operating by 2013. how is this anything other than political football? >> it's totally political football. let's get facts straight. we talk about who to blame for high energy prices little of this is in the president's control. gas is high because oil is high. oil is high because of demand from nations like china and india and also the fact there is a lot of speculative hot money in commodities stock. so i think that this kind of blame game really is a political one. >> i guess then you know, when we talk about this and we talk about the keystone pipeline, gas prices and so on there is a huge amount of confusion in the american public who is doing what. we have a gallup poll that says should the u.s. government approve the keystone pipeline, 20% saying no. did the white house have any option but to do something on this? >> no, it didn't. >> to have the illusion of. >> of doing something. i think the southern portion would go forward regardless what

if the president is saying is around energy and energy exploration because people are upset about gas prices and they pay 4 bucks a gallon, there is a good reason to be upset. she's correct, little the president can do directly short-term to impact gas prices. that's the iranian situation, a number of middle eastern issues. this is not something that obama can control but he needs to talk about it. people want to hear the president say i know what you're feeling because of gas prices. this is what i'm doing. >> does it work? do americans say oh, he is doing something. >> sure. of course. it's political football and it's pretty good political football. if it was -- if it is entirely politics for the republicans to blame him for $4 gas, that's ridiculous, so in the quid pro quo of political theater say okay, i'm going to approve this thing i don't need to approve. it's theater but works. >> ari is shaking his head. >> i don't like it. it feels like you don't get a

pipe line, i give you half a pipeline. i think the biggest renewable resource in this politics is leadership. i think you stick to your guns. i don't like the optics of it. the white house thinks that they can own this while also say hey, are we talking about energy, yeah, for days on end. but the pipeline has become fairly or not, a republican issue and not his issue. >> the thing on the pipe line though, with or without keystone this country is becoming more energy independent than it has been. we're exporting more petroleum products since 1949. there's more rigs in this country. it's going to happen regardless so in a way this is sort of a faux issue. >> if we talk about the political calculation as ari brings up, let's not forget in january the president said the state department thought the congressional deadline was rushed and arbitrary. the rest of the pipeline is not going to be decided on until 2013. i know this is you know, treason in certain circles but it does feel inauthentic from the president who doesn't usually play such transparently

political games depending on how you interpret the white house's actions. let's talk a little bit about gas prices. we know that the current average is 3.88 a gallon, a month ago it was 3.57, a year ago 3.55. again, the president doesn't have a lot of control over. he makes the case for this is beyond my control but at the end of the day do you approve of the way president obama's handling gas prices? 26% approval, 65% disapproval. how much is this the issue of the summer leading into november? >> it certainly is the issue of the summer. but these spikes tend to happen around now. they tend to peak late spring, and thend to recede and our attention recedes. that will probably happen again. some suggest that oil might go to $200 a barrel. >> i agree, i think it's going to be down by november. in part because the emerging markets that were wanting that oil are slowing and also the iran thing, there is a fear factor always in the middle east that jacks up prices maybe 30%. once that dissipates. >> can i throw cold water or

cold oil on that poll. >> oil sounds horrible. i choose the water. >> my spa is always cold oil. i don't think that kind of statistic tells us much. it's not like counter trends where you'll see approval of how you're handlings terrorism can be high even if we've been attacked. because the public distinguishes the issue. i think when you ask people how do you handle the president -- how is the president handling this issue, whoever is president, if gas prices are in their view the too high they say they don't like how he handles it. i don't think it's assessment of his energy policy. >> the question by its nature, of course the president has virtually no power over the price of gas. >> you know what is interesting. we were talking about this before the show, not all of us but me and some other people. the thing about gas prices, and i don't remember who made this point but it's the price is up there on a billboard. one of the last few bassians of

american commerce. >> the sign on every corner. >> you are sitting at the pump and watching the dollars and cents tick off. regardless whether it's actua y ly having an impact, but you are so cognizant of the price. a 6-cent difference, people are cognizant of that. >> it reminds me of the psychological effect that house prices have for that reason. you may not need to sell but when you look and see you're still 30% down it has an effect on your own wealth. >> you get credit on your watch for the economy that you inherit and deal with. the economic recovery is not all obama's doing, some is cyclical nature. he's going to credit that he doesn't deserve and he will get some blame that he doesn't deserve. >> the nature of the beast. it's important to note that food costs have been flat and inflation rates held steady if we're talking about the broader

