from the best seat in the house. the question is whether speaker boehner can keep it. also today, the death of bin laden as a political talking point with the president top counterterrorism adviser john brennan. and then the view from out there with two governors montana governor brian schweitzer and virginia republican bob mcdonnell. plus the president's club with nancy gibbs and michael duffy and our exclusive guest house speaker john boehner. i'm candy crowley, and this is "state of the union." mr. speaker, primeau view, great digs. nice to see you. >> nice to see you. >> how many days have you thought, did i actually want this job? >> a lot. >> big headaches. mr. speaker, thank you for joining us. let me start right out with the week's story, which is the student loans. the president has issued a veto threat and said if this keeping

the student loan rates low comes to me with money paid for by money that comes out of the health care bill, i'm going to veto it. your move. >> this problem was created by democrat congress in 2007, and democrats and republicans for months have been working together to try to figure out a way to resolve the problem, and for the president to politicize this for his own re-election is picking a fight where one doesn't exist. >> so you're arguing about how to pay for it and he says if it comes out of money to pay for it out of the health care bill, it's not going to happen. >> then why did his budget director and the president put in the budget reductions in spending in this program? why did the president sign into law the payroll tax cut that include fourth degree billion worth of reductions in the same program? >> taking it out of the same fund that you want to take it out of. >> the same fund. >> perhaps it's gone low enough.

i mean let's just talk imagery here. we have nancy pelosi out there saying, well, they want to protect the bill oil companies because they want to pay for your the stay tuned loan interest rates by closing loopholes in the oil industry and we want to protect women's health. we want to prevented breast cancer and cervical cancer and that's what this fund is for. >> that is just nonsense. there's no women's health issue here. >> it's a preventive fund, isn't it. >> i'll guarantee you they've not spent a dime out of this fund dealing with anything to do with women's health. listen. what we're trying to do here is to deal with this problem in a responsible way. democrats and republicans have been working together to get this resolved, and i believe that we will. if the senate wants to do a different pay for, that will be up to them. but we'll have this issue resolved. but of all the places and all the trillions of dollars that the government spends for you all to zero in on something

in the health care bill, is that not in itself political because you all don't want this health care bill -- >> the president's own budget called for cuts in this spending fund. so why would they have done that if it wasn't available to use as an offset to make sure the student loan interest rates don't go up. >> i want to ask you. there was a cbs poll this week, and it asked americans, what's the best way to promote economic growth. 56% of all americans said spend more and raise taxes. only 37% said lower taxes and cut spending. have you lost this war? >> no. the american people are still asking the question where are the jobs. and it's clear that the president's economic policies have failed. and as a result, he's turned to the politics of envy and division. the way we help the middle class is we get our economy going again. we develop more american oil and

gase so that their gas price, which have doubled under president obama are, again, reasonable. how do we do that? we stop the regulatory juggernaut that's going on downtown here in washington. every federal agency of the federal government scaring every employer to dickens and they're afraid to have left. would you believe politically you're losing this battle? >> no. this election is going to be about the president's economic policies. they've failed. i think mitt romney has a tremendous record of economic growth, how to create jobs, and policies that the american people will support. >> i want to remind you of a couple things you've said about the president in the past several days. you seem tougher on the president now than you have in the past. >> this is the biggest job in the world. and i've never seen a president make it smaller. >> the president checked out last labor day. >> he lost his courage. >> do you see yourself,

vis-a-vis mitt romney's quest for the presidency as the person that can really go after the president? >> no. listen. the president and i have a very good relationship. >> when did you last talk to him? >> and as a result, you know, i try to avoid personal attacks on the president. but let me say something. the president's getting some very bad advice from his campaign team because he's diminishing the presidency by picking fake fights, going after strawmen every day. you know, we had the buffett rule. it was going on for months. even the president admitted it was a gimmick. then we had the rose garden ceremony talking about the manipulation of the oil and and we haven't one shred of evidence and he can't go after them. and then they pick this student loan fight where there is no fight. and the point i've been trying to make here in the last couple of weeks is that the president's

bigger than this. the presidency is important. america has big challenges, big fiscal challenges and we've got big challenges for our economy, and the president -- i'll be working with democrats and republicans on capitol hill to address the big issues that affect the american people. >> you don't see yourself as being tougher on him. i mean these are pretty -- i mean you said -- you were talking about his going -- his using the presidency to campaign. you called it pathetic. i mean these just seem stronger words to me and more like election year verbiage than previously. >> the president's been given bad advice. someone needs to help him out, so i thought i would. >> okay. i'm sure he appreciates it. i want to remind you of something you said to politico, i think, last january, which was i think it will be nearly impossible for the democrats to win back the house in november. now you're sayi ining maybe the got a one in three chance.

