president obama and prime minister netanyahu just wrapped up a meeting, did they agree on a policy toward iran. the president had a tone of caution. >> it's profounding in the united states's interest to prevent iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. we believe that there's still a window that allows for a diplomatic resolution to this issue. >> a moment later minute -- the prime minister indicated that we are in it together. >> for us we are you and you are us. israel must have the ability to defend itself by itself against any threat. great satan and little satan. we have spent a lot of time talking about the 2012 race.

foreign policy is something that remains pa -- a massive question mark for the president. this seems to be a pivotal time for u.s. israel relations, we can on the edge of war here. >> this is one of the few foreign policy issues that resonated during the republican debates and the potential ripple effects before a shot is fired you see a iran premium on the price of oil. 10% to 15%, this is has the ability to navigate to the core re-election message. >> the question is -- the relationship, i thought looking at the -- we were talking before the show came on, the sort of body language and the reaction, the dynamic between obama and netanyahu which has been historically tense. obama pushing a message of discipline, let's be careful and

netanyahu saying we are in it together, almost like an affi affirming that if we go, you are not far behind us. >> we get caught up in reading body language, we know they do not get along all thatly well together. it's important to pull back for the wide shot. listen, the united states of america and every american president republican or democrat has of course is, and will be in support of israel and in defense of israel. number two, we as a people and as a country, and each one of our presidents has started from the position. israel can only lose once and therefore they have to make the final decision about their defense. so when you talk about differences with opinions, these are two countries that are not only allies but we are friends. we like one another. we need to see the meeting in this context. i'll be surprised if we do not

see a good result from these meetings but i'm often wrong. >> let's talk about the potential results. some have said this is probably the last face to face meeting that these two will have before action is taken, and feel that israel will take action before november. what do you make of the situation? >> i think two things are going on. it's what they have in common and it's what their differences are. in common they want to present a unified front. at the same time, the difference is, the president is being clear, that he want s to solve this diplomatically. it's not a question of what they want to achieve. they agree on that and it's how to achieve it, and there they may have a difference of opinion. >> oil is a huge part of it. as is the sanction we will talk about the republican candidate s as it's being used as a

political football or a policy point of discussion, whichever you prefer. in terms of the sanctions that we have, whether they are crippling or not is under debate. >> and p.j. hit it. he talked about how this mays back to a real threat to the economy. most of the analysts and economists we talk to look at the rising oil prices as the biggest threat to a recovery at this point. we spoke with newt gingrich this morning and he made a point of going straight to his plan for $2.50 toer a gallon of gasoline. that is something that the republicans are waiting for, they are hoping to make political hay out of it if it comes up and it's probably the most real threat you have to the economy. >> it's hay-making season. p.j., what about the iranians, wh when they see the meeting happen. and our relationship is rock solid. i think that's a contention that the iranians are crazy and they

will sort of, you know, they cannot be controlled. but i think a lot of folks who are in foreign policy circles have countered that and said is iran can be a rational actor. >> well, general dempsey the chairman of the chiefs said it last week. no country want s attacked. iran has a different view of the outcome that suits their national interests, and this you all plays into different calculations on of time. the president wants this windows to continue, he thinks the current course is putting pressure on iran. but it has not resulted in a change in course in iran. prime minister netanyahu sees a existential threat. and iran feels that as long as they are continuing to spin of course the iatola said that an actually weapon is forbidden by

god, but he wants to be able to achieve a defacto nuclear program and present it to a nato community and say you have to live with it. >> let's listen to the president's comments yesterday. let's hear what he had to say. >> iran's leaders should understand that i do not have a policy of containment, i have a policy of preventing iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and as i've made clear time and during the course of my presidency, i will not hesitate to use force to defend the united states and its interests. >> we talk about hay making season the president had a strong message there and it seemed to be greeted with, he was embraced or applauded for having tougher language in that speech to apec yesterday of course but it bares mentioning it was said that it could bring

short-term improvements with the relationship with israel, but there's concern that with a re-elected obama would be -- under mining everything that the president is saying and making sound like it's election talk. >> that was a editorial or at least an op-ed piece and the "wall street journal" did not want obama re-elected. that is their position. you'll find that new york times and others arguing the other side of the case. there was a time, not long ago, when members of both approximate party s took the view that our dispute ends at the water's edge, when it comes to foreign policy, we will do our best, to support the president. i think this american public is 30 -- public is wanting civility, saying, yes we have a presidential race, but there are more important things at the

