and comedian bill mahre matches his political sympathies with 1 million bucks. we'll tell you who gets the we'll tell you who gets the money. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we begin first with the increasingly shrill politics of what you're paying at the gas pump. in today's case it's 3 cents a gal more than yesterday. aaa says the national average is just under $3.65 a gal, 12 cents higher than it was at the beginning of the week. this is the 18th straight day gas prices are up. the political blame game moved into high gear during this week's cnn presidential debate when newt gingrich said he had a plan to get gas prices back to 2.50 a gallon, a notion president obama ridiculed during a stop in florida. >> only in politics do people root for bad news. do they greet bad news so enthusiastically. you pay more, they're licking their chops. and you can bet that since it's an election year they're already dusting off their three-point plan for $2 gas. >> and today in washington state, gingrich called the president's speech on gas prices "nonsense." >> there's no reason we can't get back to a reasonably-priced gasoline around 2.50 a gallon. the fact is yesterday's speech was political baloney. this president has no interest in low, the price of gasoline and diesel. he has no interest in solving the problem of american energy independence. >> the fight continues. let's bring in our chief political correspondent candy crowley, the host of of cnn's "state-of-the-union." candy, it seems like we hear this a lot but more going forward? >> especially in an election season where the prices are going up at the wrong times. listen. it isn't so much gas prices as it is that it fits into both party's thematic political year issues. so the president can say, as oil profits, big company oil profits are bound to go up. they always do when gas prices are so high. and the president can say, this is why i want to get rid of their loopholes. they're making all this money and the consumers are being gouged, et cetera, et cetera. you also hear that the republicans are protecting their rich friend on wall street because they won't go ahead with some ways to kind of stop the oil profits from going up. now, the republican side? what is their big thing? their big thing is that the president is a tool of radical environmentalists. so they go back to the pipeline that they wanted built. they go back to where they want to drill where the president isn't drilling. so it fits nicely into the themes they have. and both of them are using it, frankly. because the fact is, this isn't the fault of the president. it isn't the fault of much except for iran. anybody i talked to today said this is about iran, china, and india. like two booming economies that are going to need more and more oil, and then the insecurity of the middle east. >> and everyone pays -- it's an easy number for everyone to grab on. to the price of the pump they can follow that. what it comes down, to candy, do americans vote on gas prices? >> if it's $12 a gallon in november i suppose they will. but we've seen them go up and then we've seen them come down. so if this is where it's going and it's going to start coming down as we've seen with previous spikes, no. i don't think they vote specifically on that. but if it keeps continuing and we do hit really high prices in november, look, that eats into people's spendable money. i mean, that's something like anything that happens to your house and anything that happens to your car is something you totally understand. >> absolutely. big weekend coming up. candy crowley, host of "state-of-the-union." we will watch. want to continue the conversation on gasses. let's bring in lizzy o' leary into the conversation. politicians can produce plenty of hot air but can they do anything about the price at the pump? >> reporter: not really. this is what candy was talking about in terms of what actually drives gas prices. that's what we wanted to break down for you. when you look at the prices you're talking about some $3.65 a gal. what goes into that? what are the force that is actually move that? and mostly what you see is yeah, there's some costs of refining gas and taxes, but it's oil. there you see more than three-quarters of the price of a gallon of gas comes from oil. that price moves because of tensions in the middle east. big economies that are growing like india and china, and then of course sort of the idea that there are a whole markets of people who bet on the prices of oil. and you want to see how much that affects what you're buying, go back ten years. when the price of oil really only composed about 37% of what goes into a gallon of gas. and then it was only a little over $1. so that shows you how the impact here is really shaped by the oil market. that's the big one. it's a global market. it's traded all across the world, kate. and that's what drives the price of a gallon of gas. >> at the very same time, lizzy, there are increasing calls for more regulation to help curb these prices. what's going on there? >> reporter: one of the things that happened in the dodd frank bill was something essentially called a position limit. that means if you're trading oil they want to say x person kate you can't trade more than a certain percentage. there's a lawsuit about that now. the financial industry said, we don't like that. we don't like that model. we don't want someone telling us how much we can trade. it actually goes to court on monday. that's the first legal salvo to see if there