economic impact of rising gas prices. and "the new york times" brings this up. gas purchases account for less than 4% of household spending. this is a lot of math so pay attention. prices would need increase by at least 28% to lift that share by a single percentage point. so far this year they have jumped by 15%. so again, this -- >> gas goes up the rate it's gone up it's a penny a mile. okay. you drive 12,000 miles. it's $120 a year. is that going to be the difference between i am miserable economically or not, i don't think so. >> one thing, though, it's a higher percentage for the poor. it's a fairly higher percentage for the poor so i think that's the group that's going to feel this as always at the pump. and on food for that matter. >> it is a bigger issue in swing states. in places where people are commuting, it's not as much necessarily in an urban area but if you're in the suburbs of michigan and you're driving 25 miles, then these average numbers don't hit. you may take a bigger bite out

of your monthly budget. >> that's also interesting if we're talking about swing states is where president obama s. we're going to talk about the purple states. he is targeting the energy tour and areas where he you know, there could be some pushback from the republican party or could be very good for democrats in november. it is very targeted all of the above energy strategy that the president is pursuing. coming up, there are new indications that the long primary slowing is weakening the gop in some key swing states, now the obama campaign has its eyes on uncharted territory. we'll look at the battleground next on "now." 14 clubs. that's what they tell us a legal golf bag can hold. and while that leaves a little room for balls and tees, it doesn't leave room for much else. there's no room left for deadlines or conference calls.

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as we mentioned, president obama is in oklahoma and ohio today. he was in new mexico and nevada yesterday. he has visited virginia and north carolina this month, also in florida and wisconsin last month. coincidence or not. these are all swing states. and recent polls show the prolonged republican primary race is hurting the gop candidates in the very same areas. are we surprised? i want to actually, before you answer that, jim messina, president obama's campaign strategist said that we were crazy when we said we could win north carolina. now we believe we can win it that we put the democratic national convention there. states are changing because of the demographics, arizona is going to be a toss-up state. we're looking at georgia. boom. >> i don't know about georgia. oklahoma.

did we add oklahoma to the swing state list? i'm not sure. i think what they do there is to make it look like these are non-political events so they throw 18 state they can't win and throw in the rest. it's an energy state. but yeah, no, he's going to go to the swing states he can talk about energy which is an issue in those states. >> let's focus on the campaign strategy. there is a smoke screen, presidential events but really actually probably campaign events. and we've gotten more data about the obama re-elect campaign in reebt days. we've been talking about the gop race. i thought this was interesting. ari, i've been told that your title has been or is net movement correspondent. >> true. >> and so i'll direct this to you. nielsen web ratings, president obama's page 4.2 million visitors more than the four gop candidates combined.

women went to santorum, 59% of president obama's traffic was women. romney 46 and paul 43. visitors by age, obama is getting 50-plus, that's 52% of his traffic. romney, 50-plus is 34%. santorum gets 38% for the 35-49 and paul not surprisingly strong among younger voters, 18-34. what do you make of the 4.2 million figure. >> it's a communication mechanism for them. it was new and there was buzz. now it's plodding along. it may not be fascinating to the average vort but it's a force multiplier for them. when they drop new voos like the long 17-minute ad they put it out to the networks. they have 25 million facebook friends. they post that. those people are sharing it. i spoke to a person in the web department last week for an article that is at the

nation.com where they said they had their highest traffic day of the campaign this year, when they put that video up from web streaming. who is streaming as you point out, alex. it's not 25-year-old bloggers, it's people over 50, who want to get re-ignited. some will share that. is that more valuable than knocking on someone's door, doesn't matter because they are doing both. >> i want to play this ad that the obama campaign has released regarding setting up your own grass roots campaign. >> today i'm going to show you how to set up your own grass roots fundraising page and how to invite your friends and family. as a grass roots fundraiser you are playing a key role in helping get president obama re-elected this fall. >> it's the online how to do it kit. >> what i hate about the internet is how to do things like that. >> the internet hates you. >> you are or not. i'm not asking that question. >> i am a hot spot though. >> yes you are. but there is something to that,

