right now on "andrea mitchell reports," birth control politics. senate democrats stopped republicans from permitting employers to refuse coverage for contraception. >> i guess only men are qualified to talk about women's issues. i cannot believe this battle, on a highway bill! on a transportation bill, where 2.8 million jobs are at stake, we have been diverted with this amendment about women's health. >> the final vote was 51 to 48. how will the gender wars affect the 2012 campaign? plus, the death of conservative blogger and activist, andrew breitbart at the age of 43.

>> the media says breitbart lies, breitbart lies, breitbart lies. give me one example of a provable lie. one. on one. >> he was a lightning rod for breaking the anthony weiner twitter scandal and for his undercover video investigations into the community group a.c.o.r.n. the political world today reacting to that sudden death. >> oh, i'm crestfallen. i mean, that's horrible. and two more americans are killed in the fallout. the accidental burning of korans. my interview with the american nato commander and the top u.s. diplomat in charge of the war and in charge of making peace. and live in new hampshire, minutes from now, president obama will be speaking at a community college in nashua. does that make him a snob? good day. i'm andrea mitchell, live in washington. in our daily fix, moments ago, senate democrats defeated the blunt amendment, which would have allowed employers to be

exempted from a requirement providing contraception coverage if they claimed personal religious objections or moral objections. the amendment went down 51 to 48. retiring republican senator olympia snowe voted with the democrats in order to table that amendment. democrats bob casey of pennsylvania, joe manchin of west virginia, and ben nelson of nebraska voted with the republicans. kris cillizza is an nbc contributor and managing editor of postpolitics.com. hey, chris. this was a key test already of the gender wars. it was pretty clear that it was going to be defeated. and susan collins voted with her fellow republicans, against some of the other women in the senate, saying that she thought that this was an amendment that was defective, but they could be fixed later on, but that the democrat were playing election year politics. >> well, you know, i would say both sides are probably playing a little bit of election year politics here, andrea. this was, you heard barbara boxer, the california democrat, in your opening say, you know,

this was amended to a highway bill. and it was. this was a highway funding bill, where they put, roy blunt, the freshman senator from missouri, republican, put this on to it in hopes of trying to get it passed. this is not an uncommon practice. lots of things get added to unrelated bills, but it does have the feel of election year politics. and it also kind of reopens the debate over president obama's health care bill. all this ties back to, what can employers opt out of, as it relates to president obama's health care bill? there's an exemption for religious institutions to opt out of offering free birth control. but not for other institutions. this would have broadened that. so it just restarts, not only the debate over birth control and women's rights, but also the debate over president obama's health care bill. >> and at the same time, you have this potential misstep by mitt romney. he was asked about it yesterday, and initially he said he was against the blunt amendment, doesn't think that politics should play a role in these kinds of contraception debates.

then said that he hadn't understood the question, that he was in favor of it. then you had santorum being asked about that today. let's watch. >> we saw an insight into what's in the gut of governor romney yesterday. when he was asked a question about the blunt amendment. his knee-jerk reaction was, no, i can't be for that. well, then after his consultants talked to him and, then he came back, he said, oh, i didn't understand the question. my gut reaction would be, you stand for the first amendment, you stand for freedom of religion. >> does this undercut mitt romney's attempts to prove that he is a real conservative? is this a real touchstone for conservatives, especially coming up towards super tuesday? >> you know, andrea, late on tuesday night, i wrote something saying that romney having one arizona in michigan should have some momentum going into super tuesday. but if he continues making

gaffes, that will slow that momentum. whether he misheard the question, whether he said what he believed, and they had to go back and fix it, regardless, he took what should be an easy slam dunk yes if you are running for the republican presidential nomination and turn eed it into controversy. just not a good moment for him. >> as he heads into the bible belt, indeed. thank you very much, chris cillizza. mitt romneys evolving views of this subject do raise some questions in some quarters. we just saw rick santorum about how hardline he really is. this is what happened. >> i'm not for the bill. but, look, the idea of presidential candidates getting into questions about contraception within a relationship between a man and a woman, a husband and wife, i'm not going there. >> i didn't understand his question. of course i support the blunt amendment. i thought he was talking about some state law that prevented people from getting contraception. >> i'm in favor of the blunt amendment. >> can you elaborate? >> can i elaborate?

