of the agent whose dispute with a prostitute brought in can dal to light. and violating a cease-fire. four years ago barack obama condemned the use of osama bin laden in political ads. now with bill clinton's help, a stunning about-face. we begin with exclusive details about the sex scandal that's shaken the secret service. cnn identified the agent who triggered the prostitution scandal that exploded during president obama's trip to colombia. drew griffin of the special investigations unit has the exclusive report. >> reporter: a hotel security guard at the hotel caribe say it is commotion began in the 7th floor hall way where some of the agents were staying. through hotel records cnn can confirm at least three agents assigned rooms on the floor apparently left cartajena early.

sources with knowledge of the investigation had indicated to cnn that two agents had been cleared but that the agent who stayed in room 707 may already be gone from the service. according to hotel records reviewed by cnn agent arthur huntington was checked into this room. two sources with knowledge of the investigation say it was huntington who had the dispute with the escort named dania suarez who has now said she was an escort, not a prostitute. her attorney isn't talking. earlier this week a man who identified himself as arthur huntington declined comment to a cnn producer. yesterday, cnn returned to the huntington home where the door was gently pushed shut without comment. the home was just listed for sale this week. john, we have been trying to reach arthur huntington for comment from his representative. since monday there has been

none. as one former agent told me this is not just a crisis for the secret service. this is a real and personal crisis for the families involved. >> excellent reporting, drew. the reason we want to bring it to light is without this payment dispute in the hall way of the hotel we may not know about the conduct in colombia. new standards of conduct were passed out to all secret service personnel today. two government sources tell cnn the enhanced standards of conduct designate areas and establishments that will be off limits during future overseas trips. also bans agents from bringing any foreign nationals into their hotel rooms. the rules say united states laws will be in effect to all traveling secret service personnel over seas and the new standards ban alcohol consumption within ten hours of reporting for duty. alcohol consumption is not allowed in any hotel where someone being protected by the secret service is staying and

now two supervisors will be with the car plane teams that go in ahead of the president with his motorcade. sobering economic data from the government. the gross domestic product, the value of goods and services produced in the united states grew at a rate of nus 2.2% last quarter, below most predictions, down from 3% growth in the last few months of 2011. mark, when you look at the numbers, federal spending is down. state and local government spending is down. consumer spending is up a little bit. when you look at it, what's the biggest flag, the biggest down side? >> weakness in business investment. business investment in commitment and software was up a little bit. i think it's a lack of business confidence, that businesses are so cautious is the missing link. it's the reason why the economy isn't fully engaging. to me that was the most disappointing aspect of the report that we are not seeing businesses step up more

aggressively. >> you have 2.2% projected growth in this quarter down from the last quarter. we had a tepid jobs report last month. does it suggest that things will get worse going forward? >> no, i don't think so. i think we'll be okay. we got juiced up late last year early this because of the extraordinarily warm winter weather. there will be a bit of payback. that's what we are seeing now. i think the higher gasoline prices are doing damage to the economy. all in all i think the economy is in a much better place than it was this time last year. we're on solid ground. i don't think we'll backtrack in a significant way. >> we're stuck in a low gear. to get it into higher gear and get growth up to 4%, to get people feeling happy and growth to be robust what has to happen? is there anything a president can do, anything washington can do that would help in the short term? >> good question. i think the animal spirits.

businesses have to grow more confident and begin to step up. begin to invest and hire more. they are nervous, in part, because of the policy regulatory environment particularly in the financial services, health care, utility industry, energy industry. perhaps more importantly than that i think it's the nightmare of the very difficult times we have been through. it's difficult for them to get over that and really let loose and become aggressive. that's going to take time. thus to your second question i don't think there is a lot that policy makers can do except i do think they do need to nail down what they are going to do about the expiring bush era tax cuts, spending cuts coming and how to achieve fiscal sustainability long run. if they can do those things after the election i'm confident by this time next year businesses will get their groove back and the economy will groove

