger at wall street a short time ago he outlined new steps to limit the speculation

on the oil markets. ali velshi is joining us with some of the details. tell us what was the president -- what was the crux of the president's plan? how do you manage to start regulating this kind of abuse? >> that was the crux of it was largely that he wanted more funding to hire more people at the community -- commodities future trading commission, that's the body like the securities and exchange commission that deals with oil trading. he wanted a six-fold increase in staff that monitor oil trading, he wanted more technology, wanted them to be armed with better technology to deal with these oil traders who deal with very, very advanced technology, he wants to increase the fines for anybody found to be manipulating the price of oil. he wanted them to be increased ten-fold. and he wants, interesting thing he talks about, increasing the margin requirements so as i was telling keara, if you want to buy stock of general electric you have to put up the money. if you want to buy oil futures you don't. you put up a small portion of the money. so the feeling is if there is all of these people who are in

the market pushing it one way or the other trying to influence it, if they had to put more skin in the game you might have less volatility. all of what he said on the surface makes some sense. >> sure. >> the problem is he was trying to make this connection between doing what he's doing which we should be doing, and the price of gas going down. and i certainly can't come to the same conclusion. >> i want to ask you about that. this is -- looks like what he's doing talking long-term solutions, broad brush stroke policies. does it really mean anything to us now? or in the near future? when it comes to how much we're paying. >> we know there were things that went wrong in the housing mortgage market. we knew that house valuations were done incorrectly, people's backgrounds weren't checked properly. people didn't have full disclosures. we should fix that. if you fix all that, doesn't necessarily have any impact on t the price of houses. that's what the issue is here. we're fixing things in oil trading that probably need to be

fixed. that's what he's asking for. we should have better enforcement, we should have better regulators and those computers and technology should be as good as the people's that they are regulating. i have no sense of whether this is going to decrease the price of gasoline. unfortunately, he did say in his speech at the rose garden that it would have that effect. ultimately suzanne, oil prices are high because there is a lot of world demand, because those countries and companies that produce oil manage around that demand and here in the united states we've taken to exporting fully refined gasoline because we can get more for it elsewhere than in the united states. none what if the president is saying today would have any impact on those three matters. >> all right. breaking it down for us. thank you. also want to hear from you. how is the high price of gas impacting you? have you made changes or are things the same? watch me for more on the story. we'll have an oil expert breaking it down for you. tweet me @suzanne malveaux.

so this. a pretty outrageous story. government agency spends more than $100,000 on these lavish expenses at vegas conference. today it's hitting home. a lot of us rushing to pay our taxes, so the thought of money being spent on clowns, mind readers, music videos, commemorative coins, especially frustrating and we want answers. law enforcementers do too. dana bash is covering the hearings. first of all, what do they want to hear from those in the hot seat today? >>. >> reporter: i got to tell you, you covered washington a long time. watching this hearing which right now has been going on for over three hours, 3 1/2 hours, it is just flabbergasting to hear the kind of excess that has been going on. beyond what we heard, in fact, i want to you listen to the man chairing this talk about what he called culture of waste, fraud, corruption, hidden budgets, no oversight and intimidation

internally and what he may want to do about it. >> we continue to see that you're not giving us the information on a bipartisan level to show us how these expenditures are happening, i am prepared to systematically pull apart gsa to the point where we will make it a question to the american public whether gsa is needed at all. >> reporter: let me give you one example of something that they are talking b. you remember that lavish 2010 conference in las vegas which is really the heart of this discussion. you remember that we first showed videos of an award ceremony you see. it turns out that the reason why awards were given at this conference and so many other meetings is because that was the way they got around a ban on serving food at conferences. so i want you to listen to what the inspector general who is testifying today said about how they tried to work the system so to speak in order to have these big meetings.

>> according to witnesses that we've interviewed, it was a running joke in region 9 that in order to get food you had to give out awards. and many of these awards were silly awards. one of our witnesses characterized them as i guess fake awards and jacks ass awards and things of that nature. >> reporter: so there you heard just some of what we've been listening to. over the course of the entire morning. and this hearing is not over. >> sounds crazy, really. what are some of the details that we're also learning behind the scenes here besides these big parties? sounds like there is an incredible amount of detail coming out of these hearings. >> reporter: right. of course again, we had been talking about this one conference in 2010 but we're learning about more trips that are just really blow your mind. particularly organized by this one man who took the fifth amendment today. look on the screen.

