that committee will doubtless focus on romney care. the massachusetts health care reform law enacted five years ago this week. the romney care law says that everyone in massachusetts must have health coverage, and that employers with 10 or more workers must make it available to those employees and must cover some of the romney care insurance costs. now, romney care closely mirrors obama care. many believe. and this will turn off republican primary voters, which means no g.o.p. official presidential candidate status for romney, maybe. question, in the eyes of the exploratory committee, will romney care, that's his health program in massachusetts, be a plus or a minus for romney as the official candidate of the g.o.p.? eleanor? >> well, it would be a plus for me in assessing governor romney because -- it covers -- [everyone talking at once] >> what do you mean? >> well, because they now cover 98% of the population, in massachusetts. it's a good plan. but i think that politically, romney -- the only way he can steer through is the olds ma

my net worth is many, many, many times mitt romney and i don't know mitt romney. i'm not saying good or bad. i know some of the other candidates. i don't know mitt romney, but i built a very big net worth and i would like to -- i have always had an ability to do that. i would like to put that ability perhaps, if i decide to go, perhaps i would lo to put that ability to work for this country. so i don't do it for myself. i will be doing it for the country and, guess what, that's what this country needs. >> i have two quick questions. there was an article out the other day talking about the top 400 gross income folks. it was in blumberg paying 17% personal income tax while those who made less than them were paying 23%. what percent of your personal income do you do? >> sure, it's substantial. i would have to check. >> higher than 17? >> i will be reporting certain things. assuming i run and there is a good possibility. assuming i run, in about two months you will know that information. >> and that's my last question. >> with what's happening to our country. we are l

mitt romney, yes. mike huckabee, do not think he is running.t gingrich -- >> that is a very long shot. i think he has a lot of baggage. i think he would be an asset in any administration. i am not sure he has a serious chance of winning the nomination. >> i have to bring the name of. sarah palin to the people do talk about her. >> i do not think she is going to run. she has not given any it indication jewel. it will be either her or bachman the billing to the two- party. i think it bachman is serious. she might do well in iowa. i do not have inside information for sarah palin. if i were hurt, i would set out. because she would lose, and it would the minister. >> how about haley barbour? >> i think that is a good match up. haley barbour has problems of k street lobbyists. but on a personal level, he has a record to talk about. unlike mitt romney, who cannot talk about his governorship in massachusetts to republican audiences. but haley barbour can talk about having been governor, as ken pawlenty. >> pawlenty is the obvious candidate. he is succe

romney. in the area for a policy, he criticizes the obama administration handling of iran, russia, and the palestinian, israeli peace negotiation. from las vegas, this is about 50 minutes. >> i want to say thank you to you for hosting this event. thank you to the chairman for his leadership and matt parks for his extraordinary leadership as well. thank you for opening up their home. what an extraordinary contribution this couple has made. thank you so much. and thank you to the rtc for the work you're doing. you guys made it happen. and we republicans are flying high because nancy pelosi is flying coach. this is very good news. there are a number of people in this room who have been extraordinarily helpful to me during my eighth campaign for president last time around. sam is one of those. i see a whole series. there were many people who were a part of that team. i'm sorry i did not get the job done. i wanted to become the nominee. of course, if i had become the nominee, i would have become t

romney did -- to are things that mitt romney did. it will be more difficult to differentiate than he anticipates. if you look at the numbers on health reform, he is better off in a general election by being in the middle, but understanding the challenges people face when they cannot get insurance -- by understanding the challenges people face when they cannot get insurance. he was a good governor in massachusetts, but he seems to have walked away from his record in the interest of getting the republican nomination and the far-right republican electorate. he would be stronger if he were the mitt romney who was governor of massachusetts. guest: it is important to remember that the governor has a record of accomplishment on health care. the reason obama care was done -- was rejected by the electorate was that it was a very partisan bill. it spent way too much money. governor romney took an approach that was tailored towards a unit population. -- unique population. guest: that is correct, but the laboratories of democracy are in the stat