moment. iran's development of a nuclear weapon being one of them. the first politician that gets on to that strain of american public opinion saying look, i'm a democrat or republican, i'll make the decision that is best for the united states of america. i think that is the message that the president is trying get through. with iran, one of the problems in saying in effect i do not bluff is they may call his bluff. >> well, that is -- >> that is the question. if eye roon calls his bluff, then what? >> there's a poll that came out this morning that said, if iran is close to developing a nuclear weapon, should is destroy their ability to make nuclear weapons and 52% said we should and 40% said we should not. that is a clear decision. 12 points. >> what does initiate a nuclear program mean? there's no evidence that they are trying to manufacturer a

nuclear weapon. we are back to 2003 all over again. are we going to go to war other a fear for which there's no evidence? and that's the question. you can see president obama trying to calibrate the tough talk right up to the limit of what is necessary politically without crossing over into saying this is a good idea. we have been through two wars that have bankrupted america. you know, that have ended badly and we are just about to get out of them and now we will start a third with one? it does not make sense. >> the question is, how good is our intelligence on the ground on this one versus s where we were before. >> there you go. coming up, social issues are flooding the stage, will foreign policy be the president's problem come november, with we will look next on "now." turn left. the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick.

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the republican presidential candidates are accusing president obama of not standing up to iran. how would they have handled theed's meeting? we were talking at the break about the white house expectations vis-a-vis israel and so forth, i guess it's unsurprising, as becky said is, this is something that republicans will weigh in, candidates given the political season that we have at hand. but in terms of actually policy i'm not sure how much daylight there's between his position and their's. let's listen to what the candidates have said. this is santorum this morning in ohio. >> he has not quite agreed that iran is building a nuclear weapon, we have not made that

determination yet. i think we have a president that can grasp reality better. >> if barack obama will be the president, iran will have a nuclear weapon and the world will change. ? i can never tell with this president, what is the next step. an israeli prime minister cannot allow iranians to have a nuclear weapon. israel is compact in population, two or three or four nuclear weapons would be a second hol w holocaust. >> i'm unclear what they propose. mitt romney says crippling sanction s over and over and that seems to be about it. the idea that any u.s. president as eric outlined before break would sort of you know, gun for a war in the middle east right now or for any military intervention at this moment in time is poppycock.

>> we see the difference of campaigning and being in office. you can have a fact free zone and a free zone when you are running for office. the president has been focused on iran since day one. there's a great international impact of a danger of a nuclear weapon in iran's hands and the need to apply greater pressure. and that has happened. there's a lot going on in europe in in terms of sanctions that largely disconnects iran from the global economy and we will see how that goes. but, i think that you know, the president has pulled the united states out of iraq, you know, which has been very popular. he thats a plan to pull the united states out of combat in afghanistan in 2014, i think the american people support that. so if the president's message is i have a course, letsz run this

course, there's too much loose talk about the war, that will be broadly popular. >> we talk about the jewish folks going into this election. we have breaking'ish news that santorum will be appearing in person at apac to make his address, all of them are appearing. when we with talk about dan, that -- there was a piece about obama standing with jewish voters. in terms of the national population, the jewish vote is 2% and exercises a huge amount of pull in the national conversation. eric, you know, when we talk about this, how much does president obama have to concern himself with this jewish vote, you think going powere ining fo? >> i do not think it's the jewish vote per say.

there's not like a unified front of supports of israel. the optics here are about nationalism, tough on foreigner s, all those kind of sub texts that are going on and you can see the republicans kind of scrambling to get a toe hold in foreign policy where the president has been a republican dream. he got osama bin laden and he is increasing drone attacks and kept guantanamo open. you can feel the frustration that he look s for effective than they do. they are looking for a way in, and this is they hope their way in. >> we have not talked about the koran burnings, and if we talk about openings where the president is weak, newt gingrich said he should not be apologying to islamic radicals.

there was acinating blow by blow how they came to be burned, it looked like a massive collapse of the checks in place to keep it from happening. how responsible for the president is had -- is he in this? >> the republican candidate s as pointsed out, they to not have much to criticize on him. i don't know that he is responsible. you i might not use that word. it's hard to see how any american president under any circumstances would not have issued an apology of some sort. in the end, foreign policy is not likely to be be what moves the electorate except to how it affects the economy. we are talking about foreign policy today, the afghanistan

thing, this was a series mistake. i believe that the times seemed like it what it was, a series of mistakes. however, having been in ach began stan over the years this is really important. i would not say it's a game changer. but it has made a big difference in the afghanistan and will going forward for a certain amount of time. back again to what i call the wide shot, the big approximate picture of things, insofar as foreign policy effects our economy, makes it go up and down, that is what will count past labor day. >> labor day, feels like a long way away. >> you know my saying, overnight is a long time in politics a week is forever. >> it's another lifetime. dan, you are so reasonable. here i am looking for searing statements and all i get is reason and thought. after the break, a series of brand new polls show that tomorrow will be an interesting, interesting super tuesday. how super will it be for the

