wade, udonis haslem dunking over dirk. the heat win 106-85. >>> johnny dawkins and the stanford cardinals taking on minnesota in the nit championship. first half, cardinal, aaron brite would take over. he finds josh houston. sophomore earned most outstanding player honors in the nit. minnesota missed 16 of 19 shots in the first half. andrew zimmerman, mayne goes the distance, stanford up 8. 13-point lead. anthony brown, floater, no good. he gets his own rebound. he paid attention in practice. they outscored minnesota in the second stanza. the cardinal win the nit championship, 75-51. >>> and make a note -- later this evening it's the mavs and magic. then it's the blazers and the clippers. that one gets under way at 10:30. >>> all right, google is taking its navigation software to a whole new level. with a car that drives itself. it uses radar, lasers and cameras to navigate around a preprogrammed location. they're so confident in fact with the technology, the company invited a blind man to try it out and posted the video o

dirk, i must break you. 28 for dirk and the mavs win it 95-85.lege hoops after winning the west coast conference tournament last night and earning an automatic birth in the ncaa, the saint mary's basketball team returned to campus today in moraga and the crowd was waiting for them. they received a hero's welcome. >> last year we were in one of the positions where we let the community decide it for us. unbelievable feeling. first year of getting it done. >> a lot of people wonder if the giants did enough to improve their offense in the off season. caw briar raw would -- cabrera would say yes. giants and dodgers in cactus league action. in the first, here it comes and there it goes. cabrera going deep off ted lily and batting a righty there. and then later hitting lefty. and this is another bomb. two homers. we did the math. if he can do this in the regu

dirk, i must break you. 28 for dirk and the mavs win it 95-85.er winning the west coast conference tournament last night and earning an automatic birth in the ncaa, the saint mary's basketball team returned to campus today in moraga and the crowd was waiting for them. they received a hero's welcome. >> last year we were in one of the positions where we let the community decide it for us. unbelievable feeling. first year of getting it done. >> a lot of people wonder if the giants did enough to improve their offense in the off season. caw briar raw would -- cabrera would say yes. giants and dodgers in cactus league action. in the first, here it comes and there it goes. cabrera going deep off ted lily and batting a righty there. and then later hitting lefty. and this is another bomb. two homers. we did the math. if he can do this in the regular season we project cabrera hitting 324 homers this year. that might be a tad high. giants beat l.a., 8-4. we will settle for 300. and weeks with a couple of hits and an r.b.i as the a's shut out milwaukee 6-0.

dirk nowitzki. rockets up just three at the break. the mavs took the lead for good. dallas rally to win it 90-81. >>> football 2012 will kick off wednesday september 5th on nbc. the game was moved up tew void a conflict of president obama's speech at the democratic national convention. >>> buffalo peaking at the right time won the fifth strake. caps are looking in with five games left. >>> the panthers on the gurge of clinching their first playoff spot in 12 years. >>> back from the ocean depths. director james cameron attends a launch of a different kind. >>> foot odor may be one of life's unfortunate realities. for one boy from alaska it is something to be proud of. you are watching "early today." >>> welcome back on this wednesday. forecast update. we are watching showers. not a lot of heavy rain today but they are wide spread. umbrella weather for san francisco up to the reno area all through oregon and washington state. we should be dry in southern california, vegas and arizona. tomorrow a decent sized storm will come on shore in oregon. if you are watching us o

dirk, you stated that about a decade of funding increases to the intelligence community now has partf the defense budget cuts have been mandated by the law that was passed by congress that there is now a reduction in the defense department budget that includes the intelligence community budget as well. and that would reduce some capability. my question is whether you are able to administer the cut in a way that any reduction in capability is manageable and acceptable. >> yes, sir, we can. not just to be clear, that is under the budget control act. africa sequestration, that's quite a different matter. >> minus the budget control it. under the 2013 budget request, which does follow the budget control act that came in for the administration a few days ago, that request in hooded or request to your budget and reduction has your support. >> yes, sir, it does. >> senator portman. you can take some of the brunt for delaying the launch for your good instincts and sensitivity. i took it on myself. >> thank you is for your fine testimony, service to a nation, for all the people who work with