>> mitt romney. >> absolutely. "wall street journal"/nbc poll has it and a 40%, if you take into consideration that newt gingrich and tim pawlenty, the people who are really going to run and are committed to running -- >> romney pretty much guarantees that michele bachmann will be added that race -- >> trump is our al sharpton, no more, no less. >> michele bachmann could be the sabotage of tim pawlenty in iowa. there is a room for only one minnesota candidate in iowa and tim pawlenty is potentially the strongest. >> the anniversary of the civil war. >> states' rights. >> i am embarrassed not to know. >> the question was, why was the civil war fought? 150 years ago this week, the shots were fired at fort sumter. william faulkner said that the past is not dead, it is not even passed. are we still fighting it, charles? >> i don't think so. there is consensus on the slave rate. -- slavery. you could argue that we are arguing about the basic values of the country, but every country does that. 150 years later -- we had c

presidential primary romney has kept a semi low profile he's avoided most requests from t.v. and newspaper interviews and instead he's been focusing on a new strategy of writing our bets then strategically placing them in newspapers around the country and he's using those opinion pieces to target president obama and challenge him on both domestic and foreign policy issues and this week he placed an op ed in the new hampshire union leader so as usual he was being critical of obama spending that's when he said the following he said barack obama is facing a financial emergency on a grander scale yet his approach has been to engage in one of the biggest peace time spending binge is in american history. gee that's a really interesting there may i mean it. did you have anybody in your inner circle proofread it did they cast a little layering error in this are bad the u.s. is not at peace we haven't been at peace for nearly a decade maybe mitt has been too busy trying to backtrack on his health care record and hasn't paid attention to the us his military engagements so tonight we ha

i suspect that governor romney -- if history is any guide, governor romney is the front-runner, rightends to be someone who has run before. the only exception from 1960 is 1964 association you' 1964, so you're talking about almost a half century. and i suspect that will be where the race turns out. trump is an interesting figure, like all populist outbreaks. it tells you something about the frustration with both parties, and frankly, with this conversation that we're having to some extent. >> yeah. >> bottom line is donald trump is laughing all the way to the bank and he's rolling up in the media every single day. let's be frank about it. truth is such a scarce commodity in this town oftentimes and that's the bottom line. he's laughing to the bank and he's playing us, number one. number two, with all due respect to my senator and the tea party activists, on a certain level, i understand the frustration because i'm frustrated. i understand the angst of the tea party. but if you're going to start taking seriously a guy like donald trump making those kinds of statements, that two years i

mitt romney was there today. at some point he's going to have to say up or down on the ryan plan and all of them to a person came out and said we praise them for their boldness but no one is signing on to this because it's trouble for them. >> while hitting hard at paul ryan, he did invite republicans to negotiate with him because he does need to get the debt limit done. gwen: sitting in the front row, paul ryan and jeb hensarling being slapped around. they didn't look happy. >> right, and there's going to be disagreement over what sort of negotiations but they are going to have talks at the leadership level over some sort of gesture that will allow people to vote for that debt limit. paul ryan, after the president whacked him in that speech was on television and asked how can you work with the president on the debt limit after you received an attack like that? he said he's the campaigner in chief. it was all politics. i didn't expect that from the president, however, i'm going to set that aside. the debt limit i

new or -- >> a lot of us have gone in thinking romney was the front-runner.been there before and i think a lot of us have to think, if he is the front-runner at all, he is certainly not a strong one. >> he's not in bad shape. "the wall street journal" nbc poll, he's 40% among the people who are really running, first and second choice. which is a pretty strong position. there's just not a lot of intensity and passioning for him, i agree. >> lehrer: but you think don't worry about trump. >> he will not be the republican nominee, i will bet my bottom dollar. >> lehrer: come on, don't say that. well,. >> he just did. >> lehrer: thank you both. >> thank you. >> woodruff: now, the american gulf coast a year later. when the "deepwater horizon" oil rig exploded, the blast killed 11 workers. and after the rig sank, tens of thousands of barrels of oil spilled into the gulf. that region is still trying to recover from the damage done to the environment. newshour correspondent tom bearden returned to the gulf to try to find some answers about the consequences. >> reporte

>> i have to say my husband is a romney advisor as full disclosure. on the trump thing, you have to wonder where this birther thing is going to take him, making this the center piece of his campaign. not only are we supposed to believe that barack obama's mother somehow got him from kenya to hawaii to get a false birth certificate, but we now have again health department officials in hawaii coming out and saying he was born here. they have the backup documentation in a book on the second floor of the building. she has come out before and said it. the hawaiian state officials have to be in on the consider as well. i just don't see where it takes him. i think donald trump, who i have spent time with when i wrote about him, i think of him as a performance artist. lighting his hair on fire and getting a lot of attention. >> chris: obviously he is not lighting his hair on fire. >> that is something we don't want to witness. that being said, never underestimate these candidates. >> chris: kevin, your man or former man mitt romney announced his exploratory c

