george ryan said that the trial is tormenting but the sentencing day is worse ...grade cafeteria food uniforms all locked cell and time away from family ... you do a lot of reading playing racquetball and lifting weights and he suspects that rod blagojevich will make the most of his time doing the same ... sources say in many ways rod blagojevich has been in denial holding out hope that an appeal would change his fate ... the wait in the parking lot before signing into the present is the longest time ... >>it's as gut wrenching and as miserable and experience as i will ever know ... prison life is about managing your emotions about dealing with a feeling of alienation ... it's about coming to terms with what it is that brought you to this facility >>that's the part that people close to blagojevich say is very difficult for the former gov. ... it would just be easier for him if he accepts his fate rather than continuing to deny and fight the sessiosituation >>nancy loo is live and crown point with the latest on that hit and run driver ... >>there was no guilty plea

in 2006, george ryan was convicted on corruption charges. >>> the rain has eased up but mark tamayo says it's not over. there's new information for you on what to expect. >>> and some bay area students may have looked like they were having fun this morning but this is actually serious business. >>> the stormy weather may have played a role in this crash outside of the ikea story of the car veered off the and slammed into a hydrant street sending water gushing in the air. the driver was not hurt. >>> afghan president hamid karzai is calling for nato toos to pull out of his country's villages and accelerate their exit. mr. karzai said he deliver -- said he delivered that message to leon panetta. he called for foreign troops to get out of afghanistan in 2013 instead of 2014. that came as the taliban withdrew from talks over the future of afghanistan. >>> public schoolteachers will find out if they face the risk of ruing -- of losing their jobs for the next year. school districts have already issued about 8,000 pink slips statewide with at least 1200 here in the bay area. this step is requir

george ryan is serving a 6 1/2 year sentence. paula and t.j.? >> tahman bradley, live for us this morning. thanks. >>> the u.s. soldier suspected of killing intercept afghans has now been flown to a facility in kuwait. there are nolonglong-term detenn facilities in afghanistan. the man's name will be released once charges are filed per military policy. >>> we learned overnight that the afghan man who tried to attack defense secretary lowon panetta's plane as it landed died overnight. he tried to crash his truck into h plane, drove into a ditch and then got out and set himself on fire. >>> newly leaked e-mails are provided a very different picture of syria's ruling family. the private messages show president assad bypassing rules to download songs from itunes. this took place against the backdrop of a major government uprising. >>> the bloodshed in syria was one of the topics that democrat nate e -- dominated a meeting between the prime minister of britain and the president. >>> the president and the prime minister changed into tuxes last evening

the second governor to go to son in recent years his predecessor george ryan was also convicted on corruption charges. >>> president obama defending his policies as gas prices continue to rise. today he called critics of renewable energy nothing more than naysayers. several republican presidential candidates have criticized the rise in gas prices. mr. obama says the real solution is to develop alternative fuels. >> reporter: there is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to high gas prices. there's no silver bullet. anybody who tells you otherwise isn't really looking for a solution, they're trying to ride the political wave of the moment. >> according to aaa regular prices average $4.34 in observing lap. san jose $4 upon.35. -- $4.41 in san francisco. >>> storm number two coming in later tomorrow into saturday then we still have a chance of snow showers here in the bay area we'll run down how much to expect in your neighborhood and when that flooding could begin. >>> apple reaches another mild stone days before the new ipad goes on sale -- >> what will it take to get people to put out c

the second governor to go to son in recent years his predecessor george ryan was also convicted on corruptionharges. >>> president obama defending his policies as gas prices continue to rise. today he called critics of renewable energy nothing more than naysayers. several republican presidential candidates have criticized the rise in gas prices. mr. obama says the real solution is to develop alternative fuels. >> reporter: there is no such thing as a quick fix when it comes to high gas prices. there's no silver bullet. anybody who tells you otherwise isn't really looking for a solution, they're trying to ride the political wave of the moment. >> according to aaa regular prices average $4.34 in observing lap. san jose $4 upon.35. -- $4.41 in san francisco. >>> storm number two coming in later tomorrow into saturday then we still have a chance of snow showers here in the bay area we'll run down how much to expect in your neighborhood and when that flooding could begin. >>> apple reaches another mild stone days before the new ipad goes on sale -- >> what will it take to get people to put out cig