what's changed between then and now? >> nothing. i'm optimistic that we'll hold the majority. but my job is to make sure that even under the worst-case scenario we'll be able to hold on to the majority. what i'm trying to do is wake people up and make them realize we've gottet a challenge here and we've got 242 republicans all up for election. 53 of them in pretty tough races. >> there are a number of ways -- the democrats by the way have agreed with your statement. they have been talking bullishly about perhaps their chances of picking up the majority on the house side. whoo do you think they've raised $10 million more to the dccc as opposed to the rnc, the democratic fund raising group for the white house? >> the mail and phone program is churning an awful lot of money. >> why not you? >> we have many more in the bank

than they do because we're not burning through the cash as quickly as they are. it's raising money. it's a difficult challenge in a weak economy. i believe we'll have the resources necessary to fight a real campaign in november. >> what do you think of mitt romney? you know, you come from such wildly different backgrounds that i find it fascinating. what do you think of him? >> listen, i've known the governor for 15 years. he's a very likeable person. and, frankly, he has a very -- has had a very successful career, and i, frankly, i think the governor should be proud of his accomplishments. he and i are both striving for the same thing, that our kids and grandkids have an opportunity at the american dream like he and i have. every american ought to have this chance. and think he has a break background where he can go out and talk about how to create jobs, how to turn this economy around, and how to give the american people exactly what

they want, more jobs. >> you know, he comes from a privileged backgroundful you did not come from a privileged backesground. this is a time -- economic time when people are hurting and have been hurting for quite some time. do you think someone who is as wealthy as he is, has add much privilege as he does, has a hill to climb to overcome that? >> no. the american people don't want to vote for a loser. they don't want to vote for someone who hasn't been successful. i think mitt romney has an opportunity to show the american people they, too, have an opportunity to succeed. >> would you say you two are working on the election now? >> i have not talked to him. >> really? >> yes. i try to avoid to talking to all the candidates. >> but now he's the guy. >> now he's the guy. he's called. i've called him back. we've traded some voice mals. but i expect that i will soon. >> who would you like him to pick as vice president?

>> whoever he's happy with. >> do you see anybody around up here that he'd like? >> there are people i like, but this is a personal choice for governor romney, and i'm confident he'll have a running mate that will be helpful to the ticket. >> and if you had to say, look, my number one what i would really look for in a vp if i were mitt romney, what is that quality? >> i think 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 fits a lot of people. >> does it fit him? >> it fits marco, governor portman, governor daniels. i have a long list of people. >> i want to remind something you said in november of 2010. >> the american people are demanding a new way forward in washington. now i'm here to tell you tonight that our new majority will be prepared to do things differently, to take a new approach that hasn't been tried

in washington before by either party. >> do you think you've been a successful leader? >> i feel good about that. >> do you think you've done these things? >> no earmarks. who can imagine. we've been through 16 months now. not one ear mark. it's made my job more difficult in terms of how to pass important legislation because there's no grease. i've got no grease. so no earmarks. a more open process. allowing democrats and republicans to represent their constituency. to bring their ideas onto the floor. we're making real progress. one of my major roles is to rebuild this institution. if we're serious about tackling america's big problems, you've got to have an institution strong enough to be able to do that. and have them watch what's happened here in this ibs substitution over the 21 years that i've been here, we've made positive steps in the right direction. both democrats and republicans

are very happy about the progress we've made. they want more, and so do i. >> is this sausage being made? i don't think that if you went out and asked the average american in the last two years have you down good. i see the polling? >> i seal the polling. the economy is a big problem. national debt is a very big problem. so i understand their anxiety. but institutionally my job as the speaker of the whole house, my job is to protect the institution and to strengthen the institution of the congress. and while people don't like the congress, i understand that, my job is to try to make it better. >> and you think you've done that. >> make progress. >> mr. speak eric thank you for joinings urks nice to see you. >> nice to see you. later, the question you thought i'd never ask. why is the white house always so neatly pressed. but first -- >> tonight i can report to the

american people and to the world that the united states has conducted an operation that killed osama bin laden, the leader of al qaeda.