yeah, absolutely. >> stephanie cutter is deputy campaign manager for the president's re-election campaign and joins us now. stephanie, as you watch the republicans going back and forth on this, there is a theory that underneath it all, the president does have some vul nshlts, because there are many people of faith, many catholics, who still feel that there are too many loopholes in the compromise that the president engendered. kathleen sebelius was just on the house side being pummeled on this very subject. >> well, a couple of facts about the provision that the president did put in place. religious institutions are exempted, and he broadened that exemptions for religious organizations to opt out of providing contraception for their employees, although those women would still have access to it. what we're talking about through the blunt/rubio amendment and all of the efforts being waged by republicans is something much bigger, and it's much more ideological. i mean, the thought of putting

your boss, you know, if you work at a restaurant or a small business or a big manufacturer, it doesn't matter where you work, if you're putting your boss in charge of your health care decisions, that's something that's really fundamentally wrong of this country. >> let's go to the actual wording of the amendment. i wanted to make it clear to everyone what we're talking about here. we're not talking about catholic charities, we're not talking about catholic hospitals. >> right. >> we're talking about self-insurers, which could include some of these catholic institutions, but also all small businesses and others who self-insure. and here's the actual wording that's at stake here. "nothing in this title or any amendment made by this title, shall be construed to require an individual or an institutional health care provider or authorize a health plan to require a provider to provide, participate in, or refer for a specific item or service contrary to the provider's religious beliefs or moral convictions." and a moral conviction could be a moral conviction against

immunizations. >> it could a moral conviction against anything. our bosses could be telling us that we can't get mammograms. it's absurd to think that we're having this the debate on the united states senate floor today about women's health care. you know, i think women all over this country are watching this debate and scratching their heads and thinking, what in the world are republicans waging this war for? >> well, they clearly are waging a war because they think it is attracting, energizing their base, and that is a tactic. it's also possible that -- >> it's probably alienating women all over the country at the same time. >> but it's also conceivably because they believe it, and as a matter of faith, certainly rick santorum has made this an article of faith throughout his career. >> it's interesting that you talk about that they believe it. it's a question for mitt romney. you know, i was listening to your videotape earlier, listening to rick santorum saying that mitt romney doesn't have a gut reaction on these things, and i think that's true for a lot of different things for mitt romney. he doesn't have a gut reaction. he goes wherever the political

winds are going. he's campaigning all over this country, not just against contraception, but for these personhood amendments, that would ban contraception, birth control, ivf for women all over this country. he's taking to it an extreme, not because it's a gut reaction, but he thinks it's to his political best interest. if he's willing to throw women under the bus wherever he goes, i think they're watching. and it may be playing to his base, to his conservative base, although i think he has significant problems both with conservatives and expects, because nobody knows where he stands on any given issue, i think he's alienating women all over the country. he consistently loses the moderate independent votes. >> of course, it will romney campaign would have a very different take on all of that. we will be talking to them as well. thank you very much. >> thank you. >> stephanie cutter. thanks for being here today. and that contraception debate galvanized the senate today, before democrats managed to block the amendment, they tabled it with a key vote from republican olympia snowe. >> supplying the respect for

religious beliefs and moral convictions, is that is that already part of the federal health programs of all kinds, it just doesn't happen to be in the new law. >> we have men on the other side of the aisle here, for the most part, a little assist, telling women what their rights should be. i cannot believe this battle. >> if the united states senate had 83 women and 17 men rather than 83 men and 17 women, my strong guess is that a bill like this would never even make it to the floor. >> it will reopen the cases of those large employers who have already been found against and say to them, yes, you can come up with a reason and curtail access to preventative health care. >> and washington senator maria cantwell, fresh from the senate floor, joins me now. senator cantwell, let's talk about what's going on here.