the aid for george ryan said he passed the time largely by reading. receiving mail and periodicals are the most valuable things. too much conflict when it comes to television viewing and the lounge was noisy ... the inmates live for visitation and phone calls he will get one call everyday most likely to family. he may have 60 or 90 days to put a list together for visits from who he selects and that will be a closely guarded list. he will be subjected to a point system for privileges ... he will have to use those wisely and national. ration those. he has a 15 year-old daughter and an eight year-old daughter and his wife he will be allowed minimal physical contact with them. visitation is friday through monday and holidays heavy chooses to use that time has yet to be determined. lots of things are getting worked out. it's also worth mentioning that this is his last meal here at this fast food burger place. at this point as he is sorting things out down the block here the clock is ticking. his lawyers are with him they will guide him. as we have heard it

his predecessor george ryan currently serving 6 1/2 years for his conviction on fraud and racketeeringsomething that is new to the state of illinois, not by a long shot. one thing that i found that was really interesting is that someone asked him, are you scared to go to prissen? he said, it's not courage if you're not scared. i have faith in the rule of law and i will be back. >> take a look at those pictures, alina. >> that's in chicago. that is blagojevich's house and this has been a media circus. the poor folkess in that community are, you know, kind of used to this. maybe now it will dissipate because constant media trucks in that area all the time. they're waiting for him to leave. >> they had quite the show yesterday. >> yes, they did. >> i wonder if there is this kind of media circus at chicago o'hare? >> i think so. >>> 6:55 on the east coast, coming up at 7:30 on "starting point" someone who knows what it is like to do time for political corruption. jake abramoff weighs in on whether blago is in for an attitude adjustment. get your free sample of quaker oatmeal squares on fac

former governor george ryan now is serving a 6 1/2 years sentence. >>> the girl friend of notorious mobday. catherine greig pled guilty to helping bulger evade charges for 16 years. he pled not guilty to participating in 19 murders. >>> coming up tonight on the news edge at 11:00, virginia tech found negligent in the way it handled the 2007 shooting massacre. the survivors give us their reaction next. >> plus a raid on a suspected illegal gambling ring, what police say they found inside this maryland business at 11:00.  >>> hi, everybody. we are in the web center with sarah fraser from hot 99.9 with our american idol recap. some high notes and low notes tonight as the top 12 sang their hearts out. >> top 11, i mean jermaine jones, right? that's really the big news is after tmz and a lot of reports have come out, you know, he had two assault charges that he lied about, a long criminal past unfortunately and the strangest thing of all was he even lied about his father sort of exiting his life and his dad came out and said that's not true. we've had contact a coupl

george ryan was convicted of corruption back in 2003. >>> coming up. >> speaking english would billion a requirement. it's a requirement we put on other states. it's a condition for sgrg the union. >> rick santorum doubles down afterraising some eyebrows when he tells puerto rico, if you want to become a state, you have to speak english. >>> hbo is cancelling luck after a third horse has died during filming. what is going on? join our conversation on twitter. i'm walt gale, i worked at the colorado springs mail processing plant for 22 years. we processed on a given day about a million pieces of mail. checks, newspapers, bills. a lot of people get their medications only through the mail. small businesses depend on this processing plant. they want to shut down 3000 post offices, cut 100,000 jobs. they're gonna be putting people out of work everywhere. the american people depend on the postal service. 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

it the unofficial campaign slogan for george mason's ryan mason. but the campaign cannot. pe pearson is the first patriot to win the award in 11 years. first round action at the honda classic. that's a heck of a parking spot. shot of the day, takoma park native fred funk offer 17. out of the stand, into the cup. however, funk is 6 over. tiger woods off to a good start on number one. knocks down a 19-foot birdie. that was the own time he made a putt over ten feet. putting for par on 12, struggling. lips out. then putting for birdie on 13, it's going to be the same result. tiger finished with four bogeys. shoots a 1 over 71. here's the leader, davis love iii on 18. kid, this is how you get up and down. he would birdie this hole. love also had a hole in one. he ties the course record with a 64, leads the tournament at 6 under par. tiger woods playing at the honda classic first time as a pro. he's got a lot of work to do there. he's 1 over and the l at bank of america, we're lending and investing in the people and communities who call greater washingto