then dave has ryan reynolds and music from dirks bentley. that's followed by "the late late show with craig ferguson" on cbs. for our entire march madness broadcast team, i'm greg gumbel, thanks for watching, everyone. gumbel, thanks for watching, everyone. we'll see you tomorrow. [the captioning on this program is provided as an independent service of the national captioning institute, inc., which is solely responsible for the accurate and complete transcription of program content. cbs, its parent and affiliated companies, and their respective agents and divisions are not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of any transcription or for any errors in transcription.] i knew it'd be tough on our retirement savings, especially in this economy. but with three kids, being home more really helped. man: so we went to fidelity. we talked about where we were and what we could do. we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your perso

he order pad crab cake because that was the suggestion of ted dirks the -- teddy, the owner. gingrich is in the state as the republicans will fight it out. gingrich started at the statehouse where he addressed members of the senate and house of delegates and stopped in a jewelry store. during his visit to annapolis gingrich made a point of criticizing the governor on his plans to increase the gas tax. >> also, there's talk here about an increase in the gas tax which i think shows as much political insensitivity as you can imagine. >> gingrich will be able it talk about his plan at an event that will be held in salisbury on the eastern shore. tomorrow cloning man ron paul -- congressman ron paul will be at college pancht the event will take place at the ritchie coliseum. you must preregister to get if early and get a seat. >> a bill to exspand gambling to table games passed and there will be more. it passed the state senate overwhelmingly, 35-11. the bill would not allow games like craps and blackjack to be put. it would increase the amount revenue they can keep. then lawmaker

dirk nowitzki called it brutal five games and six nights in oklahoma city we go.he world champs didn't want to begin their stretch like this. russell westbrook and kevin durant too much for the cavs cavs. oklahoma city wins it. bulls didn't forget that game and exacted their revenge last night and outscored indiana by 20 in the third. chicago wins it. no secret the clippers the most improved team in the league but starting to look like the clippers of old and dropped five of their last eight. the timberwolves kevin love, played like a man among boys. 39 points. clips had a chance to tie the game two seconds left but chris paul missed a free throw. timberwolves win it. college hoops last year, cinderella heading back to the big dance and beat drexel in the championship game. dragons had a chance to tie but couldn't get the three to fall at the buzzer. b byu punching their ticket to the tournament. only one team could win the west coast conference. final seconds. harris pulled up to tie the game and force overtime. st. mary's took the lead in the extra frame and won

tough night for the cup after losing -- dirk nowitzki left the game early in memphis.ent on to win it 96-85. >>> finally, huge win for usa soccer. they took on out one of the best teams in the world. it took 78 years and team usa finally beat italy for the first time ever. they pulled off the yaupset, 1-. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >>> which superstar called yesterday one of the best days of her life? and why? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, sure. every leap year, you see a story about a kid born on the odd calendar day but we guarantee you haven't heard the baby story that we are going tell you in a moment. you're watching "early today." >>> welcome back to "early today." we get a break from the severe weather during the daylight hours today. so that is good for the cleanup that is still ongoing. later on tonight, though, the next major worm that inter stor forming and moving across also country. hail possible in areas of like arkansas and a severe weather outbreak in the ohio valley

in the stands, nugget fans celebrated their city's new football hero, but on the court it was the dirkot after shot from inside and outside scoring 33 points with 11 rebounds as dallas beat the nuggets 112-95. and in the nhl, the bruins, a big night in boston. they sensed the score almost at will. the leafs changed goalies mid game, but that did not help. boston won, 8-0, completing a six-game season sweep of toronto. >>> when we return, demand for justice. the mother of a teenager gunned down by a neighborhood watch leader speaks out. we'll have the latest on the investigation. this is the "cbs morning news." ion. this is the "cbs morning news." you sure its a good price? pretty sure... sfx: truth phone rings hello? pretty sure? consider this yor wake-up call. everybody has a price guarantee. but only sears guarantees the best price on all top 10 brands, because only sears carries them all. with experts who know them all. it's called the top 10 advantage. boom! what was that? me dropping some knowledge on you. thinking about buying appliances somewhere else? think again. sears. >>> he

