from washington, "the mclaughlin group," the american original. for over two decades, the sharpest

issue one, secretly serviced! >> if it turns out that some of the allegations that have been made in the press are confirmed, then of course i'll be angry. but we're here on behalf of our people, and that means that we conduct ourselves with the utmost dignity and -- i think

i'll wait until i pass final judgment. >> no rush to judgment. that's the position president obama has taken on the controversy involving the secret service and prostitutes during the summit of the americas with three heeds of state convened last weekend. 11 u.s. secret service members and 10 military service personnel are under investigation for what happened here at the hotel in cartagena, columbia. prior to the arrival of president obama, some of the u.s. secret service agents entertained brought toots prostitutes at the hotel. an argument attracted police, who informed the u.s. state department. prostitution is legal in cartagena, but ents are regularly briefed on the potential for bribery by prostitutes and for being spied on by them.

so prostitution for the secret service is verboten. the chairman of the u.s. house of representatives peter king put the dangers this way. >> i know foreign diplomats overseas who have been private citizens and had laptops taken, in this case alone just being around the secret service inside the zone of security picking up information about the president's travel schedule, what his agenda dcñ?ñ just names of secret service agents, when they'll be leaving, where they're going, all of that. >> notwithstanding the uproar, the director of the secret service, a 29-year veteran of the service, continues to have the support of thwhite house. >> the president has confidence director sullivan, director acted swiftly in response to this incint anis overseeing tha needs to be conducted. >> as of friday, three members of the secret service are out

in the wake of this incendiary scandal. question, how big an embarrassment is this for the secret service, pat? >> it's enormous. they've stepped all over the president's mission, which we discussed to latin america, trying to put a message out. secondly it's just an enormous disaster for the secret service. we've got 11 agents and some supervisors in there engaged with all these prostitutes and as soon as they almost get into columbia, and it sugges this is not single within-off thing, that this may be sort of habitual practice going on here. and the tragedy is the secret service has enormous respect among the american people. i've about th nixon and reagan, i've flown a lot of these guys, they're outstanding guys. >> were you in columbia with nixon? when -- was stolen. >> no that was when he was vice president. i've had secret service protection myself. you realize these guys sitting

outside 84 hotel room will take a bullet for you. so the whole country respects, aid myers these guys, and that reputation has been tarnished. it suggests that this may be not a one-off thing. >> i think for any president or presidential candidate, the secret service is personal because they are there to take a bullet. they witness people's private lives. they see things that nobody else does, and they're supposed to keep secret. they haven't always behaved well. i remember during the clinton administration, there was some leaking about the first lady hurled a lamp at the president, and that came from the secret service. and so i think there are some questions here of trust between agents and the people they protect. but this is a huge year coming up, with presidential candidates. we have a lot of visiting dignitaries. this is a big comparesment. but i don't know that this is stemmatic for the whole secret service. >> i hope not. >> when they're on the

president's dime, they're avoiding in this way and prostitution is legal where they were, and why didn't they just pay the woman who called herself an escort? >> $800. >> pay her the money she asked for and he agreed to. >> 220? >> yes. and it took that long for america's finest to figure out they had a problem, once the police came. police were on the side of the prostitutes, because it's a legal profession there. so i mean, how dumb can anybody get if they paid the money, we wouldn't be talking about this right now! >> money talks! >> right. >> this is not my field. >> what do you mean it's not your field? you're a billionaire! >> i know, but there's -- i'll explain my -- right with you. >> again, this is tonight in the first scandal and probably end be the last. but probably the last for a while. i think this will blow over. they've had a spherulin reputation for decades, protecting the president under

the most difficult of circumstances but there's additional information that one of secret service agents involved was saying that when he was protecting sarah palin nominee, he was checking her out apparently. >> on facebook. it's not like he just -- >> exactly some this will trickle in now and then to make -- >> what do you mean checking her out? >> he meant is in physically checking h out -- an object -- >> photograph of him check her out, and she's not happy about it >> she's not? >>she had a very tough statement. >> she said obama needs to take control of the situation here. he's the commander in chief, and he is in charge of secret service. and he needs to maybe make some changes. >> true story? >> i don't know if it's a true story. i suspect there's some truth to it. i don't know if it's quite in the way it was presented, but as fothis story, you can't make this up. >> flirtation? is had what it was? >> on the part of one of them.