. >> i mean, george ryan, rod blagojevich in jail.representative derek smith, he's a democrat, had been in office for just about a year. was arrested this week after being caught accepting a bribe. he accepted seven grand. it was in support of a daycare center. he initially said that he would take $5,000 and write them a letter of recommendation. he later raised his price to seven grand. he was arrested this week. what is going on? >> and we just want to mention, the world's ugliest dog, yoda, has died. the world's ugliest dog, yoda, has died. he was 15 years old. save spa chang for launy( with irs free le. everyo aan free file, choose a brand-name software right for ymu or use online fillabl. like iaria and james, you'll get a refund in about 10 days. for taxes that are a lkt less taxing, visit freele.irs.gov. >>> this morning on "world news now" -- courthouse chaos. a frightening scene in texas as a man on trial is accused of grabbing a gun outside court and opening fire. >> the s.w.a.t. team was called in. and before the scene was

the things on voters' minds in illinois look at the last three governors of illinois republican george ryanrseeing a bond rating that is almost junk status and a state with a busted budget and a economy stuck in a quagmire. i think part of the message of the romney is hire a fiscal conservative businessman who knows how to fix things with a conservative set of principles and the contrast they are trying to set up with santorum. >> santorum's response, basically, his criticism has been, listen, when you have resources and you have an advantage and you still cannot win big, maybe puerto rico is a big exception to that, that is ind indicative of a weakness. >> if governor romney thinks he is the ceo of america and can run and manage the economy, he doesn't understand what conservatives believe in. >> let's play the next chunk of santorum talking about mr. romney's resources, please. >> when you have this amount of resources, this amount of advantage and you can't manage and deliver the mail and win this nomination, that shows a real weakness in his ability to be able to governor. >> does he no

conservative house member, paul ryan -- former president george bush -- >> i do take it is time for the party to get behind gov. mitt romney. >> admit -- marker rubio. a wave of endorsements. >> that is important for him right now. the need to bring their broken party together and generate some enthusiasm for the general election. -- the republican party together and generate some enthusiasm for the general election. >> president obama is already campaigning. four events today in two states, claiming he kept his promise of change. >> change is the health care reform we passed. >> back in wisconsin, rick santorum is still fighting mitt romney. >> we have a great opportunity here. wisconsin will come through for us brigit >> but wisconsin could be the winner. >> it is a make or break deal for rick santorum. he is going into debt. he is not raising enough money to survive until tampa. he needs a boost, and wisconsin can do that for him. >> or dramatically widen mitt romney's lead. the primaries are mostly winner- take-all. mitt romney could get nearly 100 delegates. santorum just a few or

ryan, in a way his endorsement is more significant than even george h. w. orm vanguard, now the gop and this is helpful to romney because it shows that ryan is saying look, this is the candidate who can carry my ideas best forward in the campaign, to reform medicare, to cut and reform the tax code. and those are big ideas so it's a big deal for romney. jon: romney has been de cried maybe by some of his critics as a moderate when it comes to fiscal matters. >> sure. jon: which is romneycare in massachusetts. to have paul ryan, one of the best known fiscal conservatives out there behind him, that really helps sell people on that point. >> it sure does. i mean, it reflects i think a little bit the evolution on policy that romney has made over the course of this campaign. you know, he was first very vague on medicare reform. now he's endorsed a modified version of ryan's reform plan. he was saying i don't want the status quo on taxes, no real tax cuts or tax reform. reasonably -- recently he endorsed a major tax cut that goes a long way to what ryan would propos