right. we talk about president obama's fundraising prowess in terms of small donations. the dude is killing it. >> they can do those nice calm how-to videos while the republicans are busy furiously showing etch-a-sketches and saying each other is a liar. >> he is killing it. it seems more authentic than when romney goes to the small guy. >> you don't hear the president out front talking about health care reform because it doesn't poll well, generally, but there are activists and people you know, who are in the party who get fired up about it and you can sort of communicate to them by the internet in this way to let them know what was in the health care law without having the president out talking about something that to the sort of suburban soccer mom voter. >> you bring up health care and a beautiful segway. at this moment the house is voting to repeal parts of the affordable care act. specifically to repeal the independent payment advisory

boards which the gop labeled death panels. let's listen to a new ad from the rnc on health care playing in purple states. >> barack obama promised to cut health care costs. >> we'll bring down premiums by $2500 for the typical family. >> but it didn't happen. 6 in 10 americans are seeing their premiums rise, the average cost of a family policy is up $1300. and a key part of obama's health care take over will cost 100 billion more than promised. >> this is the thing. you look at sort of the message coming from team obama and it's this positive, you could probably say annoying in some cases, but like not -- i wouldn't say polyanaish, build a grass roots fundraising operation, talk to your friends, talk to your neighbors. it is a forward moving vision. you look at that, that's the republican strategy in swing states which is negative. what he's done is bad. let's repeal it. i wonder is that -- which is

going to have more fuel for fire come november. >> it depends if people blame obama care for health premiums going up. of course, the takeover that obama care is positive upon hasn't happened yet. so first you don't have it both ways in that sense. second of all, you know, like with higher gas prices, with unemployment, oh, god my health care premiums are going up. that's bad. i don'ts think that accrues negatively so much to the president. it's what they got so that's what they are going with because there is this base of people who think obama care and health care reform is terrible. i don't think it gets them into the independent middle. >> the ad you showed is technically accurate but dishonest. it is talking about rates that exist because rates are going up. the structure of the insurance market. you have a plan that's going to bring more young people into the insurance market and bring premiums down. that's the plan. if you oppose it because you don't think that's the role of

government or you don't think the constitution allows it because monday the supreme court will hear that that's an honest prerooe ply. the problem is that it's dishonest. >> so i think is the phrase death panels but that's not stopping anybody. . after the break can mitt romney etch-a-sketch the etch-a-sketch thing. we'll discuss it next on "now."

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it was supposed to be mitt romney's big day, a crushing win in illinois, the endorsements of jeb bush and a growing acceptance in the republican base that he really is going to be the nominee. instead, he had to duck questions about the etch-a-sketch. >> i'm not doing a press conference right now. okay. >> a few minutes later rom

niece's campaign taking one question and going on record about the etch-a-sketch. >> organizationally a campaign takes on a different profile. the issues i'm running on will be exactly the same. >> all right. i heard the phrase etch-a-sketch like for too often. we do have to talk about this. because i think on a lot of levels, you mentioned this during break, curt, it's not a good thing to have romney say. they have tried to walk this back and parse it but at the end of the day, the question posed to eric, romney campaign strategist, the question was, is there a concern that the pressure from santorum and gingrich might force the governor to the -- to tack so far right it would hurt him with moderate voters in the general election. >> he should have said it's like twister where you get so contorted, then we can start the game over. >> he should have just said no

because he has consistent conservative principles. >> the guy was a reporter and he was apparently too good of one because he was too vivid. >> the fact is he was correct in saying the campaign is like an etch-a-sketch. the primary season, the general election season and they are different things and there is a different audience and that's accurate. but if you say etch-a-sketch in the same breath as mitt romney you're going to create a problem because that's the problem with him is that he changes positions. >> issues, too. it's not just you have a different strategy going to the general. it's have you tacked too far right and i think specifically with regards to reproductive rights it's going to hurt mitt romney. the answer is nah, we're going to erase that. >> we're actually moderate like santorum says. >> this is the buzz feed has a quote from romney in 2002 that came out a couple minutes/hour ago. let's play that. >> a different view than most republican, the old traditional republicans.