>> okay. mitt romney's take the president has confidence in the head of the secret service, as do i. and i believe that the right corrective action will be taken there, and obviously everyone is very, very disappointed in these stories, very uncharacteristic of the service. and it will be i think it will be dealt with in -- as aggressive a way as is possible, given the requirements of law. >> why did mitt romney take the high road on this? he didn't criticize obama or the administration, didn't criticize the vieques. >> i think the head of the secret service mark sullivan has been there a very long time. i think he was elevated by president bush. i don't think this is a left- right republican-democrat incident, and so far nobody has stood up and said this is systemic and the culture needs to be changed. >> the fact that impacted this politically is that everything else had happened at cartagena

has been drowned out. >> exactly. >> what happened that that has been drowned out? >> not much. >> not much! >> are you sure that? >> well, they -- suit about cuba -- >> free trade agreement? >> that's all what? >> it's already been passed. everybody knows about it. >> what do mean it's passed. >> it's enacted. >> why did obama --if it's a done deal? >> it's been a done deal -- >> something was needed -- >> it's a victory lamb here's what romney say that. it's the very reason we're all talking here. the secret service is liked and respected, and admired, and everybody knows how hard their job is and they will take a bullet for somebody guarding romney now. so nobody want to see the secret service beat up. >> is the columbia free trade agreement agreeable to u.s. labor union? >> no, i don't think they like to. >> so the less the better? >> why are you going to

columbia? >> how far do you want to go in trying to cover something? >> it's agreeable to the hope community in the united states, part of a part of the administration to that part of the world because it does have repercussions here at home and the shows how he is committed to the hispanic community. >> you see how the headlines have been dominated by the incident. >> of course. pat said it's destroyed whatever the president hoped to accomplish with it. it's become in a sense a story about the scandal, not a story about anything else. >> exit question, on a political probability scale, what is the probability that a special prosecutor will be appointed to examine the extent of this misconduct? >> right now -- it's about -- it's zero. the reason is there's no -- no cover-up going on! you get a special prosecutor, if the government is not looking into it. they're looking into this thing, john. my fear frankly is they're going to find a lot of conduct

going back and go back in these guys, drag -- >> expect a prosecutor. >> don't need a special prosecutor! >> we need a star. whose star? >> you know -- >> the independent council? >> no. >> no, we don't need that. >> will it be driven to the point where a special prosecutor will be appointed? >> it's a -- catnip for the media and congress. >> this is set out for media -- >> it's sex, money, drugs, whatever. >> legitimate story? >> no. >> it doesn't need a special prosecutor. >> zero chance. they'll let the secret service handle it. >> one ken starr was enough in my lifetime, thank you very much. >> you give it zero probability? >> zetwo, leaving las vegas. >> what is it about the structure of the gsa that leads us back to these scandals,

after -- in other words, the expression is fool me once, okay. but again and again? barbara box over, the chairwoman of the senate environment and public works committee, voiced her disgusts and disbelief to workers of the general services administration, the gsa, on the hill this week regarding lavish spending and possible kickbacks at the agency. get this, in 2010 at a cost of $823,000, gsa flew 300 federal employees to the billion dollar resort spa and casino in las vegas for a conference. the trip includes costs like breakfast, $44 each. sushi, $7,000. a bicycle building exercise program, $75,000. all funded by taxpayers!

also, the agency threw a party in palm springs,california, for its interns. the gsa bill, $150,000. the gsa's 2010 las vegas massive billing, right in the face of the advice president obama gave corporate executives in his first year in office. the executives were from companies that took federal bailouts in 2009. "you can't take a trip to vegas or go down to the supepepepepepe the taxpayers' dime." mr. obama repeated this admonition in february 10 in a forum. "when times are tough, you tighten your belt. you don't go buying a boat when you can barely you're trying to save for college." so, vegas gambling is seen by president obama as an expensive

indulgence. but nevada is also an important swing state in this year's presidential contest. so first lady michelle obama gone there several times so far this year, most recently to inspect the copper mountain facility. tell us about the gsa this week. >> well, we've got a career -- worker at gsa who elevated himself to a position where he was his own supervisor, and allowed him to plan elaborate trips. one of which you described there, the $823,000 conference called the western region conference for 300 employees. it had all kinds of things like the 7,000 dollar sushi, 2300 square foot hotel suites footed by the taxpayers. they hired a mind reader. they rented clown suits and tuxedos for people. they handed out commemorative coins and velvet boxes.