the house and senate have passed companion budget plans. we're now approaching three years since a budget was passed.

approaches, u.s. intelligent agents put out an alert for the law enforcement to be individual len and the obama campaign put out a political ad suggest that he wouldn't have gone after oh sa many bin laden. >> he took the harder and the more honorable path and the one that produced in my opinion the best result. >> seems like only four years ago that hillary clinton then questioned kaent obama's reddiness for office using the

ad with a picture of osama bin laden and they accused her of playing the politics of fear. now it's the president running the bin laden political ad which was called sad and john mccain called a cheap political attack and a pa threat call ad of self-congratulation. it seems like a year ago it was greeted across party lines as justice. up next the man who was in "the situation room" the night bin laden was killed. the top adviser on homeland skurnd and counterterrorism, john brennan. america's beverage companies have created a wide range of new choices. developing smaller portion sizes and more low- & no-calorie beverages... adding clear calorie labels so you know exactly what you're choosing... and in schools, replacing full-calorie soft drinks with lower-calorie options. with more choices and fewer calories, america's beverage companies are delivering.

joining me now, the president's adviser on homeland security and counterterrorism, john brennan. good morning and thank you for being here. >> good morning, candy. >> we're coming up on the one-year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden and i wanted to plate for you something defense secretary leon panetta said right after the death of bin laden. >> i was convinced in my prior capacitity and i'm convinced in this capacity we're within reach of strategically defeating al qaeda. >> have we strategically

defeated al qaeda? >> the president is kons vinced. in the afghan area as well as other regions of the world. it's a murderous organization that's killed many americans as well as many other nationalities over the course of the generation. we're determining to make sure the organization is destroyed. >> not yet. >> we still have work do. >> so give it to me on a one to ten. if they were a number ten threat now, have we -- how far have we reduced their ability to harm the u.s. or its citizens? >> we have reduced significantly their ability to care out attacks as well as persons overseas. we've taken off the battlefield their founding leader and many other opportunists they have employed in many parts of the world. we have taken apart their infrastructure. we're determined to continue this effort in places like yemen and africa. so their ability has been degraded significantly, and our

defenses have improved significantly also over the past decade. so their ability to carry out an attack here in the united states now compared to ten years ago is significantly demin ishd. >> how close have we come? how close are we of getting at the new leader al zaharry? >> we're continuing to work with our regional partners, pakistanis, afghans and others. >> do we think that ee wres he is? >> we believe so. the tribal areas of pakistan. that's why we're working very closely with our pakistani partners. we're not going to relent until we've brought them to justice one way or the other. we're in constant consultation with our pakistani partners on a regular basis of how we can do this. >> he has to go. this is our number one target now? >> absolutely. they have go. it's an organization that's dedicated to murder and mayhem and we as well as other countries of the world are determined to make sure that that happens. >> what accounts for what a lot

of people tell us is considerable activity on the part of the u.s. in yemen? we know there have been drones, authorization for tomahawk missiles. i know we got al awlaki not that long ago but who are you looking for in yes, ma'am snn why all that activity there? >> al qaeda is located yemen and involved in the government and we're working closely with the yemeni government to ensure that that growth of al qaeda in the area can be blocked. they've shown the capability of trying to carry out attacks against the home land. the underwear bomber as well as the other. we're wanting to make sure they're not going to carry out the attacks. we're doing everything in yemen in full cooperation with the