i'm a lot more like my mom and dad in that regard so. my agenda is different. >> i have a very different view than most republicans, the old traditional republican, i'm a lot more like my mom and dad in that regard. this is actually what everybody thinks about mitt romney, but his campaign is you know, doing a very bad job of convincing us. >> you know, no time like the present to tact to the center if you've got it wochblt he's got it won. >> what is tacking to the center? it is trying to convince people that you share their values. >> that i'm not crazy. >> but it's not trying to show them that you know how to cater and pretend to share their values. that is the difference. that's why speaking in this overt political way is bad for not only the candidate but his aides and that's what makes it a gaffe because it aligns with the truth that is damaging to his campaign. if it were a misstatement, you know mitt romney, he won't listen to the generals. he'll never change his mind. might sound weird but no one

would care because that's not the big problem at the core of his candidacy. >> you got to -- this is history redux, right. after florida it was like you killed it. you nailed it. then it was i don't care about the very -- yeah. toilet flush. i want to talk about another mitt romney and i think this deserves as much discussion and debate as the etch-a-sketch comment regarding what mitt romney thinks about the economic recovery and who he credits with the economic recovery. >> there was a fear that the whole economic system of america would collapse, all of our banks, virtually all would go out of business. in that circumstance president bush and hank paulson said we have to show we're not going to threat whole system go out of president. i hear the president say he's responsible for keeping america for going into a great depression. no, that was president george w. bush and hank paulson that stepped in. >> that was george w. bush and hank paulson. >> he is trying to get on the

wrong bailout here. align with wall street while president obama is winning detroit and middle america. bad strategy. the core problem in our economy right now is the shrinking middle. can a super wealthy private equity guy deal with that. >> it makes it hard for him to campaign against president obama. because of course it is a bush paulson obama geithner continuous recovery from near apocalypse. he can say oh, obama doesn't deserve all the credit but he can't say it's a different policy. >> it's the guggenheim video. which begins talking about that moment in american politics when president obama took the reins from president bush and he did act with a certain amount of strength and confidence in a time of crisis. it is also telling that he's talking about george w. bush. i would bet they are not a lot of american who is think fondly about george w. bush and his

handling of the american economy. >> it's -- he is right that paulson and bush started tarp but he's wrong it wasn't continued, that tim geithner was deeply involved in the beginning and the execution of it. if you're going to pick one bailout, when you're the wall street guy and criticize the auto bailout which arguably saved jobs is insane. >> it shows that mitt romney doesn't have a good feel for politics. it is technically true, it is technically true whether you like it or not that most of the tarp funds in the fed program has delivered returns to the taxpayer. but tarp stands for so much more than that now. >> it does. we'll be back with more questionable lines from republican candidates including newt gingrich after the break. that's next.

i believe that obama is not stupid. i also believe that number one he's a muslim. number two, he's a student of saul alinsky and cloward-pavin. >> i agree i believe he is driven by a radicalism and he doesn't care what level of pain it costs the rest of us. >> that was newt gingrich yesterday making no efforts to correct a voter who called the president a muslim trying to take down america. gingrich later said it's not his, quote, obligation to correct voters on, quote, every single topic. this of course reminds me of rick santorum who had a similar kerfuffle after someone called the president an avowed muslim. it's mind boggling to me these guys feel no shame about not

defending wild allegations that are meant to undermine the president's legitimacy. >> if you tried to correct voters in louisiana on every mistake you could spend your entire campaign because there are a lot of voters who have very silly ideas about who the president is. as we were saying newt gingrich is going out in a blaze of idiocy. this is terrible stuff. he's not going out with class. does that hurt him i don't know. >> about correcting voters, the thing it brings to mind for me, not a problem to be muslim in this country, but also it reminds me the political situation, talking about this earlier curt and i, reminds me of what's going on in the arab world. you have islamists using social issues to avoid the economic issues that they need to deal with, hello, we're doing the same thing in this country. >> similarly there they would say well, i know that this politician has american friends. i mean it's literally the opposite. >> i would just go one deeper.

