, has this administration begun any planning to tap the strategic petroleum reserve again this year? >> senator, all options are on the table. >> that is something you're considering tapping. what happened to last year's prices followingt's decision to tap the strategic reserve? >> i would say, senator, all options are on the table and i would disagree as you would expect i would with you, in terms of your characterization of the president's agenda, from day one in the department of interior we have worked to develop our oil and gas resources in a safe and responsible way and we have done so both on the onshore as well as the offshore. we've also moved forward to develop other energy resources including renewable energy and for the first time since three mile island opened up the door to the possibility of nuclear energy as well. so when the president says an all of the above energy strategy for the united states, he is serious about getting us moving beyond the gridlock that has basically kept this energy program in the united states in a fail iing paradigm for the la 30 years

i don't know if you talked to mitt romney about the strategic petroleum reserve. i just interviewed him. i didn't hear him talk about strategic petroleum reserve. i heard him talking about keystone and shale permit drilling. what is your response? >> i would say this first of all, again, with respect to what richard said, i would disagree with him on the strategic petroleum reserve for this reason. it is supposed to be an negligence reserve there. we end up spending a lot to replace it, and it's really important sometimes we end up spending more to replace what we take out. so just in thinking longer term, it can be penny-wise, pound foolish in terms of the minimal benefit we get at the pump. but also this. you had a guest on earlier. you were talking about china. we know that china is also using much of the world's resources on oil, that they're actually holding reserve oil additional. we would be playing into their hands on the supply issue. and i don't think it will help gas prices. >> because it will be gobbled up. >> yes, absolutely. it's a world price. >> and

reached an agreement with britain to join forces, tapping into government- controlled strategic petroleum reserves. the talk triggered a drop in oil prices. in new york trading, they tumbled almost $2 to the $104-a- barrel level, but then recovered by the end of the day, closing at $105. but president obama today addressed worries about high oil and gasoline prices. speaking in maryland, he laid

strategic petroleum reserves. there's stories from the ft and reuters, discussions with britain, france, the united states and others. will they play the strategic petroleum reserve card to deal with iran but also to deal with, guess what, domestic political high gas price sfs. >> we certainly think the obama administration is willing to tap the sdr. democrats are more willing to deal with the price issue. we think obama is willing to use it. he used it in the case of the libyan disruption last year. we think if there's a dividend from doing it, he'll do it. >> do you have any scuttlebutt, trading, otherwise, people you talk to in washington about the strategic petroleum reserve where they might put barrels on the marked and knock down the prices? >> we get the sense that they're planning for it. we know they can jaw bone the market by openly flirting with the idea. the democratic leadership down in washington are pushing hard for it to happen. >> here's what i'm wondering, first of all, the number being quoted in

that is the number surrounding the strategic petroleum reserve.p next "talking numbers," we'll break down the charts to show you why oil may be heading lower, regardless of whether the spr is tapped. >> and then later, yields on the ten-year are up 11% since monday. has the bond bubble burst? answers coming up. >> he just went to residuals. as we head to the break, this is how each member of the dow has been trading today. more green than red. back after this. [ male announcer ] to the 5:00 a.m. scholar. the two trains and a bus rider. the "i'll sleep when it's done" academic. for 80 years, we've been inspired by you. and we've been honored to walk with you to help you get where you want to be. ♪ because your moment is now. let nothing stand in your way. learn more at keller.edu. >>> welcome back. i'm sharon epperson at the nymex. upside momentum in the metals market in this session. gold prices approaching that 1660 level. we've got a little bit of pop there in gold after that huge sell-off that we've seen over the last couple of days. in fact, s

we hear others talk about tapping into the strategic petroleum reserve. in fact, just a few headlines in recent days, the secretary says, tapping the strategic petroleum reserve is an option that's on the table for the administration. an article in "politico" on february 25, house democrat leaders are urging president obama to open the strategic petroleum reserves. another article that same day, washington liberals call on president obama to tap strategic petroleum reserve. the strategic petroleum reserve -- mr. duncan: will the gentleman yield? i've gotten facebook posts and phone calls in our office encouraging just that. for the president to tap the strategic petroleum reserves, to help lessen the price at the pump. but let me just tell america that it was during the 1970's oil embargo that i remember as a small tile -- small child that congress created this huge 727 million barrel reserve that was intended for national security emergencies. and before president obama tapped the s.b.r., the strategic petroleum reserve, back in the june of 2011, the rese