dirk nowitzki called it brutal. the world champs didn't want to begin the stretch like this.ok and durant too much for the mavs, thunder won it 95-91. >>> last time the pacers won in chicago they celebrated, the bulls exacted revenged, outscored by 20, the pacers never record, 92-72. >>> no secret the clippers are the most improved team of the league, they have dropped five of the last eight. the timberwolves kevin love played like a man among boys, clips had a chance to tie the game with two seconds left, chris paul missed a free throw. >> college hoops, bcu heading back to the big dance beat drexel in the caa championship game. dragones had a chance to tie but couldn't get the three to bull. bcu punching their ticket to the tourney. gonzaga and st. mary, only one team could win the west coast conference. harris pulled up and tied the game to force overtime. st. mary's took the lead, they won the wcc, 78-74. >>> overtime there, double overtime, davidson and western carolina, clint mann put the wildcats up two. they won 93-91 win in double o-t. i'm fred roggin. >>> now we che

dirk nowitzki with 2 of his 28. dallas wins it 95-85. heat and nets. couple of ways to use the backboard. pittman's jumper off the glass and bounced in. worth another look. i don't think dexter could do it again if he tried. lebron james banks it in. everything right for the heat and cut down the nets 108-78. >>> who is that masked man? that is kobe bryant looking like the lone ranger with a black mask. he switched back to a clear one in the second quarter. in the fourth he did this. drilled a jumper to force overtime. pistons clicking on all cylinders in o.t. a putback dunk. you can't mask what happened to the lakers. they lost to one of the worst teams in the league 88-85 in o.t. >>> good day to be a detroit fan. university of detroit won the horizon league and earned an automatic bid to the tournament. the titans could surprise some teams in the big dance winning easily 68-50. south dakota state and western illinois needed overtime for a bid. griffin callahan knocked down the three to put south dakota on top. they won the conference summit title 52-

dirk nowitzki left the game early with a sore back and memphis took advantage.ent on to win it 96-85. >>> finally, huge win for usa soccer. the americans traveled to italy and took out one of the best teams in the world. clinton dempsey scored the only goal of the game in the 55th minute. it took 78 years and team usa finally beat italy for the first time ever. they pulled off the upset, 1-0. >> that is your early look at sports on "early today." i'm fred roggin. >>> early today sports is brought to you by touch of gray, get rid of some gray, never all. >>> which superstar called yesterday one of the best days of her life? and why? your early morning entertainment headlines are straight ahead. >>> plus, sure. every leap year, you see a story about a kid born on the odd calendar day but we guarantee you haven't heard the baby story that we are going to tell you in a moment. you're watching "early today." >>> welcome back on this thursday morning. a very cold weather pattern has been in place in the west over the last week. this has been a slow-moving storm headin

dirk nowitzki left the game early with a sore back and memphis took advantage.o win it 96-85. >>> finally, huge win for usa soccer. the americans travelled to italy and took out one of the best teams in the world. clint dempsey scored the only goal of the game in the 55th minute. it took 78 years and team usa finally beat italy for the first time ever. they pulled off the upset, 1-0. that's your "first look" at sports, i'm fred roggin. >>> now for another look at the weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins with the weather channel forecast. you follow soccer at all? >> i do. that's a big deal. i'm sure in italy they're not happy today. >> i know david beckham, that's about it. >> italy is probably more upset than we are happy. good morning. we talked about the tornadoes earlier. don't want to ignore my friends up in northern new england who are dealing with a good winter storm. you had part one yesterday, part two during the day today. temperatures are warm enough in connecticut, rhode island and even most of massachusetts that the roads will be okay. one

with just over two minutes left, dirk nowitzki decides he's seen enough. he had 28.s beat the knicks 95-85. >>> lakers/pistons, kobe bryant ditches the clear face protector. look at this. the black one. fourth quarter, down two in the final seconds, kobe hits a fadeaway jumper. that sends the gym to overtime. in o.t., pistons don't back down. lakers lose to one of the worst teams in the league on the road in detroit, 88-85, the score. >>> rick santorum and mitt romney divvy up ten republican caucuses and primaries last night with romney coming out on top but with no knockout blow and a close shave in ohio. we'll knock it around with our "morning joe" crew. when we come back, we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch stephen colbert hold a super tuesday cookout? we'll explain this one when we come back. [ female announcer ] the best things in life are the real things. nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit. nature valley trail mix bars. 100% natural. 100% delicious. [ male ann

dirk nowitzki with 2. the mavericks pull away and beat the wiz 107-98. georgetown hoyas play at 3:00 p.m. this friday in columbus. ncaa tournament. the game will be broadcast. you can go to wusa9.com to find where to tune in. and of course, dave owens will be live from columbus starting on thursda