yemenis. >> are there specific people there? >> there are leaders that we're focusing on. we're trying to make sure they're brought to justice. again, one way or the other, we're going to work closely with our yemeni partners. >> let me turn you to the secret service scandal that we've had because there's a lot of concern on capitol hill, as you know, that the national security as well as the president is threatened. there was something last week, listen. we have told the bad guys. we have said to the terrorists there is a way to pierce this shield. do you have concern about that? >> well, first of all the secret service has done a fantastic job over the course of the decade protecting the president, first families, as well as other protectees. this is something we want to make sure is going to remain as strong as possible in the years ahead. mark sullivan, the direct ore the secret service, has taken, i think, very aggressive and speedy action to make sure that whatever happened in cartagena or other areas is going to be addressed. he's put corrective actions in,

he's taking strong action against the individuals involved. this is something the president is involved in but we have full confidence that -- >> but beyond that, was this a threat? did this show bad guys there's a way you can pearce that sheemd? >> by all accounts the security and the say tif -- >> not at the time but now like, oh snoorks i think it's demonstrated to the world that we're going to take the corrective actions that are needed to make sure there's not going to be an opportunity for terrorists or others to penetrate that security shield that surrounds the president. >> i'm not sure if you've seen it. but there's a new political ad out from the president's re-election team. it features former president bill clinton giving quite due praise to president obama for making decision to go ahead and give the navy seals permission to go in in a place where we thought osama bin laden was, where he thought, and it also suggests in that commercial that mitt romney might not have made that same decision, might not have had the guts to do it.

are you comfortable with taking that momentum point in history for the u.s. and a very strong point and putting it into the political realm like that? >> first of all. i don't do politics. i'm not a democrat. i'm not a republican. it was a tough decision. we know the evidence was not there as far as an ironclad case. a lot of it was circumstantial. i just know president obama when the time came for him to make a momentous occasion like that he took thea. >> i'm going to advice him on the daily basis of the united states of safety and security. >> one of the things that president obama made that he closed down guantanamo bay, is that -- >> we're going to mike their assure that they bring just tice through either transfers, to other countries, other areas. >> when? >> well, we've had dealings with

congress. what we're try dog is make sure we do this responsibly. the president said he is going to close this down. h's going to continue to be determined to do that. we have to do it in a manner that does not put the safety of the people in jeopardy. we'll work with the congress, we'll continue to have ongoing discussions with them and i'm hoping certainly one day the people in guantanamo no one day not be there. >> you're going to -- >> we'll continue to work on it. >> john brennan thank you so much for joining us. >> thank you very much candy. >> thank you. an outside the beltway view on the economy. gas prices and obama v. romney with governor bob mcdonnell and brian schweitzer next. >> one thing we can't afford to do right now is go back to the very same policies that got us into this mess. >> because he has failed, he will run a campaign of diversions and distractions and

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joining me now montana democratic governor brian schweitzer and virginia governor

bob mcdonnell. that leaves you free to speak about anything. >> i do anyway. >> that's right. i want to start out about something that a regional administrator for the ep pennsylvania has gotten a lot of buzz. it was region 6. too west for you, too south for you. but nonetheless this is from an epa administrator. >> they find the first five guys and they cruel fie him. >> he was talking about going after a couple of oil and gas companies and, you know, you crucify the first couple of ones and everybody else learns a lesson is essentially what he was saying. do you have a problem with the way the epa goes about its business? is that, do you think, reflective of the epa? >> well, the energy companies need more than anything. the last thing we need is to have some kind of capricious system of who we're going to

enforce regulation with and who we're not going to. so as long as we have certainty, we can function within those rules. we've got more drilling right now in the united states than all of the rest of the world combined. >> you don't think this reflects reality? >> i think that was silly talk. >> governor, do you have problems with the epa? >> absolutely. some carle it em ploimd prevention agencagency. it's just been overboard and the number of permits we seen in the last couple of years has been down dramatically. what this does is drives up the cost of the electricianty. this kind of rhetoric is very harmless because it really is translating into policy. i'm sure brian's seen it. >> can i talk a little bit about gas prices because that's out there, at least in the political groundwater. is it hurting folks in your state in a way that it's going to hurt the economy? >> well, gas prices aren't quite