could you explain to me what your assessment is of the purpose of the strategic petroleum reserve? >> first strategic petroleum reserve, it was under the jurisdiction of my colleague secretary chu and the president of the united states. the president is very cognizant of the pain at the pump that people are feeling. we have an energy strategy and a policy that we've been working on from day one and we believe it continues to show good results so we'll move america to a new energy future. we're committed to doing that. and in terms of dealing with immediate issue of the high gas prices, all options are on the table. >> are you familiar with senator schumer's insist enence -- the president has refused to move forward in granting the peopleline from canada. do you agree with senator schumer we should be pressing for more middle east capacity rather than north american production such as can be brought in from canada via the keystone pipeline? >> first on the international effort, that's obviously something that is a focus of the administration along with dealing with what we can produc

that's why jay leno recently earlier this week during his nightly television show called the strategic petroleum reserve "president obama's strategic reelection reserve." a number of my colleagues -- and i think there are others -- think there are other ways to address high gasoline prices. we need that the strategic petroleum reserve is for emergencies, not political disasters. and it's interesting because just earlier today the house minority leader nancy pelosi endorsed tapping the strategic petroleum reserve. not because of an emergency, not because of a crisis and supply disruption, but she says to combat rising gas prices. there is almost -- there is only so much energy, so much oil in the strategic petroleum reserve. the amount that was taken back last year was never put back in to fill the tank. the amount that was taken out last year was sold. that money, if you use that known fill the tank back up, not enough, almost $1 billion more this year to fill the tank than what they got for selling the tank last year. so wre we have a tank at the strategic petroleum reserve that is not full, still wait

to him say that there's a story today they caught my eye that china is increasing its strategic petroleum reserves it already did a first round of getting building up its reserves for an emergency and now it's on to the second one this is at the same time that we see the united states this debate going on about using the strategic petroleum reserve to do something about gas prices because they're higher in this feels very much like a political football it's been used as a political football before during an election year where obama wants to get reelected and republicans are getting on him about the gas prices so my question to you is this an example of politics getting in the way of long term strategic thinking when it comes to the economy of the united states. look the politicians are there they never know for how long yeah it is just like the c.e.o.'s they they're in office for four or five years and so they try to maximize their income so the whole focus is on short run profits for the corporations and you know the the and the oil thing. once the united states government let goldman sachs i ha

speaker boehner, democrats including nancy pelosi just, she just mentioned that using the strategic petroleum reserve would be a way to lower gas prices. are you supportive of the idea? >> it did not appear to me yesterday that the president believed that that was true. when just releasing of spro without coordination with our allies around the world, all it does is shift where the supply is coming from. so it didn't appear to me that the president believed that using spro would have any meaningful effect on gas prices. >> mr. speaker. >> you guys said the senate bill was unadequate because it was two years the highway bill. now you're readying a bill that's 18 months. >> there is no brighting of a bill. >> so 18 months is not in the cards? >> apparently our members don't think too highly of it. i would only look at it as a fallback measure. we ought to do this the right way. we've had five year, six-year reauthorizations of the highway bill. i think it's important for the states and for those who want to invest in this arena to have a broad horizon so they know where we're going and a five-year bill

they say don't deploy the strategic petroleum reserve. then they want to pass the keystone pipeline bill and i say at that has to stay in the united states. off the coast of new england, florida, california. so, i have an amendment that says that oil and natural gas that has to stay inside the united states and all the republicans vote no. doesn't have to stay in the united states. can go overseas. this is a dream scenario for saudi arabia and iran and these countries. dream. it's beautiful for the american petroleum institute, okay? but anything that placates iran in terms of what the message is we're sending in terms of the amount of oil that, you know, we're going to say we don't need from them anymore. so let me ask this of you. what would that mean if there was a repeal, madam administrator, of your authority to look at how to increase the efficiency of the vehicles which we drive in the united states? >> our estimate of the savings of oil because of the national clean cars program is 12 billion barrels, mr. markey. >> and what would