dirk nowitzki ended the first half with two of the team-high 21. rockets up just three at break.ok the lead for good in the third. never underestimate the heart of a champ. dallas rallies to win 90-81. >>> football. the 2012 regular season will kick off with the super bowl champion giants hosting the dallas cowboys wednesday, september 5th on nbc. but the game was moved up a day to avoid a conflict with president obama's speech at the democratic national convention. >>> hockey. sabres rolled into washington and took the final playoff spot in the east from the capitals. buffalo won their fifth straight and the caps are on the outside looking in with five games left. >>> finally, one of the teams washington is chasing is florida. they increased their lead in the southeast division with a shoot-out win against the canadiens. panthers on the verge of clinching their first playoff spot in 12 years. that's your "first look" at sports. i'm fred roggin. >>> and now for another look at the weather, here is nbc meteorologist bill karins. he has your weather channel forecast. good morning t

dirk nowitzki with 2. the mavericks pull away and beat the wiz 107-98. the georgetown hoyas play at 3:00 p.m. this friday in columbus. ncaa tournament. the game will be broadcast. you can go to wusa9.com to find where to tune in. and of course, dave owens will be live from columbus starting on thursday. >> lots of action. we love it. >> that's our broadcast. stay off the cinnamon. see you. >> good night. today is gonna be an important day for us. you ready? we wanna be our brother's keeper. what's number two we wanna do? bring it up to 90 decatherms. how bout ya, joe? let's go ahead and bring it online. attention on site, attention on site. now starting unit nine. some of the world's cleanest gas turbines are now powering some of america's biggest cities. siemens. answers. le, let's get started. pete, did you forget yours? me pete, me use pen! (laughter) sorry i'm late, i was in the 16th century looking for pete's pen. (laughter) guys, guys. take it easy, ok? pete's mom is videochatting me, and she wants her pen back! ok, alright, well. i just got one. s

then dave has ryan reynolds and music from dirks bentley. that's followed by "the late late show with craig ferguson" on cbs. for our entire march madness broadcast team, i'm greg gumbel, thanks for watching, everyone. gumbel, thanks for watching, everyone. we'll see you tomorrow. [the captioning on this program is provided as an independent service of the national captioning institute, inc., which is solely responsible for the accurate and complete transcription of program content. cbs, its parent and affiliated companies, and their respective agents and divisions are not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of any transcription or for any errors in transcription.] i knew it'd be tough on our retirement savings, especially in this economy. but with three kids, being home more really helped. man: so we went to fidelity. we talked about where we were and what we could do. we changed our plan and did something about our economy. now we know where to go for help if things change again. call or come in today to take control of your perso

this was really real action and get ready, and that the dirk was going to report to hall moore to find out what to do. we did not have a prescribed "you will be doing this." >> lz x-ray 20 minutes before the landing, they use artillery preparation. >> right. >> they come in, couple of -- first couple lifts, no enemy contact. then about lifts three and four they start experiencing this. >> right. >> that's the moment at which you hear -- or are you planning -- or do you know -- >> we don't know we're going. we were sitting back somewhere around -- i always kind of remember we were out in jungle grass somewhere when we got a radio call that said, we need -- your helicopters are going to pick you up, are you headed for this landing zone. by the time we got there, it was under heavy fire. real heavy fire and we were sort of the reason we got attached was they were afraid they were going to run out of people before then to hold it. so we landed -- and the helicopter came skidding in. i think we were landing to the west, of all things. and we came skidding in and jumping out. oh. on the way

to make it all square and nothing separated the teams after three periods and into overtime where dirk better close out the winner on a foul play on the seventy seventh minute for three the final score i think is what it was the hard work the whole game we never have and to play we played with the whole game and. we have a good feeling in the thing we just work harder right school. we lost again despite playing well enough to win i think aleck's some luck we played better but so peter won again in overtime over there beto came from behind three times to win this second straight game in overtime and take it to one lead in the best of seven series well don imus suffered their first home defeat in the playoffs this season and stand by the board seat. jenson button has won four gold ones a season opening grand prix after a crash strewn race in melbourne the mclaren driver finishing just ahead of rating world champion sebastian pencil for his third triumph down under in four years button started in seconds but over to pole sitter and teammate lewis hamilton at the very first corner box and