as high as they were in 2008, but they're too high. >> what is about average in montana, do you know? >> about $3.81, $3.84, something like that. >> sounds pretty good from around here. but it's beginning go into family budget obviously. >> absolutely. and we're producing more oil in the united states than any time in the last 12 years. we're producing less today than we have in the last 16 years. we're down 25%. we have oil and gas and coal and a wonderful natural supply of gas and that's why energy prices in the united states are cheaper than anyplace else in the world. $2 for cheapest and that's why manufacturing is going back to the united states. >> politically isn't it hurting the president at this point or do you see signs of that? >> absolutely. if gasoline prices are high it comes straight out of the pockets of consumers, and we'd like to have it low sneer everyone knows we need more energy independence. it's been discussed since 9/11. i think this is a seminal issue

in this election. the president talks about all of the above. but i can tell you in a gas and coal producing state where we've gone backward with the permitting of yucca mountain, we're trying to drill off the coast of west virginia. the president won't allow us do that. we're going in the wrong direction. that's why i think mitt romney's got some very good ideas. >> i want to pick up on the keystone pipeline. i know you support it. the president may support it in the future. supported parts of it. the fact of the matter is this is a pipeline that would move energy or oil and gas for oil from canada down to the gulf of mexico. and the president so far has put the brakes on its completion. >> after that, actually it would also move montana oil. i negotiated with transcanada when we gave them a permit that they would build 100 million on-ramps? >> the president stopped this?

>> actually pipelines are permitted state by state. montana, south dakota, oklahoma, kansas, we've permitted it but in nebraska, they said, no, not so fast. so transcanada doesn't have a route yet. you can't have an application of route -- bob knows this -- until you have a route. as soon as nebraska has a route across, canada can make a complete one and then the president and the state can act. >> you're not upset. you think this is not politics of play? >> congress is yakking about it but frankly the state department only has a role because it crosses an international border, montana and alberta. as soon as they act transcanada can get a full application before the state department and then they need to act. >> governor, let me move you all on to issues key in your state. you have a voter i.d. law that is either near or sitting on your desk. you had criticized it in its

current form, that you worried it would disenfranchise other people. are you going to sign that? >> i'm still working on it. we're entitled to one man, one vote. not two votes, not no vote. i have to make sure the bill i got back strike as balance. >> you know what's in it, thee, and you have been opposed -- you wanted to soften it a bit, make it slightly easier. >> i wanted to have a signature comparison so it doesn't come back. i want to find out whether or not we can -- >> democrats say it would disenfranchise their voters. >> i dope think it would. it would create an additional burden to have to come back and be able to show subs kwen chal identity. we've had a numb over cases of voter fraud. we want to make sure we have good clean elections. that's a fundamental of democracy. >> leaning one way or the other. >> i'm not sure yet. come back in a couple of weeks. i want to read you something, governor schweitzer

that you said -- this is from 2006. nothing goes away. if he, meaning governor mitt romney gets the nominee i'll support him. it would you support him? >> no, he's a friend of mine. when you ooh're in a war zone, you learn a lot about their familiar, their business, their values. but, of course, i think the whole republican parties has taken a right turn. this is far right of where reagan was, so i'm not supporting him. i think he's a good man and i think he hassed so good ideas but i'm supporting barack obama. >> it's history last year. >> he's the best guy for america right now. >> i want to play you something. you both were there i think last night at the white house correspondents dinner as was i. there's something jimmy kimmel had to say. there's always truth in humor. >> mr. president do you remember

when the country rallied around you in hopes for a better tomorrow? that was hilarious. >> a little truth in that. is the president -- were expectations and hopes so high that he's now suffering from that in the polls? >> we're actually coming back from the bridge. we had 250 consecutive months from positive job creation not in the public sector but in the private sector. so we're on the mend. and the good news -- we need to get this out as leaders. we need to tell the world that very have the most innovating work force and manufacturing is starting to come back to the united states for the first time in 20 year. that's a good sign. >> governor, i can't go without asking you. of course, your name comes up in the whole vp list thing and you're going to be out of a job at the end of this thing anyway. >> two years. >> two years, sorry. >> i'm still there. >> you know, you assigned a bill that required a noninvasive ultrasound for anyone that gets an abortion. do you think that hurts downthat vp list? >> look, that's completely up to