better. >> after the election is the key phrase there. mark zandi, thank you for your time. we have to wait for a lot of this until after the election. >> thanks, john. >> what about the political fallout? will mitt romney and the republicans benefit from the sluggish report today? gloria, let's look at gdp in the first quarter of an election year. we show the numbers. this is why the obama campaign has to worry. president obama 2.2%. president bush in his first quarter it was over 4%. clinton in 1996, 3%. george h.w. bush. he lost. look at that, a number below 3%. reagan had a booming economy by this time in his re-election year. >> that's important the growth rate. if you look back to reagan his unemployment was 7.8%. it got a lot better since he was in office. that growth rate of 8.5% for

reagan gave people the sense that the recovery would be robust and sustained. and what people don't have right now with president obama and a 2.2% growth rate which, by the way, is less than people anticipated, they don't have any sense of security that a recovery will be here a year from now. most people believe things are sort of getting better, but they are not sure now how long they're going to get better for or whether we could go in the opposite direction. that's the problem for the president. >> in 1992 people felt they had been treading water for so long. hard and hard and they wanted a change. they said, let's try something different. the psychology is critical. we asked, who do you trust? who will be more likely to get the economy moving. obama, 44%. romney a 42%. a dead heat. if people think it is sluggish

or slipping the numbers could change. >> that's what the romney campaign has decided it wants to take advantage of. they are taking the president on frontally on the economy. even on fairness. there are a couple of things we are hearing. one is that the president is all about diversion. that, in fact, he's more image than substance. and the second is the president needs to explain his rationale for re-election. if the economy isn't getting better -- this is what the romney campaign is saying -- then what's the president's rationale for becoming president again? the obama folks will say, things would have been worse. thaw want to go back to the bush years and mitt romney doesn't have a magic formula for getting us out of this. again, if the president can't say i guarantee you that things are going to get better and the numbers don't back him up there is a real vulnerability there.

>> the numbers, the numbers. we look at dynamics in politics. the speeches, campaigns, ads and watch the economic data. that's the single biggest indicator. thanks, gloria. up next, a one-time aide to john edwards says he felt threatened and feared for his life while helping the presidential candidate cover up his affair with a campaign worker. and later a lawmaker says he's threatening to hold the attorney general in contempt of congress. what's with you? trouble with a car insurance claim. [ dennis ] switch to allstate. 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. with less chronic osteoarthritis pain. imagine living your life with less chronic low back pain. imagine you, with less pain. cymbalta can help. cymbalta is fda-approved to manage chronic musculoskeletal pain.

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testimony today at the trial of presidential candidate john edwards. the star witness told the jury he felt threatened and feared for his life as he tried to raise money to conceal edwards's sexual affair with a campaign effort. diane, let's get to that. it was andrew young, once a trusted top deputy of edwards. he said to the jury i was scared for my life. i was up against two billionaires and a millionaire. i was scared. it was bizarre. what's the context? what did he mean? >> this was a very last time he spoke to john edwards.

he worked for him for eight or nine years and edwards hadn't spoken to him for a long time. he said, come to my property and meet me on the side of the property because i don't want you to see my wife. she doesn't like you. they drove country roads for ten minutes and got in the same car. andrew young said he thought either there were people out there who might shoot him or at the very least that the senator was going to tape record him. he said the senator turned to him and he said, i never knew anything about that money from bunny melon, did you? it was such a surreal meeting in the car in the middle of nowhere that he was just scared to death. >> the critical part for the jury was this is your first witness and the star witness. the defense is trying to say he's not reliable, to say he's a liar. what's your sense? is andrew young standing up as a credible witness? >> well, i'll tell you. i'm of two minds about it and maybe the jury is, too.

they seem to be paying attention. the defense attorney did a lot of damage to his credibility on past statements he made. when you go back and look at it, he didn't remember the date. he's been hammered on dates that happened in 2006, 2007 and on other substantive issues. i think the prosecutors rehabilitated him and made him human at the end of the day. andrew young started to weep on the stand at the very end. this has been a nervous, stiff testimony. but abby lowell said look at the things you were charging them for. a visit to disneyland, skiing trips and the san diego zoo. he said listen, i was on the run -- i'm pa are a phrasinging. i was on the run with my family and my three children for senator john edwards hiding his mistress and my wife -- and he started to crack -- this wonderful woman, he said, did the very best thing she could to