he arranged 17 day trip to the south pacific. 17 days. which apparently one of the whistle-blowers who is testifying she said that she made people aware and it still happened. this is a couple months ago. there was a conference for interns in palm springs which cost you and me $150,000. and just last month, napa valley, pretty nice place to go, $40,000 for that conference primarily on food. we're learning more about this spending. part of the big discussion in this hearing is that the director for this western region, jeff kneely, he was able to spend this money without anybody knowing at higher levels in washington or elsewhere what he's spending on, how he's spending. in terms of the bottom up, people under him we're hearing about serious intimidation, people were afraid that they would get, quote unquote, squashed if they spoke up about this excess spending. >> unbelievable.

looking at the destination of the trips, you know. our interns, good grief. that's unbelievable. dana, thanks. we'll follow this closely. we're talking about your money throughout the hour. you heard what the president said about gas prices, you know the gsa, in the hot seat for spending your tax dollars on all of those crazy items during the conferences. still to come our political roundtable, i want to hear what republicans have to say about the buffett rule. how much should the rich pay in taxes? first we're live in virginia. that is where america's last space shuttle is on its final mission. does aspirin even work on my headache?

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moment. this is the final flight of space shuttle "discovery" on the back of a 747 jet. dramatic end to the shuttle as it's ferried to the smithsonian. we'll have a live report on the future of the space program and private flights in the next hour, a famous astronaut. then police lead a kindergartener away from her school in handcuffs for bad behavior after her principal called the cops on her. republicans blocking the buffett rule in the senate but democrats, they are vowing to bring it back. so this is a political move, election season, or a serious proposal for taxing the richest americans more? we're going to mix it up with the political panel. [ female announcer ] lactaid milk is easy to digest.

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you probably remember when space travel was exciting. it wasn't just for fun but the images like these were iconic, part of american history. maybe even dreamt as a kid of going into space or taking a trip to the moon. today that era is coming to an end. at least for now. the "discovery" shuttle made its final trip to the smithsonian museum carried on the back of a jetliner, after traveling 148 million miles. lizzie is at the final destination of "discovery" and that is in chantilly, virginia. john, pretty amazing stuff. you covered 75 shuttle launches since back in '84 and you and i were together in florida to see the final launch, pretty incredible. >> yes. >> you look at those pictures and you see that, the ground shaking, everything is moving. this seems to be an emotional experience for a lot of folks, too. >> reporter: yeah, there is no question about that. very emotional. particularly here at the kennedy

space center where so many people, thousands of people, 5,000, 6,000 space shuttle workers have lost their jobs here. in fact, we were talking to one longtime shuttle worker who worked over there in the processing facility, for almost 30 years, since the beginning of the shuttle program. terry white, he was the one famous for a white handlebar mustache. he was telling us, if i want to get a job in my industry, i've got to leave florida now. i'll have to go to california, you know, i'll have to go to washington state. other places where start-up companies and the new companies are doing this stuff. so, it's very difficult pill for a lot of people here to swallow watching "discovery" and soon you know, both "atlantis" and "endeavour" to be retired. a lot of people not happy with the thought that it is over and believing rightfully so that

these shuttles could have flown for several years to come if there had been proper planning in the past. >> and john, now you've got commercial companies trying to fill the shoes. explain what that is about. >> reporter: you know, huge. this is the big thing. we sit here and two miles from me, a couple miles from me to the south at cape canaveral, elan, his company, is getting prepared in the next two weeks on the 30th to launch his falcon rocket with a dragon spacecraft on top. he's going to attempt to rendezvous and birth with the international space station. it would be the first time in history that a commercial company has accomplished such a feat. that would lead then to flying of goods and cargo up to the space station. and eventually humans to the space station. he's one of many commercial companies vying for those opportunities, he seems to be in the lead now in doing that. that's the change, that's where it's going.

commercial companies, low earth orbit, then nasa using its money to do what it does best, explore the heavens, building a rocket to take humans hopefully to an asteroid and on to mars. >> sounds great. i want to go to lizzie there at the final destination of "discovery" and describe for us what that was like while everybody was looking up in the sky over the monuments being able to see this thing fly over and land. >> reporter: absolutely, suzanne. it came over where we are out here at what is part of the smithsonian, the museum out here where "discovery" will be housed. it gave a low fly by over our heads, then took really an extended victory lap if you will, all around washington, d.c. you lived in d.c., it went near the white house, over the monuments, around the mall, near the capitol, and it kind of cruised all over those, then buzzed us one more time here, then came in for its final