will be some limits put on how much people can trade in the very volatile oil markets. >> and when it's in court it means it's going to be a little while before anything happens one way or the other. >> reporter: yes. >> our aviation and regulation correspondent lizzy o' leary. thanks so much, lizzy. in another major story tonight, president obama and most world leaders are banging the drum even louder demanding an end to the bloodshed in syria. >> it is absolutely imperative for the international community to rally and send a clear message to president assad that it is time for a transition, it is time for that regime to move on, and it is time to stop the killing of syrian citizens by their own government. >> cnn's michael holmes is monitoring the desperate situation in syria where at least 91 people died today. he joins me now from beirut, lebanon. michael, thank you so much for taking the time. we understand the international red cross was allowed into homs tonight. what were they able to do, michael? is this a sign of progress? >> reporter: you've got to say that it is, kate, a sign of some progress. let's be cautious about it at the moment. it was the rc, the syrian red crescent who actually moved into that bee sieged homs neighborhood that we heard so much about that has been sealed off, three weeks of constant bombardment. their aim was to go in and evacuate not just the two wounded journalists who are in there waiting to be taken out but also in their words all persons in need of help without exception. they did one trip in with some ambulances. they came out with seven badly-wounded civilians. took them to a hospital in homs away from the main part of the fighting. that was the one and only trip. in it got dark. they say they're going to recommence going back in on saturday. the uncertain factor is the fate of those two wounded journalists who were hurt when the two other journalists were killed, marie colvin and remy ochlik. activists say they want more journalist toss come out. >> i can only imagine how many more trips are needed to help the injured and to remove the bodies of the dead. but i do want to ask you, looking at some of the big news today, michael, you're been watching tonight's meeting in tunisia. is there any optimism from the activists you're talking to that the international community can bring some kind of real change with these meetings? >> reporter: as you said, kate, another 91 people died today. there was 100 i think yesterday. it's daily, daily carnage going on inside syria. and the people we talk to on the ground, they say, okay, it's all very fine to have these meetings. we're sick of the talking. where is the help? where's the humanitarian assistance? they want assistance of other types, too. arms to help them in their fight. so they're in i think it's fair to say we'll believe it when we see it mode. they're not holding out huge confidence of anything changing in the immediate future. and they're determined to keep up their resistance. kate? >> it's an amazing and really horrific thing to watch unfold on a daily basis. michael holmes monitoring it all for us in lebanon. michael, thank you so much. the bloodshed in syria provoked an unusually harsh statement from secretary of state hillary clinton today. >> it is just despicable. and i ask whose side are they on? >> she is angry. next we'll tell you who secretary clinton is so angry with. it isn't just the syrians. plus comedian bill mahre is donating serious cash to president obama's re-election effort. we'll have the details. wake up! that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. tle emotional here? 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>> with us now from hoofer institution and a distinguished middle east scholar, thank you, professor, for joining me this evening. you heard those tough words from secretary clinton today in tunis. we don't often see the secretary of state get downright angry like that. but there were some important steps taken by the international community today when it comes to syria, is this enough in what they've come out with today? >> these words by secretary clinton are quite pathetic when you think of it. why should we be saying this to the russian and the chinese? they're doing their thing. they're autocracies, dictatorships. they don't want intervention. secretary clinton should understand this because her husband president clinton did two operations of besieged operations, one in bosnia in 1995, one in kosovo in 1999 without any united nations involvement. he understood the security council would not go along and he did the right thing for people under siege. now the obama administration is reluctant to do it. and these words are not very meaningful. >> i want to get to the "wall street journal" opinion piece that you wrote. in it you had some very strong words. in one portion you said "it is an inescapable fate that the u.s. is the provider of order in that region. and we can lend a hand, you continue to say, to the embattled syrians or risk turning syria into a devil's playground of religious extremism". you were, professor, quite critical of president obama as you were just there. what is the president in your view doing wrong with regard to syria? i guess the administration at large. >> well, i think the president is just running out the clock. obviously president obama is concerned above all with the presidential election. this is a very, very simple point. this is a presidential year, an election year, and i think he's very