keep it normal and balanced for my children. it was a moment everybody finally, i think realized there was real damage done over years to the young family in this whole episode. >> powerful testimony you describe there. senator edwards was known as a trial lawyer. as a very persuasive guy. what's he been like during the trial? he seems to say good morning and move through. is he talking, engaging his attorneys? >> you know, it's interesting. when john edwards gets into the courtroom he comes in like a candidate. you know, he's got the beautiful tailored suits, he's a trim figured guy, handsome man. he sort of makes a loop around the room and the room gets quiet and then he stands at his seat. he doesn't sit down. he stands as if he's still running for something maybe. he has not been particularly engaged with abby lowell. he mostly makes his comments to

the woman next to him named allison van langenham. this has been abby lowell's show so far. >> the first week is over. diane, we appreciate your perspective. we'll keep in touch. have a great weekend. >> you bet. >> prosecutors want a judge to reconsider his decision to release the man accused of murdering teenager trayvon martin. the reason, the amount of money he raised on the internet. we'll tell you how much. and congress tries to stop student loan interest rates increasin increasing. but some are threatening a veto. , their very first word was... [ to the tune of "lullaby and good night" ] ♪ af-lac ♪ aflac [ male announcer ] find out more at... [ duck ] aflac! [ male announcer ] ...forbusiness.com. [ yawning sound ]

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welcome back. here's kate balduan with the latest news. >> people have contributed $204,000 to the defense fund set up for neighborhood watch volunteer george zimmerman, the man accused of second degree murder in the killing of the florida teenager trayvon martin. in court today a judge put off deciding whether to raise zimmerman's bond or make him hand over the contributions. zimmerman is out of jail awaiting trial. police closed off a central london shopping district during a bit of a security scare today. witnesses quoted by the bbc say someone started throwing office furniture and computer equipment out of a fifth floor window of a building there. there were some unconfirmed reports of hostages and a possible bomb threat.

in the end police arrested a 48-year-old man. very, very scary. president obama signed an order tracking down on colleges that lure veterans into taking on loads of student debt. institutions have been accused of preying on service members with false promises of financial aid. the executive ortd requires 6,000 colleges to participate in the g.i. bill making it easier for vets to report abuse. similar legislation is pending in congress. now we know who speaker john boehner would tap for mitt romney's potential running mate. he said who he thinks is v.p. material. >> the number one quality is are they capable of being president in the case of an emergency. >> does that fit someone like marco rubio? >> it fit as lot of people? >> does it fit him? >> fits marco, senator portman, governor daniels. there is a long list of people.

>> long list. >> you can watch the full interview on cnn's "state of the union" sunday at 9:00 eastern. really sticking his neck out there. >> and him, and him. which living, breathing republican doesn't make the list? >> he's trying to be diplomatic. he's a big name in the party. ai-yi-yi. leaders lead. pick a name, speaker. see you, kate. important developments may be coming as lawmakers look at a program that sent guns to mexican drug gangs. next a senator says he's impatience with the attorney general's lack of cooperation. and the suicide bombing in the heart of syria's capital. c-o. just like e-ither. or ei-ther. or e-conomical. [ chuckling ] or ec-onomical. pa-tato, po-tato, huh? actually, it's to-mato, ta-mato.

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this half hour a deadly bombing rocked syria's capital city. more bloodshed after the so-called cease-fire. we are taking you to damascus just moments after the blast. house republicans want to know how u.s. guns ended up with mexican drug cartels but are being stone walled by the attorney general. one congressman said he's not bluffing about issuing a contempt of congress citation. and the truth about using the death of osama bin laden to score political points. barack obama once said that's off limits. not anymore. the attorney general eric holder

may soon face a contempt of congress citation. house republicans considering the dramatic move because they say the justice department is stone walling the investigation of a program called fast and furious. the program was supposed to trace weapons smuggling but ended up helping mexican drug cartels acquire guns from the united states. one of them was found at the scene of a murdered u.s. border patrol agent. the kra kro-- according to the times it reads in part those responsible for allowing fast and furious to proceed and those pro venting the truth to come out must be held accountable for their actions. darryl issa joins me from capitol hill. is this a bluff to get the justice department to give you more of what you want or are you prepared to take the step? >> it can't be a bluff. many committees of congress are trying to get to the truth in a number of matters. some go back to the bush or clinton administration. some like fast and furious