then, dirk nowitzki with his trademark jumper, floats this one over odons has lynn.t up seven at the half and it was all miami from there. lebron intercepting the pass here and going all the way. nobody's going to catch him on this one. gets the layup to go in the fourth. dallas, another turnover, wade to james, throwing down a huge dunk. heat win 106-85. miami, ooh, miami's won 15 consecutive games at home. >>> coming up at the top of the hour on "morning joe," the republican race moves to wisconsin. more of the party's heavy hitters now lining up behind mitt romney. we'll dig into the latest nbc polling in the state of wisconsin and talk about the future of rick santorum's campaign with our "morning joe" crew. >>> and when we come back here, we'll huddle around the water cooler to watch what happens when a drunken queen fan puts on a little karaoke in the back of a police cruiser. ♪ ♪ [ radio announcer ] he puts up the shot for the win! ♪ [ mayhem ] it's march and it's mayhem. and if you've got cut rate insurance, you could be wishing it was february. so get allsta

going on here that we need to address and bats this the united states is quickly becoming the world's dirk pitt we're the nation where the dirty work of refining crude oil and turning it into gasoline and jet fuel is don't work that inflicts tremendous damage on the environment and the health of our population is the kind of work he expect to see in the slums of developing nations where there aren't regulations or strong governments looking out for their people it's not what you would expect to see in the united states but thanks to thirty years of coddling oil corporations giving them subsidies and tax breaks and not seriously cracking down on their smokestack emissions they found a real cozy place in the world to do their dirty work right now our backyards down south texas louisiana cancer alley after all they don't have to pay for any of their own extra nowadays like the increase raises cases of asthma and cancer that their pollution causes those costs are carried by we the taxpayers through medicare and medicaid are out of our own pockets when we ourselves are family member states they

. ♪ [ music ] >> reporter: nominee dirks bentley says he can't wait to perform. >> really excited tole to sing for all of the country fans. and what happens in vegas winds up on cbs. >> reporter: his number 1 billboard country song home is up for song of the year. teresa garcia, wjz eyewitness news. >> and remember, you can see the academy of country music awards here on wjz, sunday night at 8:00. >>> check in with eyewitness news at 6:00. for these stories and more coming up. people across maryland are snapping up mega millions tickets as the jackpot keeps climbing. >>> millions of credit card holders could be at risk. details on what you should look for. check in for these stories and all the day's breaking news, coming up all new at 6:00. >>> and still to come tonight on wjz eyewitness news at 5:00. >>> this is mark viviano, with the orioles in spring training. where the team has turned back the clock. former orioles, working with the present-day players, with a reminder of how good it used to be. i'll have that story when eyewitness news continues. ,,,,, it's oysternomics 101. yo

web dirks back to you. >> tom sherwood. >>> now back to breaking news out of montgomery county.ehicles involved in this crash, one suv is on its side. folks this is a traffic nightmare. major artery here at rush hour. this crash happened a short time ago on university boulevard and eisner street. we have heard of at least one person injuried. we will have much more on this developing story as it comes in to news 4. stay with us. >>> the suspect in a drive by shooting that injured a sleeping child is now in jail. thomas baldwin turned himself in yesterday nearly six months after the shooting. baldwin shot into a house and the bullet struck an 11-year-old boy in the back while he slept. he was not seriously injured, however. baldwin is facing a laundry list of charges, including attempted murder. >>> police in maryland are looking for a man they believe was trying to take pictures of a woman using the ladies room in a restaurant. it happened at a panera bread in glen burnie. a 19-year-old female employee says she was with using the restroom when an unknown male entered it and held

nominee dirks bentley said he can't wait to perform. >> really excited to get a chance to sing here forntry fans filling up these seats as well as our friends in the crowd and what happens in vegas winds up on cbs. >> reporter: his no. 1 billboard country single home is up for song of the year. theresa garcia, bcs news, las vegas. >> you can catch the country music awards here on wusa9 sunday night beginning at 8 p.m. >> this is 9 news now. >>> legal pot in washington d.c., now it could be just a month away. the health department just announced today that who can grow marijuana in the city and where they can. a half dozen companies including one co-owned by talk show host montel williams can all grow at locations in northeast. bruce leshan reports some patients are excited while other residents are furious. >> this is a big year for the medical marijuana industry. >> reporter: on rhode island avenue media crowded the grand opening of the first dope cultivation supply store in d.c. and even the chamber of coer