keen to make sure that the man who prides himself on liquidating the iraq war and bringing that war to an end is not going to plunge himself into an operation in syria. but i think what the president has done is he's made it seem that we either have to wage war in syria or we leave it to its own cruelties. there's a lot we can do. we can arm the free civilian army. we can give them help. this is what we're not doing. these are the kinds of things, by the way, that senator mccain is talking about that we can do a lot to help the syrians without sending our forces into that mine field. >> now, i want to ask you. americans are no doubt horrified by the violence and the bloodshed in syria. but for an american audience who may feel removed from it all, can you look at the camera and tell americans why it is important for the american to care about the fate of syria besides the obvious humanitarian crisis that everyone cares about? >> well, we can't really be indifferent to these things. we can't be indifferent to the middle east at any rate. and we can't be indifferent to the prospect that this country, syria, will become as you quoted these words. it would become a devil's playground. we can either help the syrians or they will seek help from jihadists, from terrorists. it is the fate of america, in you will, to be this indispensable nation as our own leaders keep telling the nation. we can't be indifferent. in libya we waited and we led from behind. in syria we're even doing much worse. and it is these things come back to haunt us in a way. we can't abdicate. we always pay a price for these things. we can't quit the middle east. and when you look at the borders of syria, we can see that these are very strategically important country. >> we know that president obama just late today said the international community cannot be bystanders in his words during these extraordinary events. we'll be all watching very closely to see what steps are taken and when. thank you very much, professor ajami for joining me this evening. >> thank you, kate. seven states are taking the fight over birth control and the new healthcare law to a whole new level. we'll have more details in a minute. sound you'll be able to use your computer to glide along one of the world's most beautiful and remote natural wonders. while some fiber ads use super models, metamucil uses super hard working psyllium fiber, which gels to remove unsexy waste and reduce cholesterol. taking psyllium fiber won't make you a model but you should feel a little more super. metamucil. down with cholesterol. will be giving away passafree copies of the alcoholism & addiction cure. to get yours, go to ssagesmalibubook.com. welcome back. here's lisa sylvester with the latest news you need to know right now. >> reporter: a new lawsuit over birth control could spell political trouble for the president. seven states are suing, demanding the government back off from requiring reliiri ridgs employers to offer health insurance including contra accept tiffs and other. bill maher during a comedy concert streamed live on yahoo! maher announced he is donating $1 million to the pro-obama group political action committee. his announcement took the folks at yahoo! a little bit by surprised. and googles bringing folks to the great barrier reef. starting in sent google will broadcast pictures taken by a robot to study how climate affects the reef. you'll be able to follow it on youtube and google plus. those pictures are absolutely gorgeous. >> i have neff been to australia. >> reporter: i have been there. it was wonderful. the day we were set to go to the great barrier reef the weather did not cooperate. >> i'm a big scuba diver. this is making me want to scuba dive. thanks, lisa. coming up there's a new controversy tonight over performance-enhancing drugs in big-time baseball. and yes, a player who just got out of a 50-game suspension insists he never was guilty and complains his name has been dragged through the mud. and in hollywood, they're rolling out the red carpet for a little gold guy and a whole lot of stars. 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[ male announcer ] one pill a day. 24 hours. zero heartburn. in this half hour, amid a fourth day of rioting over burned karans a top u.s. journalist reminds the they are our fans. a fatally flawed system. what do you do when your boss says make me a burger? how about check to make sure he's really your boss? across afghanistan today, thousands took part in anti-u.s. an anti-nato rioting. it's the fourth day of violence after people learned nato troops had burned qurans and other islamist writings from detainees and burned them. >> there will be moments like this when your emotions are governed by anger, and the desire to strike back. these are the moments when you reach down inside and you grip the discipline that makes you a united states soldier. and you gut through the pain, and you gut through the anger, and you remember why we're here. we're here for our friends. >> cnn pentagon correspondent chris lawrence joining me now. chris, you've heard what the general said. pretty emotional, moving words there. you've been in contact with some of those currently serving in afghanistan. what are they saying? >> reporter: i've been in touch with a few of the guys that i just kept in touch with over the years that i've met in iraq and afghanistan. and kate, they're just somewhat frustrated. it's not that they oppose the apology, so to speak, like you've seen some of the politicians making a