ryan. >>> new video shows george zimmerman shortly after he shot and killed trayvon martin. it really calls into question zimmerman's claim that martin attacked him, broke his nose and bashed his head in the sidewalk. >>> and the megamillions jackpot just continues to grow, rising another $40 million in the last 20 hours. the total is at $540 million. >> i want to show you the corner where police say a 2-year-old child was hit by an unmarked police car. the child was rushed to johns hopkins hospital but is expected to survive. we'll let you know more as it develops. >>> a new study by the centers for disease control cast a new light on the weight of autism in the united states. more children than ever are being diagnosed with the disease. abc2 news roosevelt leftwich has the latest. >> reporter: one in 80 children are diagnosed with some sort of autism. the cdc says this paints the picture of the magnitude of the condition across the country. some states have a higher percentage of autism cases. boys were more likely to have them than girls. the most significant around black

the latest polls show mitt romney is up by 8 points after picking up a big endorsement from george bush. paul ryan will throw his support behind romney today. now the focus is on tuesday's primaries in wisconsin, maryland, and washington, d.c. >> i hope do get a good number of delegates from those three contests and be on my way to secure the nomination. and taking on the president. >> some analysts say tuesday could be the last chance for rick santorum and newt gingrich to prove their campaigns can survive. santorum will be in wisconsin today after stopping in the bay area. he attended a fundraising dinner last night and stopped by the jelly belly factory in fairfield. if he becomes president, he says he will slash taxes on manufacturers like jelly belly from 35% to 0%. >> bold promises. it's 5:44 right now. christina loren is making some promises i think she'll be able to keep about the weather. >> promises, promises. i like to make promises i can keep. i worked really hard on this. let's time it out for you right now. we have an system already dropping light showers in the north bay. some preci

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republican budget chairman paul ryan in the us you know he should be a zombie of he has been pushed by they had a finance in the u.k. known as the chancellor of the exchequer george osborne. now we know a paul ryan wants to do he wants to kick it where to go period he wants to kick fourteen million disabled elderly and impoverished americans off medicaid cut off their health insurance for millions tens of millions of americans and get rid of medicare as we know it and handed over to the for profit health insurance industry leaches all of that to suck thirty three trillion dollars out of the hands of working people and hand it off to the top one percent in the form of a massive three percent thirty three trillion dollars massive three trillion dollar tax cut he gets three reagan zombie stars for his efforts but not to be outdone and not to diminish the influence of a zombie thatcher zombie george or worse was born is also getting into the game of stealing from the poor to give to the rich osbourne just released a new budget in austerity ridden britain that would cut the top top tax rate for britain's three hundred thousand wealthiest citizens by cutting the pensio

george had injuries to his head. robert zimmerman says he is confident medical records will verify his brother was indeed injured. >> paul ryan plans to endorse mitt romney today. this comes one day after george h. w. bush also endorsed the former massachusetts governor. bush said this time for republicans will unite behind romney. george w. bush remained neutral. president obama is going to do some campaigning up his own today. he will attend to fund-raisers in vermont. then you go to maine for two more evidence. turning to today's bloomberg minute. apple is in hot water over labor conditions not good china and is facing another class action lawsuits. linda bell joins us from new york for those stories and more. >> good morning. happy friday to you. we have more problems for apple. they say an audit overseas account "serious violations of chinese labor laws." helping workers understand their rights is essential. another iphone4s user is slapping apple with a lawsuit with the boysvoice activation. the iphone is hurting sales. investors are taking a close look of shares of research in motion. to their shifting their focus to w

romney picked up representative paul ryan, senator marco rubio and former president george h.w.s week. pretty big week for him. would you say, maria, any of these carry more weight than the others? >> i think they were both symbolic, randi. two things were interesting to me. the one was from george bush, se sr., which was not surprising at all. they're very nervous that romney has not been able to seal the deal by himself. but in the cnn poll that came out very revently where the majority of voters say they still blame george w. bush, the son for the economy and for wrecking the economy, i think that this endorsement by the father is going to just underscore and remind voters that it actually was the son who put in the policies that wrecked the economy and that interestingly enough are the same policies that romney will support and will implement. >> all right. >> the rubio endorsement was, i think, clearly a good one for romney, but his endorsement was so lukewarm, he basically said, well, i'm going to endorse him because he's going to win and, frankly, we wanted others to run