landing. and you know, john was talking about the emotions surrounding sending "discovery" here. there were a number of people including two "discovery" astronaut who is talked about seeing it come in for that final landing on top of the 747, one of them joe allen who is well known in the nasa community said he was watching this with tears in his eyes. watching this experience. and really this sort of punctuation mark on the shuttle program. >> folks are going to get a chance to see it at the smithsonian? >> reporter: absolutely. so you and i think of the smithsonian as that building that looks like a castle. it's out here by the airport. this is what's called the museum that's part of the smithsonian, where the really big stuff lives. so they have a great big hangar, right now the enterprise which is a shut that will never flew in space is here, over the next couple of days the "discovery" is going to be taken off the top of that 747, and they are going

to bring it into this museum and people will be able to see it and visit it as soon as friday. >> love to see. all the big stuff there and also that building that looks like a castle. lizzie, thank you so much. it is a fascinating to watch. john, thank you as well a. new era in the space program. the buffett rule, to tax the wealthiest americans more shot down in the senate. talk to our political panel about it next. >> the help desk we get answers to financial questions. joining me is a financial planner and president of objective advice.com. carmen wong, thank you both for coming in. gary, first question for you. john and georgia wrote in that he wants to start a college saving plan for his grandson and wants to know his options. >> i'd add my son to that list. set of two of each. you have a lot of choices. first, the simple one you can

set it up as a gift to minors type of account. the downside to that is the child has access to it at 18 or 21. >> whether they go to college or not. >> right. but the interesting thing about that is the first set of interest, dividends and capital gains will be tax free, close to $1,000, so you can have each and every year have the money grow on the tax-free basis which could be attractive but you don't have control. the other fantastic choice is a 529 college savings plan. each state has these 529 plans. the beauty of them is the money grows tax deferred. if it's used for college there is no tax on the growth. and some states give you an extra tax incentive to participate. >> and carmen, your question from beverly in california. we're going flew a short sale. how can we prevent our credit score from imploding? >> my dear, that may not be preventible. however, on your credit report it will be noted that this is a

settled debt so there will be a difference. you'll be able to show lenders in the future that this was not something you walked away from. you didn't foreclose on the house. you didn't walk away. you actually got it settled. so that's very important to understand because when it comes to buying a new home or a new loan you're about five years more likely, put it this way, two years to get a new home if you short sale. probably five to seven maybe if you walk away. so it looks better on your credit report, your score will need to recover. the sooner you do it, the sooner you recover. >> great advice. if you've got a question send us an e-mail to the cnnhelpdesk@cnn.com. people with a machine. what ?

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>> here is a rundown of some of the stories we're working on. the buffett rule to tax the wealthiest americans more shot down in the senate. the democrats vow it's not going to go away. talking to my panel about the possible fallout. then you've got a few more hours left to file your taxes. when you're done you should check out these tax freebies, deals on dinner, working out, you name it. and later, a georgia mother, furious after police lead her kindergartener away in handcuffs. the buffett rule gets rebuffed. republicans blocked it. but we haven't heard the last of this. democrats plan to bring it back often they say on the campaign trail. i want to bring in our political pan panel. thanks, guys. good to see you. first of all, let's talk about this. isn't it effective strategy to keep bringing this up, that this

is something where most americans get behind the president on the buffett rule and yet the republicans blocked it. >> i don't think of it so much as this strategy as if it's trying to convince the american public of something that isn't fact. you've got 1% of americans that continue to receive these amazing tax rates, and in some cases don't pay taxes at all. while middle income families and low income families continue to suffer higher tax rates. if we really have a conservative opponent on the other side, i would think they'd want to do some history searching of their own and reach out to their fabled ronald reagan who back in 1985 used the analogy of the bus driver paying a higher tax rate than the wealthy. and decided in 19 -- to move forward the 1986 tax act which tried to close the loopholes. why are we hearing from the

other side an eagerness to come and meet us halfway and support the buffett rule which i suggest we should have just changed the name to the reagan rule. >> it's interesting that you're talking about ronald reagan. he is doing what the white house and the president has been doing for weeks now, that is to try to use some of the republicans and the examples from the republican side to make their point. how does mitt romney, how does he counter that? >> well, i think you're right, they are -- it is a democratic talking point. this is political and it's part of a strategy and based on the premise that mitt romney is a rich guy and he's not like you, and so the buffett rule and the 99% versus the 1% and income equality is part of this plan. i actually call it the politics of envy. it is an attempt by the left to stoke i think envy and enmitty in the political process. >> you think it's envy when instrument the majority of americans saying they think that wealthy people should pay more,