today" had on their editorial page says -- calling for us to tap our strategic petroleum reserve. what's your reaction to that? >> well, first of all, the strategic petroleum reserve is there for emergencies like katrina, for example. all of a sudden, we have our refineries going down, we have to go down and we have to use it. so that's what it's for. it's not for supply and demand. we can get our supply. we don't have to go to the reserve. we just have to start drilling here in the united states and we won't have that problem. if you are to go to the reserve, it would be a very short period of time and there would be relief. they are speculating -- well, i won't use the time period because i've heard a couple of different ones but that's not what it's for. it's for a reserve for the emergency and if that should happen, we've got it. host: bakersfield, california. shawn is a independent. you're on. caller: i mean, how are you going to deny the fact that both of the sheets are melting. the habitat for the polar bears is disappearing rapidly. and even you just mentioned haney katrina

you mentioned the strategic petroleum reserve. a short-term and relatively minimal. in fact, at some point, the psychology becomes mixed in with what should be done. >> one of my big messages is don't give up on renewables. solar, wind, biofuels, i know they're getting expensive, there's technology issues that have to be dealt with. some not in my backyard issues. but i really think for the world, for the united states, we need to move more in that direction. nuclear, i think you have to keep it on the table as an option because it doesn't emit greenhouse gas emissions. we have to resolve the waste issue, the cost issue, issues relating to safety. the public's leery about nuclear and the nuclear companies. i would recommend they do is ban where the environmentalists to climate change. but, you know, they all fight each other. and worse, the political process, republicans and democrats are just so miles apart on what should be done. but politically, they're unwilling to come up with a comprehensive bipartisan bill that i think is s

need to do a lot of things that can have an impact, including pretty darned quickly, but strategic petroleum reservesn't one of they will. >> in your mind the strategic petroleum reserve can be tapped only when? national emergencies, if something were to happen in iran and prices were to spike is it quhapz in iran that forces the issue or prices spiking that is the issue? >> andrew i'm referring to why it was set up, it was set up for national security emergencies for disruption in supply. there's no big disruption in supply right now. they're generally increasing prices because we don't have enough supply long-term, including because we're not producing nearly enough in this country, we're putting basically 95% of our resources off limits. >> governor pataki is on the set. do you have a view on this? >> i agree with senator vitter on this. i think the whole idea of the strategic reserve is, there's some political ly caused disruption of supply that impacts the price. if that's the case the price does matter. only if it's caused by some political disruption globally, not just the market. i think the

all it up specifically on the release the president did last year from the strategic petroleum reserve, has the administration done anything to tap the strategic fraternal them reserve? -- strategic petroleum reserve? >> all options are on the table. what i would say is all options are on the table. i would disagree, as you expect i would, in terms of your characterization of the president's agenda. from day one, we have worked to develop our oil and gas resources in a safe and responsible way. we have done so on shore as well as offshore. we have worked to develop other energy resources, including renewable energy. since three mile island, we have opened up the door to nuclear energy. when the president says and all of the above energy strategy for the united states, he is serious about getting us beyond the gridlock that has kept the energy program of the united states in a failing paradigm for the last 30 years. >> the release of the 30 million barrels from the strategic petroleum reserve, you are going to continue with that bad idea on the table this year to? can you explain to me

that's why jay leno recently called the strategic petroleum reserve president obama's strategic reelection reserve. well, my republican colleagues and i think there are other ways to address high gas prices. the other is that when they ta tapped the strategic reserve last year and took out the 30 million barrels, they didn't actually refill it. so the strategic petroleum reserve is not filled up right now. it is lower. just to fill it back to where it should be, its baseline level, would cost actually almost $1 billion more than they got when they sold the oil last year. i believe there are things that we should be doing and can do that will enhance, not jeep dirks our nation -- not jeopardize, our nation's security and specifically our nation's energy security. we understand that the strategic petroleum reserve is for emergencies, not political disasters. and we understand that if you want more of something or if you want to lower the cost of something, you don't raise taxes on it. what you do is you make it easier to produce the product. that's why my republican colleagues and i support