occurred on this president's watch. in this case, just to put it in perspective only a few weeks ago we learned of cartajena, the colom yan scandal. 12 secret service agents. nine are gone, two have been cleared and the last one or two i believe will be gone shortly. in the case of fast and furious this has gone on for more than a year. key people have their jobs and most we don't know their names. when it comes to taking quick action, i commend the secret service director. i have to question eric holder about holding people accountable. >> the attorney general said he's responded to more than three dozen letters from congress. given you more than 6400 pages of documents but you say he's at the verge of dcontempt, why? . >> he's stonewalled discovery of why congress was lied to in a letter and in live testimony. he's made it off limits finding

out why we were lied to. ultimately the american people were misled for more than ten months, told there was no gun walking. that's part of the investigation is why is it we were given outright false testimony and key people were part of it and they are still there. that and other questions are important but here is the most important. brian terry's family wants those held accountable for getting 2,000 guns into the bad guys' hands, two of which killed their son, brother, cousin. that, at a minimum. we have to hold people responsible by losing their jobs for this bad judgment. this was not slightly bad judgment. this was monumentally bad judgment. >> how much time before you bring this up to a vote in the committee and you would need to take it to the house? do you have the speaker's support? has he said go ahead, mr. chairman? >> this draft was the result of work to make the case properly. it was a draft. we're sorry it got out there. ultimately the l.a. times had

our thoughts on many of the areas we received no discovery on. it's technical but we have 22 areas we asked for discovery on. every one the speaker agrees are in-bounds and appropriate for congress needing to know. 12 of them, we received no answer at all on. rather than getting spo pages and so on we need answers. we're entitled to answers. the attorney general said before our committee we're entitled to what he thinks we need and he'll give us. that's not the way it should work in a republic like ours where the balance of power says the president wants to hold people accountable and his own chief law enforcement officer is stonewalling the truth coming out so people can be held accountable. >> when are you prepared to bring it to a vote? >> i'm prepared to continue trying to get to the truth. i have said my patience is not infini infinite. we have prepared the documents. ultimately the decision belongs to leadership because they have

to decide on the house floor. my committee is doing our job in dozens of areas. the american people want us working on waste, fraud and abuse broadly. this isn't the only investigation but it's one very important to people on both sides of the border. i hope the president over the break will say to eric holder if you want to continue having my full confidence you've got to come clean with the information. otherwise the buck will stop with the president and it will look like every other cover-up over the years. it isn't the president's in the beginning. it becomes the president's by the end because of inaction. that's what i hope will change over the break. >> appreciate your time. the united states will not send observers to syria. under a peace plan 300 observers are supposed to monitor a cease-fire and peace negotiations, but as you know the killing hasn't stopped. the suicide bombing today in damascus killed at least nine people. bill neely is in the syrian capital. [ sirens ] >> reporter: in the heart of a

capital a bombing that has blown syria's cease-fire to pieces. the target, riot police and troops. the attacker, a suicide bomber with an explosive belt. syrian forensic teams look for evidence. the regime desperate to stem a tide of attacks turning damascus into a battleground. if president asad loses control of damascus, he loses everything. the troops and riot police who survived were clearly shaken. they have been deployed close to a mosque to confront demonstrators after friday prayers. a suicide bomber took the fight to them. nine died, most of them security forces and more than 20 were injured. this bombing is significant not just because it happened here in the center of the capital city damascus but because of the method of the attack. a bomber wearing a suicide vest attacking troops may be common in iraq but not here in syria. not until now.

syria's crisis is no nearer to being solved. it was meant to be a cease-fire here. there's little evidence of it. furious supporters of syria's president shouted, "is this what freedom looks like," "is this what protests lead to"? they are getting jump by because bombs and shooting is more common in damascus, soldiers targeted like never before. u.n. monitors are close to the scene of the bombing. they didn't visit it. they were on the road to another town. there are only 13 of them in the country. more than 200 others still haven't arrived. but there is no peace to monitor here. no real cease-fire to keep. bill neely, itv news, damascus. >> back home now to a bitter fight on capitol hill. defying a veto threat from president obama house republicans pushed through a bill to extend lower interest rates for student loans but they