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could this be it for mitt romney. but could it be if he wins ohio? >> i think it's not enough, but if he wins massachusetts and vermont and virginia and ohio tennessee. >> that is a lot. >> if he does that and a western state as well, the conretentional wisdom in terms of momentum, delegate total will make it all about over, if he loses ohio, i think we go on to illinois in a couple of weeks. and either way, whatever happens, worse case/best case, he is the odds on favorite to be the nominee and he probably will be. >> i'm going to bring in ryan here. we look at the polls, the ohio poll romney is at 34%, a 5% gain and santorum is at 31%, a 5% loss. how did this happen for santorum? i mean, the electorate, economically in terms of the demographics favors santorum, but he seemed to have gone down

in the lead and not done a good job of messaging. >> let's look at this for a second. santorum has no right to be in the position he is in. i mean, he does not have a national campaign. he does not -- he does not have a devoted staffer counting delegates. this is a shoe string campaign that is thriving only because of the weakness of mitt romney and as things have gone on, santorum has been pushed more to the corner of just being a factional candidate. he is sort of representing this one group of basically, if we are honest about it, nonmormon religious conservatives who have not for whatever reason flocked to mitt romney's candidacy. they have withheld their support and the only place they have to go right now is with santorum. i would disagree with two thing s that mark said, one, i know there's a lot of attention on ohio. georgia is actually the big delegate take away for the day

and i would pay more attention to georgia. and two, i think if the same die manic that this race that has gone on this whole race, these victories for romney have proved to be momentum proof. he won a victory in florida and it did not seal the deal. if he has a win in a couple of state s tomorrow, i'm not sure the momentum takes the -- ends the race for him as long as very conservative tea party voters continue to have trouble with him and they have santorum in the race, i think the race continues. even if we all agree that romney is the inevitable nominee. >> i have two thing s to comment on vis-a-vis what you said. as far as a shoe string campaign. the senior strategist for the santorum campaign had my favorite quote in the "new york times" which is saying

something. nothing regarding the delegate count and the fact that romney has shown that the math is on their side. hogan said nothing inspires this one like math. that is ridiculous, the idea that math is on their side is uninspiring. and yet, there was a man that rode to the white house on mathematics and that man was barack obama, he knew the count for than most. the other thing as far as santorum, you mow, he is, this is a quote that i think bares mentioning, this morning he said, nobody paraphrases him better than he does, let's play the clip of what he said this morning. >> i walked away from all of the swobs that i had -- all the jobs that i had and we are now living on spending on our savings, not necessarily the best thing to do when you have three kids enteri entering college in the next

couple of years but this country is worth it. >> there's so many thing s to say. the college comment on the heels of the snob comment and the fact -- >> the only thing i say about that is if math were the key issue in the race, herman cain math major would have run away with it a long time ago. >> ryan, you they call you the -- they call you the best in the business for a reason. coming up. the primary and the latest "wall street journal" poll show ss that it's taking a toll on the republican cparty and the candidates. will romney also be just will romney also be just mah-romney. let's go. from the crack, off the backboard. [ laughs ] dad! [ laughs ] whoo! oh! you're up! oh! oh! so close! now where were we?

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>> the stars may be lining up for mitt romney but as they do storm clouds are swirling for his party. oh, my, somebody numbers to unpack. mark, we were talking a bit about the new nbc poll that is out that show romney is climbing up there. he has a 38% and santorum at 32% and gingrich at 13% and paul at 13%, and yet, his numbers in favor ability is down. he has a net loss of 11 points the lowest at this point ever in polling history. as it goes on. it se it seem s as if america is liking him less and less, theism indications here do not seem to be positive ones. >> he has fixing to do. but think about bill clinton in