i mean, it was just over the top. >> we saw little bit of barbara boxer at the top of the issue. did she mention anything about why we really need a gsa? >> well, you have two sides on this issue. some republicans question -- they want to shrink the size of government, now we look at the gsa, wasting taxpayers' money. >> this is a harry truman creation. >> it's been around 60 years, and its goal is to streamline the -- and by controlling its properties and helping make sure we're not -- >> is it superfluous? don't we have within agencies and the vast fracture of federal government those agencies that n track whether they're legitimate this keep them lean? but as soon as you have -- what is behind this? >> look, you say purchasing all the typewriters, other things, why not get one agency to do the job and purchase -- >> what do you think of that idea? >> i think it's a good idea. >> why can't those agencies

regulate themselves. >> then you get duplication. >> no one pays attention [overlapping speakers] government. so vast they can't -- >> if you had 11 and 12 departments going out buying the same things, it's if and inefficiency. >> what about at the white house level? >> i don't think they control that. did he take the fifth amendment? >> of course the white house can control the size of the federal government! the regulatory agency! >> took the fifth amendment. what happens in vegas stays in vegas. >> the gsa is the government's -- and contract for the fleets of cars and various inventories, the typewriters and all that. it does make sense to have them. but apparently, this hasn't been any oversight. who pays attention at the gsa? and what they were doing was mimicking corporate life. corporations throw these kind of over the top events all the time. but you don't do it with the taxpayers' money! you don't do it with taxpayer money. and not -- >> i wonder -- embarrassment to the president and it's a gift

-- 's a gift to the republicans because it fits into their narrative of this big bloated federal government that needs reining in. >> don't you want to defend corporations? they go to vegas and watch the bottom line very carelly, do they not? >> the central administrative functions in most corporatns have a real objective and a real way of supervising the cost because they are concerned about the profitability of the company and the cost. government doesn't work on that base. you don't have the same kind of oversight by definition. it doesn't mean it's appropriate. you want to centralize a lot of purchasing and the ownership -- >> exit question. >> no incentives to save money. >> there's no incentives -- isn't that a shocking admission on anybody's part? >> that's the corporations -- >> isn't that a -- [overlapping speakers] >> no sense -- >> more jobs. >> mort's money. he's going to save, they'll watch it, everybody has a good time. >> what -- >> we don't have this lavish nonsense and you've g that with no control, no incentives.

>> beer off with a different kind of government? are we attacking the corps of democracy? >> it's an end hirrient flaw of government. >> what kind of government? >> all government. >> a corporation -- [overlapping speakers] >> it's not their money. >> you think -- >> us always say the russians can keep their size down [overlapping speakers] >> it's even worse than russia, believe me. >> does this go far beyond what we y are cognitive limits as we see it in this issue? >> no, i think this illustrates exactly the problem you have in a government which basically doesn't havean incentives and what you have in the private -- >> rerkable -- [overlapping speakers] >> two words! two words! corporate greed. corporations have not always behaved admirably. let's t forget that. >> issue three -- [overlapping speakers] >> excuse me, me! issue three! even steven? >> president barack obama and

candidate mitt romney are tied, 46 to 46, according to a new cbs-new york times election poll of registered voters. the poll also shows this -- the president has a higher favorability rating than governor romney, 42% to rom romney's 29%. but he also has a higher unfavorability rating, 45% to 34%. the big issue on the minds of voters is the economy, of course. and how do the candidates rate here? overall, obama and romney share about the same amount of confidence with voters when it comes to making the right decisions about the economy, with the edge to romney, 55% romney, 51% obama. as to the question on whether the policies of the candidates would improve a voter's own financial situation, 28% say mitt romney would improve my

own financial situation, marginally, as compared to 26% obama. question, what are these numbers telling you? i ask you, patted and be succinct? >> we've got ourselves a real horse race. if romney and obama and it's a toss-up almost in my judgment. almost. >> what if sells it you is the economy is the central issue which we've been saying for some time and if 2012 economy slows down the way the 2011 economy slows down, obama is in real trouble. if the economy trickles upward and continues to improve, we'll keep having a horse race it will be very, very close election. >> since i don't believe the economy will trickle up, i think obama has a al problem going into this election year because i think the economy is weak and it will stay weak and as much weaker that is the superficial numbers indicate. >> the review of the republicans and runup so for, for romney to skier as high as he did reflects the general opinion as i see it on this