what are you hearing in the cloakroom and in the corridors of the senate about the relationship between men and women, male and female senators, as we get so deeply embroiled in these fights over contraception and health care. >> well, the women are fired up and they're very concerned that this would be a pandora's box, allowing employers to go back to a time period in which they could deny benefits to women. and we know how important it is to fight for this, and that's why i think you saw the women of the senate coming to the senate floor to make sure that our voice was heard on this. >> now, susan collins was one who said that while she objects to some aspects of the blunt amendment, does not think it's well drawn, needs to be tightened, she still feels that there was a political agenda coming from the democratic leadership side and that this was 2012 politics being played out on the senate floor. trying to frame an issue that would actually hurt the republicans in the general election campaign.

>> well, i don't think that's the issue. i think for us in washington state, we have 130 women per every 100,000 women who have been diagnosed with incidents of breast cancer. so early screening and detection is critical. and when you say this an employer might be able to come along and all of a sudden decide that they have a moral objection, providing that coverage, you bet women are going to be very upset about that kind of proposed change. so we're going to continue to fight. i personally think that it's ridiculous that we have spent all this time fighting this over and over again. the biggest budget votes, the biggest issues that we've had about coming up with various appropriations bills or making sure we get passed these issues on reconciliation, it always comes down to, we have to have a vote to defund access to women's health care. as if that is some big budget

panacea, when really it's a rollback. so if there's politics, it's the fact that hr-1 from the house republicans wanted to defund planned parenthood, it's that senator kyle and others forced a vote on it, on the senate floor. it's the fact that in the appropriations bills, they wanted to put riders. it's the fact that a transportation bill, they want to bring it up again. how many times are we going to try to, basically, roll back access to women's health care? we've got to get on with this country's jobs and economic recovery plan. >> well, you guys were fighting this out on the senate floor, health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius was defending the president's compromise for faith-based institutions at a house hearing. and she was pummeled. let me let you watch a little bit of this. >> i just want to get this on the record, mr. chairwoman. you're saying by not having babies born, we're going to save

money in health care? >> providing contraception as a critical preventative health benefit for women and for their children reduces health care. >> not having babies born is a critical benefit? this is absolutely amazing to me. i yield back. >> family planning is a critical health benefit for -- >> you said avoiding pregnancies. >> we are debating contraception, all over again. it's 2012. >> well, you're going to see a lot of women who are going to say, no, i don't want my employer to get between me and my doctor, particularly when it comes to health care and preventative medicine. so you might hear a lot about it, but i think when it comes to getting things done, i think we want to get a transportation bill done, we want to get infrastructure investment, we want to move on with other job creation activities, and if they keep wanting to bring these amendments up, i guess we'll have to keep defeating them. >> maria cantwell, thank you very much. thanks for joining us today. >> thank you. >> a big day on the senate floor. up and next, the civil war

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i made the decision not to run for re-election in the united states senate and to pursue other opportunities outside the senate that perhaps i can give voice to the frustrations that, you know, exist with the political system here in washington, where it's dysfunctional and the political paralysis has overtaken the environment to the detriment to the good of this country.

>> maine republican senator olympia snowe, telling me yesterday about the frustrations that led to her decision to leave the senate. major garrett is the white house correspondent for the "national journal," and here is our exclusive look at their new issue out today and major joins us now. major, olympia snowe has been one of those figures in the senate that frustrates both parties. harry reid would get frustrated with her, her own caucus didn't talk to her after the stimulus vote, which is why, you know, so many of her constituents love her so much. she's an independent, a true woman in the spirit of margaret chase smith. >> yes. and that northeastern brand of republican, particularly in the senate, has really been either retiring off or being voted out. and olympia snowe is one of the last exemplars of that approach to senatorial politics, legislative politics within the senate, and her national party. standing athwart of her national party at times, and standing up for what she considered to be the institutional prerogatives of the senate, which is