this is still building off the racial subtext of many aspects of this republican primary. of course there is nothing wrong with being muslim and you have to word that in your rebuttal. this is a candidate who out of his own mouth talked about this being the food stamp president and having a kenyan mindset. these are bad things, these are racially driven attacks and that's the context for some of the people who support him and come to his rallies. i will say credit also where its due, mitt romney has by and large been responsible in this area, and that is a contrast to the darker elements of this republican primary. >> and let's remember john mccain in 2008 defended president obama and said no, he's not a muslim. there is nothing wrong with him being a muslim but the coded language is he wants to bring america to its knee, newt gingrich using the dog whistle of radicalism and the saul alinsky stuff it's everything but the word jihad that president obama wants to wage against this country. >> i know saul alinsky was the

devil thanks to glenn beck. my republican father introduced me to him in the 1960s. >> and george romney, father of mitt, was the person that palled around with him. let's talk about rick santorum because we haven't mentioned him. he is the other front-runner or sort of front-runner. who took his own time to sort of attack the president on personal grounds the other day. let's listen to that. >> you should set an example. i think that's what presidents do. they set an example. and when the government is saying this is not safe then you don't set the example by sending your kids down there. >> that was rick santorum talking about the president's daughter malia going on a school trip to mexico where there is no travel advisory, but questioning his judgment as a father. which is not something we've seen in the race this far. to my mind represents a new low as far as attacks. >> there are many words that start with d, which you could recall rick santorum.

that was to me as the father of daughters who send them to places like mexico, i found that the most atrocious and inappropriate statement. >> republican commentators criticize him. you do not politicize the president's children. it plays poorly with parents. i'm a father of sons who eventually will go who knows where but it's bad -- >> spring break. >> god willing to college. >> if newt gingrich is president. >> it looks terrible for him and just leave the president's kids alone. >> let's talk about where rick santorum is going from here. we know that he held his speech in gettysburg, pennsylvania and his -- keep saying campaign strategist extraordinare what else can you call john braybender. he is cautiously optimistic he will win a majority of delegates. pennsylvania is a beauty contest in terms of delegate allocation. this is where rick santorum needs to win the popular vote. if he can't win his own state what reason does he have to be

in this race. >> i looked at 2008 polling on this because people are making this comparison the last cycle. what you saw in a race that was evenly split is when asked whether hillary clinton should stay in the race if she won ohio at the time was a big state, 67% of democrats said yeah, she should stay in the she wins ohio. that included obviously a lot of people supported obama. to alex's premise, if you keep winning certain pivotal states your party's base, including the people who respect but oppose you, will say yeah, keep running because people do like democracy, they are not in the media mind-set how do we resolve this. keep going. >> i will say if we're talking about coalescing it's beyond jeb bush. the tea party is no longer protesting mitt romney's candidacy and says -- this is parsing, conservatives may not really like mitt romney but they do not want a fractured party too divided to beat barack obama. there will be no white knight,

no dark horse and no brokered convention. we have our nominee. how less enthusiastic. >> we're stuck with this guy. i would say about pennsylvania, rick santorum has experience losing pennsylvania very badly. he did it by 16 points. he could do it again. even if it's close in pennsylvania he's done. if he loses pennsylvania forget about it. it's over now but that would be an ignominious way to go out. >> it's over now, that is no fun, ben. no fun at all. it is telling that you're getting sort of the rightest part of the right wing base finally kind of maybe sort of not angry at the fact that mitt romney is going to be the nominee. therein lies a path forward, i guess. >> it's like one of those screwball comedies -- >> the whole race is. >> katharine hepburn doesn't marry the character. she marries cary grant. >> we'll see who everybody gets married to in november. that sounded like an endorsement. you're giving me a look.

after the break, the commander of the u.s. forces in afghanistan testifies in front of the senate armed services committee about the path forward in the war. is there a case to be made for staying in afghanistan. we'll ask p.j. crowley when he joins us next on "now." [ male announcer ] at scottrade, we believe the more you know, the better you trade. so we have ongoing webinars and interactive learning, plus, in-branch seminars at over 500 locations, where our dedicated support teams help you know more so your money can do more. [ rodger ] at scottrade, seven dollar trades are just the start. our teams have the information you want when you need it. it's another reason more investors are saying... [ all ] i'm with scottrade.