my net worth is many, many, many times mitt romney. i don't know mitt romney. i don't know him.m not saying good or bad. i know some of the other candidates. i don't know mitt romney. >> trump continued his theme, alleging that president obama was not really born here in the u.s. >>> nicolas cage is out on bond after getting arrested in new orleans. police say he was heavily intoxicated when he got in an argument with his wife. he allegedly struck several cars, grabbed his wife by the arm, and then dared police to arrest him. he was bailed out by dog the bounty hunter. who describes himself as a dedicated nicolas cage fan. >> truth can be stranger than fiction. >> indeed. >>> surprising results from the first round of the nba playoffs. here's don bell over at espn news. >> good morning, i'm don bell with your espn news update. a huge day in the nba. we're talking playoff hoops. kobe bryant and the lakers taking on the hornets. game one. fourth quarter. lakers down, 88-82. rise and fire for three. lakers down by three. later in the quarter, chris paul, the jump shot over pau gaso

donald trump is in a tie for second along with mike huckabee and mitt romney. mitt romney leads. on monday we sat down with him for an exclusive interview, and i began by asking trump about his potential run. >> this is very serious. i always take things seriously, but i've never taken it seriously like this. this is a very serious time in my life. i hate what's happening to the country. i wish i didn't have to do it. i wish this country was running so great, and i wish obama was the greatest president since abraham lincoln, and i wish this was the greatest place in the world. what we're doing is unbelievable. if you look at what's going on where our jobs are disappearing to foreign countries, where the oil -- you're going to be paying 7 or $8 a gallon for your oil very soon. >> do you blame all of this on barack obama? >> i blame all of it. it's been a terrible presidency. look at libya. we go in, we don'tme want to remove gadhafi, but we want to fight, we want to do this. now nobody knows what's happening. gadhafi is going to beat the united states? >> would you say, let's get

and we have herman kane and mid-romney also a businessman. caller: well, i'm more in with donald trump. while i don't know him personally and i don't always necessarily agree with everything that donald trump says, most of what he says and stands for i do. and i believe that he is a strong enough personality to possibly happen this country. host: thank you. we go to michael independent line from romulus, michigan, outside of detroit. caller: i want to make a comment about the birth certificate issue. host: sure. caller: i'm a disabled veteran and i'm in my 50's. i have a friend in his 90's who is a world war ii disabled veteran. they give us goes mileage to go to the hospital when we go and my friend is 92 and didn't have a driver's license or state i.d. he had to show his birth certificate, original birth certificate to get gas money, $15 reimbursed. so, why don't the president have to show his? thanks. host: from our twitter page you can go to twitter.com/cspanwj. a tweet saying donald trump a n nonpolitician refreshing to hear somebody say

mitt romney got 9%. >> that is really not that uncommon at this point in a campaign. when was the last time that you saw polls early on that said i love everybody? or years are really enthusiastic -- this is fairly typical. >> we were talking about rudy giuliani and hillary clinton four years ago. >> four years ago, 65% of republicans were excited about the candidates for president, including juliani, john mccain, as well as others, including mike huckabee. and this is a low number. i agree with you that victory has a fragrance all its own. if somebody starts winning a bunch of primaries, there will start to emerge and be seen as more exciting. but this is a real problem. i point out, in spite of donald trump's telephonic retelling of one of america's most prominent columnists, and the new york times poll, he got 25 percent favorable and 46% unfavorable.

mitt romney and mike huckabee. how do they garner support and competing with other candidates, tea candidates. >> there's always two tracks, a front-runner track and a management track. a mitt romney, a tim pawlenty. and a huckabee and a host of others who are more pop liss. does he ultimately back somebody like haley barbour. but you have it was of those finalist who is will go into a crowded field and will get the closer scrutiny and romney is positioning himself to be able to draw this out and win kind of a through somewhat of a default as he goes deeper and deep near the primary process. >> david gregory, david, thanks for your insights. >>> melissa francis is at the news desk with more of today's top stories for us, melissa, good morning. >> good morning, everyone. we begin in miami, where another air traffic controller fell asleep on the job. nbc's michelle franzen has more. >> reporter: another air traffic controller asleep on the job. this time, during the midnight shift saturday at the miami air route traf