compromise, negotiation, and working towards legislative end points. right now the senate, and i've never really seen it as intense as it is now, is not about conversation, it's not about coalitions, it's not about legislative end points, it's about legislative non-action. and having your party defined by the lack of action -- >> by what you can block. >> -- not by what you do. and that's been true -- that was true with democrats at times, against president bush, and it's absolutely true with republicans against president obama. >> i was really struck by one of the things she said to me yesterday, major, that bob dole, the republican leader used to call the republican caucus together and said, you know, if they disagreed about something, go in my office and work it out. work it out, that used to be the mantra among moderate republicans, more conservative republican leaders, and democrats of both stripes. you know -- >> and it didn't always work. sometimes you had to make compromises that you thought

undermined the bill, but you had to get the votes. let's not kid ourselves that there were some glory days of legislation where little deals weren't made and things were arranged that weren't to the ultimate benefit of the country, but things got over the finish line. what we have now, that doesn't seem to be a share od operative goal. legislators like to legislate, typically. and they feel reduced when they aren't. that's the old senate i first started covering in 1990. now, senators, it feels to me, feel more and more engaged and legitimateized by stopping or pronouncing what they're for and not dealing with compromise and standing only on principle. and i'm not saying principled politicians have no role in american life. of course they do. but at some point, meeting of the minds has to cur. i used to see that a lot more frequently than i do now. >> inneed. and we should just point out that i was asked this morning on wnyc, the npr show in new york,

about the possibility that she might run as a third party candidate americans select, but now i'm told that this is not something that she is considering and that they have not had any conversations with her about it. >> and when she talked to you yesterday, she said, pursue other opportunities. that's a pretty expansive definition of life outside the senate. and look, i don't think if you're an independent in the senate, any of these things change. you're just a bit less taxed by them because people aren't gnawing on your neck within your party to do something that you otherwise don't want to do. but you're still unable to get legislation. you're just a different person in a different place, but you still preside over and see the same frustrating aspects of legislative politics or the lack thereof in washington. >> major garrett, thanks for being here. the "national journal," the new issue out today. and up next, reaction to the death of conservative firebrand, andrew breitbart. plus, can we do a better job of protecting our forces in afghanistan from the anti-american rage. this is "andrea mitchell reports," only on msnbc. ♪

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oh, i'm crestfallen. that's horrible. that's shocking. obviously, prayers go to him and his family and, wow, that's a big shock. what a powerful force. >> rick santorum expressing shock at the sudden death of conservative activist, andrew breitbart. breitbart was remembered this morning by his staff at biggovernment.com, which issued a statement saying, with a terrible feeling of pain and loss, we announce the passing of andrew breitbart. we have lost a husband, a father, a son, a brother, a dear friend, a patriot, and a happy warrior. andrew lived boldly so that we more timid souls would dare to live freely and fully and fight for the fragile liberty he showed us how to love. how large of an influence did he

have on the public debate? >> breitbart was a fascinating character, andrea, pause he's somebody in a very short amount of time, really somebody in the last two or three years, went from somebody who was at the extremes, on the outside of the political and media culture, and through sheer force of personality and passion, kind of kicked his way into a very central role. became very celebrated and in many contexts, a notorious figure. but always somebody right at the very center of the conversation. and so that was quite striking to me. he was somebody that had a great deal of resentment against the traditional media structure, but he was also somebody who had the capacity to demand and receive attention from that media, the sort of very institutions that he deplored. >> and remember, when he took the microphone, right before the press conference, the anthony

weiner resignation press conference, this was a scandal that he had helped expose, with a lot of help from mr. weiner himself, congressman weiner himself. this was breitbart at that moment. >> i'm not doing this for nefarious purposes. i'd like an apology from him, for allowing for his political protectors, which this was his strategy. was to blame me. to blame me for hacking. oh, don't worry, breitbart's our regular whipping boy. we can accuse him of anything, and the press will not hold those journalists to account, no matter what they say. and so i'm here for some vindication. >> and that was after, of course, weiner had claim he had been hacked, when he had not been hacked. when he had himself e-mailed those pictures around and breitbart had gotten them. but breitbart was forced to either apologize or acknowledge his error, i think after shirley sherrod had been mischaracterized by breitbart. she was the former agriculture official, who was mischaracterized and lost her job over that. >> right.