want to pay for it with money from a health care fund democrats say is supposed to help women. kate watched the battle unfold. >> 215, 195. the bill is passed. >> reporter: the house vote was not without a healthy dose of political theater. >> and i picked this big political fight where there is no fight is just silly. give me a break. >> reporter: house republicans accusing president obama and congressional democrats of manufacturing a fight. >> people want to politicize this because it's an election year. but my god do we have to fight about everything? >> reporter: democrats are accusing republicans of turning a noncontroversial education measure into a war on women. >> what we are saying here today is stop your assault on women. >> reporter: and president obama hammering republicans all week while speaking to college students in election year battleground states. >> you've got one member of

congress who compared these student loans -- i'm not kidding here -- to a stage three cancer of socialism. stage three cancer -- [ laughter ] . i don't know where to start. >> reporter: both sides insist they support ensuring student loan rates don't spike but how to pay for it is once again at the center of the dispute. the measure covers the price tag by cutting funding from part of the president's health care law focused on preventative care. >> we would prevent screenings for breast and cervical cancer. that would be the action that they would undertake if this fund is eliminated. >> reporter: but republicans call that outrage hypocritical since democrats voted for similar cuts to the program earlier this year. >> you may have already forgotten that several months ago you all voted to cut $4 billion out of the slush fund

when we passed the payroll tax credit bill. so to accuse us of wanting to gut women's health is absolutely not true. >> reporter: democrats throw it right back at republicans because the house gop budget for next year already calls for the student loan rate to jump. it is important to note at the heart of this a perfect opportunity for both sides to draw distinctions for political advantage. republicans attacking the president's health care law, democrats trying to appeal to women and young voters. >> so they agree to extend the lower interest rate. important to students, to their cash-strapped parents. but they will just fight their petty political fight about how to put it aside. that's the house. what about the senate. >> and the senate. >> especially now with the president's veto threat this is not likely to go anywhere in the senate. controlled by democrats.

that isn't going far with republicans. we are probably at the same place where we often are. they agree on how to get there is where the fight is. if they do nothing this student loan interest rate will double come august. >> i dare you to find the pages where it tells you congress is supposed to work like this. you won't. >> good point, john. >> coming up, the anniversary of osama bin laden's death is approaching and the obama campaign doesn't want you to forget it. the truth about the politics of fear when we come back.

during the george w. bush presidency democrats had a golden rule or maybe a constant complaint. thou shalt not politicize osama bin laden. tonight's truth is a message to mitt romney. that was then. this was now. >> suppose the navy seals had gone in there and it hadn't been bin laden. suppose they had been captured or killed. the downside would have been horrible for him. >> we shouldn't be surprised here. killing bin laden is a significant achievement. for all the talk about playing by kinder gentler political rules president obama and his team are as cut throat as they come.

>> it's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person. >> now there will be those who suggest featuring bin laden in a campaign video might run counter to this. >> this was somebody who was deserving of the justice that he received. i think americans and people around the world are glad that he's gone. but we don't need to spike the football. >> to me, president clinton's starring role in the new campaign video makes the politics so delicious. remember, the 2008 primaries? it was senator hillary clinton who brought the al qaeda leader into the debate in a tough ad suggesting then senator obama wasn't ready to be commander in chief. >> it's the toughest job in the world.

you need to be ready for anything. >> now back then the obama campaign was furious. it compared senator clinton to president bush and said it was wrong of her to invoke bin laden to score political points. the 2008 campaign said we already have a president who play it is politics of fear and we don't need another. got that? in the last campaign it was wrong to invoke bin laden for political points. in the obama campaign's world we have a president who plays the politics of fear and we don't need another. that was then. this is now. >> he had to decide and that's what you hire a president to do. you hire the president to make the calls when no one else can do it. >> fair game? hypocrisy or what? let's turn to the panel.

donna brazil is here. to the democrat in the group first. all is fair in love and politics. however, when they were so adamant about it, so clear about it in the last campaign it does look hypocritical to say, yeah, with bin laden now. >> let me say this, john. you can call it whatever you want to call it. as an american i'm glad bin laden has been brought to justice. i'm proud of the president and the role he played in ordering his execution and i'm proud of the brave seals who went. >> you're a loyal democrat who doesn't deal with the question. >> another commercial. >> so i'm proud of it. last year, i will never forget i was interim chair of the democratic national committee. i received word, hey, don't politicize this. nobody politicize this. this is a victory lap we should all take as americans. 3,000 people lost their lives. >> that video says all of us americans could take the victory lap except mitt romney.