obama would eventually release oil from our nation's strategic petroleum reserve.ppears that he has decided to do this just that. >> if i'm a seer, jon, i'm a seer into the past, and politicians generally if they have the chance to give away free gasoline to people before an election, they're going to like that opportunity. that's something that they're going to want to do, and certainly we saw last year when gasoline prices -- now, this was later in the year, but last year when gas got so high, president obama not only tapped the u.s. strategic oil reserve, but as we see in the case with prime minister david cameron, convinced our western allies to participate and sort of flood the world market with oil to try to bring the crisis down for a little while. jon: now, i remember when the strategic oil reserve was set up in this country, after the oil embargo, wasn't it? for truly catastrophic events like another oil embargo. >> right. but we've seen certainly in the bush administration to a limited degree under pressure from congressional democrats and popular outcry,

releasing from the strategic petroleum reserve would suggest that supply is the answer. >> well, if youould be strictly logical here, bret. that's what i mean. the president can play both games. republican need to step back and make a bigger case about why our whole energy policy is mistaken. not get to oh, gee, gas prices went down by 5 cents. et cetera. >> bret: chuck? >> gas prices stopped rising of today. that will change at some point. i agree with bill. this is forces beyond power of one party or another. it's remark to see him in brazil. interesting clip. calling for more import then and making energy security case today. anything that happens between iran, israel, saudi arabia and so forth, politically and militarily have more to do with it than what the president will do. >> bret: tucker, the president was asked about this at the news conference. his administration's take on gas prices. >> do you think the president of the united states going in re-election wantses the gas prices to go higher? is there anybody here who thinks that makes a lot of sense? >> bret: here is what his

even talking about possibly tapping the strategic petroleum reserve. how do you assess how gas prices are hurting the president? is there anything the president can do in the near term? >> there's somelike what he did with releasing oil from the strategic petroleum reserve. prices can stabilize. he did it back in january of 2011. they'll say it's a political thing, but he's doing it because it affects our recovery and individual motorists. we also know and we're urging the president to move a little more aggressively on this. we gave the tools to the commodities future trading commission under the reform bill to go after speculation. a new study says 66 cents a gallon is added to each gallon of gasoline at the pump in dayton or springfield, ohio, because of speculation. we have the tools now to fight that. the administration needs to step up and do that. just the threat of the administration doing that can cause them to back off a little bit and maybe stabilize prices. those are some more meet things the white house can do. we know we are producing more

president obama is considering releasing some of the country's strategic petroleum reserve. gas prices are up 31 cents a month. >>> in the prices are not bad enough, scammers have found new ways to get you at the pump. nay install skimming devices and they can clone your card and use it elsewhere. >>> and all bauds of these little things, worker pru eer t productivity takes a nose dive. watching the game at work cost $175 million to employers yesterday and today alone. might as well take a personal day or a, sick day. >> i think you're coming down with something. >> i think i am. >>> more sports from espn comes on this friday morning. >>> and the incredible test jump. the daredevil sky dive from 13 miles up. >> no way. [ female announcer ] you do so much... to stay healthy. but did you know fiber choice can help support your overall well-being? every tasty tablet has prebiotic fiber from fruits and veggies... that lets your good bacteria thrive and helps support your immune system. fiber choice. an easy way to defend your health everyday. learn more about prebiotics and get

supply of oil that we are not going to use the weapon we have here in the united states, the strategic petroleum reserve, in order to keep the price of oil low and not allow iran to threaten us unnecessarily? >> well, as you noted, the administration has said repeatedly that the strategic petroleum reserve is on the table, but it's a very complex issue. >> right. but that would -- it would be a bad idea, would it not, to strip the president of his authority to use it unless he approved the keystone pipeline? >> i agree. >> thank you. now, on the cftc, the republicans have a bill that's come out of agriculture committee and come out of, out of the financial services committee. that would stop all rule makings that give the cftc the authority on speculation, on margins, on position limits, on gouging, on protecting the public in the futures oil market where so much of this is just speculation being driven up, driving up the price of oil. do you think it's a bad idea to strip the cftc legislatively of their authority to be able to protect against gouging in the marketplace? >> well, no one would be in favo