well, you mentioned to me the two emblemattic moments of breitbart's journalistic career, one a high point, the other a low point. the clip at the news conference, this classic breitbart moment, hijacking the occasion, he said he came to be vindicated on that story. he was vindicated. his site drove that story, the exposure of congressman weiner, but you can see all the characteristic elements of breitbart's personality in that clip. the sort of -- the boasting -- >> scrappy. >> the self-justification, the self-congratulation, the self-promotion. they're all right there, and they give your viewers, i think, a nice glimpse of sort of why he was successful at putting himself right in the middle of the conversation. >> and mitt romney has just tweeted, as we see the pictures of andrew breitbart, romney on twitter, "ann and i are deeply

saddened by the passing of andrew breitbart. brilliant entrepreneur, fearless conservative, loving husband and father." thank you so much, john, from politico. thanks for the politico briefing today. president obama is now in nashua, new hampshire, taking the stage, speaking at a community college. >> it's good to be back in new hampshire! >> 911! >> okay, we'll be all right. they probably were just standing too long. just give them a little space. where's our ems folks? they'll be okay. just give them a little space. this happens sometimes. you guys have been here a while? >> yeah. >> well, no, you have to eat ahead of time. keep your blood sugar up. we got somebody over there? jordan? right in the middle.

there we go. here's our guy. make a little room, everybody. >> as you can see, at this community college in nashua, new hampshire, people have been waiting, presumably it's a hot room, and they are getting the emergency medical teams. someone has apparently passed out. we don't have details. the president's obviously waiting as the emt team is coming in to help someone. and everything looks like it's going to be okay and the president's about to resume his speech. this is a speech on energy and jobs in new hampshire, as the president visits new hampshire before a fund-raising trip through new york, which is going to be a very big series of high-dollar events. let's listen to president obama.

>> so you know a little snow was not going to keep me away. which is why i can relate to new hampshirites. because, you know, this is just like a dusting. it's like, what's the big deal? there's no big deal. when air force one landed, there were like 50 people waiting to shake my hand. they've got icicles on their eyebrows. i'm like, hey, great weather. so i want to thank all of you for making the trek out here. i really appreciate it. i just had a chance to look at some of the cutting edge work that's being done here at the auto shop. you know, earlier this week, i gave a speech to american auto workers, where i said that one reason this country has an auto industry today is because we're not just building cars again, we're building better cars.

cars that -- we're building cars that use less oil, cars that go further on a gallon of gas, and in part, that's because of what's happening in places like this community college. it's because of so many of you. now, i don't need to tell you why fuel efficiency is so important, especially right now. most of you have filled up your gas tanks in the last week or two. am i right? it hasn't been a happy experience. you've with seen the prices go up almost every day. and you've already felt the pinch, whether you own a car or maybe you own a small business that uses energy. some of you have no choice but to drive a long way to work. and higher gas prices are like a tax, straight out of your paycheck. and in the winter, the rising price of oil is also making it more expensive to heat your

homes. now, i know this is hard to believe, but some politicians are seeing higher gas prices as a political opportunity. you're shocked, i know. but it's true. right in the middle of an election year, who would have thought? so recently, the lead in one news story said, and i'm quoting here, gasoline prices are on the rise and republicans are licking their chops. licking their chops. now, let me tell you, only in politics do people respond to bad news with such enthusiasm. that doesn't happen anywhere else. and so as a consequence, you can anticipate, we're going to be hearing a lot about how people have these magic three-point plans to make sure that you're only paying $2 a gallon gas.