a little while ago the showers were moving out, our friend bob ryan was up at george washington parkwaysuming he stopped and did not try to snap it when he was driving. this is what happens when the sun is shining through a low ankle. all of that is out of here now as these guys continue to clear. -- through a low angle. charles county, parts of st. mary's light showers. it is all moving away from the region. highs hit 80 in martinsburg and fredericksburg. 72 at reagan national airport. we are still 70 and washington and 72 in fredericksburg. tomorrow looks nice. a sunny and breezy cool start. partly cloudy 57 degrees. friday could bring a few showers. mild weather through the weekend and most of next week as well. keep up-to-date with ever- changing weather at wjla.com. you can learn about our new abc 7 app. that is the program bob ryan used to text and the picture. -- in the picture. >> you guys are looking for somebody to root for this weekend, i have it. this is the final week of march madness. most of the dancers have been eliminated. we still have a dog in the hunt. we are claimin

you mentioned a couple of the endorsements, marco rubio, george hw bush and paul ryan.d big gaffes, which do you think voters are going to pay more attention to, the gaffes or big endorsements? >> i think mitt romney would hope they would pay attention to the endorsements and listen to what george hw bush says, but i have to tell you whenever it seems that mitt romney is gaining traction, he seems to stumble over himself. new details came out that he was trying to build a car elevator out at his summer home in lajolla, i don't know how many people have elevators in their homes but he's building car he'll -- elevator for his summer home. that doesn't necessarily make him more understandable to the working man. that is for sure. also, he held a conference call this past week with wisconsin voters and he was trying to tell a joke but in telling the joke he really stumbled over himself and what he did is talked about how his father, who once oversaw american motors, how his father had shut down a plant in michigan and moved the operations to wisconsin. the joke didn't go ov

george h.w. bush to paul ryan and marco rubio, the two bright young stars in the party, all endorsing romney thisek all saying it's time to focus on obama and the general election. the gop is getting ready. they want this primary over. they want to focus on november. >> let's talk a bit about rick santorum. i know he's on your show this weekend. how do you think he's responding? is he reacting correctly to all this? >> well, look, it isn't for me to say. it's a free country. he's done better than anybody thought he has, was going to do. he's won about a dozen states, but you just look at the math and it just looks awfully hard. he'd have to win over 70% of the remaining delegates to win. here's the one thing i would say. i don't see any problem with him staying in the race at all. mike huckabee stayed in the race when it was pretty clear wasn't going to win, but he didn't spend his time bashing the frontrunner and the eventual nominee john mccain. he spent his time talking himself up, not talking his opponent down. rick santorum hasn't done that. he's still very tough, very negative. only a week

ryan will endorse romney today. this is one day after former president george h. w. bush also endorsed the former massachusetts governor. former florida governor jeb bush has endorsed romney, but former president george w. bush is remaining neutral. it is 43 degrees. so much more to come on good morning washington. the capitals needed a big win against the bruins. tim brant has the highlights from the back and forth. signs of progress in the fight against a wildfire in colorado. we have an update for you. glaxo wellcome. -- welcome. beledweyne moving nicely near the mormon temple. there was an accident, but then has been moved quickly. no impact at connecticut avenue. the beltway between 270 and 95, i would say go for it. >> looks nice outside this morning. 15-20 degrees colder than we were yesterday at this time. 44 degrees at reagan national, 39 at dulles. 36 at winchester. above freezing finally in western maryland where the freeze warning continues even though it is 37 in oakland. the frost advisory, darker blue, frederick and washington counties, jefferson, berk

has happened is there's been a far greater sense of inevitability because of people like paul ryan and george rubio who have come out to endorse him. paul ryan is a rising star in the party. that together is the latest sign that romney is really winning over people in the party who are saying on capitol hill and elsewhere that they are ready for this race to go on. >> felicia, many thanks. to keep up on all the political headlines, go to msnbc.com's first read, your top online destination for political news, analysis and opinion. >>> in his media address today, president obama talked about the buffett rule proposal to raise taxes on millionaires. >> members of congress will get a chance to show you where they stand. congress is going to vote on what's called the buffett rule. if you make more than $1 million a year, you should pay at least the same percentage of your income in taxes as middle class families do. >> the president said if you make under $250,000 a year, your taxes would not go up. >>> excitement today for the three winning tickets in last night's mega millions lottery. so far of