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>> always a pleasure. >> the last time we had you on we were talking about the deadly shooting rampage at presumably the hands of a u.s. soldier. the general public sentiment we've got to do something about afghanistan and our presence there. do you think that general john allen can sell the idea of more troops or maintaining the same amount of troops to the president who can sell it to the american public? >> i don't think any one is talking about more kroops. once we get down toward the end of this year to the level of forces that existed before the obama surge, then the question becomes what is the -- what's the path out in terms of the end of the war, the end of the combat phase. and that's what general allen was talking about today. he owes the president a recommendation, clearly from the military standpoint he wants to hold on to as many troops in afghanistan for as long as possible. >> let's open this up to the panel. 68,000 troops is a lot of

troops. we actually have a full screen graphic of our troop levels from december 2002, 9,700, december of 2005, 17,80 o we went up 67,500. 97,000, now at 90,000. 68,000 troops a number we can hold at? does the american public stand by that? >> it's twice what was there when president obama was inaugurated. and there is this clearly articulated two-year plan to phase out in two years. so to the degree, apart from what the military people on the ground believe is the optimal number, as an optics thing for what the american people can stand, we're not cutting and running, it's an orderly phased out withdrawal and you know, yes, there are horrors that happen in every war that will continue to happen no doubt. but i think this okay, we did

our best, we're going down to 68 in the fall, and withdrawing them down to zero in two years. i think that's the thing everybody can buy. >> i think sticking with the plan is going to be crucial because i think the big thing is people don't understand quite why we're there right now. i think we've had success, obviouslile some big success. we got rid of the taliban, a lot to combat al qaeda. that's different than nation building, than peace keeping. sticking to the plan and drawing down is crucial. >> do you think that the case has been articulated as far as what our goals are vis-a-vis the drawdown? >> i want to pick up on what curt said because i don't think the answer is going to be going from 68,000 to zero. the answer is going to be going to zero in terms of combat forces but then working over the next couple months on a status of forces agreement that allow some contingent of special forces to remain in afghanistan

past 2014 to do a couple of things. we're seeing the emergence of a responsible government in afghanistan. it's still corrupt, it's still weak but it will take time to build up these institutionings. there will be 350,000 give or take afghan security forces. they will have a certain level of capability but they are going to need to be trained for a long time. we've had some progress and some success across the border in pakistan but we need to find ways to keep pressure on that which is really a safe haven for extremists. and should there be a political agreement between the afghan government and the taliban, something that i think is suspend forward the moment. then you've got to have some level of force to be able to make sure that all parties live up to their end of the bargain and you don't have the taliban inserting itself in the political process still trying to undercut the broader government. there is still work to be done

past 2014, but it will be the end of a war or combat phase and part of a long term partnership between the united states and afghanistan. >> it's interesting that you bring up the notion there is some semblance of an increasingly stable government there because anecdotally when i think of afghanistan and in particular hamid karzai we think of a frayed relationship between the u.s. and afghanistan. a government that is very corrupt. what is the latest as far as our relationship with hamid karzai. it was under duress after the shooting and the koran burning. >> ironically, the shooting had less impact on public opinion than the koran burning. there are the beginnings of institutions not only at the national level which is foreign to afghanistan but at the regional local levels where to some extent you've got a building of trust between the afghan people and government, but that needs to be nurtured

further. that needs to develop further. these institutions are still weak. you've got poppy production still going through the roof which is you know, provides much of the seeds for corruption. >> actually i thought p.j., we had basically punted on poppy production and we're saying you know, we can maybe look the other way on that because it would destabilize the economy over there. >> there's still disagreement over how best to address this. the fact you've got poppy production which oh, by the way is the manner in which the taliban stays fully funded. as long as you've got this level of poppy production it's going to be difficult to move afghanistan out of this kind of zone of corruption that handicaps its performance and undercuts the trust that needs to build with its own people. >> i want to talk a little about staff sergeant robert bales accused of the shooting spree in of course afghanistan a few weeks ago. and we have sort of new information out about his time