just like we heard about it in the last election, just like we've heard about it for the last 30 years. and you know what the essence of their plan is going to be, which is, step one, drill, step two, drill, step three, keep drilling. and by the way, we'll drill in your backyard, we'll -- wherever it is, we're just going to put up more rigs. now, if there's one thing i know about new hampshire, it's that your political bull detector is pretty keen. it's pretty sharp. you know that we can't just drill our way to lower gas prices. there are no quick fixes or silver bullets. if somebody tells you there are, they aren't telling you the truth. if we're going to take control of our energy future, which we have to do, if we're going to avoid high gas prices every single year, with a lot politicians talking every single year, but nothing happening, if

we're going to avoid that, then we've got to have an "all of the above" strategy, that develops every single source of american energy. not just oil and gas, but also wind and solar and biofuels. we've got to keep developing the technology that allows us to use less oil in our cars and trucks. less oil in our buildings, in our factories. and that's the strategy we've been pursuing for the last three years. and it's the only real solution to this challenge. now, here's the good news. we're making progress. and you can see it in this chart. there's a chart behind me right here. we're using visual aids today. the bar on the left shows that six years ago, 60% of the oil we

used was imported. since i took office, america's dependence on foreign oil has gone down every single year. every single year. in fact, in 2010, it was under 50% for the first time in 13 years. for the first time. and, you know, we gave one of these handy charts to everybody who came today. so you can impress your family and friends with your knowledge. it makes a great conversation piece at parties. now, one of the reasons our oil -- our dependence on foreign oil is down, is because of policies put in place by our administration, but also our

predecessor's administration, and whoever secedes me is going to have to keep it up. this is not going to be solved by one party, it's not going to be solved by one administration, it's not going to be solved by slogans, it's not going to be solved by phony rhetoric. it's going to be solved by a sustained "all of the above" energy strategy. and no matter what you hear for some folks in an election year, the key part of this strategy over the last three years has been to increase safe, responsible oil production here at home, while also pursuing clean energy for the future. we don't have to choose between one or the other. we've got to do both! so when it comes to oil production, under my administration, america is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. that is a fact.

that's a fact. under my administrations, we have a near-record number of oil rigs operating right now. more working oil and gas rigs than the rest of the world combined. think about that. that's a fact. we've opened up millions of new acres for oil and gas exploration, where appropriate and where it is done safely, and we've approved more than 400 drilling permits since we put in place new safety standards, to make sure that we don't have the same kind of spill that we had down in the gulf a couple of years ago. and we've approved dozens of new pipelines to move oil around, including from canada. just this week, we announced that we'll do whatever we can to help speed the construction of a pipeline in oklahoma that will relieve a bottleneck for oil that needs to get to the gulf. and that's going to help create

jobs and encourage production. so we're focused on american oil production. we are doing all that we can in a safe, responsible way, to make sure that american oil production and gas production is high. but here's the thing. the amount of oil that we drill at home doesn't set the price of gas on its own. and the reason is is because oil is bought and sold on the world energy market. and just like last year, the biggest thing that's causing the price of oil to rise right now is instability in the middle east. this time, it's iran. but a lot of folks are nervous about what might happen there. and so they're anticipating there might be a big disruption in terms of flow. and when uncertainty increases, speculation on wall street can drive up prices even more. those are the short-term factors at work here.

so when you start hearing a bunch of folks saying somehow that there's some simple solution, you can turn a nozzle and suddenly we're going to be getting a lot more oil, that's just not how it works. over the long-term, the biggest reason oil prices will rise is because of growing demand in countries like china and indiana and brazil. just think about this. in five years, the number of cars on the road in china more than tripled, over the last five years. the number of cars tripled. nearly 10 million cars were added in china alone in 2010. 10 million cars. just in one country, in one year. so that's using up a lot of oil. and those numbers are only going to get bigger over time, as places like china and india get wealthier, they're going to want to buy cars like we do and they're going to want to fill them up like we do, and that's going to drive up demand. so what does this mean for us?

what does this mean for america? it means that anybody who tells you that we can just drill our way out of this problem does not know what they're talking about or they're not telling you the truth. one or the other. here's another way to think about it. the united states consumes more than 20% of the world's oil, but we only have 2% of the world's oil reserves. 20% we use, we only produce 2%. and no matter what we do, it's not going to get much above 3%, so we're still going to have this huge shortfall. that's why if we really want energy security and energy independence, we've got to start looking at how we use less oil and how we use other energy sources that we can renew and that we control, so we are not subject to the whims of what's happening in other countries.