the fact you have rubio coming around and paul ryan coming around and george h.w.appearing with him yesterday, all of this is the republicans saying it's time to go. it's time to start looking to november. >> once they do pick a candidate, senator john kerry has talked about his concerns that president obama will get swift voted the same treatment he got in 2004. he wrote, i'm quoting kerry here, i know all too clearly that these guys will do or say anything to win. their multimillion dollar smear tactics were new in 2004. in 2012 we know their play book and shame on us if we don't tear it into shreds. join me we will stop the swift boating of president obama. what do we know about how the obama campaign team is gearing up to blunt the attacks. >> i think the parallel with the kerry campaign is very interesting and a lot of people have said that's what this election is going to resemble where the republicans, as we've said, are not super fired up by mitt romney. what they're fired up about is president obama. they're enthusiastic in a negative sense and that's the

convince by 12 points in illinois and then goes on to get jeb bush's endorsement, paul ryan's endorsement, marco rubio, george h. w. bush's endorsement. freedomworks says we're not opposed to mitt romney being the nominee anymore. it feels like it's coalescing. if that margin holds or gets a little bit bigger, i don't know if rick santorum is able to with stand what will be increased calls for him to get out and last all the way to where i think he would like to end his candidacy in pennsylvania on april 24th. >> and barbara bush and george herbert walker bush with mitt romney in houston, i never knew that barbara bush was a kenny rogers is fan. take a look at that the photo op. >> aren't you going to sing a song for us, you know when to fold them? >> i do think it's time for the party to get behind governor romney and she was reminding me kenny rogers sung it's time when to hold them and fold them. i think it's time for people to get behind this good man. >> and then, he talked about his son the former president. and said, you know, have you talked to him? mitt romney said no, i haven't. has he endorsed you

ryan should be the v.p., and some think marco rubio. does rubio get an edge because he went first -- if you win the nomination? >> i think i would take george herbert walker bush. he has more experience, that's for sure. i am delighted with the support of senator rubio and congressman paul ryan and, of course, the former president. this has been an extraordinary week for me. i am really pleased to have their help. i think this is about consolidating our strength and making sure that we take to america a very different vision for the future than that which is presented by president obama. >> sean: one of the biggest challenges i think that a lot of people are concerned about -- and i will ask both of you about it -- this issue of, okay, the nomination process has been hard -- and it's not over, governor. if you get the nomination, how does this party come together? what are the things that you would want to say, for example, newt gingrich said, you are getting closer to the magic number, 1144, but he said, you have to earn it. you had a meeting with the former speaker. how did that meeting go? >> well, you know, we speak from time to time. i

also speculation that ryan could be picked as number two on the ticket. yesterday, george h.w. bush formally announced his endorsement of romney. >>> this is surveillance video from inside an a school bus as tornado ripped through the area. that bus was lifted off the ground and tossed into a diner. it happened minutes after the bus driver got all of the children off. >>> the weather could get pretty rough today for henriville and much of indiana, in fact. a chance of tornado dose from indianapolis. evening rain in pennsylvania and the mid-atlantic. some flooding rain from seattle to northern california. some snow in the cascades. sierras and northern rockies. 49 in seattle. 69 in sacramento. 55 in chicago. 75 in omaha. 80s from dallas to miami. here in the big apple, about 55. business news is next this morning, including a major announcement from best buy, closing dozens of its stores and a car that drives itself. >>> also this morning -- barbie going bald for a good cause. >>> welcome back, everybody. some big changes are coming to the thousands of factory workers who make a