that they are paying less when it comes to percentage of their income? you think that's just, you know, envy or like hating on him? >> i think -- i think there are two things. one in term it is of the substance, look. i think the solution is to lower the tax rate for warren buffett's secretary, not to raise taxes on people who -- by the way, the reason that some of these rich folks are paying a lower rate is -- two reasons. a lot of their income is from capital gains which means that they are investing. and the other thing is frankly, charitable contributions, that's the reason that president obama, by the way, paid a lower rate than his secretary. because of his charitable contributions. if we were to impose this buffett rule you could have the impact of people investing less and giving less to charity. does it work politically, i think it does. >> jump in there if you could. >> it's great to hear the charitable side of this for the longest time, we've only heard

from conservatives that it's all about job creation and now i'm hearing that the word charities are going to suffer. that's a great talking point. what i do have are the numbers of job creation because of the eight years of the tax breaks that the wealthy got and we saw that was in the middle of the greatest decline of jobs in this nation. i'm not sure which to address. the wealthy aren't creating the jobs and i don't see the great charitable contributions. >> the reason this is being talked about is because president obama can't talk about the economic turnaround that he has not brought, he can't talk about how the unemployment rate is coming down, he can't talk about gas prices, so they have to talk about this. >> but matt, here is something he can talk about. a new poll out shows obama much more likable than romney by a wide margin. talking 56% to 27%. that's a problem for romney if he's you know, talking about economics here. but that was something back in 2008 people were looking at who

is more likable. how does he make himself more appealing to the voters? >> first of all i agree, i think that president obama probably is more likable. mitt romney has a likability problem. i talked about this during the primary. i think it's authenticity. don't put on jeans and try to be something you're not, mitt romney. you be you and talk about how your business experience can help turn around the economy but fakeness and phoniness is a turn-off. >> i agree wholeheartedly there. but that's a challenge he's going to have throughout. forget reference to his love for cheesy grits. that was just completely a fail for him. i agree, it's going to be an ongoing challenge for him. more importantly besides his likability it's the disingenuousness. people don't know what romney stands for, that's going to be his biggest challenge. >> we're going to learn more about who romney is and what he stands for. we have to leave it there. good to see you both.

>> thank you. >> a programming note. wolf blitz ser going to interview the secretary of state hillary clinton and defense secretary leon panetta tomorrow. they are talking about the tension in north korea, and the continued slaughter in syria, that is tomorrow in the situation room at 4:00 eastern. >> a 6-year-old hand cuffed, hauled off to the police station. teachers say they couldn't control her. police say they did the right thing. hear what the girl's family has to say up next. first, we'd like to hear from you. how is the high price of gas impacting you? does it change your life at all, making things the same? watch me here for more on the story about gas prices, next hour we'll have an oil expert breaking it down for us. tweet me @suzannemalvo.

a 6-year-old girl gets handcuffed and hauled off to the police station.

it happened in a city 60 miles southeast of atlanta. police tell us they were called to creekside elementary school, told that salicia assaulted her teacher. the child was so combative they had to restrain her for her safety and for the safety of the officer involved. he also says police tried to get in touch with both of her parents but could no. police say the girl was never placed in a holding facility but was in the squad room. still her mom and aunt say it never should have happened that way. >> i guess they were one of her bad days. >> she might have misbehaved but i don't think to the point she should have been handcuffed and taken to the police department. >> the police chief is standing by his officer's decision. he tells us, quote here, people should understand when we transport detainees they are

handcuffed for safety reasons, for the safety of the detainee and the officer, when a person is put in handcuffs it's for safety, it's not a punishment. we reached out to the school for comment but the principal has not returned our phone calls. so, the story really got us talking this morning in the meeting. sounds extreme, right? is there more to it? we're going to find out. shannon is the principal at a school in georgia to tell us about what is going on here. at your school, students are doing well academically. there is a high standard. there's a great deal of discipline. what do you make of this story about this 6-year-old and how she was handled? >> you know, to be totally honest often kids up come with undesirable behaviors d. the extent of the behaviors, was it a situation where the safety and well-being of the staff. i think one of the things we