we have to keep developing new technology that helps us use less energy. we've got to keep relying on american know-how and ingenuity, that comes from places like this one, nashua community college. that's our future. and that's exactly the path that we've been taking these past three years. because the investments we've made, the use of clean, renewable energy in this country has nearly doubled, is thousands of americans have jobs because of it. we're taking every possible action to develop a near 100-year supply of natural gas, which releases fewer carbons. now, that's something that experts believe will support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade. our cooperation with the private sector has positioned this country to be the world's leading manufacturer of high-tech batteries, that will power the next generation of

american cars. and after three decades of doing nothing, we put in place fuel economy standards that will make sure our cars average nearly 55 miles per gallon by the middle of the next decade. that's nearly double what we have today. and that, by the way, applies not just to cars, it applies to light trucks, and now it's going to apply to heavy trucks as well. so that means that every time you fill up, you can think to yourself, you know what, i won't have to fill up again for two weeks instead of one week. that's worth applauding. because what that means is that will save the typical family more than $8,000 at the pump, and it means that this country

will reduce our oil consumption by more than 2 million barrels a day, which means we can continue to see a decline in how much imported oil we need. and that's good for our national security, that's good for our economy, and it's good for our environment. so that's the strategy we've got to pursue. but we've got to do more, and we've got to do more even faster. we've got to keep investing in developing every available type of american-made energy. and this means that we've got to set some priors. we've got to make some choices. first, while there are no short-term silver bulls when it comes to gas prices, i've directed my administration to look for every single area where we can make an impact and help consumers.

from helping to relieve bottlenecks like the one we've got in oklahoma to making sure speculators aren't taking advantage of what's going on in the oil markets. and we're going to just keep on announcing steps in the coming weeks, every time we find something that can provide a little bit of relief right now, we're going to do it. but over the long-term, an "all of the above" strategies requires the right incentives. and here's one of the best examples. right now 4 billion of your tax dollars subsidizes the oil industry over year. hmm. $4 billion. now, these companies are making record profits right now. tens of billions of dollars a

year. every time you go to the gas tank or fill up your gas tank, they're making money. every time. now, does anyone really think that congress should give them another $4 billion this year? >> no! >> of course not. it's outrageous. it's inexcusable. and i'm asking congress, eliminate this oil industry giveaway right away. i want them to vote on this in the next few weeks. let's put every single member of congress on record. you can stand with the oil companies or you can stand up for the american people. you can keep subsidizing a fossil fuel that's been getting taxpayer dollars for a century, or you can place your bets on a clean energy future. i'm asking everybody here today, anybody who's watching at home,

let your member of congress know where you stand. will you do that? because i know, i know where i stand, new hampshire. i know where i stand on this. you know, we want to have successful oil companies that are able to get the oil that we have in our country, but we also understand that our future requires us to make investments in clean, renewable energies and that has to start now. we can't wait. we can't wait until gas has skyrocketed more, and people are desperate. we need to start making those investments now. >> president obama in nashua, new hampshire, speaking at a community college about energy and accusing the republicans of phony election year promises when it comes to their claims that they can do something about gasoline prices. and pointing out with charts that fuel consumption of foreign imports has gone down rapidly. meanwhile, two american soldiers

were shot and killed today by two afghans and one of the killers was wearing the uniform of an afghan soldier. six americans have now been killed amid the recent wave of anti-u.s. protests over the burning of korans, including two officers who were murdered inside the afghan interior ministry last weekend. yesterday, i had the chance to speak to u.s. ambassador to afghanistan, ryan crocker, and to the nato commander, marine admiral john allen about those killings and what they can do to protect u.s. forces. >> we're going to establish the facts. we'll take those measures that are necessary, ultimately, to provide for the security of our individuals, as soon as we possibly can, obviously. to ensure that this doesn't happen again. >> ambassador, what do you say to those who are now questioning the very purpose of us being in afghanistan? >> we have to remember why we came here. we came here because al qaeda, sheltered by the taliban, planned operations that killed 3,000 americans on american