>> this week joe biden said the president had a big stick. the only people i think the only men who need to tell you how big the stick is are men with big sticks. >> come on now. >> seriously. this is the schoolyard bully. this president came in such a different candidate than we saw today. he came as a guy who was respected quietly. we now see a very politicized guy bragging about how strong he is and how big his abilities are. >> we know that this is flipping the play book. for years republicans said democrats are soft, not tough enough to be commander in chief. obama was the president. president obama was president when bin laden was killed. that's a significant achievement. good for him. however given his past words does it surprise you or is it proof that the guys will play tough? >> he's always played tough in campaigns. even though it hasn't been his reputation. as someone who spends time trying to figure out how the

white house makes decisions and it's difficult to get people to open up, they have really opened up on the bin laden decision. the time magazine, two major stories in time. big sit-down interview with brian williams. they have gone through every detail of the decision. i would say i think there is one difference between his complaint against bush. his complaint against bush was about fear mongering. he's not using bin laden as if you elect romney bin laden's going to kill you. there is a tinge of that. he's using the decision-making process that led to the bin laden raid to prove that the president is a good decision-maker. >> we're not going to etch-a-sketch and remove from barack obama's record the things that he's accomplished just because the republicans don't like him personally or don't like his policies. the fact is bin laden is dead and we -- not only is he dead president obama has gone after all the other al qaeda leaders. he's keeping us safe. he's renewed the commitment to

bring terrorists to justice. >> my question is i think they would be negligent if they didn't highlight in speeches or advertisement the death of bin laden, al-awlaki. however if you were working for him -- you're a republican but you're a tough guy. if you were working for them even if the candidate said it four years ago wouldn't you do the same thing? >> i would let others do it. i wouldn't do it as a feature in my campaign and then you repeat what others say. but you don't let bill clinton do this. >> the republicans don't want to hear anything good about the president. >> this president wants to run against mitt romney as a flip-flopper. to do that he has to be strong. he has to demonstrate he's ram-rod strong as joe biden said, but t there is a problem. he flip-flopped on mandates, health care, pay as you go

budgeting as a candidate but piled up debt. he said we'll go into libya while we are getting out. he's been on a lot of sides of a lot of issues. >> there is no policy you can put your hand on today because romney will flip it tomorrow. he does a better pancake than i do. >> trying to get inside the decision-making process. we know this economy will be decided on the kmichlt other things move the numbers or you try to rattle the other side. what's the point? are they trying to get into the romney campaign's head? come off the economy? >> absolutely. >> i would love to move to foreign policy. i saw marco rubio's speech on foreign policy this week. very impressive rising star in the republican party. in 2012, did not mention al qaeda or terrorism once in a speech. we have this amazing situation maybe by virtue of democrats are in the white house and white house controls policy now. but the democrats aren't talking about the issue the way they did since 2001. democrats have ownership over

this right now. >> they do. any day not spent talking about the economy is a better day for barack obama. that's why they are going here. of course you can expect him to try to drag the election in that direction. >> so you don't like -- what you're saying. >> do you want to talk about gdp today? >> he did kill bin laden. >> that's a problem. >> no, no. mitt romney said he would not move heaven and earth to kill him. that's on the record and we are not going to etch-a-sketch it. >> she was making a point about how significant one person, bin laden, is. that's a legitimate point. >> mastermind. >> everybody stay put. feisty conversation on a friday. hang tight. some drug smugglers didn't wait for the united states navy to catch up with them. how much they dumped and what it's work. plus, the moment you missed. yes, leonard nimoy welcomes the shuttle "enterprise" to new york city. it's very important to understand

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. we're back talking politics. bin laden in the prior segment, back to the economy this segment. government today telling us in the last quarter the economy grew at a flat rate. just 2.2%. most economists thought it would be higher. look at historical per spect piv's the growth in the economy in the first quarter, re-election year of these incumbent presidents. barack obama, and george w. bush, above 4%. bill clinton at 3%. george h.w. bush, below 3%.