in fact, i agree with mitt romney who recently said he's proud of what he accomplished on healthcare in massachusetts that supports giving states the power to determine their own healthcare solutions. he's right. >> while the president praises romney for the plan, some are criticizing a healthcare bill that he signed into law five years ago when he was go. but the chair of the republican party says romney's plan was never intended to be a national healthcare plan. he says he's in favor of a full repeal of the president's national healthcare plan. tim pawlenty announced he's running at the end of march. herman cane, also in the race. most of the video on rommy's -- romney's video, the budget and also newt gingrich is thinking about running for presidency -- for the presidency. he filed paperwork saying he was considering forming a committee. >> it will be very interesting to see who comes forward. thank you. >>> 7:41. it's a free ice cream kohn day at ben and jersey -- ice-cream cone day at ben and jerry's. the company says it wants to thank customers for their support and celebrate 3

and mitt romney is closer to joining the presidential field. it best advice she's ever gotten. that's the "cbs morning news" for this tuesday, thanks for watching everybody. i'm betty nguyen. have a great day. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com

you laid out the way romney is painting himself. what insiders see as some of his strengths and weaknesses as a candidate. >> he's going to try to sell himself as the businessman, the guy who can fix the economy. what bothers especially republicans it's the fifth anniversary of signing the massachusetts health care law. people say, his critics say, that is strikingly similar to president obama's health care law. that's the one republicans have all got in their targets right now. >> you also brought up donald trump who has definitely been stealing headlines. when you show us that poll where he came in second tied with mike huckabee there, what are we to make of his numbers. is he a serious contender. >> reporter: polls early on like this are usually about name recognition. obviously everyone knows who donald trump is. there's nothing to tell us now he's serious about running. some people say he's just trying to promote that tv show. erica, it could also be, i think, and for republicans this could be a problem, an indication of someth

romney said it's time to put america back on a course of greatness. his first attempt at the nomination to john mccain. >>> cool with a chance of rain in the next couple of days. and rain in the forecast. i'll have details in a few minutes. ♪ let's go out to the dmv ♪ it's ok that we're number four hundred and three ♪ ♪ we'll find ourselves a comfy seat ♪ ♪ and watch some shows and stuff ♪ ♪ ♪ let's follow that lady with the laptop ♪ [ male announcer ] now you can watch hit tv shows on your laptop with u-verse online and on your smartphone with u-verse mobile, included with most plans. or get u-verse tv for as low as $29 a month for 6 months. in the network you can take entertainment with you. >>> and now a look at other news covered by our crime 4 crews covered throughout the bay area today. >>> and police are trying to find a man who climbed with a student's home and tried to assault her. she screamed and fought the attacker off. he managed to get away. police say they have increased patrol in the area. >>> here at uc berkeley two recent late night

romney said it's time to put america back on a course of greatness. he lost his first attempt at the nomination to john mccain. >>> cool with a chance of [ man ] i got this new citi thankyou card and started earning loads of points. you got a weather balloon with points? yes, i did. [ man ] points i could use for just about anything. ♪ ♪ there it is. [ man ] so i used mine to get a whole new perspective. ♪ [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. >>> and now a look at other news covered by our crime 4 crews covered throughout the bay area today. >>> and police are trying to find a man who climbed with a student's home and tried to assault her. she screamed and fought the attacker off. he managed to get away. police say they have increased patrol in the area. >>> here at uc berkeley two recent late night assaults have the campus on edge. uc police are trying to determine if the two crimes are connected due to similar descriptions of the suspect in both cases

it makes it very hard for tim pawlenty, mitt romney to emerge through that process. it freezes the republican race and raises the possibility that a chris christy will get in late or a jeb bush. chris: is he dealing with people who are truly alienated and willing to buy the birther stuff? >> i think one of the most interesting things was the very conservative part of the poll that showed a party guy like donald trump? come on. but he does have high name recognition in a field where many of the folks don't? how many voters know who tim pawlenty, for example, is. so he does suck up a lot of the oxygen. chris: he's making claims that don't seem real. are they going to be bought as real? >> i think we're in the silly season in the primary right now. as people get more serious later in the process they want electable candidates and there's natural movement. his agenda is a joke and his candidacy is a joke and eventually everybody gets the joke. i don't think he's in the category with palin or bachman who, whatever their faults, are serious people. this is not a serious pe

does anybody have a candidate besides romney? >> there is an event that happens. something happens in the world which could create the circumstances that would bring a republican in. but the money thing is interesting, because you have to get that going. you cannot wait until the last second. >> mccain has challenged the president on some of the things he said on libya, and other candidatesave tiptoed around him -- >> you watch both the right and left on libya, and it is not like a tennis match. nobody agrees on anything. that is probably the best thing we have going on libya, which is that the right is divided, the left is divided -- >> the only thing that matters on libya is how it turns out in the end. everything else is irrelevant. if gaddafi classes, he is a hero -- if gaddafi collapses, he is a hero. >> two quick points. one, muammar gaddafi became leader of libya when barack obama was in third grade. seven american presidency has outlasted -- seven american presidents he has outlasted. that is the challenge here that will determine whether this is a wise po

