. >>> my name is julie boonstra and five years ago i was diagnosed with leukemia. found out i only have a 20% chance of surviving. my insurance was canceled because of obamacare. now the out of pocket costs are so high, it's unaffordable. if i do not receive my medication, i will die. >> that is almost certainly one of the most effective political ads of the cycle so far. there are some problems with it which we'll detail in a moment. the ad was produced by americans for prosperity, the dark money group funded by the koch brothers in an effort it attack democratic congressman gary pete who are is running against republican terri lynn land in the hotly contested senate race to replace retiring senator carl levin. americans for prosperity is coming off a million-dollar three-week spending spree against peters which is a lot of money to spend nine months before election day. of course, what they're trying to do here is tie gary peters to obamacare and make that the central issue of the campaign as they try to do in florida '13. soon after the ad came out, lawyers for

good to have you with us. >> thanks for having me. >> do you think obamacare has made julie boonstra'sife harder? >> i do not. i think maybe americans for prosperity has made her life harder. keep in mind that statement does not address the facts in this case at all and certainly didn't address what "the washington post" and other media have found out about this case. and i think that is very telling. i wouldn't be here today myself had it not been -- i can't speak to her illness. she certainly is, i suspect, a legitimate leukemia patient. >> no doubt. >> but i am here because of another leukemia patient ad and the role i played several years ago when a corporate executive got between a 17-year-old young woman fighting for her life but he decided to overrule the decision that was made by her doctors at ucla medical center. she died five days before christmas because the insurance companies said it did not think this guy worked there didn't think that it was the medically appropriate procedure for her. and when she died, i made a decision that i was going to find some new way to earning

, in michigan, gary peters, the democrat senate candidate has gotten a war with a woman named julie boonstrancer. that's not very smart for an incumbent to challenge a citizen. i guess that's a victory for americans with prosperity in terms of their ability to set the agenda. they have gotten themselves into a sticky wicket attacking ordinary citizens especially when they prove about the attacks. >> no politician anywhere wants to be seen attacking somewhere like that. >> no, that's crazy. that's where i think the mistake is not -- the consultants, the people who mow thinks things to make this happen their political case. i agree with jim, that's always a mistake and it's a mistake for the democrats to do it. >> okay. i want to turn to another subject here. i want to ask you if we continue to watch the situation in ukraine, the white house yesterday released a picture of the president on the phone with russia's president vladimir putin. they said it was a 90-minute phone call. a lot of folks saying this is an opportunity for the president to step up and take leadership. >> he could, but sinc