axelrod, a smart guy, anticipate the firestorm controversy that is now in play. why would they do this? it looks like a self-inflicted wound. if axelrod is here and does want to find common ground, why would they launch it having everybody upset when catholics voted for obama last time and could lose big time this time. >> they voted for obama a 4% last time. the catholic vote is the biggest swing vote in america. >> why would they do something as self-destructive. >> barack obama is a pure leftist idealogue. >> this is a man who sacrifices little ideologically as possible. >> idealogue he wouldn't have compromised on health care and a whole bunch of other things compromised on. gitmo down the list. i think the fact that axelrod said this is conciliatory. one of the reasons they didn't d. not axelrod looked at the numbers. 77% of catholic women for example favor this and in fact many of them use, 9 a% of them. >> bill: that's a personal choice not imposition. >> politically we are not going to have a problem. you asked a question what do you think they were think

usable contraception. >> sean: axelrod is playing politics. i'm critical was for not being strong enough has finally stood up and they said no. >> this is also i believe a bigger picture that the catholic church and other christian churches are going to be involved in. that is reach of government. this is not only religious liberty. it's about religious liberty. >> i disagree with you. this is going to cost the republicans more votes. i know you disagree but liberal catholics. >> the evangelical community and protestants. >> there are a lot of liberal catholics. >> this is going to hurt them with swing voters. >> mr. keyan was president obama's hero for supporting the healthcare law. she has come out, you have abandoned us -- carol queyan. >> it's going freedom issue. >> sean: just like he said when the chaplains for our military couldn't read the bishop's letter at mass? >> they should be able to read the letter. should not be able access to con sen tra accepting. >> it's none of your business frankly or obama's business. [ talking over each

. >> pelley: and jim axelrod on a way to get america back to work. it took her from a job on wall jersey turnpike. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. it's a massacre in syria. entire neighborhoods and apartment blocks are being blasted by artillery fire. today, the united nations said that the dictatorship of bashar al-assad is engaged in an atrocity. this is the city of homs, a city of 1.7 million. a little more than philadelphia. it appears assad is moving to crush the freedom movement that began nearly a year ago. today, secretary of state hillary clinton raised an alarm about where all of this is headed. >> they are leading syria into the outcome that we all deplore. we do not want to see a civil war in syria. no one wants to see a civil war in syria. >> reporter: but it seems a civil war is what they have. this is the most serious uprising ever against the 40-year dictatorship of the assad family. cbs news correspondent clarissa ward has been with the rebels in the northern city

woodruff: then we have a newsmaker interview with president obama's top political adviser, david axelrod, on a day when republicans are voting in three states. >> ifill: ray suarez updates the turmoil in syria, as the assault continues in the town of homs, and russia's foreign minister meets with president assad. >> woodruff: we have two takes on europe's debt crisis: a report from athens on greece's troubles, plus margaret warner talks to italy's prime minister, mario monti. >> the euro-zone crisis has indeed brought about the reemergence of old phantoms about prejudices and a lot of mutual resentment. >> ifill: and we close with jeffrey brown's conversation with photographer annie leibovitz, whose latest exhibit offers portraits, without the people. >> it's a journey. i certainly didn't realize it until i looked at >> woodruff: that's all ahead on tonight's newshour. major funding for the pbs newshour has been provided by: the william and flora hewlett foundation, working to solve social and environmental problems at home and around the world. and with the ongoing support of these inst

still ahead, president obama's top campaign strategist, david axelrod.g joe" back in a moment. [ woman ] my boyfriend and i were going on vacation, so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. without the stuff that we make here, you wouldn't be able to walk in your house and flip on your lights. [ brad ] at ge we build turbines that power the world. they go into power plants which take some form of energy, harness it, and turn it into more efficient electricity. [ ron ] when i was a kid i wanted to work with my hands, that was my thing. i really enjoy building turbines. it's nice to know that what you're building is gonna do something for the world. when people think of ge, they typically don't think about beer. a lot