1992, by the summer, he was in third place, his image was horrible and people did not know basic thing s like he had a daughter about him. he needs to set about picturfixs image. i do not think that anybody should rule out that he can do it. he has had a bad couple of weeks as he has won contests because he has lost control of his public image, if he gets it back, his numbers will be good enough to win. >> i want to talk about how it is effecting the republican brands on whole. we have numbers out there. in terms of the view of to gop all voters, 12% said they was a more favorable view and 40% said a less favorable view. 2012 is not just about the white house, it's about congress, and among suburban women, those ladies, asked the question, who

should control congress? now on, 37% say the gop. 48% say democrats. and in august, that number was reversed, 46% said the gop should control congress and 30% said the democrat s. that is a 17 point swing in the democrat's favor. >> these numbers will go up and down between now and november, if you you are mitt romney you have to worry about how his standing has decreased among independents in general. for a long time he was thought about reasonably comparative among in the independents and women. the polls that we are talking about will disappear, but pay attention to the women, where they are. and that will give you a good indication of how the election

is going to go. you watch that can the direction, the overall direction of the economy in the country, you'll be as with well informed as what happens in november as the rest of us. >> becky, i want to bring you in here, romney has been relying on his wife to be a sur gate, she said she may take over the debating for him. which may not be a bad thing for hip. she is has a meet right now, called him the heavyweight champion of his life. but said it did not come out right. she has been in a lot of ways s effective. >> this is mitt romney trying to bring out, yes, i have a wife, a woman i've been married to for a long time, and you need to understand me as a full person by seeing my family and my wife. >> we are seeing new ad s out that show the romney family and all their multi-child glory.

but, ryan, we think we have you here still back in washington. >> i'm here. >> we have not mentioned the angry attack muffin in the room, which is to say newt gingrich who did bring up the mason/dix -- you brought up georgia. it's a poll showing newt beginning receipt at 38%, mitt romney at at 24%, and santorum at 22%. and this morning gingrich said he would carry georgia by three or four times as romney carried michigan. and newt have to win georgia to say in the race? >> i'm tempted to saying it. on the other hand the game for the other guy s that are not romney is to deny him the majority once the contests are over in june. now it gets harder to do that as you get to the later primary s they are more winner take all.

as long as, you have your super pac sugar daddy writing you checks if you are newt, and as long as romney is he showing we weakness, i do not see them getting out. campaigns ini itity the old dayu beat your opponent because they had to get out of the race because they had no more money. it's dangerous to predict what someone like gingrich armed with a checkbook does. >> becky, on cnbc you were speaking with newt gingrich, you said it's impossible to knockout romney because of the online campaigning. >> not mentioning the super pacs we talked about that, and

admitted that he benefitted from the super pacs, one person in particular has kept him in it. he himself called it a ncaa final four without elimination. and the candidates recognize it. >> if we are talking about money and poll tib itics and super pan million dollars have been spent and half of that coming from the romney super pac, romney and the super pac s supporting him spent $40 million of the $75 million spent on the primary. it's expensive to be in the political race. >> it is a change in the campaign finance that the republicans favored, they thought it would give them the edge and it's hurt the brand in the short-term and forced them in a position where their probable front-runner that has had to move to a position that

upsets the voters that he need s in november. the youth, hispanics, women, independents. who is left? >> mark, i want to have your comments on this with an op-ed in the new york time s this week, i'm rooting for rick santorum to win the republican nomination, if santorum is the nominee, the party will no longer beable to delude itself about where it's ideology has left it. making the case that the republican party has to hit bottom before circling te ining wagons. >> to late to make a joking reference of something from last segmen segment. >> no. >> he is alex wagner's side kick. that is it. >> that is it. no comment on that. >> i'll comment on that. i think there's a huge battle in

the republican party, there are people that worry if romney is the nominee and they lose, the party will go further to the right. and some want to let the party say, this is the wing that can bring us back to the white house. look, those doe -- those debates are great and people talk about santorum and maybe he will have a come back. but right now they have to figure out how to win with romney. >> thank you to all. hogan if you are listening, do not listen to anything about what mark said about you being my side kick. you can read more on our blog including what kind of words or phrases were used to describe the gop primary. after the break, rush limbaugh is facing new fall out over his comment s about saun dra fluke,