political statement out of it. they're not necessarily opposed to it. but where they really feel rubbed the wrong way is that they don't feel it's reciprocated. in other words, everyone from the top general in afghanistan to the president himself has apologized for the burning of these qurans. but as one of the troops said to me, he said, look, we understand how significant the qurans are and how sacred they are. but no people died. and yet two of our u.s. soldiers were killed as part of these protests. and there hasn't been the same level of calling for an apology from the afghan government or the afghan people when they see american flags being burned. and that sort of rubs some of the troops the wrong way, they feel that they're really operating under a very extreme double standard. >> and on some level i'm sure there's a little bit of what more can they do. they've apologized. and the resipcation as you said seems to be far worse. chris, in terms of the military, what steps are they taking if any to make sure that this sort of error is not repeated? >> reporter: yes, general john allen has ordered all the troops in theater, every troop on the battle field is going to have to go back and go through sort of the cultural training all over again. and some of what they've receive even before going to afghanistan is pretty extensive. they bring in afghan americans to do role playing. they put the troops in different scenarios, teach them how to respond. but the specific training that are going have to relearn is how to dispose of, how to handle religious artifacts like the quran. because the general feels there's been a disconnect between the way in which they were trained and what happened here in this situation. >> yes. it does not seem that the story is over. we'll be watching it closely. chris, thanks so much. chris lawrence for the pentagon. in a very different story, milwaukee brewers outfielder ryan brawn blasted major league baseball's drug testing system today after an arbitration board tossed out his suspension. the 2011 national league mvp said the process was "fatally flawed" and maintained his innocence. >> if i had done this intentionally or unintentionally, i'd be the first one to step up and say i did it. by no means am i perfect, but if i've ever made any mistakes in my life i've taken responsibility for my actions. i truly believe it my heart and i would bet my life that this substance never entered my body at any point. >> so the board voted 2-1 in his favor overturning a 50-game suspension for testing positive for elevated testosterone in october. this is the first time a major league baseball player has argued a drug suspension and won. so to get a little perspective on this, sportscaster -- hbo broadcaster and cnn contribute max kellerman joins me from st. louis. how significant is this, max? >> it's a big deal. it's the first time in the new history of major league baseball's drug testing policy that someone successfully appealed the suspension. and though braun maintains his innocence, he got off on a technicality. >> so he's saying that the system is fatally flawed. is the testing system fatally flawed? or did he just kind of get off the hook on a technicality? >> he did. i'll get a little technical here. they're looking for a ratio of testosterone to -- and braun's sample exceeded the threshold by greater than seven times. they had him dead to rights. i read over in the rules what the tester is supposed to do once he collects the sample. if fed-ex is closed he has to make sure that he maintains a continuity in terms of the chain of -- that it's under his control and that he keeps anytime a cool place. he did all those things. when fed-ex opened on monday, he shipped it out. but apparently in that extra 36 hours or whatever it was, that was enough even though the seal with braun's sample inside was not broken, even though there's no medically known reason why it could have come up with a positive response instead of a negative test, especially at the levels that they found, including the presence of synthetic testosterone in the sample, even though all those things were true the arbitration panel decided that technically baseball hadn't followed their own rules precisely. and though i disagree with them, that was the ruling. >> so 50% of that was over my head, obviously. someone who does not watch this as closely as you do. >> kate, so the shorthand it's a technicality he got off on. >> sounds like the story is not over. we'll have to watch this more and talk to you more about it, too, have you explain to me what it actually means. max kellerman, thanks so much. have a great weekend. >> appreciate it. cnn in-depth all this week we are taking a close look at addiction in america. today a man with one of the biggest names in u.s. politics says at last he's found healing and peace. patrick kennedy is the son of a senator and nephew to a president. now he's building a life outside of washington. and he's very grateful. patrick kennedy. the name says it all. son of the late senator ted kennedy, nephew of senator robert kennedy, and president john f. kennedy. patrick kennedy was born into the american political dynasty. so it's no surprise he followed in the family foot steps. kennedy was 21 years old when he won his first election to the rhode island state house. his meteoric rise continued. >> you've got a fighter in me and i'm going to fight on your behalf. >> winning a seat in congress six years later, eventually serving eight terms in the house. kennedy