soil. al qaeda is the diminished. it's still out there. the taliban is still out there. they're just waiting for us to decide that we don't want to do this anymore and go home, and they will be right back in wil business. it's a security threat we can't afford. >> can ipararase perhaps the question that was asked by john carey, what general do you say to the last american who will die in afghanistan? why are we still there? >> what we do every day strengthens the forces. that campaign is continuing and it's on pace. that's the reason that we're here. that's the reason that we're being successful right now. >> ambassador, mitt romney and many others in the republican party, in particular, have criticized president obama for apologizing for the incineration of the korans, what can you say

about the fact that the president apologized? does that undercut our authority? >> absolutely not. it was the right thing to do. general allen, apologized, the president did, i did. i think we have to understand the significance of the koran to muslims. it is feud by them as the literal word of god. we don't have an equivalent in christianity. it's taken very seriously. it was a mistake. it was a mistake that deserved an apology. our well-trained troops with everything that's gone into our engagement in muslim world, incinerated korans. >> we're investigating it to ensure we understand how that could happen with that very small group in that one place. it's very important to understand that we've been here

for a while. we've been here for a long time, and thousands and thousands of international forces, let's talk about the united states for a moment. in all those years and among all these troops, the respect that has been shown to the faith of the islam, the respect that has been shown to the handling of religious materials has really been commendable. we're going to find out why this happened. we're going to fix the processes that might have permitted it to occur and we will hold people accountable under u.s. law. we're going to get at that. we're going to ensure that we understand the faith of islam. we're going to assure that we handle the proper care of religious materials. the campaign is on track. campaign is succeeding be ingsu.

the campaign is underway and there's no premature of draw down of our forces. >> ambassador, there are reports that there's concerns about military officials as well as diplomats that if there were an israeli strike against iran, they would retaliate against soft targets, against american forces in afghanistan. how well prepared are we for some potential counter strike by iran against americans in afghanistan? >> that's hypothetical. they trained us not to answer even a single one. i have no idea what may happen. i have no idea how they might respond. i can tell you sitting next to a truly great marine leader that

whatever any one might try to do, they're going to run into something pretty tough on this side. >> that was ryan crocker and general allen from kabul. which political stories will be making headlines in the next 24 hours? chris cillizza joining me now. chris, the president we saw he was giving his speech defending his energy policy. he's heading to new york. that's the money capital of the world for political fund raising. >> four fundraiser tonight. >> he works for all of us. >> i was going to say he's the presidential historian. these four fundraisers will be a hundred fund raisers since president obama announced in the spring he was running for re-election. republicans are having fun with this, but look, barack obama with gladly take the money, take

a little guff from runs. they're doing everything they can to stockpile money in advance of what could be a 2 to $3 billion election. >> a billion here, a billion there. chris christie going to ohio. super tuesday's ohio for mitt romney tomorrow. we'll talk about all that. thank you very much. that does it for us if this edition of "andrea mitchell reports." tamron hall has a look at what's next on "news nation." great to see you. the latest on the blunt talk and debate that proceeded the defeat of senator roy blunt's amendment that would allow employer's to avoid health coverage for moral or religious reasons. some members of the senate say if more women were in congress this debate would not have happened. it's our "news nation gut check." was the senate right to defeat

that amendment. the latest on the worry over another round of tornadoes that could hit the very same areas ravaged by rare, fast moving late winter tornadoes yesterday costing 13 people their lives. the latest on what happened to andrew breitbart. new details on his death and what supporters and critics are saying. the world needs more energy. where's it going to come from? ♪ that's why right here, in australia, chevron is building one of the biggest natural gas projects in the world. enough power for a city the size of singapore for 50 years. what's it going to do to the planet? natural gas is the cleanest conventional fuel there is. we've got to be smart about this. it's a smart way to go. ♪ the day starts with arthritis pain... a load of new listings... and two pills. after a morning of walk-ups, it's back to more pain, back to more pills.

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