no one expects mitt romney to continue to have that lead. in the last couple polls, donald trump has been in second place. sometimes, it is rudy giuliani. he obviously has name recognition. we will get a better sense today if this is a circus, if he is mocking our process, or if he is a serious candidate. host: how did you look at donald trump? guest: one of the things that fascinates me -- republicans are looking for someone who they think can actually beat barack obama. they have a number of candidates, tim pawlenty and rick santorum, who have spent a lot of time and money here putting their organizations together. it's difficult for a lot of republicans to see them beating barack obama. republicans are craving somebody who might have the money, the name, whatever it takes to win a general election match up with barack obama. some people think donald trump may bring that to the table. i think a lot of republicans are looking for that in a potential candidate, somebody who can win a general election. guest: a new gallup poll out today shows

no one expects mitt romney to continue to have that lead.the last couple polls, donald trump has been in second place. sometimes, it is rudy giuliani. he obviously has name recognition. we will get a better sense today if this is a circus, if he is mocking our process, or if he is a serious candidate. host: how did you look at donald trump? guest: one of the things that fascinates me -- republicans are looking for someone who they think can actually beat barack obama. they have a number of candidates, tim pawlenty and rick santorum, who have spent a lot of time and money here putting their organizations together. it's difficult for a lot of republicans to see them beating barack obama. republicans are craving somebody who might have the money, the name, whatever it takes to win a general election match up with barack obama. some people think donald trump may bring that to the table. i think a lot of republicans are looking for that in a potential candidate, somebody who can win a general election. guest: a new gallup poll out today shows tha

mitt romney has done the same thing with many businesses. do a deep dive. sit down and find programs that are overlapping or dupely can ative or not doing anything. too many programs die on the vine and we keep paying for them. [applause] but the only way we're going to seriously cut is to restructure those programs like social security. that's where i would start. i would use the chilean model with the personal retirement program. many say you're trying to privatize and take away the benefits for old people, puppy dogs and kids. this is how they generally try to demagogue an idea. the chileans fixed their problem years ago with that. i believe if you have the right leader in the white house that understands what i call common sense solutions, we can do this. and here's why. if you get past that line in that great document, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, you'll find more words i told a caller one night. if any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it's the right of the people to alter it. we've got some altering to do. [applaus

romney's firm manages $65 billion in assets. trump certainly making his voice. >> he wants to trump that. >>> scott has a check at wall street. >>> bad day on wall street. s&p downgrading and waiting for the united states of america and the crisis here. the drug that doesn't work among african-american women. ganette papers say they make 82 papers. profits down 23%. dow industrial is down almost 200 points. >>> is the ipad to blame for the latest woes? jesse jackson jr. thinks so. a c-span video going viral claiming it's cost tens of thousands of american jobs. we posted it to the facebook morning page for you to take a look. >> thanks. >> thank you very much. and thank you for joining us this morning. the "today" show is up next.

mitt romney taken the first official steps towards a second presidential bid. the republican announced to supporters he's formed an exploratory committee. he ran in 2008 but lost the republican nomination to john mccain. a message on facebook and twitter romney said that with able leadership, america's best days are still ahead. he also added that president obama has to provide them. >>> the california public utilities commission has delayed vote. pg&e offer today pay a $3 million fine and another $3 million if it doesn't come up with the necessary records in the next five months. regulatory regulators originally threatened pg&e with a fine of $1 million a day for missing the deadline to provide critical information about the san bruno incident and safety data about other natural gas pipelines. there's no word on when a vote will be taken. >>> today the san francisco board of supervisors will consider a resolution opposing leash restrictions in the golden gate national recreation area. the land use and economic development committee approved it yesterday. more

he pointed out that mitt romney, for instance, used youtube to announce his exploratory committee for the presidency just last week. >>> there was a setback today for the giants fan who was attacked as he left dodgers stadium last month. doctors had hoped to ease bryan stow out of his medically induced coma this weekend, but stow started having seizures even though he was still heavily sedated at the time. doctors immediately put him back into a medically-induced coma for now. they'll try letting the drugs wear off again in a couple of days. there's yet another fund-raiser to help raise money for his medical day today. stanley's sports bar, which is inside the sharks practice facility, is donating $1 of every beer bought and holding a raffle and silent auction before the puck drops tonight in game three of the playoffs. >>> people who live in the country's southeast are slowly beginning to clean up after more than 200 tornados hit that region. from the air you can see the massive destruction in parts of north carolina. experts are now saying this collection of tornados was among the l