. >> i'll be speaking with david axelrod. get his reaction to all of this, the gas price issue and the debate last night and the tough angry rhetoric. david axelrod, brianna, thanks very much. >>> let's dig deeper. ali velshi is joining us. put this into perspective for us. how bad is it right now? >> the issue here is the spike. right now nationwide we're paying about 3.61 for a gallon of unleaded. the issue is how much it's gone up. 3.5 cents overnight, we've seen a 10% increase over the course of the last -- you know, sing the beginning of the year. what's driving it higher? we don't see an increase in demand. if it's not a supply issue, what's the problem? wyche seen prices go up. those oil prices are going up in part because of the concerns, but we'll have to dig deeper. you can get, though, wolf, a lot of people are -- people who think the price of over and gasoline will go up. >> if i knew the answer, i would be calling this it from my yacht. usually you see it increase steadily in spring, and demand everybody has upen

david axelrod one of the top advisors for barack obama. they got into a twitter war here and it's been going on for some time. here's an example. david axelrod says "dude, none of my business but shouldn't you be in debate prep instead of trying to explain yourself to me?" so fehrnstrom shoots back "ha ha believe it or not, the economy an issue where we don't prep mitt, he preps us." >> brown: we should note the formal language, "dude." it is the way they talk in the twitter world. >> they can get a little juvenile. >> but for those who don't use twitter, this is a conversation they're having but a lot of people are watching. right? >> it's a private but very public conversation. anybody can watch. anybody can follow the campaigns. certainly journalists watch and sometimes the... they can be quite clever in these jobs and they always don't always use a sledge haepler. you only have 140 characters so axelrod harkens back to a story that a dog... 30 years ago about the family dog and the family went on vacation, drove to canada from massachu

here was david axelrod's response this morning on "morning joe." >> we have great respect for the work that these institutions do. they're important elements of our country. they serve many, many americans, and we want to -- we certainly don't want to abridge anyone's religious freedom so we're looking for a way to move forward that both guarantees women that basic, pooeventive care they need and respects the prerogatives of religious institutions. >> axelrod did not offer an adamant defense of the administration's position that religious employers would be required to provide birth control in their health care plans. in fact, he seemed to leave the door open to some sort of negotiated compromise in the future. >> we want to resolve it in an appropriate way, and we're going to do that. the real question is how do we get together and resolve this in a way that respects the concerns that have been raised but also assures women across this country they have the pooeventive care they need. >> that provoked this question to jay carney today at the white house press briefing. >> you were ask

but jim axelrod will talk to the coaches who passed on jeremy lin. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. much of the world is lined up against iran's nuclear program. israel is threatening to go to war over it, and the u.s. is pushing for extreme new sanctions. so you might not expect the iranians to go on tv to brag about their nuclear achievements, but today, the iranian president, mahmoud ahmadinejad, claimed that his country has made an important advance in the process of enriching uranium, which is necessary to make the fuel for a bomb. we asked david martin to find out what the iranian development means. >> reporter: iran's president may have impressed his own people by showcasing his country's latest advances in nuclear technology, but experts like david albright found no new evidence iran is dramatically closer to building a bomb. >> the announcement today certainly is an attempt to show iranian resolve in the face of international opposition, but they say that every day. and th

jim axelrod tells us it could lead to new treatments to try to stop it. and anna werner reports something most of us take for granted is growing scarce in the texas drought. >> it's devastating. you don't really know what's going to happen. captioning sponsored by cbs this is the "cbs evening news" with scott pelley. >> pelley: good evening. there is growing talk about a military strike against iran to stop its from developing a nuclear weapon. some of it came from israel's defense minister, and some of it came from u.s. defense secretary leon panetta today. more about all of that now from national security correspondent david martin at the pentagon. >> reporter: defense secretary panetta believes there is strong likelihood israel will strike iran in april, may, or june. that, according to columnist, david ignatius, writing shortly after he completed a transatlantic flight with the defense secretary. panetta today did not dispute it. as if to show panetta has cause for concern, israel's defense minister seemed to reject u.s. arguments economic sanctions n

jim axelrod, cbs news, new york. >>> roseanne barr is getting into presidential politics.s seeking the green party nomination and insists it's not a joke. she says neither democrats and republicans are acting in the best interests of the public. >>> coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," former treasury secretary larry summers on january's job numbers. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news." maybe you can't. when you have migraines with fifteen or more headache days a month, you miss out on your life. you may have chronic migraine. go to mychronicmigraine.com to find a headache specialist. and don't live a maybe life. ♪ sfx: sound of bubbles being popped. sfx: sound of a space vehicle lowering. sfx: sound of a crowd cheering. sfx: sound of bubbles being popped. sfx: sound of someone hitting a table hard. sfx: sound of a animal. sfx: the sound of fizz. sfx: sound of something dropping on the ground. sfx. sound of something pouring into a glass. so how was everybody's day? great. you have better news then just great. i got an a on my final. ,,,,,,,,