president obama admits he and british prime minister cameron talked about releasing the strategic petroleum reserves. this case of government interference in the pfree markes always back fires. the president continues to mock republicans. take a listen. >> if some of these folks were around when columbus sell sail, they must have been founding members of the flat earth society. they would not have believed that the world was round. >> threw go. eight cheap shot applause line. meanwhile, folks, investors are still buying stocks. the dow was up another 59 points. the s&p passed 1,400 for the first time in four years. today's economic news pretty good. in a moment you'll hear from billionaire fracking tycoon harold hamm. he joins us live. first we begin with the pre president's defense. good evening, john. >> good evening, larry. we had proof again today that the energy issue and oil prices are going to reverberate through this entire election year. as long as prices stay high and the overall economy is recovering and provides fewer targets. the president went to a maryland community college to defend

. >> chris: will the president release oil from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve? >> we have spoken of this before and i'm not going to make any news here today. it is an option that is always on the table. it was used last year because of the situation in libya obviously. >> chris: something that the white house is actively considering? >> we are always mindful of what is going on in earl its of the oil market. not going to make any news than today obviously. we are monitoring the pipeline issues and refinery issues and supply issues. obviously the sanctions in iran are working well. hurting their oil industry and hurting their economy. >> chris: what makes you think if you were to release from the strategic petroleum reserve it would be any more effective in lowering the price of oil and gasoline than it was last year during the libyan operation? >> i'm not going to get into the hypotheticals. generally it has been whether it was done in 2005, when it was done last year when there is a determined supply disruption that needs to be filled the united states and oth

driving prices up at the pump, the white house could still decide to release oil for a strategic petroleum reserve for a short-term fix. especially in an election year. no decision on that yet, lester. >> thanks. >> i want to turn to the investigation of an american soldier accused of slaughtering 17 civilians in afghanistan. tonight, his lawyer is accusing the u.s. government of withholding vital information and afghans who say they witnessed the shooting claim staff sergeant robert bales did not act alone. all this playing out as thousands of troops from sergeant bales' home base plan to head to war. we get our report tonight from nbc's miguel almaguer. >> for the second stryker brigade, 4,200 men and women stationed at joint base lewis mcchord. >> nervous, never been without him, you know. he's our rock and he's leaving. >> a nine month deployment, the unit's first trip to afghanistan begins. for many of the soldiers, this won't be their first time in battle. >> ready to go, get it over with, serve the country and do my job. >> once on the ground in afghanistan, these soldiers will join the thi

france, to great britain, japan about the possibility of a coordinated release from the strategic petroleum reserves of those and perhaps a few other countries, an effort to drive prices down perhaps at least a bit in the short term. good idea or bad idea? >> you use the strategic petroleum reserve, and i've said this consistently under democratic and republican administrations, when there is an interruption, when there is something that is a serious supply interruption, we are not at that point. using it right now would be, i think, unwise. particularly given the fact that even under the obama administration, we're ratcheting up things against iran, i think it would be unwise for us at this point in time to tap into that reserve. >> i want you to listen to the president in the rose garden yesterday. he was saying that the congress should act, and he wanted them to act yesterday to take away the tax subsidies that go to big oil companies. he also said something about the current consternation about prices. listen. >> as the economy is growing, the only time you start seeing lower gas prices is when

holding ever since even though the white house is coming out saying we are not releasing the strategic petroleum reserve. all the airlines see a bit of a spike about an hour and a half ago. they have come off that a bit. but they are still up. here's the reason why, mandy. when you look at jet fuel over the last six months as it continues to move higher, the bottom line is that the expectation among investors is that at some point there will be a break in oil prices. and jet fuel prices will come down. as we all know, mandy, jet fuel is the number one expense for the airlines. if they can get a break there after spending $50 billion on jet fuel last year, they'll take it this year. >> i bet they would. i'm sure they're wanting a break right now. i want to ask you in the meantime to what extent do high jet fuel prices driving the need for consolidation in the sector, phil? >> it's a huge driver because ultimately it's cutting into the bottom line. and that's going to force some of the limited players who are out there looking to merge to maybe perhaps make a move although a lot of people are saying it's