-- -- >> romney. they are as confused as anyone else. they want to know what everybody else thinks because they're trying to puzzle it out, too. and they see others, they see mitch daniels, the governor of indiana, who it's not at all clear is going to get in the race as somebody who would be a serious opponent if he were able to make it to the general election and somebody who is carrying the message of taking on debt and deficit. they have a lot of respect for haley barbour's political skills. they're not sure whether he's capable of really doing it as a candidate. so there is as much confusion on the democratic side as to who the nominee is going to be as there is on the republican side. >> the president is raising a lot of money. he's kicked off his campaign. at this point, much more active than any of the republicans. why is that? on both sides? >> well, the interesting thing when you talk to democrats and some of the people around the president, they are a little bit baffled as to why the republican field is moving as slowly. becau

in the last election cycle mitt romney spent a fortune.ions of dollars getting traction here. he came close, but mike huckabee pushed him aside. steve forbes in a previous election cycle tried to use his own personal wealth to buy traction. he did buy some, but was not competitive. the media keeps pushing once. in iowa is difficult for the media to have an enduring influence on the caucus process, because this literally is a grassroots process. we will continue this in just a moment on 1040 who-radio. >> and my ok? i think we can go back to just chatting with folks on the line. we will go to one of our local farm markets. we can talk to listeners several minutes. some feedback we got from santa ana, california. i'm not sure how we can get a feel for what's iowans are thinking when a program and audience such as yours is clearly so right and center? well, that's a fair analysis, my program is right of center. i would classify myself as sort of conservative and libertarian. i really find ron paul a very attractive -- a lot of his policies fa

mitt romney says he intends to run for the white house in 2012.is campaign said it was not a formal announcement yet. that's expected this spring. he launched a presidential exploratory committee last monday. in the latest poll, huckabee and trump were first, sarah palin third, followed by mitt romney and newt gingrich. >>> you want to keep your umbrella close by this morning as you head out. we have a chance of showers in the forecast for all of the bay area today and a pretty cloudy start to the day, as well. here's a look at your temperatures outside. high 40s into the 50s for the most part, some sprinkles a little later on this afternoon. chance of showers throughout the bay and cool conditions. we're dropping it down a few degrees from yesterday keeping those temperatures below average for this time year. here's a look at satellite to show you that system sitting off the coast. this is a very weak cold front that's making its way through. so not a lot of rain but definitely you want to keep that umbrella and keep your rain jacket out because

>> mitt romney, he's a capable person. he's proven himself. donald trump, when i first saw he was getting in, i thought this has got to be a joke, but the more you listen to him, the more you say, maybe the guy is right. >> he might be your candidate of choice? >> sure. >> you can see much more of christiane's interview tomorrow morning. he weighs in on the birther controversy as well. that's "this week." >>> now to a flash point in the middle east. syria, where security forces shot dead mourners who gathered at funerals for protesters who had been killed just yesterday. witnesses said the security forces showed no mercy. in some cases aiming right at mourners. a sign syria's hard line president assad realizes his regime survival is now at stake. it follows 24 hours of blood shed. they fired into huge crowds of protesters, the worst day of violence yet. today, two syrian lawmakers resigned in disgust, extraordinary act of defiance in a nation where opposition figures are routinely jailed. the picture from syria tonight. >>> a major development

this is what mitt romney said. i'm afraid some people are conditioned to unemployment rates above 8%. it should be 4% or less. the idea to celebrate 8.8%, i'm glad for the progress but, my goodness, we have a lot of people out of work. this seems like he's trying to frame it, he wanting to be the economy republican candidate, errol and trying to frame it. >> you can't blame him for trying to move the gold post. i would love it, 4% in effect is zero unemployment with 4% from naturally moving to new jobs or coming in and out of the work force but, you know, that's not going to sell it for him. you know? i mean, if he's going to be the candidate of pain, he risks being where democrats have been in so many campaigns. sort of saying there are two americas and one america's not being attended to. it never works for republicans. >> chris, i was going to say, mitt romney, he can't afford for the economy, he wants to be the economy candidate. >> yes, and if the economy -- look. here's the deal. you mentioned 1984, chuck. i