mitt romney. what i'm worried about is the future of the country. 8.2% unemployment right now for 38 consecutive months, a crushing $15.5 trillion? i think this hope and change message we saw two years ago it's now recession. i think this is going to be a tough campaign, but i think people want the positive things about america. some of the most entrepreneurial people of the world. we've got do better to bring out the best and mitt romney is the best to do it. >> thanks so much. >> thanks, candy. >> thanks, brian. >> god to be with you, bob. every wonder what the ex-presidents say when the cameras are off? find out why one member of the presidents club may not be it inning in so well. >> later, john boehner, how far is he willing to do to get the job done right?

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republican presidential candidate newt gingrich will end his white house run this wednesday. the former house speaker is expected to express his support for the presumptive republican nominee mitt romney. gingrich won the south carolina and georgia republican primaries. there's a newly revealed account of the assassination nation of robert f. kennedy. nina rhodes hughes, she's on the left in this picture, was a witness to the murder and tells cnn there was a second shoot oretown night robert kennedy was feat fatally wounded at the ambassador hotel in 1968. and check this out. massachusetts senator scott brown nailed a half-court shot while visiting a community center in the high annis port, massachusetts. definitely won over the young crowd of onlookers and perhaps a good omen from the republican who won ted kennedy's seat.

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now some have said i blame too many problems on my predecessor. now let's not forget that's a practice that was initiated by george w. bush. >> that's president obama getting in some laughs at last night's white house correspondents dinner. they're part of a mohs exclusive and cordial club. a bestseller "the pretsidents club." joining me now is michael duffy and deaf put chief nancy gibbs. thank you both so much. let me start out with the relationship between former president bush and current president obama. what did you find out about that? >> well, you know, the interesting thing is from the minute that obama was elected,

president bush made it clear that he wanted to help with the transition. he actually gadgetered the whole club together for sort of a member "showbiz flashpoint" initiation. and at that time president bush said, you know, we all want you to succeed. this is something we saw again and again and again in all the presidents that they looked at. they want to help the next guy. after that he's worked very hard not to make life more difficult for president obama. >> yet these guys are on different sides of issues. there's long-standing sort of friction between them and their partisans because they ran against each other. there's this clinton add out now. former president clinton puts out this ad praising president obama for how, you know, he had the courage to go after osama bin laden and say, okay, it's a go. it's mission go and questioning mitt romney as to whether he would have made the same decision. so how does that fit into the presidents club? >> you've been following the

twisting tale between president obama and bill clinton over the last years this is a great irony because clinton is now the star of president obama's campaign videos which is a rich irony given that they tangled like ferrets in 2008. i guess what it says, no matter the generation, no matter the decade, even people who don't agree find some way to work together and sometimes go back to being rivals after that. but for now, those two men are in alignment. >> i think what's also interesti about this ad is that first of all when he was president or afterward bill clinton was criticized for not going after osama bin laden when they thought he had a chance. by wife ran an ad against then candidate obama saying he wasn't ready, using the image of obama, osama bin laden, and the obama campaign objected. there's lots of situational -- >> when the raid happened, the

first two people, president obama called, were in this order -- george walker bush and then bill clinton, because he knew at some level both men had tried to actually kill bin laden and had been unable to do it. >> that's a measure of respect. >> and i also think that the job continued. you started it. i'll finish it. >> let me ask you. i was fas natured by this in your book. i guess these presidents get together for many reasons or find bonding ways, and i love this on the role of jimmy carter. he writes in the book "carter gave the club a great gift, something for all the others to complain about. when nothing else seemed to unite its members, the club often bonded over what an annoying cuss carter could be." true? >> it's true. it also -- you know, the other side of that is he could also be very valuable to them. there are things that presidents can do for other presidents uniquely, including some very sensitive, diplomatic missions that president clinton, first president bush sent carter on, so he could be very useful. he just had this habit of going off script, which could be very