have to ask ourselves is was the student's behavior, did it put the staff in jep dopardy, dangeo the teacher or staff in the classroom. >> is there ever a situation that is acceptable to handcuff a 6-year-old? >> you talk about handcuff that's a law enforcement issue. having worked in law enforcement prior to coming into the field of education one of the things i will tell you, once an arrest has been made many police districts or police jurisdictions or agencies have policies in place. and once an offender, no longer a student if an arrest is made, this person becomes an offender, if an arrest has been made for the safety of the student and the officer, that is a normal practice for the most part from a humanistic standpoint it does not sound well. i have a 6-year-old who is going to be arrested. but when students go into the custody of the officers, the officers are responsible for the safety of themselves and as well as the offenders. >> so listening and seeing this

case, is this something that sounds appropriate? would do you this if it was a 6-year-old at your school, call the police and put her in handcuffs? >> i would really question, again, i've seen quite a few situations of circumstances, but i ask the question what is the degree looking at the average weight and size of a 6-year-old and adults in the building, what has happened unfortunately over the years is that through policies, whether they are flikt, state, local or what have you, many school officials may be not quite as responsive in addressing those things from an humanistic standpoint f. i have a student displaying certain characteristicses one side of me wants to go and intervene on the student's behalf. the other side is saying hey, i i may not be able to address this. how does this look if this student is being what some people may consider restrained and it may not be a restraint, it's a physical removal in some situations or circumstances.

unfortunately, that dilemma is somewhat compounded in certain environments for example, if i have to remove a student in that manner that is throwing chairs or pulling down tables or putting other kids in jeopardy, may be looked at differently than let's say suzanne, you had to remove that student of that same ethnicity. >> this is a very complicated issue. and clearly, you know, that some of the teachers feel like their hands are tied. administrators as ell, law enforcement. but this seems like an extreme way of handling a kindergartener who is out of control. you bring up very good points. >> i would tend to agree it does seem extreme on the outside looking in. the truth of the matter is i think we all have a responsibility when we have those types of behaviors to put the politics aside and do what we do as adults. this is a 6-year-old. why was the police called on a school disciplinary issue. based upon the information that

i have looked at and reviewed in this case, it did not seem that the level of intervention was consistent with the offense. >> thank you so much. appreciate. >> you're quite welcome. >> so what do you think? 6-year-old in handcuffs. watch me here on cnn for more. tweet me @suzanne malveaux. we'll read your responses. like me on facebook. ♪ ♪ and i never thought i'd feel this way ♪ ♪ the way i feel about you [ male announcer ] it's time to clean out your garage for a car that's worthy of being the 2012 motor trend car of the year. the volkswagen passat. that's the power of german engineering. ♪ it must be love ♪ love, love

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>> australia is getting its troops out of afghanistan. it could begin in the coming months, almost all of the aussie soldiers may be out by the end of next year. michael holmes, our favorite aussie -- >> my people. >> yes, your people. tell us the significance of this. obviously, what we're seeing in afghanistan in the last week or so, things seem like they are still volatile. >> they are. the area of course a lot of them have their own areas. and the area that they are in is much safer than it used to be. the aussies have done a good job there, they are training people. the local military seems better trained but like a lot of the country, the fear is that once the aussies in this case, or the troops generally go, there is a taliban in waiting, and that they will come back in and exert their influence. will the military be well enough trained to hold against the

counter insurgency? that's an unanswered question. 1500 aussies there, 32 have been killed over the years, more than 200 wounded. it's not a popular war, it's an election coming up in australia. you have the opposition saying is this a political decision, are we doing what we did in our involvement in vietnam and declare victory and leave. leave a mess behind so. there is a big political discussion going on. the majority of australians according to polls want to end the involvement. >> it was interesting i was there after september 11 last year, and one of the things that the soldiers on the ground talk about it is such ap tremendous job that they have to train the afghans to take over their own security. a lot of these guys, the majority can't read, can't write, they don't know how to handle a weapon, that it is an overwhelming task. is it beneficial for the australians to pull out sooner because they think you know what, if we continue to be there, we're not really going to succeed because the task is too

big. >> not achieving more than they achieved. that's a good reason. i've been there four times now. i've been on patrols with afghan soldiers and the last time was fair enough it was a year, over a year ago now. but some of these guys were high, to be honest, a lot of them are using marijuana, a lot of them are very ill disciplined. there are units in the afghan national army who are very disciplined, well-trained by the americans, buttoned down. but there is a whole bunch of the regular army guys they are not up to it. this is not our military, it's not the australian military. they are not up to it and they are lacksadaisical with their weapons, their heads aren't in the game. it's an uphill battle to get a national army of hundreds of thousands that are disciplined to the way we look at the army. and i think, too, who is going to pay for that? >> right. >> tens of millions a year to run. they don't have the money. >> extremely expensive mission on all sides.