was a leading voice on mental health issues. >> let's pass mental health parity. >> despite his very public life, kennedy was fighting a very private battle. alcoholism, bi-polar disorder, an addiction to prescription drugs. >> it seemed as though he was sort of crumbling under the weight of the kennedy legacy more than any personal struggle. so when it finally came out he had a personal addiction and personal struggles it was almost a relief that there was an excuse for the fact that he hadn't really delivered the way that people hoped he would. >> the story involve as car, allegations of intoxication and special treatment and a kennedy. >> it was then this early-morning incident in 2006 when kennedy crashed his mustang into a capitol hill security barrier that the public facade began to crack. >> i would say i've been to rehab easily over half a dozen times. >> his mother joan has long battled alcoholism. his father ted kennedy said in his memoir "i myself drink too much at times and feel exceedingly lucky to have been spared addiction." following rehab and the death of his father from brain cancer, patrick kennedy announced he would not seek re-election in 2010. instead shifting his focus to his own health and recovery. >> living in the public eye and in political life was not conducive to really getting that kind of long-term, steady recovery that is absolutely got to be the number one priority in my life. >> now today i spoke with kennedy and started by asking him if he's fully recovered now two years after leaving congress. >> recovery for me is a day-to-day process. and however, living a different life that isn't quite as stressful is certainly conducive to good sobriety. and for me, i needed to reduce the number of stressors in my life in order to have a chance to let recovery take hold. and now i have a wife, a family, a connection that is also crucial to my recovery. because there's nothing better than love and another human connection that's really important to you in your life to help keep you thinking of the future and working every day to make that future better by living better for today. >> and you have been very candid and public with your struggles. i want to go back just a bit for our viewers. when would you say, congressman, that you knew that you had a problem, that the problems really started? it seemed that that was at a pretty young age. >> right. well, we know from most science that if you start binge drinking as a teenager your likelihood of becoming an alcoholic and an addict is off the charts. so the real key is to minimize young people's exposure at an early age. unfortunately in my case, i started drinking and drugging early in my life. and i did it as a way of self-medicating for the anxious feelings that i had. i'm now living a life where one day at a time i try to stay sober. and that is my medicine for today. so i'm also a chronic asthmatic. and if i don't take my medicine i'll have an asthma attack and end up in the emergency room. but most people know that if i did that, no one would report about it because it's not news. >> but when it comes to you, looking at it from the outside, so many people will think quite honestly, this guy had it all. a member of congress, a kennedy for goodness sakes. how could he have an addiction problem? was it the added pressure of the kennedy legacy, the public office, congressman, that was part of the problem for you? >> no, no. kate, you see, addiction affects everybody. rich, poor, black, white, men, women, it really doesn't discriminate. and that is the message here is that it can affect everybody. and so we need to treat it as a medical issue, not as a moral issue. and unfortunately we have this kind of moral judgment we place on people. because of course the symptoms of their disease are behavioral. and so we associate behavior with a conscious decision to act that way. but when you're in the throes of addiction, you lose control of making that decision about your own behavior. and that's why it's a disease. you need to treat it. and once you know you have it, it's up to you to be responsible to treat your illness. >> you are out of politics, but of course never too far. you're campaigning fundraising for your cousin, joe kennedy, who's running for congressman barney frank's seat. do you miss it i think is a question a lot of people will ask. and do you think you could get to a point in your recovery where you would be ready and wanting to run for public office again? >> well, obviously you know the family i come from. we love politics and love government service. unlike a lot of people who look down on it, we love it and look up to it. i'm very honored to be supporting my cousin joe kennedy for congress up in massachusetts. >> do you think you could ever get to a point where you could see yourself running again? >> you know, my dad was able to balance kind of a public and private life. and i was less successful in trying to do that. and that's why i chose to take a turn towards a private life more. because it doesn't have the stresses that the public life does. but hopefully in the future when i have a family and i have some long-term recovery i might be able to look at other ways to serve that may be more public. but right now i think i made the right decision. >> well, many good things coming in the coming year for you and your family. so good luck with that. and thanks so much for coming in and talking to me. >> oh, my pleasure. thanks, kate. up next, jeb bush speaks out about what he says is a troubling turn in the republican race. and it's graduation day for the host of america's top model. did she get top honors? we'll have the details about her diploma. that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm. for half the calories plus veggie nutrition. could've had a v8. to help protect your eye health as you age... would you take it? well, there is. 