. >>> with us on capitol hill now, illinois senator dirk durbin. number two democrat in the senate. good morning, senator. >> good morning. >> they had a primary election in your home state. the victor came out focusing on president obama and drawing some contrast between his experience and the president's experience specifically citing the fact that the president had been a community organizer and a constitutional law professor and that he had been an executive and had headed the olympics. >> i tell you, there's something left out of your story. romney outspent santorum more than 5 to 1 and at the end of the night we had the lowest turnout for a republican presidential primary in 70 years. you could draw a bigger crowd at a green bay packers rally in downtown chicago than what mr. romney delivered at the polls yesterday in illinois. >> so the budget proposal by paul ryan is out. he was on this program yesterday. he talked about what he thought was necessary to focus on dealing with the deficit. do you and do democrats believe that not only do you have to focus on cutting entitlemen

carlos dirks az with our sister network, hln. i'm surrounded by handsome men. >> three out of four.ll right. >> modesty, i like that even better. >> thank you. let's start with breaking news. six soldiers from the uk are missing and presumed dead after an explosion in the helmand province of afghanistan. defense official says the incident took place while the troops within were on a security patrol in an armed vehicle. it would represent the worst loss of life for british forces in afghanistan in six years. >>> new this morning, violent raids in syria today. soldiers storming rebel held villages with tanks. government forces blasted a bridge that wounded refugees were using to escape to lebanon. 8500 people were reportedly killed in the year long crack down. mostly civilians. president obama is now reportedly working to give humanitarian assistance to syria's opposition. meantime, former u.n. secretary general kofi annan is in cairo today meeting with the arab league, adding as part of a special envoy heading to syria saturday to try to convince president bashar al-assad to end the

you got to show some i.d let's face it, if you go to the drugstore to buy sudafed, you got to show i dirksng that's discriminatory. you can't do that. what's going on? >> as a matter of fact, if you want to go in the department of justice building in washington, d.c. you have to show a voter i.d i think it's hypocritical position and this is a classic -- there are either six or seven other states that passed voter i.d. laws and this is going to go obviously texas decided appropriately to sue the federal government over their encroachment into a state sovereign right to decide how to protect the sanctity of the voting booth. that's what we're doing here and democrats and republicans in the state of texas support the idea of having good, clean, transparent elections. that's what having a voter identification law is all about. this administration has gone after texas over women's health programs, voter i.d., clean air act. we're spending most of our time in courthouse suing the federal government and their encroachment of the 10th amendment rights of states. >> steve: governor, one of the thi

but it was also more just -- he said about senator everett dirks of illinois said to one of his aides all the time. this ability to work with the other party is what led to these big historic achievements. >> gretchen: i think a lot of people would be surprised to hear this, especially in the way we see politics today. when we think about obamacare, we don't think about reaching across the aisle at all to either republicans or to the majority of american people. >> look, i think it is one of the real flaws of the obama administration that all of the big legislation was done basically on strict party line votes. democrats had majorities. nancy pelosi and harled delivered them to almost, whether it was dodd-frank, the stimulus and obamacare and as a result, all of these things are unpopular. they're not workable because there is no alternative view incorporated into them. it's a strict party line view. >> gretchen: so you say the phrase, operational intelligence is something that lyndon b. johnson now how to do and the care and feeding of republicans. can you imagine that in 2012? >> an

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 making it easier to produce american energy. and it is why we are asking the president to make it easier to produce american energy. not harder, not more expensive, but easier. a few weeks ago we learned that the oil and gas production on federal lands and waters is down. specifically, we learned that there was a 14% decrease in oil production on federal public lands and waters from 2010 to 2011. and an 11% decrease in gas production from 2010 to 2011. again, the president has made it easier -- the president has not made it easier, but he must make it easier to produce am

that included a promise dirk -- prime minister maliki. during the most recent political standoff, the u.s. was the only communicator with all the leading parties in europe. much of this engagement takes place quietly, unadvertised. but just because you do not see it, just because we do not say it, does not mean we are not doing it. we have also seen, i think, in recent weeks, significant progress. the number everyday cooperating on security threats iraq faces, on boosting and protecting the vital energy sector, and supporting iraq's emergence as a member of the international community in good standing and irresponsible regional actor -- as i said, there is progress on all of these fronts. for example, the oil production is now at $2.7 million a barrel. we are heading to more than 300 million barrels a day. well exports have allowed revenues that passed a $100 million budget in mid-february. we have seen steps toward integrating iraq. the appointment of a non- resident saudi ambassador for the first time since 1990. visits by the minister