the only guy on the screen that lost. ronald reagan after 10% unemployment, lucky, the economy started booming. how important is the psychology of the economy for this president? 2% growth is not a recipe for re-election? >> that's why we're talking about bin laden, why the president is talking about bin laden. for three years in a row we've had this spring of false optimism with job numbers and some early growth numbers that looked good and then you get into april and may, and they start to look bad, and the recovery starts to look weak again, and now i think the big concern has to be double dip recession. >> your people around the country, forgive me, got to be nervous. george h.w. bush, high approval ratings. people thought he was a nice guy. same with bill clinton, nice guy, can't fix the economy. >> my people, you mean the people who want to find jobs and not worried about -- >> i mean democrats around the country. >> i had to make sure pup said, my people. i got a lot of people. got a lot of family. >> you got a lot of people here. >> yeah, baby.

i know you're not talking about sticks anymore. the truth of the matter, we want this economy to grow stronger, we want everybody out there to find a job, people graduating this spring to go out and get a college degree but we also know that the uncertainty of what's going on in europe, gas prices, the volatility to market, look, john, i'm glad we're coming out of this recession. we're just not coming out quick enough, fast enough to get people back on their feet. >> these are campaign-changing numbers. to talk about the politics it a little bit. what does this mean for the obama campaign? this means the best argument he's got, this is as good as it's going to get before you decide to vote. he has to turn and fire on mitt romney with this argument. which is, but mitt romney would make it even worse. take us back. george bush, remember what caused all this, that's going to be their argument. and the other thing -- >> not an aspirational campaign like the last one? >> this is burn the village to save it. >> george bush? >> this means he loses the

middle on the economy. when you lose the middle, when you can't grab it way pob message on the economy, in this environment what do you do? you shrink the middle until there's no middle left. the polarize the country along every conceivable axis. what he's doing. men against women. >> he can't expect -- >> from a -- >> that's the republicans playbook. not our playbook. >> the big mistake since day one messaging on the economy is just not preparing the american people for the long slog. the economists have known for a long time that post-financial crisis recessions are long. and this white house didn't prepare the american people for that. >> an important point, because they chose long over short in terms of their plan to recovery. right? they delayed the recovery by putting stimulus into the economy. it's the opposite of what reagan and volcker did. they took the pain the first two years, and reagan got that upswing. but under -- >> this is not the same. this recession is mirrors the

great depression. not the recession with saw under bush, clinton or reagan. >> 193 days. >> we're going to come back. >> back now with the latest news you need to know. kate bolduan. the u.s. navy seized nearly 5,000 pounds of cocaine from drug smugglers all right coast of panama. s 3$360 million worth of illega drugs. they dumped the drugs overboard before jumping off. the navy teaming up with sailors recovered some of it. and not in the lineup for tonight's game against the yankees. young was arrested early this morning in new york after getting into a drunken dispute. the 26-year-old man outside a hotel. police say he could be charged with a hate crime because of, quote/unquote, religious statements made during the dispute.

so how much do you know about the u.s. government? immigrants seeking u.s. citizenship must pass a ten question test on u.s. history and government. about 93% of them do, meaning do pass it, but a study by xavier university finds only about 65% of native born u.s. citizens can correctly answer the required six out of ten questions. you can find out if you can pass the test by going to our blog at cnn.com/johnkingusa. a link there for the test. i found fascinating -- 62% could not name the governor of their state. 75% were not able to correctly answer what does a judiciary do? 62% could not name the speaker of the house. >> the judiciary runs the country. we all know that exactly. so study up, everyone. tonight's moment you may have missed. live long and prosper. i'm a trekker, leonard nimoy, used to bid farewell to the space shuttle "enterprise."

the "star trek" star commemorated the spacecraft as it head to its new home. unveiling of the space shuttle 35 years ago when it rolled out the theme starship "enterprise" inspired the name. >> gerald ford was president at the time. he got a big load of letters from s"star trek" fans very goo at writing letters. they suggested the name. that's how it came about. >> can you boldly go where no man has gone before? >> trying to remember how to do this. always a challenge. >> very good. >> practice during the break. i'm not lying. >> that's all for us. see you monday. erin burnett "outfront" starts right now. breaking news tonight. cnn identifying the agent at the center of the secret service sex scandal.