in medical care and he was at a station that overturned more than 40% of diagnoses of post traumatic stress disorder since 2007. we talk about the legacy of this war. in so far as the american public is dialed in i think there has been -- the story of veterans coming home from this war, the medical treatment, the unemployment numbers and so on is perhaps the most lasting i keep using the word legacy of our time in afghanistan and also iraq. >> we talked about this before. you had a 17% ptsd rate in vietnam. it's about 20% according to statistics now. so you have a different scale of war but if anything, as intense or worse emotional hardship and you have the tours of duty that everyone is following. i think that connects back with the political point you raised earlier which is united states, to give a ron paul analysis, does have a perpetual war machine and leaves areas like korea and leave behinds tens of

thousands of noncombat troops. ask people in kabul whether they buy the category of noncombat troops. it's a military distinction that has meaning but it's a different system. having said that to your point on the ground in the u.s. if we stop having so many of our people getting hurt there is a feeling okay, if we leave 68 or 45,000 behind but we're not in a hot war and not seeing these kind of deeply traumatic incidents, there is less frustration. what you have is we're past the breaking point in the united states. people do not want to see these stories continue. >> well, and does it make -- does it change the way we care for vets, change our conception about ptsd and how to treat it? >> it should. it brings up this problem that the armed forces has in the diagnosis, it costs a lot to treat. it's expensive long term to treat that. there are a number of articles about the armed forces doctors being pressured to not give that diagnosis to reduce the cost of veterans care long term. we should have a conversation about that because it's

outrageous, the way we treat veterans when they come back and who knows what went into this but it raises the issue how we care for our veterans. it should be handled very differently. >> p.j., what is the latest, we have to go soon, what is the latest with staff sergeant robert bales in terms of his trial? >> well, there's the investigation is under way. i don't think he has been formally charged. that will lead to something called an article 32 investigation where the military establishes a foundation for the trial to move forward so. there's a lot of work to do. he's got his own lawyer and that lawyer is going to go to afghanistan and giving his own -- his own investigation. so his defense is already under way. back to one quick point. it seems to me that the one good news here in terms of what we've seen in recent time and our just concern about the state of our forces that are worn out from 10

years of war, 20 years of war depending how you look at it. i think the american people are now very cautious in terms of future conflict and working our way into syria and iran. i think our politicians need to listen to the american people. >> caution should always be a pred a kit to war. thank you as always. coming up, trayvon martin and the case for standing your ground and holding legislators accountable. my postscript is next. we always hear about jobs leaving america. here's a chance to create jobs in america. oil sands projects, like kearl, and the keystone pipeline

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oh! [ baby crying ] ♪ what started as a whisper ♪ every day, millions of people choose to do the right thing. ♪ slowly turned to a scream ♪ there's an insurance company that does that, too. liberty mutual insurance. responsibility. what's your policy? ♪ amen, omen now to my post script. february 26, george zimmerman, a man previously charged with resisting arrest and violence, shot and killed trayvon martin, a high school student in possession of nothing but

skittles and an iced tea. zimmerman remains a free man thanks to florida's stand your ground law which grants citizens broad unprecedented latitude to kill in the name of self defense. and yet the sponsor of stand your ground representative dennis batchley claims the law does not apply to the trayvon martin place. there is no protection in this law for any one who pursues and confronts people he wrote. perhaps the representative was not paying attention when on wednesday a miami judge cited the same law in dismissing a case in which the defendant chased down and stabbed to death a supposed burglary. literally pursuing and confronting someone. perhaps mr. brachlley was not paying attention when the law nearly tripled the number of justified killings in the state since it was passed. or perhaps he was not paying attention when the bill was named stand your ground. in and of itself a call to confrontation a law that just as

easily could have been named don't retreat, reload. while some americans might excuse dennis for not thinking through a terrible bill, many might not excuse the better known names who made it law including then governor jeb bush, and then state senator marco rubio who jeb bush suggested should be our next vice president. if bush or rubio do intend to run for higher office, they would do well to think hard about the laws they have passed. neither man has walked back his support for stand your ground as yet. perhaps hoping the american public like dennis batchly is not paying attention. as the family of trayvon martin and outraged americans can attest, we are. thanks again to ari, curt, rana and ben. that's all for now. i'll see you back here at noon eastern. "andrea mitchell reports" is next. now washington, they're looking at shutting down post offices

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