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[ female announcer ] travelocity. get great deals on all kinds of beach vacations. just days away from two critical republican primary contest that is could turn the tide of this race. rick santorum and mitt romney are both in michigan tonight as they battle for a win in the state romney considers his home turf. we're joined by republican strategist terry holt, democratic strategist penny lee and former congressman j.c. watts. this is a gallup poll. it's showing that santorum's lead nation-wide is shrinking slightly, down from 10 points to 6, obviously romney is close behind, gingrich and paul there after. when you look at that, terry, what's up with santorum? i know the day-by-day we don't like to macon collusion. but what does this say in terms of momentum going into tuesday? >> the honeymoon is brief. he rose, he had such a splash on the national stage with his wins a couple weeks ago. but now we're into the heart of the matter where a week before michigan. romney had a good debate this week. it was probably his best week since the florida primary winning there. so things are going to even out. and i think we're in for a real fistfight in michigan. it could be close. >> so penny, as our resident democrat this evening, taking a look at tuesday how important is tuesday for all of the candidates? but when you think about it in the scope of the general election? i mean, if mitt romney can't win michigan, his home turf, what does that say? >> it really does question what does it really say? is it that it is a lack of -- an indictment of who he is and what he is standing for or a temporary glip for michigan because he wasn't for the auto bailout. it will be curious to see how they spin it coming out of there and to see if he wins arizona. but i think they've done a very poor job managing expectations. they came in saying michigan was was going to be their firewall. now they are fighting for their lives. >> j.c., what do you think? >> governor romney as i've been traveling around the country talking to republicans for the last 18 to 20 months, there's always been two camps. the romney camp and anybody but romney camp that. has proven out to be true over the last or the first seven or eight contests here. now we see that he's struggling going into michigan. and so i was in michigan the first of the week, and people think that santorum is going to win michigan. and so looking at those polling numbers, i probably wouldn't argue with that. >> what's your advice to your man, newt? >> well, after vegas we for all intents and purposes we kind of start focusing on super tuesday. we felt like that was the next battlefield for us. i think personally we have to do well on superer tuesday. but i think that we will. we've we've got oklahoma, georgia, alabama. >> georgia georgia for you guys. >> georgia on our mind. you bet. that's right. but i think the speaker's positioned well. one of the things we have to recognize, the perceived frontrunner here, the guy that's got the momentum, has three delegates. santorum has three delegates. and so i think everybody's still in the game. it's still in play. and we'll see what happens in the next couple weeks. >> let's go back to 2000. the bush -- there was a huge battle. it was kind of an ugly battle between bush and senator john mccain. that process, even though everybody now thinks it was short, they weren't wrapping that up until well after super tuesday. >> so calm down, everybody. >> even though it's drama every week, we still have a lot of states at play. virginia, ohio. >> i actually hope it lingers for quite awhile. >> let's move onto mitt romney mrz. he gave a speech in michigan billed as a major economic speech today. one of the things that he struck on a lot was sacrifice. let's listen here to this. >> my plan for america requires leadership, and it calls for sacrifice. it doesn't require a leader to promise bigger and bigger benefits and free stuff. it requires a leader if you need to call for sacrifice. i'm convinced that the american people, if they're led by people who are actual leaders, who know how to call for sacrifice rather than just promise bigger and bigger benefits, that americans will rise to the occasion. >> so he's hitting on a lot of big republican themes in talk about sacrifice. smaller government, cutting spending, tackling the deficit. but he's still not connecting in michigan while he's making this speech. j.c., talking about sacrifice, is that a winning message? >> kate, give me a physical break. he's not connecting in michigan. he's not connecting anywhere. >> from an unbiassed person. >> no. i'm serious. i'm saying look. and when you say bring in everybody along in the game, three weeks ago we were talking about him cordoning off poor people and saying i'm going to give them more benefits if that's what they need to fix the safety net. so he just was critical of growing government, bigger government, but that's exactly what he was doing. i think poor people should have an opportunity to obtain the american dream just >> talk about it from the republican standpoint of messaging. is hitting on sacrifice, maybe