president obama is considering releasing some of the country's strategic petroleum reserve. to bring down gasoline prices. there's no final decision and no time tanl on one. gas prices are up 31 cents a in the past month. >>> and if the prices are not bad enough, scammers have found new ways to get you at the pump. they install skimming devices on self-serve gas pumps that copy your credit card information. and they can clone your card and use it elsewhere. >>> and all because of these little things, worker productivity is taking its annual march madness nosedive. it's estimated workers waste 13 1/2 minutes every time they check their brackets. that, plus watching the game at work costs employers $175 million yesterday and today alone. might as well take a personal day or a, sick day. >> i think you're coming down with something. >> i think i am. >>> more sports from espn coming on this friday morning. >>> and the incredible test jump. the daredevil sky dive from 13 miles up. >> no way. [ female announcer ] you do so much... to stay healthy. but did you know fiber choice can

minister david cameron came to the united states, there was a discussion about tapping strategic petroleum reserves. do you support that in the short term? guest: is interesting, because talking about capping the strategic -- tapping the strategic petroleum reserve acknowledges that if we put more supply in the marketplace it will have a downward impact. we stand on the strategic petroleum reserve, where we have billions of barrels of oil kept off limits by governmental policy. they were originally designed for major disruptions on a global basis. it is really a political decision on whether it should be released, but underlying economics remind us that more supply to the marketplace will put downward pressure on crude oil prices, thus downward pressure on gasoline prices. we think we should look to the petroleum reserve we have come up produce more american energy by americans, for americans. host: the president has been thinking a lot about energy prices. here is "the baltimore sun" from his trip yesterday. let's listen to what he was saying. [video clip] >> we have more oil rigs operating now th

the situation in iran. >> what about, a lot of people are talking about releasing some strategic petroleum reservesy in the obama administration and would that have a long-term effect on oil prices or gas prices at the pump? >> a release of oil from the strategic petroleum reserve would probably have at least a temporary impact on the price of oil. of course, the amount of oil that's released would have an impact, but it's difficult to see that having any endearing impact. the impact on price would probably be temporary. >> when you looked at what happened with president obama he are he leased 60 million barrels of crude last year, the prices dropped but quickly rebounded. why no long-term effect? >> well, the releasing 60 million barrels of oil like we did last year, that was the spr release last year, that is in an oil market that each day globally consumes about 90 million barrels of oil a day, so it's a very large oil market. there are many factors that shape the price of oil, and you would need a massive and sustained release to have any impact and even then it would probably just be temporary

you can undercut some of that sense if you suggest you're going to release money from the strategic petroleum reservethe question i should have is should you do that now due to the fact if we ever get into a hot conflict with iran prices are likely to soar even more and you may really need that strategic supply then to prevent a big increase in prices. jon: we heard the president there in that speech yesterday criticizing the republican candidates and saying they want to give tax breaks to big oil. the president has tried to give tax breaks to companies like solyndra and that didn't go very well. >> it's a question of what kind of energy do you favor. now keep in mind that the oil and gas tax breaks as they are called go to all manufacturers as liz mcdonald said and that was passed by congress several years ago, long before this president came into office. it's been supported on a bipartisan basis. the question is, are you going to undercut the supply of oil, and the drilling if you raise taxes on oil and gas companies? i think that is a fair question to ask. jon: clearly the president has cracked do

. >> some democrats argue the answer is increasing supply by releasing the strategic petroleum reserve if it's strategic reserve i don't know what it's used for. we are unlikely to have a nuclear war with the soviet union. >> the old ussr is gone but there is pretty serious concern about the possibility of conflict with iran in the middle east. regime has threatened to close the strait of hormuz, which analysts say could cause fuel prices to jump 50% within day days. >> bret: thank you. mortgage giant fannie mae said it lost $2.5 billion in the time quarter of last year. it's asking taxpayers for $4.5 billion to help cover the deficit. americans have already paid more than $150 billion to prop up fannie and fellow lender freddie. federal reserve chairman ben bernanke says he will stick with the plan to hold interest rate at record low levels until late 2014. bernanke told lawmakers today he does not expect unemployment to continue falling as fast as it has so far this year. next up, rick santorum's tactics in michigan. which brings us to tonight's infinity sponsored text to vote questi