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two words were inappropriate. they were uncalled for. they distracted from the point that i was actually trying to make. and i, again, apologize to ms. fluke. >> he seemed to apologize for what he said about george town student sandra fluke, we talk about this race and social issues and why the republican party is not just focused on the economy and here is someone, and becky i want to ask you first, rush limbaugh is not running for office, and yet, a great apt of air time has been spent defendsing -- not necessarily defending but unpacking his

comments and deciding whether they were appropriate or not. the democrats have used it for their own political gain, they are raising money off of it. the president call sandra fluke over the weekend. does it matter to the american people? >> i think it does. these issue s tend the to fall by the wayside the longer you go. but it struck accord with a rlo of people and it sticks in the voteser's mind. >> it struck a court in particular with women. many women walking to the ballot on box, i'm not saying they will not entirely remember this, but they will not have forgotten it. rush is not on the ballot but he has been put forward as their main man. you cannot have it both ways. he has been that for all these years and now when something unfortunate from his point of view and i think from the party's point of view, i'm often wrong about things, but it's

real trouble for the republican party at the time when they did not need it. at the time that they are losing influence with women in general, along come this is. a any way you cut it, i think that rush limbaugh could help if he called the woman or went down and saw her, but i do not connect that. any way you cut it. this grates on their mind when you use a word alike the "s" word and for men it does too. if you said that in texas about their sister, they would deck you in no short order. it will resonate throughout the campaign. it may dissipate some as time goes along, this is the stuff that matters in march and april and in move. it's a puzzle to me like why someone like mitt romney has not come out and said, listen, this

goes too far, it outrageous and this is not the way we talk. surprised he has not done that. >> he is stuck between a rock and a rd -- and a hard place, he is trying to appeal to the middle and the right. >> who are the conservative voters that are siding with rush limbaugh -- >> a lot of listeners. >> this could have been a great chance for mitt romney, he could have said, that is inappropriate. but he remained silent largely. >> and one of the moments for president three years ago was when john mccain came to the defense of barack obama and said that is going beyond the pale, and here is an opportunity toer the republicans to stand up and say what do we stand for, i'm offended as a father, and this

has played into the frame that it's a war against women. >> what does his daughter think about what he said, what are he they telling him in private? >> daughters in law, yeah. >> i think mike murphy said the myth about rush limbaugh is that he cannot deliver pizza much less a vote but folk s on the right say it's an issue of religious freedom but many people understand it's an attack on women's health. if not an attack, the issue is not just about women's health nip. >> one of the reasons his comments resonate is it's a deep strain in the republican party that is anti-woman and out dated and ignorant of things like reproductive rights. it's not just an out liar

comment, it's a reflection that the party itself started by not having fluke testify at a hearing. so it's not like he came out of the blue with this, he was reflecting a strategy on the part of the party as you said is surprising. >> the use of the word strategy is up for debate. but we have to leave it there. "what now? that is next on "now." losing weight clicked for me when i found a plan

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welcome back, it's time what now, a teary eyed putin has declared victory in a russian election, and now 5,000 troops are prepared for protests. we have been witness to the saga of the russian elections, puten

is saying he had 63% of the vote and america is urging that they carry out investigations of all reported violation s in the election. >> but, he won the election because he made sure there was a field that was not competitive to allow him to regain the presidency. it is under the category of be careful what you wish for, he has six more years in office, he hint hinted he may want another six after that. he that s borrowed a page saying it's a foreign conspiracy, this is fascinating, it will feed russian insecurity and it will be a bumpy ride for him. >> as we with look at the revolutions happening around the world, obviously in the middle east, the unrest in moscow over this. potential jasmine revolution may be growing in china. what does this mean as we talk about foreign policy to have something like this going on

where we have a strategic partnership and other times are at odd s with russian leadership on issue s? >> it's showing the unstop a ability of the protests, things cannot happen in the dark anymore. when you see the polling places, you are not counting the votes openly. you are not securing the ballots properly. there's shady stuff going on. people are not willing to sit around and take it anymore, especially in places like russia where there's not a tradition of that kind of uprising. you'll see it happening more and more even if a place like russia. >> and place that is not at all much like russia is massachusetts. that is my sag way to talking about the fact that one poll is showing that senator scott brown has an eight lead over democratic challenger warren. what to we make of it. >> i was slightly surprised. it tells you that brown the did

a good job moving to the center after being seen as the far right in those elections, he was moved to the center and recognized who the voters are in massachusetts. >> dan, it's a mystery in american politics right? >> but elizabeth warren went into as the underdog, that rush limbaugh conversation may help her in her drive to overcome. if she has a shot, it will be attached to the rush limbaugh effect. >> rush hour continue s, thank s to my panel. that is all for "now," i'll see you back here tomorrow at noon eastern, 9:00 a.m. pacific when i'm joined by my new panel. but until then, you can finds us on facebook, "andrea mitchell reports" is next. greetings to you andrea. >> thank you, alex. the bitter toll that the republican nomination is taking is taking its toll on the

republican brands. we will have a new "wall street journal" poll and how they will have big numbers about the republican campaign supporting women. and tina brown helping us kick off a week-long series with daily beast -- i think the volt is an awesome car.

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