annoying to them. they would share with each other their annoyance. >> president obama sent carttory north korea in 2010. he was so concerned about carter going off that script that he made him sign, i think, a 12-point contract before he left, including one point which was to never talk about the press about the whole thing. which then he did tell us about. >> and he signed it, which i think is even more amazing. >> he signed it. >> i want to ask you about a couple of things that are happening now. i was particularly struck by congresswoman michelle bachman who hand for president and had to back out because she had no support and ran out of money. she had this to say on wolf blitzer's show thursday. >> i have said all along that i will be backing our party's nominee, and i will happily do that. >> when? >> well, what i'm doing is working behind the scenes bringing together all factions of our party. as the line says in the "wizard of on" all in good time, my pretty. it will happen. meaning she will endorse him eventually? i'm just wondering if you have some take on what the hesitation

is here? what is she -- what's she going for? >> i don't know. better speaking gig at the convention. it's hashed to say. we have -- it has been sort of one of these tragic things about the slow and half-hearted endorsements that governor romney has been getting. even speaker boehner just now with you saying he is a very likable guy. i keep waiting for one of them to say he will be a great president. he is a very likable guy. >> we trade phone messages. >> that was quite remarkable. he told you that they traded e-mail messages. it's phone messages. >> phone messages back and forth. and honestly, he is now is not romney now the head of the republican party? should this not be the time that they're gathering around him and, by the way, isn't some -- aren't some of the fights that they're going to have on capitol hill going reflect on his campaign and vice versa? >> normally the republican party is excellent at coalessing at this stage around their guy, but this is not a normal time for the republican party. it is because of people like all the folks who ran in the

campaign still very fractured, still divided, and even in boehner's remarks, you could hear when he talked to you -- you could hear a kind of subtext of the problems the gop was having. he talked in there about making government -- he complained that president obama's government was too small. >> he told you what he was most proud of was rebuilding the institution. well, i think there are a lot of members of his caucus that don't think that a bigger more effective government is really what they're looking for. >> a lot of members of the public who don't think that they've actually rebuilt anything, but having said that, how vital is it for these folks to come together. it's almost gobble for mitt romney to put together a winning campaign unless -- >> i think when it comes to anyone in the house, republican leadership like boehner or even mrs. bachmann, they could emerge as barack obama's best ally in this campaign if they continue to do the kind of legislating they did in the last year, so i suspect that there may be a distance both from the washington to mitt romney as

the -- as from romney to washington. >> mike duffy, nancy gibbs, the book, you guys, is the president's club, and it is a great book. pick it up. it's a fun read in addition to you learn a lot of stuff. thank you both so much. >> in our getting to know session with house speaker boehner, we wanted to know the inspiration behind his style. >> you have been compared to the "mad men" character don draper. dick martin called you dean martin without a piano. all energy development comes with some risk, but proven technologies allow natural gas producers to supply affordable, cleaner energy, while protecting our environment. across america, these technologies protect air - by monitoring air quality and reducing emissions... ...protect water - through conservation and self-contained recycling systems...

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house speaker john boehner say multi-tasker running the house, getting republicans re-elected, going toe to toe with the president. so much on his plate, and we were surprised learn about his attention to wardrobe detail. >> you are known as one of the best dressed men in congress. i don't know if you knew that. you have been compared to the "mad men" character don draper. dick armey called you dean martin without a piano. so we want to know where you get your advice? >> well, mostly it's just me. i try to keep it simple, and i try to keep it neat and clean, and i take great pride in the fact that i wash and iron my own shirts. the cleaners just ruin them, and

about 15 years ago i got tired of broken buttons and white shirts that were grayish, and so i can tell you how to wash shirts well, and i can talk to you about the best iron in the world. >> wow. you spent your time learning to iron shirts, and i spent my time trying not to iron shirts. >> i understand. i understand. >> the other way around. is it peaceful for you? is it therapeutic? i can't imagine doing it. you just want it done right. >> i want it done right. it's a pain, but when i put my shirt on, i know where it's come from. >> you can see the entire getting to know interview with speaker boehner as well as today's other interviews, some analysis, and web exclusives at our website, cmn.com/sotu. thank you so much for watching "state of the union." i'm candy crowley in washington. fareed zakaria gps is next for our viewers here in the united states. this is