panel that this will be a real horse race and that obama really has got issue four, discovery retired. the space shuttle discovery made its final voyage on tuesday, a piggyback jet ride to the smithsonian air and space museum in virginia. discovery is the fleet leader of nasa's three surviving shuttles. at after looping around the capitol and lighting spectators on the national mall, the shuttle carrier plane turned down at dulles international airport, former astronaut steven lindsey the commander of the last discovery crew said, "we need to preserve our history for future generations and send these off to museums to remember what we did, all the lessons learned from the shuttle we're using in the design of our space aircraft. we're updating the technologies but the basic principles are the same, everybody program bills on the previous building"

is the mothballing of discovery and america's space exploration symbolic of america's decline? >> no! we're not declining, and this was a moment of history that people wanted to watch -- [overlapping speakers] momma whale with the baby on top. adorable. >> you know what your leaders, president obama did that the space? he killed it! >> he trimmed it back and congress dealt the last blow because of budget cutbacks. we can't afford to send men to mars right now. but i think the r&d continues, and this president sees the possibility maybe we can elect newt gingrich, who wants to establish a colony on mars or the moon or wherever he wanted to go. i admire for him for thinking big. we don't have the money to implement big ideas right now. >> did to your survivor -- gingrich? >> we don't have -- that's right. and that's why one of reasons he is still in the race, to try to put people on the moon.

but i think more seriously, this is the mouthed balling of a shuttle program with no new program to talk tom the astronaut was talking about the next spacecraft. we have no next spacecraft. there's nothing going to happen unless there's money behind it. there's no money behind it. so we're talking years and years before we can ever send anyone back up there without the help of the russians. >> john, when the challenger blew up when i was with ronald reagan, the state of the union speech cancelled and moved to the next week, he talked about a space plane, it was going to take off and go into space and go around the world, and land in a couple hours and things. i do think the country -- >> but it's unmanned? >> no, it was manned. a space plane. and it was a great idea, but i do think the country needs some uplifting idea. i can -- you can remember, maybe you're too young, mort can remember, what it was like when we were losing to the russians in the 50s and all of a sudden john glenn went up there to the moon and won that battle. there's no uplifting thing going on. and i'm all for it.

>> does the end of the manned space program tell us anything about obama's view of american exceptionalism. >> i was in grade school in the 50s so i wouldn't know but i appreciate your compliment. >> how long did they keep you back? >> but look, the point is made and it's something that is -- going to effect us in many walks of life. we simply do not have the money to do a lot of things we once thought we could as the leading country in the world. we have huge problems in this country, a lot of it will have to be resolved but one of main ones is to find the money to do it. and we're not addressing that issue at all. >> broad base sense of decline. >> yes. >> in the american psyche today. >> yes. >> this country is in decline. >> moth bawling the shuttle was nothing new to turn to where kids can only look at aircraft by going in a museum. that's a real sad. >> is the ending the space program involve a loss of

national prestige? [overlapping speakers] >> what about the billions of dollars saved without nasa's program? >> it wasn't all that expensive. chinese are led prediction, pat? >> the george skim man trayvon martin episode, i don't think george zimmerman will be convicted of second-degree murder at all. and i have my doubts they'll convict him of manslaughter. found all that blood on his head in the latest picture. >> interesting. eleanor? >> french president will make it into the runoff this weekend but will not survive face-off with the moderate socialist candidate. he will lose. >> i predicted about 10 weeks ago. >> okay. susan? >> talk about newt gingrich. he's been lurking in the background for as a candidate who is not going anywhere but i predict he'll stick around for a few more weeks and try to still get something out of this race.

candidate. >> mort? its a food. they have enough money for two to three months in their foreign exchange camp and that point they'll be forced with starvation, requiring a massive foreign aid program to help them out. >> i predict the current outbreak of scanned alzheimer's will continue to dominate headlines, hurting president obama's ratings more than mitt romney's, causing president obama's favorability rating to sink below romney's. bye-bye!