paul ryan is from wisconsin. former president george bush 41. >> i think it is time for the party to get behind governor romney. but the florida tea party senator endorsed mitt romney. >> it is important for him right now. he needs to start bringing the party together and generating enthusiasm for the general election. >> i am here -- [cheers and applause] >> president obama is already campaigning with four events today in two states, claiming he kept his promise of change. >> change is the health care reform we passed. >> in wisconsin, rick santorum is still fighting mitt romney. >> we have a great opportunity if wisconsin comes through for us. >> wisconsin to be the end. >> it is almost make or break for rick santorum. he needs to do well. he is going into debt. he is not raising enough money to survive until tampa. he needs a boost. >> or dramatically's widen or -- dramatically widening mitt romney's lead. mitt romney could get nearly 100 delegates in santorum just a few or none. wbal-tv 11 news in washington. >> old hilltop has awak

with those conservative voters. >> lenny, how do you see it, mitt romney picking up paul ryan of wisconsin, george thrown their support behind mitt romney. does this indicate that there will be some kind of coalescing of the republican base around mitt romney? >> we'll find out tuesday. we can't make a determination of that quite yet. let's go back to mississippi, he came in third place. then to illinois, the double-digit establishment shined h behind him there. if he can keep that lead, he can avoid that like he did in illinois, i think we'll finally see the final stage of coalescing behind mitt romney. he'll do better in d.c. where newt gingrich is not on the ballot there. >> i wonder if it's a couple steps forward one step back. you've got the endorsements. but then there's the awkward moment that occasionally crops up, involving mitt romney. this latest one, he was taking part in a telephone town hall meeting this week. romney brought up what he called a humorous story about his father closing a michigan factory when he was ahead of american motors. listen to how comedian steven colbert explai

>> well, george, if romney is the nominee, then this really going to be the romney/ryan plan, he said that he's going to rubber stamp it. they said really what they need in the president is someone with enough digits to sign legislation. the budget fails the test of balance and shared responsibility. it's not a balanced approach. it asks nothing of the weal wealthiest. it devastates things like education and it vouch rises medicare. the president's approach is the right approach. whether it's the commission -- anybody out there who's offered a deficit reduction plan, it has to have balance, it has to cut spending. we cut a lot of spending, almost $2 trillion. the ryan plan, the romney/ryan plan doesn't do any of that, it drastically cuts in areas that would help the economy. >> you mentioned the simpson bowles plan, the senate democrats haven't even come guard with a budget for years. >> listen on simpson bowles there was a lot of elements of that ended up in the president's deficit reduction plan. lot of the ideas of that -- we did have some issues with that. we thought that the soci

ryan's endorsement would come a day after former president george h.w. bush announced his support for romney. >>> president obama will hit the campaign trail today in new england. he will attend a series of fund-raisers in vermont and maine. includes a $7,500-per-person luncheon in burlington. tickets are $5,000 apiece. >>> since obama became president, gas prices have nearly doubled. obama opposed exploring for energy in alaska. he gave millions of tax dollars to solyndra which went bankrupt. he blocked the keystone pipeline so we will all pay more at the pump. >> you may see this ad on tv if you live in virginia. the group called american energy alliance is spending $3.6 million on the commercial which criticizes president obama's energy policies. the group is particularly critical of the president's call for an end to tax breaks for oil companies. the ads are running in eight states including virginia. democrats call american energy alliance is a front group for big oil. >>> today is the day thousands across the country are scooping up as many mega mi

ryan should be the v.p., and some think marco rubio. does rubio get an edge because he went first -- if you win the nomination? >> i think i would take george herbert walker bush. he has more experience, that's for sure. i am delighted with the support of senator rubio and congressman paul ryan and, of course, the former president. this has been an extraordinary week for me. i am really pleased to have their help. i think this is about consolidating our strength and making sure that we take to america a very different vision for the future than that which is presented by president obama. >> sean: one of the biggest challenges i think that a lot of people are concerned about -- and i will ask both of you about it -- this issue of, okay, the nomination process has been hard -- and it's not over, governor. if you get the nomination, how does this party come together? what are the things that you would want to say, for example, newt gingrich said, you are getting closer to the magic number, 1144, but he said, you have to earn it. you had a meeting with the former speaker. how did that meeting go? >> well, you know, we speak from time to time. i