it's good for a primary, but is that going to work? >> in that clip, i saw one thing that among republicans, we remember barack obama's campaign speech. it was promising everything to everyone without a price tag. it was hope and change and not much more. so he's tapping into the frustration republicans have had with barack obama. he's also tapping into something that's politically popular right now. it's more popular to talk about cutting spending than it is to actually talk about raising our lowering taxes. people get it that the government isn't goin to change unless spending cuts happen. when we're talking about the economy, we're talk iing about republican strength, but we're also talking about strength that romney thinks he brings to the table. >> champion of the bit to get in. it does make a distinction where the republican stance is. >> i was stuck on a plane today when i was trying to catch up with what he was saying. always it was was about the fact he had a lost opportunity day. he went into a 70,000 arena and has 1200 people. talk about lack of enthusiasm and the one thing he said, trying to connect. he compared and said i love cars and went on about cars. i've got a dodge and this and that. my wife has two cadillac espionage. average price, $68,000. more than the average worker makes. >> let's talk about a republican not in the race currently. yeb bush made a speech in dallas. he said he really seemed worried about the republican primary. i'll read to you what you said he said. quote, i used to be a conservative and i watch these debates and i'm wondering, i don't think i've changed, but it is a little troubling when people are appealing to people's fears and e potion rather than trying to get them to look over the horizon for a broader perspective. jeb's not naming names, but when a high profiled republican the troubled, what does that say? >> i think it means that jeb bush has seen the attack on capitali capitalism. romney was a successful business person. he made money and there were candidates in the race and frankly attacked him for that. that made some republicans nervous. i think bush is giving voice to that. this is a fascinating comment because jeb bush is one of those guys that a lot of those republicans would like to have seen run for president. he's one of those guys j.c. referred to. >> unfortunately, you're not going to be able to rebut. thank you so much, guys. have a great weekend. excitement is already building for the academy awards this sunday, but not all the focus will be on the nominees. we'll give you an oscar preview and show you who might steal the show. stay with us. 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[ engine revving ] the all-new 2013 lexus gs. there's no going back. so i used my citi thank you card to pick up some accessories. a new belt. some nylons. and what girl wouldn't need new shoes? we talked about getting a diamond. but with all the thank you points i've been earning... ♪ ...i flew us to the rock i really had in mind. ♪ [ male announcer ] the citi thank you card. earn points you can use for travel on any airline, with no blackout dates. oscars are just two days away and kareen winter joins me now from the red carpet. i know what you're doing this sunday. i know what i'm doing. watching you on the red carpet. who are some of the nominees to watch this sunday? >> oh, my gosh. two races that we're absolutely focusing on right now because they have some hot contenders, best actress and actor. best actress and we're seeing some friendly rivalry going on with best buds facing off. viola davis going up against meryl streep. a lot of critics believe meryl has this, this is her 17th record nomination. she's won twice before. back in 1983. viola has never won, so they're thinking meryl may take it home. and george clooney going up his pal, brad pitt. again, clooney may have an edge over brad. he's won an oscar before, supporting actor role. we'll see who takes it home. doesn't get more exciting. >> kareen winter, thank you. >> absolutely. >> lisa sylvester is back with other news you need to know. >> beginning with the weather. the seasons are starting to change which means some parts of the country are getting bad winter weather and others will cope with thunderstorms and tornados. snow in the great lakes and northeast and a new storm in the pacific northwest. retired supermodel tyra banks has been traveling, but never been photographed lix this. she shows off her diploma from harvard. she tweeted these pics today after graduating from the program which lasted a couple of weeks. and a man walk into a wisconsin denny's, walked into the kitchen and started cooking a cheeseburger. according to npr, the employees called the home office to ask really and then when they said they never heard of the guy, they called the cops. he got through about three quarters of his cheeseburger when the police arrived. >> it's one of those situations, where if you are just confident about what you're doing, you can probably pull it off for a little while. >> he woalked in with the suit and briefcase. we're not expecting a new boss. >> file that under some people have just too much time on their hands. >> and finally, the moment you missed today. some nervous folks who run the oscars apparently urged sacha baron cohen now to show up sunday dressed as his new character, the dictator. seems the dictator wasn't happy about that. >> while i applaud the academy for taking away my right to free speech. i warn you that if you do not lift your