jim axelrod, cbs news. >>> coming up after your local news on "cbs this morning," the inside scoop inhe white house 50 years ago and her role in making it happen. >>> plus the investigation of disposal cigarette lighters that can explode and kill. what you need to know to stay safe. >>> and actress raquel welch on her newest role on "csi miami." that's "cbs morning news" for this tuesday. thanks for watching. i'm betty nguyen. have a great valentine's day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com >>> your realtime captioner is linda marie macdonald. >>> we have five

recently we heard about a project to help the long-term unemployed find their way back and jim axelrodto find more. >> reporter: this truck stop in southern new jersey would have been about the last place cynthia perthuis, a former wall street executive, would have thought she'd be making her living a few years ago. >> i live on the upper east side of manhattan and i'm not going to be doing that. >> reporter: and here we are a few feet off the jersey turnpike. >> correct, it's a whole new world for me. >> her name is buggy. >> reporter: perthuis is in charge of finding new business opportunities for idle air which allows trucking companies to hook into the power grid instead of hooking into diesel when they're at rest. >> it allows the truck driving community to stay warm or cool without spending the money on foreign oil. >> reporter: after losing a high paying sales job at standard & poor's, perthuis was out of work for a year and felt lost. the road back began here at a program funded by new york city called jump start n.c.c. lynne rosansky founded it in 2009. she and her husband vic

what do george washington, ted kennedy, bill frist and david axelrod share? all born today, february 22nd. how school that to be born on george washington's birthday? george washington would have been 280 today, ted kennedy would have been 80, former senate majority leader bill frist 60 and senior strategist for the obama campaign, david axelrod is 57. happy birthday to all the mustache, we believe is 50. you are watching "the daily rundown." only on msnbc. [ female announcer ] want to spend less and retire with more? then don't get nickle and dimed by high cost investments and annoying account fees. at e-trade, our free easy-to-use online tools and experienced retirement specialists can help you build a personalized plan. and with our no annual fee iras and a wide range of low cost investments, you can execute the plan you want at a low cost. so meet with us, or go to etrade.com for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. ♪ for a great retirement plan with low cost investments. what do you get when you combine the home depot with this weekend? the

what david axelrod said in our show, the white house will tell you, and they will tell you again and again that that is no different than the plan they put in place and the hhs decision they put in place, the way they define it with the grace period that is looking for the way to work it out within that time. they're not backing down at all on their decision. >> well, you know, if they don't back down at all, that's certainly their prerogative. the president got elected 3 1/2 years ago and chances are very good if you look at the polls in swing states. if they don't back down, if they don't compromise with catholics across the country, they probably won't get reelected in the fall. >> i wonder -- >> i say that only because -- and again, i know that this enrages a lot of people that i'm actually doing political analysis -- like john madden analyzes football games. i'm not really -- you never hear me screaming about social issues here. i'm telling you, though, when you have the "usa today" gallup poll showing romney splitting the states with a lot of catholics, this is going to swing o

>> i spoke with david axelrod. let me tell you what he told me, exactly what i just said, that the administration absolutely stands behind the ability of american women to have access to this benefit. with the exception of the 335,000, he has given an added one-year grace period to religiously affiliated organizations to figure out exactly how they are going to do that, and that is what they will do. [unintelligible] >> i just wonder if you could address -- the catholic church said they are were the first came out strongly against this and said these are affiliated institutions, they are extensions of the church. what do you say to them, and is there any ground for compromise here? >> first of all, there are 335,000 churches today who are exempt from this because they are churches. we are talking about schools, universities, hospitals that employed many, many women of all different kinds of faith. they have to rely on their employer to decide whether or not their access to contraceptives, that is something we are s

david axelrod walking back, trying to soften it saying we'll try to work with everyone.e is the question, though. 1200 healthcare waivers are outstanding right now. 4 million people. including the town of frisco, colorado, six states, hundreds of companies including cracker barrel, red lobster, wigly wigly, waffle house and ihop and 417 unions. you can't exempt the catholic church. >> dana: they are exempting for different reasons. not they're exempted from the conscience clause. >> eric: if you give 417 unions exemptions why can't notre dame university get an exemption? >> bob: apparently mr. carney didn't get the message from campaign. the press secretary came out and said, i agree with the statement, that women everywhere, no matter they work ought to have a right to contraception. leaving that aside, they clearly walk it back. probably politically, it makes some sense. i'm not sure that bobby and suzie in middle america get up tomorrow and say my god, this is terrible. i don't think it's that big of a deal. >> andrea: i disagree. >> bob: obviously you disagree. they'