>> it is. >> michael, thank you. good to see you. >> they used to say a picture worth 1,000 words. now facebook thinks that this is worth a billion bucks. we'll take a look at why.

>> a tiny photo sharing company hit the jackpot when facebook bought it for $1 billion. so if you are one of the 30 million people who downloaded instagram you know what it's about. it lets you doctor your photos, make them look like old pictures, post them. 10 figures for a photo app s. that too much? are we seeing the rise of another internet bubble?

>> a billion dollars for a 13-person company that makes a photo app for a smart phone. when facebook announced it was buying instagram for 10 figures, the debate immediately started. are we seeing the rise of another internet bubble? no one perhaps can say for certain. but to answer that, it's worth comparing the two eras. web 1.0 of the 90, and today's rise of mobile and social media. >> it's much different. these companies are smaller, they are cheaper to run, they have substantive ideas, and they have substantive growth in a way that the others didn't. >> cara swisher is the editor of the tech blog all things digital. >> i used to say they are not laughable companies. i haven't laughed out loud at a start-up that i read about. >> we haven't seen a pets.com this time around. the dotcom failure that went from ipo tooley quidation in nine months. or how about a geocities.

yahoo! bought the service for $3.6 billion in 1999 and shut it down 10 months later. there is a list of them, from etoys to broadcast.com, to the ballyhooed time warner aol merger and divorce. today's climate doesn't seem to have comparable failures and many companies that seem to have high valuations says swisher, are built on solid business plans. >> a lot of these companies do have interesting growth opportunities, interesting revenue opportunities, and other things that make them more substantive. the valuations are out of hand. it's not quite a bubble. it's bubblish. but it's not a bubble. >> as for facebook's purchase, many see it as a smart move. >> it fills a key strategic gap for facebook, mobile photo sharing. >> jeff is the ceo and founder of a social video platform that

lets people broadcast together. he know as thing or two about acquisitions. before this he founded the website stubhub before selling to the ebay. it's now one of ebay's flag ship brands. >> we know that photo sharing was a huge part of the rise of facebook. one of the things that made facebook sticky was photo sharing on the web and getting that right on mobile is a key imperative for facebook and something they had not quite nailed. >> dan simon joins us from san francisco. dan, i'm going to work on an app. i don't know what it's going to take but that is unbelievable. just a billion dollars, i think all of us are working on apps. is this some sign that there could be a bubble that's about to burst here? >> reporter: it's a great question but sometimes it's tough to tell that you're in a bubble until it bursts like what we saw with the housing market a couple of years ago. one thing is for certain if you start seeing more of these kinds of companies being sold for enormous sums of money before

they can demonstrate that they can make revenue that could abtell-tale sign. >> dan simon, thank you. >> taxes due today. yeah, that's right. not a good day. to ease the pain some are offering discounts, even freebies. we'll tell you where to find them.

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you have a couple hours to get it done. today is also what they call tax freedom day. alison, tell us what tax freedom day is. explain this. >> i know. i heard it i thought what? so tax freedom day is, the day of the year you earned enough money on average to cover what you have to pay uncle sam next year. for the 2012 return. everything that you earn after today, guess what. it's yours to keep. it took taxpayers 107 day this is year to cover their taxes. that winds up being more than three months of your hard earned money going straight to the government. tax freedom day has been arriving later because of rising incomes which means that you owe more in taxes. this year's tax freedom day is coming four days later than last year but at least it came. >> yeah. all right. something else to celebrate, though, is the fact that maybe there's some freebies, some

businesses taking advantage or pity on us because we have to pay our taxes. what have we got out there? >> so leave it up to businesses to find a tax day tie-in to bring in new business. i picked out a few favorites. there is free food go around like arby's, changes, many more, giving away food, discounts, even office depot is taking five pounds of free shredding, so that's good. you can take all of those tax documents you didn't use to the shredder for free. if you are stressed out, if you are, you can go to hydromassage offering free massages. and who doesn't like tax day humor. the bagel bundle on sale for, get this, $10.40. like the tax form. that's a $5 discount. your discounts and specials of the day. >> can i get my massage even if i filed an extension and not paying today?

>> you're the one -- you're the one getting the extension. good for you. get your massage. >> my massage and i'm going out to dinner. thank you. good to see you. >> top of the hour. i nt