. >> the fact is that david axelrod said we will look for way to move forward to guarantee women what they need and respect the prerogatives of religious institutions. they don't have to comply until 2013 and then thing s can be worked out. it's something that he was indicating the white house would be willing to talk to these religious leaders and respect the prerogatives of the religious institutions here. >> i think the white house does respect the prerogatives of religious institutions. it's one of reasons why religious institutions are exempted for church, for places. i think what david was referring to was that year that the law is giving institutions to figure out the bestway to work this so that we do respect the religious institutions, but we also make sure that people who need and deserve the coverage get the coverage. i think that maybe people are reading a little into this, but the reality is that of course, the white house respects religious institutions. it's why there's an exemption in the law to begin with. people that will employ a lot of non-catholics, that they have

we'll talk with top campaign strategist david axelrod. >>> i'm gayle king. as whitney houston's family prepares for her funeral, we'll look at her estate. her music could earn millions in the years ahead. at 8:00 viola davis of ""the help"," is here. >>> erica hill, millions of people have sinus trouble especially at this time of the year. research says antibiotics are not the answer. plus we'll show you why the world is lynnsane over an nba star. >>> first, your world in 90 seconds. >>> iran announces more nuclear progress. >> tehran is fueling its century fublgs with nuclear fuel. >> three bombing attacks in two days. israel says iran is behind them all. >> incompetent creasing concerns that it might spread to more countries. >> the payroll tax is going to pass. >> congressional negotiators reach a tentative deal without paying for it. >> i have some grave concerns about this. >> i think we missed the mark entirely. >> you can't take anything for & granted until my signature is actually on it. >> president obama met with the man who's set to take control o

top obama strategist david axelrod put it this way. meaning the republicans, are getting panicky. face cat nip is the term he used describing comments questioning the president's faith. these can be tricky and our interpretations are shaped both by personal shape and personal politics. here's tonight's truth. there's nothing wrong with a conversation about how faith guides and doesn't guide our candidates for high office. but it should be a careful and a respectful conversation. and sadly, we don't have many of those in our politics today. joining us now to talk about this and other issues in mesa, arizona, ed montini, a columnist with the "arizona republic." "new york times" national correspondent and the president of the center for arizona policy. let me start with you, kathy, as a conservative here in arizona, when you hear senator santorum who you support say -- question the president's theology, you hear governor romney saying they're secular. and franklin graham today saying he's a son of islam and the president of the united sta

obama campaign adviser david axelrod was wound earthquake the same thing on "morning joe" today. >> iout the ad until i saw t honestly, i don't understand why every american doesn't feel good about the fact that the american auto industry is coming back. >> joining me now bill press, syndicated radio host and author of the obama hate machine, the lies, distortions and personal attacks on the president, and who is mind them. bill, thanks for being here. >> reverend al, good to see you. >> now you republicans are constantly wrapping themselves in the mantle of ronald reagan but they seem all doom and gloom. what happened? >> this is unbelievable. i saw that ad, too and i felt good about it. i felt -- that was an inspiring ad about what america is all about. all right. two things, number one, clint east wood is a republican. i know the man. he is one of the few republicans in hollywood and people complained all the time. they always said, well, you have got clint eastwood, right in the other thing is karl rove said he found this appalling, right? does he remember, the auto bailout was st

we'll talk with campaign strategist, david axelrod. >>> i'm daily king. as whitney houston's family prepares for her funeral, we'll look at the preparations. >>> viola davis stops by to talk about her oscar nomination. >>> the new research says antibiotics are not the answer. >>> we'll tell you why the world is lin-sane over another nba star. >>> we begin with today's eye-opener. your world in 190 seconds. >>> made very clear that they are not to develop a nuclear weapon. >> iran announces more nuclear progress as tensions rise after a series of attacks. >> they are doing everything they can to help the israelis. >> three attacks in two days. israel sies iran is behind them. >> a war might spread to even more countries. >>> the tax is going to pass. >> they reach a sent tiff deal on extending the payroll tax cut without pay for. >> i have concerns approximate this. i think we missed the mark. >> you can't take anything for granted until my signature is actually on it. >>> president obama met with the man set to take control of china. >> it's critically im